DIVINI
REDEMPTORIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON ATHEISTIC COMMUNISM
TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
The promise of a Redeemer brightens the first
page of the history of mankind, and the confident hope aroused
by this promise softened the keen regret for a paradise which
had been lost. It was this hope that accompanied the human race
on its weary journey, until in the fullness of time the expected
Savior came to begin a new universal civilization, the Christian
civilization, far superior even to that which up to this time
had been laboriously achieved by certain more privileged nations.
2. Nevertheless, the struggle between good and
evil remained in the world as a sad legacy of the original fall.
Nor has the ancient tempter ever ceased to deceive mankind with
false promises. It is on this account that one convulsion following
upon another has marked the passage of the centuries, down to
the revolution of our own days. This modern revolution, it may
be said, has actually broken out or threatens everywhere, and
it exceeds in amplitude and violence anything yet experienced
in the preceding persecutions launched against the Church. Entire
peoples find themselves in danger of falling back into a barbarism
worse than that which oppressed the greater part of the world
at the coming of the Redeemer.
3. This all too imminent danger, Venerable Brethren,
as you have already surmised, is bolshevistic and atheistic Communism,
which aims at upsetting the social order and at undermining the
very foundations of Christian civilization .
4. In the face of such a threat, the Catholic
Church could not and does not remain silent. This Apostolic See,
above all, has not refrained from raising its voice, for it knows
that its proper and social mission is to defend truth, justice
and all those eternal values which Communism ignores or attacks.
Ever since the days when groups of "intellectuals" were
formed in an arrogant attempt to free civilization from the bonds
of morality and religion, Our Predecessors overtly and explicitly
drew the attention of the world to the consequences of the dechristianization
of human society. With reference to Communism, Our Venerable Predecessor,
Pius IX, of holy memory, as early as 1846 pronounced a solemn
condemnation, which he confirmed in the words of the Syllabus
directed against "that infamous doctrine of so-called Communism
which is absolutely contrary to the natural law itself, and if
once adopted would utterly destroy the rights, property and possessions
of all men, and even society itself."[1] Later on, another
of Our predecessors, the immortal Leo XIII, in his Encyclical
Quod Apostolici Muneris, defined Communism as "the fatal
plague which insinuates itself into the very marrow of human society
only to bring about its ruin."[2] With clear intuition he
pointed out that the atheistic movements existing among the masses
of the Machine Age had their origin in that school of philosophy
which for centuries had sought to divorce science from the life
of the Faith and of the Church.
5. During Our Pontificate We too have frequently
and with urgent insistence denounced the current trend to atheism
which is alarmingly on the increase. In 1924 when Our relief-mission
returned from the Soviet Union We condemned Communism in a special
Allocution[3] which We addressed to the whole world. In our Encyclicals
Miserentissimus Redemptor,[4] Quadragesimo Anno,[5] Caritate Christi,[6]
Acerba Animi,[7] Dilectissima Nobis,[8] We raised a solemn protest
against the persecutions unleashed in Russia, in Mexico and now
in Spain. Our two Allocutions of last year, the first on the occasion
of the opening of the International Catholic Press Exposition,
and the second during Our audience to the Spanish refugees, along
with Our message of last Christmas, have evoked a world-wide echo
which is not yet spent. In fact, the most persistent enemies of
the Church, who from Moscow are directing the struggle against
Christian civilization, themselves bear witness, by their unceasing
attacks in word and act, that even to this hour the Papacy has
continued faithfully to protect the sanctuary of the Christian
religion, and that it has called public attention to the perils
of Communism more frequently and more effectively than any other
public authority on earth.
6. To Our great satisfaction, Venerable Brethren,
you have, by means of individual and even joint pastoral Letters,
accurately transmitted and explained to the Faithful these admonitions.
Yet despite Our frequent and paternal warning the peril only grows
greater from day to day because of the pressure exerted by clever
agitators. Therefore We believe it to be Our duty to raise Our
voice once more, in a still more solemn missive, in accord with
the tradition of this Apostolic See, the Teacher of Truth, and
in accord with the desire of the whole Catholic world, which makes
the appearance of such a document but natural. We trust that the
echo of Our voice will reach every mind free from prejudice and
every heart sincerely desirous of the good of mankind. We wish
this the more because Our words are now receiving sorry confirmation
from the spectacle of the bitter fruits of subversive ideas, which
We foresaw and foretold, and which are in fact multiplying fearfully
in the countries already stricken, or threatening every other
country of the world.
7. Hence We wish to expose once more in a brief
synthesis the principles of atheistic Communism as they are manifested
chiefly in bolshevism. We wish also to indicate its method of
action and to contrast with its false principles the clear doctrine
of the Church, in order to inculcate anew and with greater insistence
the means by which the Christian civilization, the true civitas
humana, can be saved from the satanic scourge, and not merely
saved, but better developed for the well-being of human society.
8. The Communism of today, more emphatically
than similar movements in the past, conceals in itself a false
messianic idea. A pseudo-ideal of justice, of equality and fraternity
in labor impregnates all its doctrine and activity with a deceptive
mysticism, which communicates a zealous and contagious enthusiasm
to the multitudes entrapped by delusive promises. This is especially
true in an age like ours, when unusual misery has resulted from
the unequal distribution of the goods of this world. This pseudo-ideal
is even boastfully advanced as if it were responsible for a certain
economic progress. As a matter of fact, when such progress is
at all real, its true causes are quite different, as for instance
the intensification of industrialism in countries which were formerly
almost without it, the exploitation of immense natural resources,
and the use of the most brutal methods to insure the achievement
of gigantic projects with a minimum of expense.
9. The doctrine of modern Communism, which is
often concealed under the most seductive trappings, is in substance
based on the principles of dialectical and historical materialism
previously advocated by Marx, of which the theoricians of bolshevism
claim to possess the only genuine interpretation. According to
this doctrine there is in the world only one reality, matter,
the blind forces of which evolve into plant, animal and man. Even
human society is nothing but a phenomenon and form of matter,
evolving in the same way. By a law of inexorable necessity and
through a perpetual conflict of forces, matter moves towards the
final synthesis of a classless society. In such a doctrine, as
is evident, there is no room for the idea of God; there is no
difference between matter and spirit, between soul and body; there
is neither survival of the soul after death nor any hope in a
future life. Insisting on the dialectical aspect of their materialism,
the Communists claim that the conflict which carries the world
towards its final synthesis can be accelerated by man. Hence they
endeavor to sharpen the antagonisms which arise between the various
classes of society. Thus the class struggle with its consequent
violent hate and destruction takes on the aspects of a crusade
for the progress of humanity. On the other hand, all other forces
whatever, as long as they resist such systematic violence, must
be annihilated as hostile to the human race.
10. Communism, moreover, strips man of his liberty,
robs human personality of all its dignity, and removes all the
moral restraints that check the eruptions of blind impulse. There
is no recognition of any right of the individual in his relations
to the collectivity; no natural right is accorded to human personality,
which is a mere cog-wheel in the Communist system. In man's relations
with other individuals, besides, Communists hold the principle
of absolute equality, rejecting all hierarchy and divinely-constituted
authority, including the authority of parents. What men call authority
and subordination is derived from the community as its first and
only font. Nor is the individual granted any property rights over
material goods or the means of production, for inasmuch as these
are the source of further wealth, their possession would give
one man power over another. Precisely on this score, all forms
of private property must be eradicated, for they are at the origin
of all economic enslavement .
11. Refusing to human life any sacred or spiritual
character, such a doctrine logically makes of marriage and the
family a purely artificial and civil institution, the outcome
of a specific economic system. There exists no matrimonial bond
of a juridico-moral nature that is not subject to the whim of
the individual or of the collectivity. Naturally, therefore, the
notion of an indissoluble marriage-tie is scouted. Communism is
particularly characterized by the rejection of any link that binds
woman to the family and the home, and her emancipation is proclaimed
as a basic principle. She is withdrawn from the family and the
care of her children, to be thrust instead into public life and
collective production under the same conditions as man. The care
of home and children then devolves upon the collectivity. Finally,
the right of education is denied to parents, for it is conceived
as the exclusive prerogative of the community, in whose name and
by whose mandate alone parents may exercise this right.
12. What would be the condition of a human society
based on such materialistic tenets? It would be a collectivity
with no other hierarchy than that of the economic system. It would
have only one mission: the production of material things by means
of collective labor, so that the goods of this world might be
enjoyed in a paradise where each would "give according to
his powers" and would "receive according to his needs."
Communism recognizes in the collectivity the right, or rather,
unlimited discretion, to draft individuals for the labor of the
collectivity with no regard for their personal welfare; so that
even violence could be legitimately exercised to dragoon the recalcitrant
against their wills. In the Communistic commonwealth morality
and law would be nothing but a derivation of the existing economic
order, purely earthly in origin and unstable in character. In
a word. the Communists claim to inaugurate a new era and a new
civilization which is the result of blind evolutionary forces
culminating in a humanity without God.
13. When all men have finally acquired the collectivist
mentality in this Utopia of a really classless society, the political
State, which is now conceived by Communists merely as the instrument
by which the proletariat is oppressed by the capitalists, will
have lost all reason for its existence and will "wither away."
However, until that happy consummation is realized, the State
and the powers of the State furnish Communism with the most efficacious
and most extensive means for the achievement of its goal.
14. Such, Venerable Brethren, is the new gospel
which bolshevistic and atheistic Communism offers the world as
the glad tidings of deliverance and salvation! It is a system
full of errors and sophisms. It is in opposition both to reason
and to Divine Revelation. It subverts the social order, because
it means the destruction of its foundations; because it ignores
the true origin and purpose of the State; because it denies the
rights, dignity and liberty of human personality.
15. How is it possible that such a system, long
since rejected scientifically and now proved erroneous by experience,
how is it, We ask, that such a system could spread so rapidly
in all parts of the world? The explanation lies in the fact that
too few have been able to grasp the nature of Communism. The majority
instead succumb to its deception, skillfully concealed by the
most extravagant promises. By pretending to desire only the betterment
of the condition of the working classes, by urging the removal
of the very real abuses chargeable to the liberalistic economic
order, and by demanding a more equitable distribution of this
world's goods (objectives entirely and undoubtedly legitimate),
the Communist takes advantage of the present world-wide economic
crisis to draw into the sphere of his influence even those sections
of the populace which on principle reject all forms of materialism
and terrorism. And as every error contains its element of truth,
the partial truths to which We have referred are astutely presented
according to the needs of time and place, to conceal, when convenient,
the repulsive crudity and inhumanity of Communistic principles
and tactics. Thus the Communist ideal wins over many of the better
minded members of the community. These in turn become the apostles
of the movement among the younger intelligentsia who are still
too immature to recognize the intrinsic errors of the system.
The preachers of Communism are also proficient in exploiting racial
antagonisms and political divisions and oppositions. They take
advantage of the lack of orientation characteristic of modern
agnostic science in order to burrow into the universities, where
they bolster up the principles of their doctrine with pseudo-scientific
arguments.
16. If we would explain the blind acceptance
of Communism by so many thousands of workmen, we must remember
that the way had been already prepared for it by the religious
and moral destitution in which wage-earners had been left by liberal
economics. Even on Sundays and holy days, labor-shifts were given
no time to attend to their essential religious duties. No one
thought of building churches within convenient distance of factories,
nor of facilitating the work of the priest. On the contrary, laicism
was actively and persistently promoted, with the result that we
are now reaping the fruits of the errors so often denounced by
Our Predecessors and by Ourselves. It can surprise no one that
the Communistic fallacy should be spreading in a world already
to a large extent de-Christianized.
17. There is another explanation for the rapid
diffusion of the Communistic ideas now seeping into every nation,
great and small, advanced and backward, so that no corner of the
earth is free from them. This explanation is to be found in a
propaganda so truly diabolical that the world has perhaps never
witnessed its like before. It is directed from one common center.
It is shrewdly adapted to the varying conditions of diverse peoples.
It has at its disposal great financial resources, gigantic organizations,
international congresses, and countless trained workers. It makes
use of pamphlets and reviews, of cinema, theater and radio, of
schools and even universities. Little by little it penetrates
into all classes of the people and even reaches the better-minded
groups of the community, with the result that few are aware of
the poison which increasingly pervades their minds and hearts.
18. A third powerful factor in the diffusion
of Communism is the conspiracy of silence on the part of a large
section of the non-Catholic press of the world. We say conspiracy,
because it is impossible otherwise to explain how a press usually
so eager to exploit even the little daily incidents of life has
been able to remain silent for so long about the horrors perpetrated
in Russia, in Mexico and even in a great part of Spain; and that
it should have relatively so little to say concerning a world
organization as vast as Russian Communism. This silence is due
in part to shortsighted political policy, and is favored by various
occult forces which for a long time have been working for the
overthrow of the Christian Social Order.
19. Meanwhile the sorry effects of this propaganda
are before our eyes. Where Communism has been able to assert its
power - and here We are thinking with special affection of the
people of Russia and Mexico - it has striven by every possible
means, as its champions openly boast, to destroy Christian civilization
and the Christian religion by banishing every remembrance of them
from the hearts of men, especially of the young. Bishops and priests
were exiled, condemned to forced labor, shot and done to death
in inhuman fashion; laymen suspected of defending their religion
were vexed, persecuted, dragged off to trial and thrown into prison.
20. Even where the scourge of Communism has not
yet had time enough to exercise to the full its logical effects,
as witness Our beloved Spain, it has, alas, found compensation
in the fiercer violence of its attack. Not only this or that church
or isolated monastery was sacked, but as far as possible every
church and every monastery was destroyed. Every vestige of the
Christian religion was eradicated, even though intimately linked
with the rarest monuments of art and science. The fury of Communism
has not confined itself to the indiscriminate slaughter of Bishops,
of thousands of priests and religious of both sexes; it searches
out above all those who have been devoting their lives to the
welfare of the working classes and the poor. But the majority
of its victims have been laymen of all conditions and classes.
Even up to the present moment, masses of them are slain almost
daily for no other offense than the fact that they are good Christians
or at least opposed to atheistic Communism. And this fearful destruction
has been carried out with a hatred and a savage barbarity one
would not have believed possible in our age. No man of good sense,
nor any statesman conscious of his responsibility can fail to
shudder at the thought that what is happening today in Spain may
perhaps be repeated tomorrow in other civilized countries.
21. Nor can it be said that these atrocities
are a transitory phenomenon, the usual accompaniment of all great
revolutions, the isolated excesses common to every war. No, they
are the natural fruit of a system which lacks all inner restraint.
Some restraint is necessary for man considered either as an individual
or in society. Even the barbaric peoples had this inner check
in the natural law written by God in the heart of every man. And
where this natural law was held in higher esteem, ancient nations
rose to a grandeur that still fascinates - more than it should
- certain superficial students of human history. But tear the
very idea of God from the hearts of men, and they are necessarily
urged by their passions to the most atrocious barbarity.
22. This, unfortunately, is what we now behold.
For the first time in history we are witnessing a struggle, cold-blooded
in purpose and mapped out to the least detail, between man and
"all that is called God."[9] Communism is by its nature
anti-religious. It considers religion as "the opiate of the
people" because the principles of religion which speak of
a life beyond the grave dissuade the proletariat from the dream
of a Soviet paradise which is of this world.
23. But the law of nature and its Author cannot
be flouted with impunity. Communism has not been able, and will
not be able, to achieve its objectives even in the merely economic
sphere. It is true that in Russia it has been a contributing factor
in rousing men and materials from the inertia of centuries, and
in obtaining by all manner of means, often without scruple, some
measure of material success. Nevertheless We know from reliable
and even very recent testimony that not even there, in spite of
slavery imposed on millions of men, has Communism reached its
promised goal. After all, even the sphere of economics needs some
morality, some moral sense of responsibility, which can find no
place in a system so thoroughly materialistic as Communism. Terrorism
is the only possible substitute, and it is terrorism that reigns
today in Russia, where former comrades in revolution are exterminating
each other. Terrorism, having failed despite all to stem the tide
of moral corruption, cannot even prevent the dissolution of society
itself.
24. In making these observations it is no part
of Our intention to condemn en masse the peoples of the Soviet
Union. For them We cherish the warmest paternal affection. We
are well aware that not a few of them groan beneath the yoke imposed
on them by men who in very large part are strangers to the real
interests of the country. We recognize that many others were deceived
by fallacious hopes. We blame only the system, with its authors
and abettors who considered Russia the best-prepared field for
experimenting with a plan elaborated decades ago, and who from
there continue to spread it from one end of the world to the other.
25. We have exposed the errors and the violent,
deceptive tactics of bolshevistic and atheistic Communism. It
is now time, Venerable Brethren, to contrast with it the true
notion, already familiar to you, of the civitas humana or human
society, as taught by reason and Revelation through the mouth
of the Church, Magistra Gentium.
26. Above all other reality there exists one
supreme Being: God, the omnipotent Creator of all things, the
all-wise and just Judge of all men. This supreme reality, God,
is the absolute condemnation of the impudent falsehoods of Communism.
In truth, it is not because men believe in God that He exists;
rather because He exists do all men whose eyes are not deliberately
closed to the truth believe in Him and pray to Him.
27. In the Encyclical on Christian Education[10]
We explained the fundamental doctrine concerning man as it may
be gathered from reason and Faith. Man has a spiritual and immortal
soul. He is a person, marvelously endowed by his Creator with
gifts of body and mind. He is a true "microcosm," as
the ancients said, a world in miniature, with a value far surpassing
that of the vast inanimate cosmos. God alone is his last end,
in this life and the next. By sanctifying grace he is raised to
the dignity of a son of God, and incorporated into the Kingdom
of God in the Mystical Body of Christ. In consequence he has been
endowed by God with many and varied prerogatives: the right to
life, to bodily integrity, to the necessary means of existence;
the right to tend toward his ultimate goal in the path marked
out for him by God; the right of association and the right to
possess and use property.
28. Just as matrimony and the right to its natural
use are of divine origin, so likewise are the constitution and
fundamental prerogatives of the family fixed and determined by
the Creator. In the Encyclical on Christian Marriage[11] and in
Our other Encyclical on Education, cited above, we have treated
these topics at considerable length.
29. But God has likewise destined man for civil
society according to the dictates of his very nature. In the plan
of the Creator, society is a natural means which man can and must
use to reach his destined end. Society is for man and not vice
versa. This must not be understood in the sense of liberalistic
individualism, which subordinates society to the selfish use of
the individual; but only in the sense that by means of an organic
union with society and by mutual collaboration the attainment
of earthly happiness is placed within the reach of all. In a further
sense, it is society which affords the opportunities for the development
of all the individual and social gifts bestowed on human nature.
These natural gifts have a value surpassing the immediate interests
of the moment, for in society they reflect the divine perfection,
which would not be true were man to live alone. But on final analysis,
even in this latter function, society is made for man, that he
may recognize this reflection of God's perfection, and refer it
in praise and adoration to the Creator. Only man, the human person,
and not society in any form is endowed with reason and a morally
free will.
30. Man cannot be exempted from his divinely-imposed
obligations toward civil society, and the representatives of authority
have the right to coerce him when he refuses without reason to
do his duty. Society, on the other hand, cannot defraud man of
his God-granted rights, the most important of which We have indicated
above. Nor can society systematically void these rights by making
their use impossible. It is therefore according to the dictates
of reason that ultimately all material things should be ordained
to man as a person, that through his mediation they may find their
way to the Creator. In this wise we can apply to man, the human
person, the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, who writes to
the Corinthians on the Christian economy of salvation: "All
things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."[12]
While Communism impoverishes human personality by inverting the
terms of the relation of man to society, to what lofty heights
is man not elevated by reason and Revelation!
31. The directive principles concerning the social-economic
order have been expounded in the social Encyclical of Leo XIII
on the question of labor.[13] Our own Encyclical on the Reconstruction
of the Social Order[14] adapted these principles to present needs.
Then, insisting anew on the age-old doctrine of the Church concerning
the individual and social character of private property, We explained
clearly the right and dignity of labor, the relations of mutual
aid and collaboration which should exist between those who possess
capital and those who work, the salary due in strict justice to
the worker for himself and for his family.
32. In this same Encyclical of Ours We have shown
that the means of saving the world of today from the lamentable
ruin into which a moral liberalism has plunged us, are neither
the class-struggle nor terror, nor yet the autocratic abuse of
State power, but rather the infusion of social justice and the
sentiment of Christian love into the social-economic order. We
have indicated how a sound prosperity is to be restored according
to the true principles of a sane corporative system which respects
the proper hierarchic structure of society; and how all the occupational
groups should be fused into a harmonious unity inspired by the
principle of the common good. And the genuine and chief function
of public and civil authority consists precisely in the efficacious
furthering of this harmony and coordination of all social forces.
33. In view of this organized common effort towards
peaceful living, Catholic doctrine vindicates to the State the
dignity and authority of a vigilant and provident defender of
those divine and human rights on which the Sacred Scriptures and
the Fathers of the Church insist so often. It is not true that
all have equal rights in civil society. It is not true that there
exists no lawful social hierarchy. Let it suffice to refer to
the Encyclicals of Leo XIII already cited, especially to that
on State powers,[15] and to the other on the Christian Constitution
of States.[16] In these documents the Catholic will find the principles
of reason and the Faith clearly explained, and these principles
will enable him to defend himself against the errors and perils
of a Communistic conception of the State. The enslavement of man
despoiled of his rights, the denial of the transcendental origin
of the State and its authority, the horrible abuse of public power
in the service of a collectivistic terrorism, are the very contrary
of all that corresponds with natural ethics and the will of the
Creator. Both man and civil society derive their origin from the
Creator, Who has mutually ordained them one to the other. Hence
neither can be exempted from their correlative obligations, nor
deny or diminish each other's rights. The Creator Himself has
regulated this mutual relationship in its fundamental lines, and
it is by an unjust usurpation that Communism arrogates to itself
the right to enforce, in place of the divine law based on the
immutable principles of truth and charity, a partisan political
program which derives from the arbitrary human will and is replete
with hate.
34. In teaching this enlightening doctrine the
Church has no other intention than to realize the glad tidings
sung by the Angels above the cave of Bethlehem at the Redeemer's
birth: "Glory to God . . . and . . . peace to men . . .,"[17]
true peace and true happiness, even here below as far as is possible,
in preparation for the happiness of heaven - but to men of good
will. This doctrine is equally removed from all extremes of error
and all exaggerations of parties or systems which stem from error.
It maintains a constant equilibrium of truth and justice, which
it vindicates in theory and applies and promotes in practice,
bringing into harmony the rights and duties of all parties. Thus
authority is reconciled with liberty, the dignity of the individual
with that of the State, the human personality of the subject with
the divine delegation of the superior; and in this way a balance
is struck between the due dependence and well-ordered love of
a man for himself, his family and country, and his love of other
families and other peoples, founded on the love of God, the Father
of all, their first principle and last end. The Church does not
separate a proper regard for temporal welfare from solicitude
for the eternal. If she subordinates the former to the latter
according to the words of her divine Founder, "Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall
be added unto you,"[18] she is nevertheless so far from being
unconcerned with human affairs, so far from hindering civil progress
and material advancement, that she actually fosters and promotes
them in the most sensible and efficacious manner. Thus even in
the sphere of social-economics, although the Church has never
proposed a definite technical system, since this is not her field,
she has nevertheless clearly outlined the guiding principles which,
while susceptible of varied concrete applications according to
the diversified conditions of times and places and peoples, indicate
the safe way of securing the happy progress of society.
35. The wisdom and supreme utility of this doctrine
are admitted by all who really understand it. With good reason
outstanding statesmen have asserted that, after a study of various
social systems, they have found nothing sounder than the principles
expounded in the Encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno.
In non-Catholic, even in non-Christian countries, men recognize
the great value to society of the social doctrine of the Church.
Thus, scarcely a month ago, an eminent political figure of the
Far East, a non-Christian, did not hesitate to affirm publicly
that the Church, with her doctrine of peace and Christian brotherhood,
is rendering a signal contribution to the difficult task of establishing
and maintaining peace among the nations. Finally, We know from
reliable information that flows into this Center of Christendom
from all parts of the world, that the Communists themselves, where
they are not utterly depraved, recognize the superiority of the
social doctrine of the Church, when once explained to them, over
the doctrines of their leaders and their teachers. Only those
blinded by passion and hatred close their eyes to the light of
truth and obstinately struggle against it.
36. But the enemies of the Church, though forced
to acknowledge the wisdom of her doctrine, accuse her of having
failed to act in conformity with her principles, and from this
conclude to the necessity of seeking other solutions. The utter
falseness and injustice of this accusation is shown by the whole
history of Christianity. To refer only to a single typical trait,
it was Christianity that first affirmed the real and universal
brotherhood of all men of whatever race and condition. This doctrine
she proclaimed by a method, and with an amplitude andconviction,
unknown to preceding centuries; and with it she potently contributed
to the abolition of slavery. Not bloody revolution, but the inner
force of her teaching made the proud Roman matron see in her slave
a sister in Christ. It is Christianity that adores the Son of
God, made Man for love of man, and become not only the "Son
of a Carpenter" but Himself a "Carpenter."[19]
It was Christianity that raised manual labor to its true dignity,
whereas it had hitherto been so despised that even the moderate
Cicero did not hesitate to sum up the general opinion of his time
in words of which any modern sociologist would be ashamed: "All
artisans are engaged in sordid trades, for there can be nothing
ennobling about a workshop."[20]
37. Faithful to these principles, the Church
has given new life to human society. Under her influence arose
prodigious charitable organizations, great guilds of artisans
and workingmen of every type. These guilds, ridiculed as "medieval"
by the liberalism of the last century, are today claiming the
admiration of our contemporaries in many countries who are endeavoring
to revive them in some modern form. And when other systems hindered
her work and raised obstacles to the salutary influence of the
Church, she was never done warning them of their error. We need
but recall with what constant firmness and energy Our Predecessor,
Leo XIII, vindicated for the workingman the right to organize,
which the dominant liberalism of the more powerful States relentlessly
denied him. Even today the authority of this Church doctrine is
greater than it seems; for the influence of ideas in the realm
of facts, though invisible and not easily measured, is surely
of predominant importance.
38. It may be said in all truth that the Church,
like Christ, goes through the centuries doing good to all. There
would be today neither Socialism nor Communism if the rulers of
the nations had not scorned the teachings and maternal warnings
of the Church. On the bases of liberalism and laicism they wished
to build other social edifices which, powerful and imposing as
they seemed at first, all too soon revealed the weakness of their
foundations, and today are crumbling one after another before
our eyes, as everything must crumble that is not grounded on the
one corner stone which is Christ Jesus.
39. This, Venerable Brethren, is the doctrine
of the Church, which alone in the social as in all other fields
can offer real light and assure salvation in the face of Communistic
ideology. But this doctrine must be consistently reduced to practice
in every-day life, according to the admonition of St. .James the
Apostle: "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves."[21] The most urgent need of the present
day is therefore the energetic and timely application of remedies
which will effectively ward off the catastrophe that daily grows
more threatening. We cherish the firm hope that the fanaticism
with which the sons of darkness work day and night at their materialistic
and atheistic propaganda will at least serve the holy purpose
of stimulating the sons of light to a like and even greater zeal
for the honor of the Divine Majesty.
40. What then must be done, what remedies must
be employed to defend Christ and Christian civilization from this
pernicious enemy? As a father in the midst of his family, We should
like to speak quite intimately of those duties which the great
struggle of our day imposes on all the children of the Church;
and We would address Our paternal admonition even to those sons
who have strayed far from her.
41. As in all the stormy periods of the history
of the Church, the fundamental remedy today lies in a sincere
renewal of private and public life according to the principles
of the Gospel by all those who belong to the Fold of Christ, that
they may be in truth the salt of the earth to preserve human society
from total corruption.
42. With heart deeply grateful to the Father
of Light, from Whom descends "every best gift and every perfect
gift,"[22] We see on all sides consoling signs of this spiritual
renewal. We see it not only in so many singularly chosen souls
who in these last years have been elevated to the sublime heights
of sanctity, and in so many others who with generous hearts are
making their way towards the same luminous goal, but also in the
new flowering of a deep and practical piety in all classes of
society even the most cultured, as We pointed out in Our recent
Motu Proprio In multis solaciis of October 28 last, on the occasion
of the reorganization of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.[23]
43. Nevertheless We cannot deny that there is
still much to be done in the way of spiritual renovation. Even
in Catholic countries there are still too many who are Catholics
hardly more than in name. There are too many who fulfill more
or less faithfully the more essential obligations of the religion
they boast of professing, but have no desire of knowing it better,
of deepening their inward conviction, and still less of bringing
into conformity with the external gloss the inner splendor of
a right and unsullied conscience, that recognizes and performs
all its duties under the eye of God. We know how much Our Divine
Savior detested this empty pharisaic show, He Who wished that
all should adore the Father "in spirit and in truth."[24]
The Catholic who does not live really and sincerely according
to the Faith he professes will not long be master of himself in
these days when the winds of strife and persecution blow so fiercely,
but will be swept away defenseless in this new deluge which threatens
the world. And thus, while he is preparing his own ruin, he is
exposing to ridicule the very name of Christian.
44. And here We wish, Venerable Brethren, to
insist more particularly on two teachings of Our Lord which have
a special bearing on the present condition of the human race:
detachment from earthly goods and the precept of charity. "Blessed
are the poor in spirit" were the first words that fell from
the lips of the Divine Master in His sermon on the mount.[25]
This lesson is more than ever necessary in these days of materialism
athirst for the goods and pleasures of this earth. All Christians,
rich or poor, must keep their eye fixed on heaven, remembering
that "we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that
is to come."[26] The rich should not place their happiness
in things of earth nor spend their best efforts in the acquisition
of them. Rather, considering themselves only as stewards of their
earthly goods, let them be mindful of the account they must render
of them to their Lord and Master, and value them as precious means
that God has put into their hands for doing good; let them not
fail, besides, to distribute of their abundance to the poor, according
to the evangelical precept.[27] Otherwise there shall be verified
of them and their riches the harsh condemnation of St. James the
Apostle: "Go to now, ye rich men; weep and howl in your miseries
which shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your
garments are moth-eaten; your gold and silver is cankered; and
the rust of them shall be for a testimony against you and shall
eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up to yourselves wrath
against the last days. . ."[28]
45. But the poor too, in their turn, while engaged,
according to the laws of charity and justice, in acquiring the
necessities of life and also in bettering their condition, should
always remain "poor in spirit,"[29] and hold spiritual
goods in higher esteem than earthly property and pleasures. Let
them remember that the world will never be able to rid itself
of misery, sorrow and tribulation, which are the portion even
of those who seem most prosperous. Patience, therefore, is the
need of all, that Christian patience which comforts the heart
with the divine assurance of eternal happiness. "Be patient,
therefore, brethren," we repeat with St. .lames, "until
the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth, patiently bearing until he receive
the early and the later rain. Be you therefore also patient and
strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."[30]
Only thus will be fulfilled the consoling promise of the Lord:
"Blessed are the poor!" These words are no vain consolation,
a promise as empty as those of the Communists. They are the words
of life, pregnant with a sovereign reality. They are fully verified
here on earth, as well as in eternity. Indeed, how many of the
poor, in anticipation of the Kingdom of Heaven already proclaimed
their own: "for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven,"[31]
find in these words a happiness which so many of the wealthy,
uneasy with their riches and ever thirsting for more, look for
in vain!
46. Still more important as a remedy for the
evil we are considering, or certainly more directly calculated
to cure it, is the precept of charity. We have in mind that Christian
charity, "patient and kind,"[32] which avoids all semblance
of demeaning paternalism, and all ostentation; that charity which
from the very beginning of Christianity won to Christ the poorest
of the poor, the slaves. And We are grateful to all those members
of charitable associations, from the conferences of St. Vincent
de Paul to the recent great relief organizations, which are perseveringly
practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The more
the working men and the poor realize what the spirit of love animated
by the virtue of Christ is doing for them, the more readily will
they abandon the false persuasion that Christianity has lost its
efficacy and that the Church stands on the side of the exploiters
of their labor.
47. But when on the one hand We see thousands
of the needy, victims of real misery for various reasons beyond
their control, and on the other so many round about them who spend
huge sums of money on useless things and frivolous amusement,
We cannot fail to remark with sorrow not only that justice is
poorly observed, but that the precept of charity also is not sufficiently
appreciated, is not a vital thing in daily life. We desire therefore,
Venerable Brethren, that this divine precept, this precious mark
of identification left by Christ to His true disciples, be ever
more fully explained by pen and word of mouth; this precept which
teaches us to see in those who suffer Christ Himself, and would
have us love our brothers as Our Divine Savior has loved us, that
is, even at the sacrifice of ourselves, and, if need be, of our
very life. Let all then frequently meditate on those words of
the final sentence, so consoling yet so terrifying, which the
Supreme Judge will pronounce on the day of the Last Judgment:
"Come, ye blessed of my Father . . . for I was hungry and
you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink . .
. Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my
least brethren you did it to me."[33] And the reverse: "Depart
from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire . . . for I was hungry
and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me not
to drink . . . Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it not to
one of these least. neither did you do it to me."[34]
48. To be sure of eternal life, therefore, and
to be able to help the poor effectively, it is imperative to return
to a more moderate way of life, to renounce the joys, often sinful,
which the world today holds out in such abundance; to forget self
for love of the neighbor. There is a divine regenerating force
in this "new precept" (as Christ called it) of Christian
charity.[35] Its faithful observance will pour into the heart
an inner peace which the world knows not, and will finally cure
the ills which oppress humanity.
49. But charity will never be true charity unless
it takes justice into constant account. The Apostle teaches that
"he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law"
and he gives the reason: "For, Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal . . . and if there be
any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself."[36] According to the Apostle,
then, all the commandments, including those which are of strict
justice, as those which forbid us to kill or to steal, may be
reduced to the single precept of true charity. From this it follows
that a "charity" which deprives the workingman of the
salary to which he has a strict title in justice, is not charity
at all, but only its empty name and hollow semblance. The wage-earner
is not to receive as alms what is his due in justice. And let
no one attempt with trifling charitable donations to exempt himself
from the great duties imposed by justice. Both justice and charity
often dictate obligations touching on the same subject-matter,
but under different aspects; and the very dignity of the workingman
makes him justly and acutely sensitive to the duties of others
in his regard.
50. Therefore We turn again in a special way
to you, Christian employers and industrialists, whose problem
is often so difficult for the reason that you are saddled with
the heavy heritage of an unjust economic regime whose ruinous
influence has been felt through many generations. We bid you be
mindful of your responsibility. It is unfortunately true that
the manner of acting in certain Catholic circles has done much
to shake the faith of the working-classes in the religion of Jesus
Christ. These groups have refused to understand that Christian
charity demands the recognition of certain rights due to the workingman,
which the Church has explicitly acknowledged. What is to be thought
of the action of those Catholic employers who in one place succeeded
in preventing the reading of Our Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno
in their local churches? Or of those Catholic industrialists who
even to this day have shown themselves hostile to a labor movement
that We Ourselves recommended? Is it not deplorable that the right
of private property defended by the Church should so often have
been used as a weapon to defraud the workingman of his just salary
and his social rights?
51. In reality, besides commutative justice,
there is also social justice with its own set obligations, from
which neither employers nor workingmen can escape. Now it is of
the very essence of social justice to demand for each individual
all that is necessary for the common good. But just as in the
living organism it is impossible to provide for the good of the
whole unless each single part and each individual member is given
what it needs for the exercise of its proper functions, so it
is impossible to care for the social organism and the good of
society as a unit unless each single part and each individual
member - that is to say, each individual man in the dignity of
his human personality - is supplied with all that is necessary
for the exercise of his social functions. If social justice be
satisfied, the result will be an intense activity in economic
life as a whole, pursued in tranquillity and order. This activity
will be proof of the health of the social body, just as the health
of the human body is recognized in the undisturbed regularity
and perfect efficiency of the whole organism.
52. But social justice cannot be said to have
been satisfied as long as workingmen are denied a salary that
will enable them to secure proper sustenance for themselves and
for their families; as long as they are denied the opportunity
of acquiring a modest fortune and forestalling the plague of universal
pauperism; as long as they cannot make suitable provision through
public or private insurance for old age, for periods of illness
and unemployment. In a word, to repeat what has been said in Our
Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno: "Then only will the economic
and social order be soundly established and attain its ends, when
it offers, to all and to each, all those goods which the wealth
and resources of nature, technical science and the corporate organization
of social affairs can give. These goods should be sufficient to
supply all necessities and reasonable comforts, and to uplift
men to that higher standard of life which, provided it be used
with prudence, is not only not a hindrance but is of singular
help to virtue."[37]
53. It happens all too frequently, however, under
the salary system, that individual employers are helpless to ensure
justice unless, with a view to its practice, they organize institutions
the object of which is to prevent competition incompatible with
fair treatment for the workers. Where this is true, it is the
duty of contractors and employers to support and promote such
necessary organizations as normal instruments enabling them to
fulfill their obligations of justice. But the laborers too must
be mindful of their duty to love and deal fairly with their employers,
and persuade themselves that there is no better means of safeguarding
their own interests.
54. If, therefore, We consider the whole structure
of economic life, as We have already pointed out in Our Encyclical
Quadragesimo Anno, the reign of mutual collaboration between justice
and charity in social-economic relations can only be achieved
by a body of professional and inter professional organizations,
built on solidly Christian foundations, working together to effect,
under forms adapted to different places and circumstances, what
has been called the Corporation.
55. To give to this social activity a greater
efficacy, it is necessary to promote a wider study of social problems
in the light of the doctrine of the Church and under the aegis
of her constituted authority. If the manner of acting of some
Catholics in the social-economic field has left much to be desired,
this has often come about because they have not known and pondered
sufficiently the teachings of the Sovereign Pontiffs on these
questions. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to foster
in all classes of society an intensive program of social education
adapted to the varying degrees of intellectual culture. It is
necessary with all care and diligence to procure the widest possible
diffusion of the teachings of the Church, even among the working-classes.
The minds of men must be illuminated with the sure light of Catholic
teaching, and their wills must be drawn to follow and apply it
as the norm of right living in the conscientious fulfillment of
their manifold social duties. Thus they will oppose that incoherence
and discontinuity in Christian life which We have many times lamented.
For there are some who, while exteriorly faithful to the practice
of their religion, yet in the field of labor and industry, in
the professions, trade and business, permit a deplorable cleavage
in their conscience, and live a life too little in conformity
with the clear principles of justice and Christian charity. Such
lives are a scandal to the weak, and to the malicious a pretext
to discredit the Church.
56. In this renewal the Catholic Press can play
a prominent part. Its foremost duty is to foster in various attractive
ways an ever better understanding of social doctrine. It should,
too, supply accurate and complete information on the activity
of the enemy and the means of resistance which have been found
most effective in various quarters. It should offer useful suggestions
and warn against the insidious deceits with which Communists endeavor,
all too successfully, to attract even men of good faith.
57. On this point We have already insisted in
Our Allocution of May 12th of last year, but We believe it to
be a duty of special urgency, Venerable Brethren, to call your
attention to it once again. In the beginning Communism showed
itself for what it was in all its perversity; but very soon it
realized that it was thus alienating the people. It has therefore
changed its tactics, and strives to entice the multitudes by trickery
of various forms, hiding its real designs behind ideas that in
themselves are good and attractive. Thus, aware of the universal
desire for peace, the leaders of Communism pretend to be the most
zealous promoters and propagandists in the movement for world
amity. Yet at the same time they stir up a class-warfare which
causes rivers of blood to flow, and, realizing that their system
offers no internal guarantee of peace, they have recourse to unlimited
armaments. Under various names which do not suggest Communism,
they establish organizations and periodicals with the sole purpose
of carrying their ideas into quarters otherwise inaccessible.
They try perfidiously to worm their way even into professedly
Catholic and religious organizations. Again, without receding
an inch from their subversive principles, they invite Catholics
to collaborate with them in the realm of so-called humanitarianism
and charity; and at times even make proposals that are in perfect
harmony with the Christian spirit and the doctrine of the Church.
Elsewhere they carry their hypocrisy so far as to encourage the
belief that Communism, in countries where faith and culture are
more strongly entrenched, will assume another and much milder
form. It will not interfere with the practice of religion. It
will respect liberty of conscience. There are some even who refer
to certain changes recently introduced into soviet legislation
as a proof that Communism is about to abandon its program of war
against God.
58. See to it, Venerable Brethren, that the Faithful
do not allow themselves to be deceived! Communism is intrinsically
wrong, and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate
with it in any undertaking whatsoever. Those who permit themselves
to be deceived into lending their aid towards the triumph of Communism
in their own country, will be the first to fall victims of their
error. And the greater the antiquity and grandeur of the Christian
civilization in the regions where Communism successfully penetrates,
so much more devastating will be the hatred displayed by the godless.
59. But "unless the Lord keep the city,
he watcheth in vain that keepeth it."[38] And so, as a final
and most efficacious remedy, We recommend, Venerable Brethren,
that in your dioceses you use the most practical means to foster
and intensify the spirit of prayer joined with Christian penance.
When the Apostles asked the Savior why they had been unable to
drive the evil spirit from a demoniac, Our Lord answered: "This
kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting."[39] So,
too, the evil which today torments humanity can be conquered only
by a world-wide crusade of prayer and penance. We ask especially
the Contemplative Orders, men and women, to redouble their prayers
and sacrifices to obtain from heaven efficacious aid for the Church
in the present struggle. Let them implore also the powerful intercession
of the Immaculate Virgin who, having crushed the head of the serpent
of old, remains the sure protectress and invincible "Help
of Christians."
60. To apply the remedies thus briefly indicated
to the task of saving the world as We have traced it above, Jesus
Christ, our Divine King, has chosen priests as the first-line
ministers and messengers of His gospel. Theirs is the duty, assigned
to them by a special vocation, under the direction of their Bishops
and in filial obedience to the Vicar of Christ on earth, of keeping
alight in the world the torch of Faith, and of filling the hearts
of the Faithful with that supernatural trust which has aided the
Church to fight and win so many other battles in the name of Christ:
"This is the victory which overcometh the world, our Faith."[40]
61. To priests in a special way We recommend
anew the oft-repeated counsel of Our Predecessor, Leo XIII, to
go to the workingman. We make this advice Our own, and faithful
to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church, We thus complete
it: "Go to the workingman, especially where he is poor; and
in general, go to the poor." The poor are obviously more
exposed than others to the wiles of agitators who, taking advantage
of their extreme need, kindle their hearts to envy of the rich
and urge them to seize by force what fortune seems to have denied
them unjustly. If the priest will not go to the workingman and
to the poor, to warn them or to disabuse them of prejudice and
false theory, they will become an easy prey for the apostles of
Communism .
62. Indisputably much has been done in this direction,
especially after the publication of the Encyclicals Rerum Novarum
and Quadragesimo Anno. We are happy to voice Our paternal approval
of the zealous pastoral activity manifested by so many Bishops
and priests who have with due prudence and caution been planning
and applying new methods of apostolate more adapted to modern
needs. But for the solution of our present problem, all this effort
is still inadequate. When our country is in danger, everything
not strictly necessary, everything not bearing directly on the
urgent matter of unified defense, takes second place. So we must
act in today's crisis. Every other enterprise, however attractive
and helpful, must yield before the vital need of protecting the
very foundation of the Faith and of Christian civilization. Let
our parish priest, therefore, while providing of course for the
normal needs of the Faithful, dedicate the better part of their
endeavors and their zeal to winning back the laboring masses to
Christ and to His Church. Let them work to infuse the Christian
spirit into quarters where it is least at home. The willing response
of the masses, and results far exceeding their expectations, will
not fail to reward them for their strenuous pioneer labor. This
has been and continues to be our experience in Rome and in other
capitals, where zealous parish communities are being formed as
new churches are built in the suburban districts, and real miracles
are being worked in the conversion of people whose hostility to
religion has been due solely to the fact that they did not know
it.
63. But the most efficacious means of apostolate
among the poor and lowly is the priest's example, the practice
of all those sacerdotal virtues which We have described in Our
Encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii.[41] Especially needful, however,
for the present situation is the shining example of a life which
is humble, poor and disinterested, in imitation of a Divine Master
Who could say to the world with divine simplicity: "The foxes
have holes and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man
hath not where to lay His head."[42] A priest who is really
poor and disinterested in the Gospel sense may work among his
flock marvels recalling a Saint Vincent de Paul, a Cure of Ars,
a Cottolengo, a Don Bosco and so many others; while an avaricious
and selfish priest, as We have noted in the above mentioned Encyclical,
even though he should not plunge with Judas to the abyss of treason,
will never be more than empty "sounding brass" and useless
"tinkling cymbal."[43] Too often, indeed, he will be
a hindrance rather than an instrument of grace in the midst of
his people. Furthermore, where a secular priest or religious is
obliged by his office to administer temporal property, let him
remember that he is not only to observe scrupulously all that
charity and justice prescribe, but that he has a special obligation
to conduct himself in very truth as a father of the poor.
64. After this appeal to the clergy, We extend
Our paternal invitation to Our beloved sons among the laity who
are doing battle in the ranks of Catholic Action. On another occasion[44]
We have called this movement so dear to Our heart "a particularly
providential assistance" in the work of the Church during
these troublous times. Catholic Action is in effect a social apostolate
also, inasmuch as its object is to spread the Kingdom of Jesus
Christ not only among individuals, but also in families and in
society. It must, therefore, make it a chief aim to train its
members with special care and to prepare them to fight the battles
of the Lord. This task of formation, now more urgent and indispensable
than ever, which must always precede direct action in the field,
will assuredly be served by study-circles, conferences, lecture-courses
and the various other activities undertaken with a view to making
known the Christian solution of the social problem.
65. The militant leaders of Catholic Action thus
properly prepared and armed, will be the first and immediate apostles
of their fellow workmen. They will be an invaluable aid to the
priest in carrying the torch of truth, and in relieving grave
spiritual and material suffering, in many sectors where inveterate
anti-clerical prejudice or deplorable religious indifference has
proved a constant obstacle to the pastoral activity of God's ministers.
In this way they will collaborate, under the direction of especially
qualified priests, in that work of spiritual aid to the laboring
classes on which We set so much store, because it is the means
best calculated to save these, Our beloved children, from the
snares of Communism.
66. In addition to this individual apostolate
which, however useful and efficacious, often goes unheralded,
Catholic Action must organize propaganda on a large scale to disseminate
knowledge of the fundamental principles on which, according to
the Pontifical documents, a Christian .Social Order must build.
67. Ranged with Catholic Action are the groups
which We have been happy to call its auxiliary forces. With paternal
affection We exhort these valuable organizations also tO dedicate
themselves to the great mission of which We have been treating,
a cause which today transcends all others in vital importance.
68. We are thinking likewise of those associations
of workmen, farmers, technicians, doctors, employers, students
and others of like character, groups of men and women who live
in the same cultural atmosphere and share the same way of life.
Precisely these groups and organizations are destined to introduce
into society that order which We have envisaged in Our Encyclical
Quadragesimo Anno, and thus to spread in the vast and various
fields of culture and labor the recognition of the Kingdom of
Christ.
69. Even where the State, because of changed
social and economic conditions, has felt obliged to intervene
directly in order to aid and regulate such organizations by special
legislative enactments, supposing always the necessary respect
for liberty and private initiative, Catholic Action may not urge
the circumstance as an excuse for abandoning the field. Its members
should contribute prudently and intelligently to the study of
the problems of the hour in the light of Catholic doctrine. They
should loyally and generously participate in the formation of
the new institutions, bringing to them the Christian spirit which
is the basic principle of order wherever men work together in
fraternal harmony.
70. Here We should like to address a particularly
affectionate word to Our Catholic workingmen, young and old. They
have been given, perhaps as a reward for their often heroic fidelity
in these trying days, a noble and an arduous mission. Under the
guidance of their Bishops and priests, they are to bring back
to the Church and to God those immense multitudes of their brother-workmen
who, because they were not understood or treated with the respect
to which they were entitled, in bitterness have strayed far from
God. Let Catholic workingmen show these their wandering brethren
by word and example that the Church is a tender Mother to all
those who labor and suffer, and that she has never failed, and
never will fail, in her sacred maternal duty of protecting her
children. If this mission, which must be fulfilled in mines, in
factories, in shops, wherever they may be laboring, should at
times require great sacrifices, Our workmen will remember that
the Savior of the world has given them an example not only of
toil but of self immolation.
71. To all Our children, finally, of every social
rank and every nation, to every religious and lay organization
in the Church, We make another and more urgent appeal for union.
Many times Our paternal heart has been saddened by the divergencies
- often idle in their causes, always tragic in their consequences
- which array in opposing camps the sons of the same Mother Church.
Thus it is that the radicals, who are not so very numerous, profiting
by this discord are able to make it more acute, and end by pitting
Catholics one against the other. In view of the events of the
past few months, Our warning must seem superfluous. We repeat
it nevertheless once more, for those who have not understood,
or perhaps do not desire to understand. Those who make a practice
of spreading dissension among Catholics assume a terrible responsibility
before God and the Church.
72. But in this battle joined by the powers of
darkness against the very idea of Divinity, it is Our fond hope
that, besides the host which glories in the name of Christ, all
those - and they comprise the overwhelming majority of mankind,
- who still believe in God and pay Him homage may take a decisive
part. We therefore renew the invitation extended to them five
years ago in Our Encyclical Caritate Christi, invoking their loyal
and hearty collaboration "in order to ward off from mankind
the great danger that threatens all alike." Since, as We
then said, "belief in God is the unshakable foundation of
all social order and of all responsibility on earth, it follows
that all those who do not want anarchy and terrorism ought to
take energetic steps to prevent the enemies of religion from attaining
the goal they have so brazenly proclaimed to the world."[45]
73. Such is the positive task, embracing at once
theory and practice, which the Church undertakes in virtue of
the mission, confided to her by Christ, of constructing a Christian
society, and, in our own times, of resisting unto victory the
attacks of Communism. It is the duty of the Christian State to
concur actively in this spiritual enterprise of the Church, aiding
her with the means at its command, which although they be external
devices, have nonetheless for their prime object the good of souls.
74. This means that all diligence should be exercised
by States to prevent within their territories the ravages of an
anti-God campaign which shakes society to its very foundations.
For there can be no authority on earth unless the authority of
the Divine Majesty be recognized; no oath will bind which is not
sworn in the Name of the Living God. We repeat what We have said
with frequent insistence in the past, especially in Our Encyclical
Caritate Christi: "How can any contract be maintained, and
what value can any treaty have, in which every guarantee of conscience
is lacking? And how can there be talk of guarantees of conscience
when all faith in God and all fear of God have vanished? Take
away this basis, and with it all moral law falls, and there is
no remedy left to stop the gradual but inevitable destruction
of peoples, families, the State, civilization itself."[46]
75. It must likewise be the special care of the
State to create those material conditions of life without which
an orderly society cannot exist. The State must take every measure
necessary to supply employment, particularly for the heads of
families and for the young. To achieve this end demanded by the
pressing needs of the common welfare, the wealthy classes must
be induced to assume those burdens without which human society
cannot be saved nor they themselves remain secure. However, measures
taken by the State with this end in view ought to be of such a
nature that they will really affect those who actually possess
more than their share of capital resources, and who continue to
accumulate them to the grievous detriment of others.
76. The State itself, mindful of its responsibility
before God and society, should be a model of prudence and sobriety
in the administration of the commonwealth. Today more than ever
the acute world crisis demands that those who dispose of immense
funds, built up on the sweat and toil of millions, keep constantly
and singly in mind the common good. State functionaries and all
employees are obliged in conscience to perform their duties faithfully
and unselfishly, imitating the brilliant example of distinguished
men of the past and of our own day, who with unremitting labor
sacrificed their all for the good of their country. In international
trade-relations let all means be sedulously employed for the removal
of those artificial barriers to economic life which are the effects
of distrust and hatred. All must remember that the peoples of
the earth form but one family in God.
77. At the same time the State must allow the
Church full liberty to fulfill her divine and spiritual mission,
and this in itself will be an effectual contribution to the rescue
of nations from the dread torment of the present hour. Everywhere
today there is an anxious appeal to moral and spiritual forces;
and rightly so, for the evil we must combat is at its origin primarily
an evil of the spiritual order. From this polluted source the
monstrous emanations of the communistic system flow with satanic
logic. Now, the Catholic Church is undoubtedly preeminent among
the moral and religious forces of today. Therefore the very good
of humanity demands that her work be allowed to proceed unhindered.
78. Those who act otherwise, and at the same
time fondly pretend to attain their objective with purely political
or economic means, are in the grip of a dangerous error. When
religion is banished from the school, from education and from
public life, when the representatives of Christianity and its
sacred rites are held up to ridicule, are we not really fostering
the materialism which is the fertile soil of Communism.? Neither
force, however well organized it be, nor earthly ideals however
lofty or noble, can control a movement whose roots lie in the
excessive esteem for the goods of this world.
79. We trust that those rulers of nations, who
are at all aware of the extreme danger threatening every people
today, may be more and more convinced of their supreme duty not
to hinder the Church in the fulfillment of her mission. This is
the more imperative since, while this mission has in view man's
happiness in heaven, it cannot but promote his true felicity in
time.
80. We cannot conclude this Encyclical Letter
without addressing some words to those of Our children who are
more or less tainted with the Communist plague. We earnestly exhort
them to hear the voice of their loving Father. We pray the Lord
to enlighten them that they may abandon the slippery path which
will precipitate one and all to ruin and catastrophe, and that
they recognize that Jesus Christ, Our Lord, is their only Savior:
"For there is no other name under heaven given to man, whereby
we must be saved."[47]
81. To hasten the advent of that "peace
of Christ in the kingdom of Christ"[48] so ardently desired
by all, We place the vast campaign of the Church against world
Communism under the standard of St. Joseph, her mighty Protector.
He belongs to the working-class, and he bore the burdens of poverty
for himself and the Holy Family, whose tender and vigilant head
he was. To him was entrusted the Divine Child when Herod loosed
his assassins against Him. In a life of faithful performance of
everyday duties, he left an example for all those who must gain
their bread by the toil of their hands. He won for himself the
title of "The Just," serving thus as a living model
of that Christian justice which should reign in social life.
82. With eyes lifted on high, our Faith sees
the new heavens and the new earth described by Our first Predecessor,
St. Peter.[49] While the promises of the false prophets of this
earth melt away in blood and tears, the great apocalyptic prophecy
of the Redeemer shines forth in heavenly splendor: "Behold,
I make all things new."[50] Venerable Brethren, nothing remains
but to raise Our paternal hands to call down upon you, upon your
clergy and people, upon the whole Catholic family, the Apostolic
Benediction.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, on the feast of
St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church, on the 19th of March,
1937, the 16th year of our Pontificate.
PIUS XI
________________________________________
1. Encycl. Qui Pluribus, Nov. 9, 1864 (Acta Pii IX, Vol I, p.
13). Cf. Syllabus, IV, (A.S.S., vol. III, p. 170).
2. Encycl. Quod Apostolici Muneris, Dec. 28, 1928 (Acta Leonis
XII, Vol. 1, p. 46).
3. Dec. 18, 1924: A.A.S., Vol. XVI (1924), pp. 494-495.
4. May 8, 1928: A.A.S., Vol. XX (1928), pp. 165-178.
5. May 15, 1931: A.A.S., Vol. XXIII (1931), pp. 177-228.
6. May 3, 1932: A.A.S., Vol. XXIV (1932), pp. 177-194.
7. Sept. 29, 1932: A.A.S., Vol. XXIV (1932), pp. 321-332.
8. June 3, 1933: A.A.S., Vol. XXV (1933), pp. 261-274.
9. Cf. Thessalonians, II, 4.
10. Encycl. Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 31, 1929 (A.A.S., Vol.
XXII, 1930 pp. 47-86).
11. Encycl. Casti Connubii, Dec. 31, 1930 (A.A.S., Vol. XX- II,
1930, pp. 539-592).
12. I Corinthians, III, 23.
13. Encycl. Rerum Novarum, May 15, 1891 (Acta Leonis XIII Vol.
IV, pp. 177-209).
14. Encycl. Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931 (A.A.S., Vol. XXIII,
1931, pp. 177-228).
15. Encycl. Diuturnum Illud, June 20, 1881 (Acta Leonis XIII,
Vol. I, . 210-22).
16. Encycl. Immortale Dei, Nov. 1, 1885 (Acta Leonis XIII, Vol.
II, pp. 146-168).
17. St. Luke, 11, 14.
18. St. Matthew, VI, 33.
19. Cf. St. Matthew, XIII, 55: St. Mark, Vl, 3.
20. Cicero, De Officiis, Bk. I, c. 42.
21. St. James, I, 22.
22. St. James, I, 17.
23. A.A.S., vol. XXVIII (1936); pp. 421424.
24. St. John, IV, 23.
25. St. Matthew, V, 3.
26. Hebrews, XIII, 14.
27. St. Luke, Xl, 41.
28. St. James, V, 1-3.
29. St. Matthew, V, 3.
30. St. James, V, 7, 8.
31. St. Luke, VI, 20.
32. I Corinthians, XIII, 4.
33. St. Matthew, XXV, 34-40.
34. St. Matthew, XXV, 41-45.
35. St. John, XIII, 34.
36. Romans, XIII, 8, 9.
37. Encycl. Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931 (A.A.S., Vol. XXIII,
1931, p. 202).
38. Psalms, CXXVI, 1.
39. St. Matthew, XVII, 20
40. I Epist. St. John, V, 4.
41 Dec. 20, 1935, A.A.S., vol. XXVIII (1936), pp. 5-53. 42. St.
Matthew, VIII, 20.
43. I Corinthians, XIII, 1.
44. May 12, 1936.
45. Encycl. Caritate Christi, May 3, 1932 (A.A.S., vol. XXIV,
p. 184).
46. Encycl. Caritate Christi, May 3, 1932 (A.A.S., vol. XX-IV,
1932, p. 190).
47. Acts, IV, 12.
48. Encycl. Ubi Arcano, Dec. 23, 1922 (A.A.S., Vol. XIV, 1922,p.691).
49. II Epist. St. Peter, III, 13; cf. Isaias, LXV, 17 and LXVI,
22; Apoc., XXI, 1.
50. Apoc. XXI, 5.
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