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To
the Venerable Brothers Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and
Bishops of the Entire Catholic Community in Favor and Communion
with the Apostolic See.
Venerable
Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Benediction.
1.
Lift up your eyes, venerable brothers. Look about you and grieve
at the evil abominations which now defile unhappy Italy. We can
but humbly revere the inscrutable judgments of God, which destined
Us to live in these most sorrowful times. By the efforts of many,
particularly those who hold power in Italy, the venerable commands
of God and the sacred laws of the Church are completely despised.
Here triumphant impiety rears her ugly head, and here We grieve to
see all kinds of injustice, evil, and destruction. Hence the many
phalanxes of rebels, men who walk in impiety and fight under the
standard of Satan - a leader branded with deceit. Raising their
mouths to the very heavens, they blaspheme God; polluting and
scorning all that is sacred, they trample underfoot all laws,
divine and human. Like ravening wolves panting after their
[target],
they spill blood and destroy souls with their grievous scandal.
They seek the unjust gain of their own malice and seize the
property of others.
Then
they sadden the lowly and the poor, making widows of wives and
orphans of happy children. They pardon the impious and condemn the
just, for there are bribes to take and goods to steal; with a
corrupt heart they satisfy every depraved desire, to the detriment
of all civil society.
Evil
Men
2.
At present We are surrounded by evil men of this sort, men
entirely animated by a diabolical spirit. They plan to raise the
standard of lies in this beloved city of Ours, before the very
Chair of Peter, the center of Catholic truth and unity. And the
officials of the government of Piedmont, who should have repressed
these uprisings, have aided them in every way. They supply them
with arms and other goods and even fortify the approach to this
city. But these officials, though they hold the highest rank in
civil government, are fearful because through their wickedness
they ensnare themselves in a net of ecclesiastical penalties and
censures. In the humility of Our heart We continue to beseech the
God of mercy to return these miserable men to a salutary penitence
and to the straight path of justice, religion, and piety.
Nevertheless We must declare the dangers We are exposed to in this
hour of darkness. We tranquilly await whatever events may bring,
be it nefarious frauds, calumnies, treachery, or lies. We place
all Our hope in the God of Our salvation, who is Our helper and
strength in all Our tribulations. He does not permit those who
trust in Him to be confounded, He who thwarts the attacks of the
impious and breaks the necks of sinners. In the meantime We are
anxious to inform you and your faithful of the sad condition and
the great danger in which We live, due especially to the activity
of the Piedmont government. Although Our faithful army defends Us
vigorously and heroically, it is clear that they cannot resist for
long because they are greatly outnumbered by these unjust
aggressors. The filial piety of Our subjects, now greatly reduced
in number by the evil usurpers, consoles Us. But We must also
grieve since they suffer serious dangers rising against them from
the savage throngs of the wicked, who terrify them constantly with
all sorts of threats and plunder them exhaustively.
Evils
in Poland and Russia
3.
But We have other evils to deplore, too. You know well from Our
consistorial address of October 29 of last year, and from its
publication with supporting documents, the many calamities with
which the Catholic Church and her sons are troubled in the Russian
Empire and in the Polish Kingdom. There the Catholic bishops, the
ecclesiastics, and the lay faithful are exiled, thrown into
prison, harassed in every way, robbed of their possessions, and
oppressed with severe penalties. The canons and laws of the Church
are completely trampled underfoot. And not at all content with
this, the Russian government continues with its long-standing plan
to violate the teaching of the Church and to break the chain of
union and communication between those faithful to Us and the Holy
See. The government strives to overthrow the Catholic religion
completely in regions, separating the faithful from the Church in
order to draw them into a disastrous schism. With great sorrow We
inform you that that government has issued two decrees after the
last address We mentioned. An abhorrent decree promulgated last
May 22 suppressed the Polish diocese of Podlachia, together with
its college of canons, the Consistory General, and the diocesan
seminary. The bishop of the diocese was separated from his flock
and at once forced to leave his territory. And this decree is
similar to the one published last June 3, which We were not able
to mention because We had no knowledge of it. By this decree the
same government arbitrarily suppressed the diocese of Kamieniec
and dispersed its college of canons, Consistory, and seminary;
then it violently tore its bishop from his diocese.
Communication
by Papal Decree
4.
Now since We cannot communicate with those faithful, and also lest
someone be exposed to arrest, exile, or some other penalty, We
have been compelled to insert an Act in Our publication to provide
for the exercise of legitimate jurisdiction in those extensive
dioceses and for the spiritual needs of the faithful. By means of
the printed word, notice of Our plans will reach them. Anyone can
easily understand the attitude and purpose with which the Russian
government would publish such a decree, since the suppression of
dioceses is added to the absence of many bishops.
Governmental
College
5.
But what adds to Our bitterness is another decree of this same
government, promulgated last May 22, by which a college was
established in St. Petersburg, a college called "Roman
Catholic Ecclesiastical," with the presiding officer the
Archbishop of Mohilev. All petitions pertaining to matters of
faith and conscience which the bishops, clergy, and faithful of
the Russian Empire and Polish Kingdom send to Us and this
Apostolic See are first to be sent to this college. This same
college is to examine them to determine whether the petitions
exceed the power of the bishops; if so, it will send them to Us.
But after Our decision reaches there, the presiding officer of the
college is bound to send this decision to the minister of internal
affairs, who is to determine whether it contains anything against
the laws of the state and the rights of the supreme ruler. If
nothing is found, he may execute it according to his will and
judgment.
Condemnation
of This College
6.
You surely see how vehemently a decree of this kind must be
condemned. This schismatic secular power destroys the constitution
of the Catholic Church and subverts ecclesiastical discipline.
Furthermore, it inflicts the greatest injury on Our supreme
Pontificate, on the power and authority of this Holy See and of
the bishops, and on the liberty of the highest pastor of all the
faithful. It therefore drives the faithful to a mournful schism
and even tramples underfoot natural law in matters pertaining to
faith and conscience.
7.
Add to this that the Catholic Academy of Warsaw has been closed
and that a sad ruin awaits the Ruthenian dioceses of Chelm and
Belzium. And what is most grievous is that a certain priest
Woicicki has been found whose faith is suspect and who has no
regard for ecclesiastical penalties and censures, nor for the
terrible judgment of God. He was not afraid to accept the rule and
administration of this same diocese from that civil power, nor to
issue ordinances contrary to ecclesiastical discipline and
favoring schism.
8.
In these calamitous difficulties, no one fights for Us except Our
Lord and God. We earnestly beseech you, because of your love for
things Catholic and your devotion to Us, that you join your most
fervent prayers with Ours. Together with all your clergy and
faithful people, beseech God unceasingly to snatch His Holy Church
and Us from such great evils. The sons of this same Church, who
are most dear to Us, are exposed to many plots and afflicted with
many hardships almost everywhere, but especially in Italy, in the
Russian Empire, and in the Kingdom of Poland. Pray that God may
aid and defend them by His omnipotent power. Pray that He may
preserve, confirm, and strengthen them more each day in the
Catholic faith and the profession of its salutary doctrines. Pray
that He thwart all the impious plans of hostile men, recalling
them from the abyss of iniquity to the way of salvation and
leading them in the path of His commandments.
Plenary
Indulgences
9.
Therefore We desire that within six months a three-day period of
public prayer be proclaimed in your dioceses; for those beyond the
sea, the proclamation should be made within one year. To encourage
more ardent devotion at these prayers, We grant mercifully in the
Lord a plenary indulgence and the remission of all their sins to
each and all the faithful in Christ, both men and women, who are
devoutly present at these prayers on these three days, who have
prayed to God for the present necessities of the Church according
to Our intention, who have expiated their sins by sacramental
confession, and who have received Holy Communion. But to the
faithful who with at least a contrite heart are present on any one
of these days, and have performed the other works, We grant an
indulgence of seven years, and We relax as many forty day periods
of the penance enjoined on them or otherwise owed by them, in
accordance with the usual custom of the Church. We also grant that
these indulgences, all and singly, the remission of sins, and the
relaxation of penances are applicable by way of suffrage to the
souls of the faithful who, joined to God by love, have left this
life. We also declare that anything to the contrary has no power
to resist Our decrees.
10.
Finally, nothing is more pleasing to Us than that We may use this
occasion to testify and confirm the great benevolence with which
We embrace you in the Lord. Receive as a certain pledge of this
the Apostolic Benediction which We impart most lovingly to you,
venerable brothers, and to all the clergy and faithful laity
entrusted to your vigilance.
[Given
at Rome at St. Peter's, in October 1867, in the twenty second of
Our pontificate.] |
