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Title: |
Dall'alto Dell'apostolico Seggio
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Descr.: |
On Freemasonry in Italy
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Pope: |
Pope Leo XIII
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Date: |
October 15, 1890
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To
the Bishops, the Clergy, and the People of Italy.
Venerable
Brethren and Beloved Children, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
From
the height of the Apostolic Throne, where Divine Providence has
placed Us to watch over the salvation of all nations, We look upon
Italy in whose bosom, by an act of singular predilection, God has
established the See of His Vicar, and from which come to Us at the
present time many and most bitter sorrows. It is not any personal
offense that saddens Us, nor the privations and sacrifices imposed
upon Us by the present condition of things, nor the outrages and
scoffs which an insolent press has full power to hurl every day
against Us. If only Our person were concerned, and not the ruin to
which Italy threatened in its faith is hastening, We should bear
these offenses without complaint, rejoicing even to repeat what
one of Our most illustrious Predecessors said of himself: "If
the captivity of my country did not every moment for each day
increase, as to the contempt and scorn of myself I should joyfully
be silent"(1). But, besides the independence and dignity of
the Holy See, the religion itself and the salvation of a whole
nation are concerned, of a nation which from the earliest times
opened its bosom to the Catholic Faith and has ever jealously
preserved it. Incredible it seems, but it is true; to such a pass
have we come, that we have to fear for this Italy of ours the loss
even of the faith. Many times have We sounded the alarm, to give
warning of the danger; but We do not therefore think that We have
done enough. In face of the continued and fiercer assaults that
are made, We hear the voice of duty calling upon Us more
powerfully than before to speak to you again, Venerable Brethren,
to your clergy, and to the whole Italian people. As the enemy
makes no truce, so neither you nor We must remain silent or inert.
By the Divine mercy We have been constituted guardians and
defenders of the religion of the people entrusted to Our care,
Pastors and watchful sentinels of the flock of Christ; and for
this flock We must be ready, if need be, to sacrifice everything,
even life itself.
2.
We shall not say anything new; for facts have not changed from
what they were, and We have had at other times to speak of them
when occasion was given. But We now intend to recapitulate these
facts in some way, and to group them into one picture, so as to
draw out for general instruction the consequences which flow from
them. The facts are incontestable which have happened in the clear
light of day; not separated one from another, but so connected
together as in their series to reveal with fullest evidence a
system of which they are the actual operation and development. The
system is not new; but the audacity, the fury, and the rapidity
with which it is now carried out, are new. It is the plan of the
sects that is now unfolding itself in Italy, especially in what
relates to the Catholic religion and the Church, with the final
and avowed purpose, if it were possible, of reducing it to
nothing. It is needless now to put the Masonic sects upon
trial. They are already judged; their ends, their means, their
doctrines, and their action, are all known with indisputable
certainty. Possessed by the spirit of Satan, whose instrument they
are, they burn like him with a deadly and implacable hatred of
Jesus Christ and of His work; and they endeavor by every means to
overthrow and fetter it. This war is at present waged more than
elsewhere in Italy, in which the Catholic religion has taken
deeper root; and above all in Rome, the center of Catholic unity,
and the See of the Universal Pastor and Teacher of the Church.
3.
It is well to trace from the beginning the different phases of
this warfare.
4.
The war began by the overthrow of the civil power of the Popes,
the downfall of which, according to the secret intentions of the
real leaders, afterwards openly avowed, was, under a political
pretext, to be the means of enslaving at least, if not of
destroying the supreme spiritual power of the Roman Pontiffs. That
no doubt might remain as to the true object of this warfare, there
followed quickly the suppression of the Religious Orders; and
thereby a great reduction in the number of evangelical laborers
for the propagation of the faith amongst the heathens, and for the
sacred ministry and religious service of Catholic countries.
Later, the obligation of military service was extended to
ecclesiastics, with the necessary result that many and grave
obstacles were put to the recruiting and due formation even of the
secular clergy. Hands were laid upon ecclesiastical property,
partly by absolute confiscation, and partly by charging it with
enormous burdens, so as to impoverish the clergy and the Church,
and to deprive the Church of what is necessary for its temporal
support and for carrying on institutions and works in aid of its
divine apostolate. This the sectaries themselves have openly
declared. To lessen the influence of the clergy and of clerical
bodies, one only efficacious means must be employed: to strip them
of all their goods, and to reduce them to absolute poverty. So also
the action of the State is of itself all directed to efface from
the nation its religious and Christian character. From the laws,
and from the whole of official life, every religious inspiration
and idea is systematically banished, when not directly assailed.
Every public manifestation of faith and of Catholic piety is
either forbidden or, under vain pretenses, in a thousand ways
impeded. From the family are taken away its foundation and
religious constitution by the proclaiming of civil marriage, as it
is called; and also by the entirely lay education which is now
demanded, from the first elements to the higher teaching of the
universities, so that the rising generations, as far as this can
be effected by the State, have to grow up without any idea of
religion, and without the first essential notions of their duties
towards God. This is to put the axe to the root. No more universal
and efficacious means could be imagined of withdrawing society,
and families, and individuals, from the influence of the Church
and of the faith. To lay clericalism (or Catholicism) waste in its
foundations and in its very sources of life, namely, in the school
and in the family: such is the authentic declaration of Masonic
writers.
5.
It will be said that this does not happen in Italy only, but is a
system of government which States generally follow. We answer,
that this does not refute, but confirms what We are saying as to
the designs and action of Freemasonry in Italy. Yes, this system
is adopted and carried out wherever Freemasonry uses its impious
and wicked action; and, as its action is widespread, so is this
anti-Christian system widely applied. But the application becomes
more speedy and general, and is pushed more to extremes, in
countries where the government is more under the control of the
sect and better promotes its interest. - Unfortunately, at the
present time the new Italy is of the number of these countries.
Not today only has it become subject to the wicked and evil
influence of the sects; but for some time past they have
tyrannized over it as they liked, with absolute dominion and
power. Here the direction of public affairs, in what concerns
religion, is wholly in conformity with the aspirations of the
sects; and for accomplishing their aspirations, they find avowed
supporters and ready instruments in those who hold the public
power. Laws adverse to the Church and measures hostile to it are
first proposed, decided, and resolved, in the secret meetings of
the sect; and if anything presents even the least appearance of
hostility or harm to the Church, it is at once received with favor
and put forward. Amongst the most recent facts We may mention the
approval of the new penal code, in which what was most obstinately
demanded, in spite of all reasons to the contrary, were the
articles against the clergy, which form for them an exceptional
law, and even condemn as criminal certain actions which are sacred
duties of their ministry. The law as to pious works, by which all
charitable property, accumulated by the piety and religion of our
ancestors under the protection and guardianship of the Church, was
withdrawn altogether from the Church's action and control, had
been for some years put forward in the meetings of the sect,
precisely because it would inflict a new outrage on the Church,
lessen its social influence, and suppress at once a great number
of bequests made for divine worship. Then came that eminently
sectarian work, the erection of the monument to the renowned
apostate of Nola, which, with the aid and favor of the government,
was promoted, determined, and carried out by means of Freemasonry,
whose most authorized spokesmen were not ashamed to acknowledge
its purpose and to declare its meaning. Its purpose was to insult
the Papacy; its meaning that, instead of the Catholic Faith, must
now be substituted the most absolute freedom of examination, of
criticism, of thought, and of conscience: and what is meant by
such language in the mouth of the sects is well known. The seal
was put by the most explicit declarations made by the head of the
government, which were to the following effect: - That the true
and real conflict, which the government has the merit of
understanding, is the conflict between faith and the Church on one
side and free examination and reason on the other. That the Church
may try to act as it has done before, to enchain anew reason and
free-thought, and to prevail; but the government in this conflict
declares itself openly in favor of reason as against faith, and
takes upon itself the task of making the Italian State the evident
expression of this reason and liberty: a sad task, which has just
now been boldly reaffirmed on a like occasion.
6.
In the light of such facts and such declarations as these, it is
more than ever clear that the ruling idea which, as far as
religion is concerned, controls the course of public affairs in
Italy, is the realization of the Masonic program. We see how much
has already been realized; we know how much still remains to be
done; and we can foresee with certainty that, so long as the
destinies of Italy are in the hands of sectarian rulers or of men
subject to the sects, the realization of the program will be
pressed on, more or less rapidly according to circumstances, unto
its complete development. The action of the sects is at present
directed to attain the following objects, according to the votes
and resolutions passed in their most important assemblies - votes
and resolutions inspired throughout by a deadly hatred of the
Church: The abolition in the schools of every kind of religious
instruction, and the founding of institutions in which even girls
are to be withdrawn from all clerical influence whatever it may be
- because the State, which ought to be absolutely atheistic, has
the inalienable right and duty to form the heart and the spirit of
its citizens, and no school should exist apart from its
inspiration and control; The rigorous application of all laws
now in force, which aim at securing the absolute independence of
civil society from clerical influence; The strict observance of
laws suppressing religious corporations, and the employment of
means to make them effectual; The regulation of all
ecclesiastical property, starting from the principle that its
ownership belongs to the State, and its administration to the
civil power; The exclusion of every Catholic or clerical element
from all public administrations, from pious works, hospitals, and
schools, from the councils which govern the destinies of the
country, from academic and other unions, from companies,
committees, and families - an exclusion from everything,
everywhere, and forever. Instead, the Masonic influence is to make
itself felt in all the circumstances of social life, and to become
master and controller of everything. Hereby the way will be
smoothed towards the abolition of the Papacy; Italy will thus be
free from its implacable and deadly enemy; and Rome, which in the
past was the center of universal Theocracy will in the future be
the center of universal secularization, whence the Magna Charta of
human liberty is to be proclaimed in the face of the whole world.
Such are the authentic declarations, aspirations, and resolutions,
of Freemasons or of their assemblies.
7.
Without exaggeration, this is the present condition and the future
prospect of religion in Italy. To shrink from seeing the gravity
of this would be a fatal error. To recognize it as it is, to
confront it with evangelical prudence and fortitude, to infer the
duties which it imposes on all Catholics, and upon us especially
who as Pastors have to watch over them and guide them to
salvation, is to enter into the views of Providence, to do a work
of wisdom and pastoral zeal. As far as We are concerned, the
Apostolic office lays upon Us the duty of protesting loudly once
more against all that has been done, is doing, or is attempted in
Italy to the harm of religion. Defending and guarding the sacred
rights of the Church and of the Pontificate, We openly repel and
denounce to the whole Catholic world the outrages which the Church
and the Pontificate are continually receiving, especially in Rome,
and which hamper Us in the government of the Catholic Church, and
add difficulty and indignity to Our condition. We are determined
not to omit anything on Our part which can serve to maintain the
faith lively and vigorous amidst the Italian people, and to
protect it against the assaults of its enemies. We, therefore,
make appeal, Venerable Brethren, to your zeal and your great love
for souls, in order that, possessed with a sense of the gravity of
the danger which they incur, you may apply the proper remedies and
do all you can to dispel this danger.
8.
No means must be neglected that are in your power. All the
resources of speech, every expedient in action, all the immense
treasures of help and grace which the Church places in your hands,
must be made use of, for the formation of a clergy learned and
full of the spirit of Jesus Christ, for the Christian education of
youth, for the extirpation of evil doctrines, for the defense of
Catholic truths, and for the maintenance of the Christian
character and spirit of family life.
9.
As to the Catholic people, before everything else it is necessary
that they should be instructed as to the true state of things in
Italy with regard to religion, the essentially religious character
of the conflict in Italy against the Pontiff, and the real object
constantly aimed at, so that they may see by the evidence of facts
the many ways in which their religion is conspired against, and
may be convinced of the risk they run of being robbed and spoiled
of the inestimable treasure of the faith. With this conviction in
their minds, and having at the same time a certainty that without
faith it is impossible to please God and to be saved, they will
understand that what is now at stake is the greatest, not to say
the only interest, which every one on earth is bound before all
things, at the cost of any sacrifice, to put out of danger, under
penalty of everlasting misery. They will, moreover, easily
understand that, in this time of open and raging conflict, it
would be disgraceful for them to desert the field and hide
themselves. Their duty is to remain at their post, and openly to
show themselves to be true Catholics by their belief and by
actions in conformity with their faith. This they must do for the
honor of their faith, and the glory of the Sovereign Leader whose
banner they follow; and that they may escape that great misfortune
of being disowned at the last day, and of not being recognized as
His by the Supreme Judge who has declared that whosoever is not
with Him is against Him. Without ostentation or timidity, let them
give proof of that true courage which arises from the
consciousness of fulfilling a sacred duty before God and men. To
this frank profession of faith Catholics must unite a perfect
docility and filial love towards the Church, a sincere respect for
their Bishops, and an absolute devotion and obedience to the Roman
Pontiff. In a word, they will recognize how necessary it is to
cease from everything that is the work of the sects, or that
receives impulse or favor from them, as being undoubtedly infected
by the anti-Christian spirit; and they will, on the contrary,
devote themselves with activity, courage and constancy, to
Catholic works, and to the associations and institutions which the
Church has blessed, and which the Bishops and the Roman Pontiff
encourage and sustain. Moreover, seeing that the chief instrument
employed by our enemies is the press, which in great part receives
from them its inspiration and support, it is important that
Catholics should oppose the evil press by a press that is good,
for the defense of truth, out of love for religion, and to uphold
the rights of the Church. While the Catholic press is occupied in
laying bare the perfidious designs of the sects, in helping and
seconding the action of the sacred Pastors, and in defending and
promoting Catholic works, it is the duty of the faithful
efficaciously to support this press, both by refusing or ceasing
to favor in any way the evil press, and also directly, by
concurring, as far as each one can, in helping it to live and
thrive: and in this matter We think that hitherto enough has not
been done in Italy. Lastly, the teaching addressed by Us to all
Catholics, especially in the Encyclicals "Humanum genus"
and "Sapientiae Christianae," should be particularly
applied to the Catholics of Italy, and be impressed upon them. If
they have anything to suffer or to sacrifice through remaining
faithful to these duties, let them take courage in the thought
that the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and is gained only
by doing violence to ourselves; and that he who loves himself and
what is his own more than Jesus Christ, is not worthy of Him. The
example of the many invincible champions who, throughout all time,
have generously sacrificed everything for the faith, and the
special helps of grace which make the yoke of Jesus Christ sweet
and His burden light, ought to animate powerfully their courage
and to sustain them in the glorious contest.
10.
So far We have considered only the religious side of the present
state of things in Italy, inasmuch as this is for Us the most
essential, and the subject which eminently concerns Us by reason
of the Apostolic office which We hold. But it is worthwhile to
consider also the social and political side, so that Italians may
see that not only the love of religion, but also the noblest and
sincerest love of country should stir them to resist the impious
attempts of the sects. As a convincing proof of this, it suffices
to take note of the kind of future, in the social and political
order, which is being prepared for Italy by men whose object is -
and they make no secret of it - to wage an unrelenting war against
Catholicism and the Papacy.
11.
Already the test of the past speaks eloquently for itself. What
Italy has become in this first period of its new life as to
public and private morality, internal safety, order and peace,
national wealth and prosperity, all this is known to you by facts,
Venerable Brethren, better than We could describe it in words. The
very men whose interest it would be to hide all this, are
constrained by truth to admit it. We will only say that, under
present conditions, though a sad but real necessity, things could
not be otherwise: the Masonic sect, with all its boast of a spirit
of beneficence and philanthropy, can only exercise an evil
influence - an influence which is evil because it attacks and
endeavors to destroy the religion of Christ, the true benefactress
of mankind.
12.
All know with what salutary effect and in how many ways the
influence of religion penetrates society. It is beyond dispute
that sound public and private morality gives honor and strength to
States. But it is equally certain that, without religion there is
no true morality, either public or private. From the family,
solidly based on its natural foundations, comes the life, the
growth, and the energy of society. But without religion, and
without morality, the domestic partnership has no stability, and
the family bonds grow weak and waste away. The prosperity of
peoples and of nations comes from God and from His blessings. If a
people does not attribute its prosperity to Him, but rises up
against Him, and in the pride of its heart tacitly tells Him that
it has no need of Him, its prosperity is but a semblance, certain
to disappear so soon as it shall please the Lord to confound the
proud insolence of His enemies. It is religion which, penetrating
to the depth of each one's conscience, makes him feel the force of
duty and urges him to fulfill it. It is religion which gives to
rulers feelings of justice and love towards their subjects; which
makes subjects faithful and sincerely devoted to their rulers;
which makes upright and good legislators, just and incorruptible
magistrates, brave and heroic soldiers, conscientious and diligent
administrators. It is religion which produces concord and
affection between husband and wife, love and reverence between
parents and their children; which makes the poor respect the
property of others, and causes the rich to make a right use of
their wealth. From this fidelity to duty, and this respect for the
rights of others come the order, the tranquillity, and the peace,
which form so large a part of the prosperity of a people and of a
State. Take away religion, and with it all these immensely
precious benefits would disappear from society.
13.
For Italy, moreover, the loss would be sensible. All its glories
and greatness, which for a long time gave to it the first place
among the most cultured nations, are inseparable from religion,
which has either produced or inspired them, or certainly has given
to them favor, help, and increase. Its communes tell us of its
public liberties: of its military glories we read in its many
memorable enterprises against the enemies of the Christian name.
Its sciences are seen in its universities which, founded,
fostered, and privileged by the Church, have been their home and
theater. Its arts are shown in the numberless monuments of every
kind with which Italy is profusely covered. Of its institutions
for the relief of suffering, for the destitute, and the
working-classes we have evidence in its many foundations of
Christian charity, in the many asylums established for every kind
of need and misfortune, and in the associations and corporations
which have grown up under the protection of religion. The virtue
and the strength of religion are immortal because religion is from
God. It has treasures of help and most efficacious remedies, which
can be wonderfully adapted to the needs of every time and epoch.
What religion has known how to do and has done in former times, it
can do also now with a virtue ever fresh and vigorous. To take
away religion from Italy, is to dry up at once the most abundant
source of inestimable help and benefits.
14.
Moreover, one of the greatest and most formidable dangers of
society at the present day, is the agitation of the Socialists,
who threaten to uplift it from its foundations. From this great
danger Italy is not free; and although other nations may be more
infested than Italy by this spirit of subversion and disorder, it
is not therefore less true that even here this spirit is widely
spreading and increasing every day in strength. So criminal is its
nature, so great the power of its organization and the audacity of
its designs, that there is need of uniting all conservative
forces, if we are to arrest its progress and successfully to
prevent its triumph. Of these forces the first, and above all the
chief one, is that which can be supplied by religion and the
Church: without this, the strictest laws, the severest tribunals,
and even the force of arms, will prove useless or insufficient. As in old times, material force was of no avail against the
hordes of barbarians, but only the power of the Christian
religion, which entering into their souls quenched their ferocity,
civilized their manners, and made them docile to the voice of
truth and to the law of the gospel; so against the fury of lawless
multitudes there will be no effectual defense without the salutary
power of religion. It is only this power which, casting into their
minds the light of truth, and instilling into their hearts the
holy moral precepts of Jesus Christ, can make them listen to the
voice of conscience and of duty, and, before restraining their
hand, restrain their minds and allay the violence of passion. To
assail religion, is therefore to deprive Italy of its most
powerful ally against an enemy that becomes every day more
formidable.
15.
But this is not all. As, in the social order, the war against
religion is becoming most disastrous and destructive to Italy, so,
in the political order, the enmity against the Holy See and the
Roman Pontiff is for Italy a source of the greatest evils. Even as
to this, demonstration is not needed; it is enough, for the full
expression of our thought, to state in few words its conclusions.
The war against the Pope is for Italy, internally, a cause of
profound division between official Italy and the great part of
Italians who are truly Catholic: and every division is a weakness.
This war deprives our country of the support and cooperation of
the party which is the most frankly conservative; it keeps up in
the bosom of the nation a religious conflict which has never yet
brought any public good, but ever bears within itself the fatal
germs of evil and of most heavy chastisement. Externally, the
conflict with the Holy See, besides depriving Italy of the
prestige and splendor which it would most certainly have by living
in peace with the Pontificate, draws upon it the hostility of the
Catholics of the whole world, is a cause of immense sacrifices,
and may on any occasion furnish its enemies with a weapon to be
used against it.
16.
Such is the so-called welfare and greatness prepared for Italy by
those who, having its destinies in their hands, do all they can,
in accordance with the impious aspiration of the sects, to
overthrow the Catholic religion and the Papacy.
17.
Suppose, instead of this, that all connection and connivance with
the sects were given up; that religion and the Church, as the
greatest social power, were allowed real liberty and full exercise
of their rights. What a happy change would come over the
destinies of Italy! The evils and the dangers which we have
lamented, as the result of the war against religion and the
Church, would cease with the termination of the conflict; and
further, we should see once more flourish on the chosen soil of
Catholic Italy the greatness and glory which religion and the
Church have ever abundantly produced. From their divine power
would spring up spontaneously a reformation of public and private
morality; family ties would be strengthened; and under religious
influences, the feeling of duty and of fidelity in its fulfillment
would be awakened in all ranks of the people to a new life. The
social questions which now so greatly occupy men's minds would
find their way to the best and most complete solution, by the
practical application of the gospel precepts of charity and
justice. Popular liberty, not allowed to degenerate into license,
would be directed only to good ends, and would become truly worthy
of man. The sciences, through that truth of which the Church is
mistress, would rise speedily to a higher excellence; and so also
would the arts, through the powerful inspiration which religion
derives from above, and which it knows how to transfuse into the
minds of men. Peace being made with the Church, religious unity
and civil concord would be greatly strengthened; the separation
between Italy and Catholics faithful to the Church would cease,
and Italy would thus acquire a powerful element of order and
stability. The just demands of the Roman Pontiff being satisfied,
and his sovereign rights acknowledged, he would be restored to a
condition of true and effective independence; and Catholics of
other parts of the world, who, not through external influence of
ignorance of what they want, but through a feeling of faith and
sense of duty, all raise their voice in defense of the dignity and
liberty of the supreme Pastor of their souls, would no longer have
reason to regard Italy as the enemy of the Pontiff. On the
contrary, Italy would gain greater respect and esteem from other
nations by living in harmony with the Apostolic See; for not only
has this See conferred special benefits on Italians by its
presence in the midst of them, but also, by the constant diffusion
of the treasures of faith from this center of benediction and
salvation, it has made the Italian name great and respected among
all nations. Italy reconciled with the Pontiff, and faithful to
its religion, would be able worthily to emulate the glory of its
early times; and from whatever real progress there is in the
present age it would receive a new impulse to advance in its
glorious path. Rome, preeminently the Catholic city, destined by
God to be the center of the religion of Christ and the See of His
Vicar, has had in this the cause of its stability and greatness
throughout the eventful changes of the many ages that are past.
Placed again under the peaceful and paternal scepter of the Roman
Pontiff, it would again become what Providence and the course of
ages made it - not dwarfed to the condition of a capital of one
kingdom, nor divided between two different and sovereign powers in
a dualism contrary to its whole history; but the worthy capital of
the Catholic world, great with all the majesty of Religion and of
the supreme Priesthood, a teacher and an example to the nations of
morality and of civilization.
18.
These are not vain illusions, Venerable Brethren, but hopes
resting upon the most solid and true foundation. The assertion
which for some time has been commonly repeated, that Catholics and
the Pontiff are the enemies of Italy, and in alliance, so to
speak, with those who would overturn everything, is a gratuitous
insult and a shameless calumny, artfully spread abroad by the
sects to disguise their wicked designs, and to enable them to
continue without obstacle their hateful work of stripping Italy of
its Catholic character. The truth which is seen most clearly from
what we have thus far said, is that Catholics are Italy's best
friends. By keeping altogether aloof from the sects, by renouncing
their spirit and their works, by striving in every way that Italy
may not lose the faith, but preserve it in all its vigor - may not
fight against the Church, but be its faithful daughter, may not
assail the Pontificate, but be reconciled to it - Catholics give
proof by all this of their strong and real love for the religion
of their ancestors and for their country. Do all that you can,
Venerable Brethren, to spread the light of truth among the people
so that they may come at last to understand where their welfare
and their true interest are to be found; and may be convinced that
only from fidelity to religion and from peace with the Church and
with the Roman Pontiff, can they hope to obtain for Italy a future
worthy of its glorious past. To this We would call the attention,
not of those affiliated to the sects, whose deliberate purpose it
is to establish the new settlement of the Italian Peninsula upon
the ruins of the Catholic Religion; but of others who, without
welcoming such malevolent designs, help these men in their work by
supporting their policy; and especially of young men, who are so
liable to go astray through inexperience and the predominance of
mere sentiment. We would that everyone should become convinced
that the course which is now followed cannot be otherwise than
fatal to Italy; and, in once more making known this danger, We are
moved only by a consciousness of duty and by love of our country.
19.
But, for the enlightening of men's minds, we must above all ask
for special help from heaven. Therefore, to our united action,
Venerable Brethren, we must join prayer; and let it be a prayer
that is general, constant, and fervent: a prayer that will offer
gentle violence to the heart of God and render Him merciful to
Italy, our country, so that He may avert from it every calamity,
especially that which would be the most terrible - the loss of
faith. Let us take as our mediatrix with God the most glorious
Virgin Mary, the invincible Queen of the Rosary, Who has such
great power over the forces of hell, and has so many times made
Italy feel the effects of Her maternal love. Let us also with
confidence have recourse to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, who
subjected this blessed land to the faith, sanctified it by their
labors, and bathed it in their blood.
20.
As a pledge meanwhile of the help which We ask, and in token of
Our most special affection, receive the Apostolic Benediction,
which from the depth of Our heart We grant to you, Venerable
Brethren, to your clergy, and to the Italian people.
Given
in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the 15th of October, 1890, the
thirteenth year of Our Pontificate.
Endnotes:
1. St. Gregory the Great: Letter to the Emperor Maurice,
Reg. 5.
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