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Title: |
Divini Illius Magistri (Note:
A previous version of this papal document was entitled "Rappresentanti
In Terra")
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Descr.: |
On Christian Education
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Pope: |
Pope Pius XI |
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Date: |
December 31, 1929
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To
the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and Other
Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See and to All
the Faithful of the Catholic World.
Venerable
Brethren and Beloved Children, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1.
Representative on earth of that divine Master who while embracing
in the immensity of His love all mankind, even unworthy sinners,
showed nevertheless a special tenderness and affection for
children, and expressed Himself in those singularly touching
words: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me,"(1)
We also on every occasion have endeavored to show the predilection
wholly paternal which We bear towards them, particularly by our
assiduous care and timely instructions with reference to the
Christian education of youth.
2.
And so, in the spirit of the Divine Master, We have directed a
helpful word, now of admonition, now of exhortation, now of
direction, to youths and to their educators, to fathers and
mothers, on various points of Christian education, with that
solicitude which becomes the common Father of all the Faithful,
with an insistence in season and out of season, demanded by our
pastoral office and inculcated by the Apostle: "Be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience
and doctrine."(2) Such insistence is called for in these our
times, when, alas, there is so great and deplorable an absence of
clear and sound principles, even regarding problems the most
fundamental.
3.
Now this same general condition of the times, this ceaseless
agitation in various ways of the problem of educational rights and
systems in different countries, the desire expressed to Us with
filial confidence by not a few of yourselves, Venerable Brethren,
and by members of your flocks, as well as Our deep affection
towards youth above referred to, move Us to turn more directly to
this subject, if not to treat it in all its well-nigh
inexhaustible range of theory and practice, at least to summarize
its main principles, throw full light on its important
conclusions, and point out its practical applications.
4.
Let this be the record of Our Sacerdotal Jubilee which, with
altogether special affection, We wish to dedicate to our beloved
youth, and to commend to all those whose office and duty is the
work of education.
5.
Indeed never has there been so much discussion about education as
nowadays; never have exponents of new pedagogical theories been so
numerous, or so many methods and means devised, proposed and
debated, not merely to facilitate education, but to create a new
system infallibly efficacious, and capable of preparing the
present generations for that earthly happiness which they so
ardently desire.
6.
The reason is that men, created by God to His image and likeness
and destined for Him Who is infinite perfection realize today more
than ever amid the most exuberant material progress, the
insufficiency of earthly goods to produce true happiness either
for the individual or for the nations. And hence they feel more
keenly in themselves the impulse towards a perfection that is
higher, which impulse is implanted in their rational nature by the
Creator Himself. This perfection they seek to acquire by means of
education. But many of them with, it would seem, too great
insistence on the etymological meaning of the word, pretend to
draw education out of human nature itself and evolve it by its own
unaided powers. Such easily fall into error, because, instead of
fixing their gaze on God, first principle and last end of the
whole universe, they fall back upon themselves, becoming attached
exclusively to passing things of earth; and thus their
restlessness will never cease till they direct their attention and
their efforts to God, the goal of all perfection, according to the
profound saying of Saint Augustine: "Thou didst create us, O
Lord, for Thyself, and our heart is restless till it rest in
Thee."(3)
7.
It is therefore as important to make no mistake in education, as
it is to make no mistake in the pursuit of the last end, with
which the whole work of education is intimately and necessarily
connected. In fact, since education consists essentially in
preparing man for what he must be and for what he must do here
below, in order to attain the sublime end for which he was
created, it is clear that there can be no true education which is
not wholly directed to man's last end, and that in the present
order of Providence, since God has revealed Himself to us in the
Person of His Only Begotten Son, who alone is "the way, the
truth and the life," there can be no ideally perfect
education which is not Christian education.
8.
From this we see the supreme importance of Christian education,
not merely for each individual, but for families and for the whole
of human society, whose perfection comes from the perfection of
the elements that compose it. From these same principles, the
excellence, we may well call it the unsurpassed excellence, of the
work of Christian education becomes manifest and clear; for after
all it aims at securing the Supreme Good, that is, God, for the
souls of those who are being educated, and the maximum of
well-being possible here below for human society. And this it does
as efficaciously as man is capable of doing it, namely by
cooperating with God in the perfecting of individuals and of
society, in as much as education makes upon the soul the first,
the most powerful and lasting impression for life according to the
well-known saying of the Wise Man, "A young man according to
his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it."(4)
With good reason therefore did St. John Chrysostom say, "What
greater work is there than training the mind and forming the
habits of the young?"(5)
9.
But nothing discloses to us the supernatural beauty and excellence
of the work of Christian education better than the sublime
expression of love of our Blessed Lord, identifying Himself with
children, "Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in
my name, receiveth me."(6)
10.
Now in order that no mistake be made in this work of utmost
importance, and in order to conduct it in the best manner possible
with the help of God's grace, it is necessary to have a clear and
definite idea of Christian education in its essential aspects,
viz., who has the mission to educate, who are the subjects to be
educated, what are the necessary accompanying circumstances, what
is the end and object proper to Christian education according to
God's established order in the economy of His Divine Providence.
11.
Education is essentially a social and not a mere individual
activity. Now there are three necessary societies, distinct from
one another and yet harmoniously combined by God, into which man
is born: two, namely the family and civil society, belong to the
natural order; the third, the Church, to the supernatural order.
12.
In the first place comes the family, instituted directly by God
for its peculiar purpose, the generation and formation of
offspring; for this reason it has priority of nature and therefore
of rights over civil society. Nevertheless, the family is an
imperfect society, since it has not in itself all the means for
its own complete development; whereas civil society is a perfect
society, having in itself all the means for its peculiar end,
which is the temporal well-being of the community; and so, in this
respect, that is, in view of the common good, it has pre-eminence
over the family, which finds its own suitable temporal perfection
precisely in civil society.
13.
The third society, into which man is born when through Baptism he
reaches the divine life of grace, is the Church; a society of the
supernatural order and of universal extent; a perfect society,
because it has in itself all the means required for its own end,
which is the eternal salvation of mankind; hence it is supreme in
its own domain.
14.
Consequently, education which is concerned with man as a whole,
individually and socially, in the order of nature and in the order
of grace, necessarily belongs to all these three societies, in due
proportion, corresponding, according to the disposition of Divine
Providence, to the coordination of their respecting ends.
15.
And first of all education belongs preeminently to the Church, by
reason of a double title in the supernatural order, conferred
exclusively upon her by God Himself; absolutely superior therefore
to any other title in the natural order.
16.
The first title is founded upon the express mission and supreme
authority to teach, given her by her divine Founder: "All
power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore teach
ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold I am with you
all days, even to the consummation of the world."(7) Upon
this magisterial office Christ conferred infallibility, together
with the command to teach His doctrine. Hence the Church "was
set by her divine Author as the pillar and ground of truth, in
order to teach the divine Faith to men, and keep whole and
inviolate the deposit confided to her; to direct and fashion men,
in all their actions individually and socially, to purity of
morals and integrity of life, in accordance with revealed
doctrine."(8)
17.
The second title is the supernatural motherhood, in virtue of
which the Church, spotless spouse of Christ, generates, nurtures
and educates souls in the divine life of grace, with her
Sacraments and her doctrine. With good reason then does St.
Augustine maintain: "He has not God for father who refuses to
have the Church as mother."(9)
18.
Hence it is that in this proper object of her mission, that is,
"in faith and morals, God Himself has made the Church sharer
in the divine magisterium and, by a special privilege, granted her
immunity from error; hence she is the mistress of men, supreme and
absolutely sure, and she has inherent in herself an inviolable
right to freedom in teaching."(10) By necessary consequence the
Church is independent of any sort of earthly power as well in the
origin as in the exercise of her mission as educator, not merely
in regard to her proper end and object, but also in regard to the
means necessary and suitable to attain that end. Hence with regard
to every other kind of human learning and instruction, which is
the common patrimony of individuals and society, the Church has an
independent right to make use of it, and above all to decide what
may help or harm Christian education. And this must be so, because
the Church as a perfect society has an independent right to the
means conducive to its end, and because every form of instruction,
no less than every human action, has a necessary connection with
man's last end, and therefore cannot be withdrawn from the
dictates of the divine law, of which the Church is guardian,
interpreter and infallible mistress.
19.
This truth is clearly set forth by Pius X of saintly memory:
Whatever a Christian does even in the order of things of earth, he
may not overlook the supernatural; indeed he must, according to
the teaching of Christian wisdom, direct all things towards the
supreme good as to his last end; all his actions, besides, in so
far as good or evil in the order of morality, that is, in keeping
or not with natural and divine law, fall under the judgment and
jurisdiction of the Church.(11)
20.
It is worthy of note how a layman, an excellent writer and at the
same time a profound and conscientious thinker, has been able to
understand well and express exactly this fundamental Catholic
doctrine: The Church does not say that morality belongs purely, in the sense
of exclusively, to her; but that it belongs wholly to her. She has
never maintained that outside her fold and apart from her
teaching, man cannot arrive at any moral truth; she has on the
contrary more than once condemned this opinion because it has
appeared under more forms than one. She does however say, has
said, and will ever say, that because of her institution by Jesus
Christ, because of the Holy Ghost sent her in His name by the
Father, she alone possesses what she has had immediately from God
and can never lose, the whole of moral truth, omnem veritatem, in
which all individual moral truths are included, as well those
which man may learn by the help of reason, as those which form
part of revelation or which may be deduced from it.(12)
21.
Therefore with full right the Church promotes letters, science,
art in so far as necessary or helpful to Christian education, in
addition to her work for the salvation of souls: founding and
maintaining schools and institutions adapted to every branch of
learning and degree of culture.(13) Nor may even physical culture,
as it is called, be considered outside the range of her maternal
supervision, for the reason that it also is a means which may help
or harm Christian education.
22.
And this work of the Church in every branch of culture is of
immense benefit to families and nations which without Christ are
lost, as St. Hilary points out correctly: "What can be more
fraught with danger for the world than the rejection of
Christ?"(14) Nor does it interfere in the least with the
regulations of the State, because the Church in her motherly
prudence is not unwilling that her schools and institutions for
the education of the laity be in keeping with the legitimate
dispositions of civil authority; she is in every way ready to
cooperate with this authority and to make provision for a mutual
understanding, should difficulties arise.
23.
Again it is the inalienable right as well as the indispensable
duty of the Church, to watch over the entire education of her
children, in all institutions, public or private, not merely in
regard to the religious instruction there given, but in regard to
every other branch of learning and every regulation in so far as
religion and morality are concerned.(15)
24.
Nor should the exercise of this right be considered undue
interference, but rather maternal care on the part of the Church
in protecting her children from the grave danger of all kinds of
doctrinal and moral evil. Moreover this watchfulness of the Church
not merely can create no real inconvenience, but must on the
contrary confer valuable assistance in the right ordering and
well-being of families and of civil society; for it keeps far away
from youth the moral poison which at that inexperienced and
changeable age more easily penetrates the mind and more rapidly
spreads its baneful effects. For it is true, as Leo XIII has
wisely pointed out, that without proper religious and moral
instruction "every form of intellectual culture will be
injurious; for young people not accustomed to respect God, will be
unable to bear the restraint of a virtuous life, and never having
learned to deny themselves anything. they will easily be incited
to disturb the public order."(16)
25.
The extent of the Church's mission in the field of education is
such as to embrace every nation, without exception, according to
the command of Christ: "Teach ye all nations;"(17) and
there is no power on earth that may lawfully oppose her or stand
in her way. In the first place, it extends over all the Faithful,
of whom she has anxious care as a tender mother. For these she has
throughout the centuries created and conducted an immense number
of schools and institutions in every branch of learning. As We
said on a recent occasion: Right back in the far-off middle ages when there were so many
(some have even said too many) monasteries, convents, churches,
collegiate churches, cathedral chapters, etc., there was attached
to each a home of study, of teaching, of Christian education. To
these we must add all the universities, spread over every country
and always by the initiative an under the protection of the Holy
See and the Church. That grand spectacle, which today we see
better, as it is nearer to us and more imposing because of the
conditions of the age, was the spectacle of all times; and they
who study and compare historical events remain astounded at what
the Church has been able to do in this matter, and marvel at the
manner in which she had succeeded in fulfilling her God-given
mission to educate generations of men to a Christian life,
producing everywhere a magnificent harvest of fruitful results.
But if we wonder that the Church in all times has been able to
gather about her and educate hundreds, thousands, millions of
students, no less wonderful is it to bear in mind what she has
done not only in the field of education, but in that also of true
and genuine erudition. For, if so many treasures of culture,
civilization and literature have escaped destruction, this is due
to the action by which the Church, even in times long past and
uncivilized, has shed so bright a light in the domain of letters,
of philosophy, of art and in a special manner of architecture.(18)
26.
All this the Church has been able to do because her mission to
educate extends equally to those outside the Fold, seeing that all
men are called to enter the kingdom of God and reach eternal
salvation. Just as today when her missions scatter schools by the
thousand in districts and countries not yet Christian, from the
banks of the Ganges to the Yellow river and the great islands and
archipelagos of the Pacific ocean, from the Dark Continent to the
Land of Fire and to frozen Alaska, so in every age the Church by
her missionaries has educated to Christian life and to
civilization the various peoples which now constitute the
Christian nations of the civilized world.
27.
Hence it is evident that both by right and in fact the mission to
educate belongs preeminently to the Church, and that no one free
from prejudice can have a reasonable motive for opposing or
impeding the Church in this her work, of which the world today
enjoys the precious advantages.
28.
This is the more true because the rights of the family and of the
State, even the rights of individuals regarding a just liberty in
the pursuit of science, of methods of science and all sorts of
profane culture, not only are not opposed to this pre-eminence of
the Church, but are in complete harmony with it. The fundamental
reason for this harmony is that the supernatural order, to which
the Church owes her rights, not only does not in the least destroy
the natural order, to which pertain the other rights mentioned,
but elevates the natural and perfects it, each affording mutual
aid to the other, and completing it in a manner proportioned to
its respective nature and dignity. The reason is because both come
from God, who cannot contradict Himself: "The works of God
are perfect and all His ways are judgments."(19)
29.
This becomes clearer when we consider more closely and in detail
the mission of education proper to the family and to the State.
30.
In the first place the Church's mission of education is in
wonderful agreement with that of the family, for both proceed from
God, and in a remarkably similar manner. God directly communicates
to the family, in the natural order, fecundity, which is the
principle of life, and hence also the principle of education to
life, together with authority, the principle of order.
31.
The Angelic Doctor with his wonted clearness of thought and
precision of style, says: "The father according to the flesh
has in a particular way a share in that principle which in a
manner universal is found in God... The father is the principle
of generation, of education and discipline and of everything that
bears upon the perfecting of human life."(20)
32.
The family therefore holds directly from the Creator the mission
and hence the right to educate the offspring, a right inalienable
because inseparably joined to the strict obligation, a right
anterior to any right whatever of civil society and of the State,
and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.
33.
That this right is inviolable St. Thomas proves as follows: The
child is naturally something of the father...so by natural right
the child, before reaching the use of reason, is under the
father's care. Hence it would be contrary to natural justice if
the child, before the use of reason, were removed from the care of
its parents, or if any disposition were made concerning him
against the will of the parents.(21)
And as this duty on the part of the parents continues up to the
time when the child is in a position to provide for itself, this
same inviolable parental right of education also endures.
"Nature intends not merely the generation of the offspring,
but also its development and advance to the perfection of man
considered as man, that is, to the state of virtue"(22) says
the same St. Thomas.
34.
The wisdom of the Church in this matter is expressed with
precision and clearness in the Codex of Canon Law, can. 1113:
"Parents are under a grave obligation to see to the religious
and moral education of their children, as well as to their
physical and civic training, as far as they can, and moreover to
provide for their temporal well-being."(23)
35.
On this point the common sense of mankind is in such complete
accord, that they would be in open contradiction with it who dared
maintain that the children belong to the State before they belong
to the family, and that the State has an absolute right over their
education. Untenable is the reason they adduce, namely that man is
born a citizen and hence belongs primarily to the State, not
bearing in mind that before being a citizen man must exist; and
existence does not come from the State, but from the parents, as
Leo XIII wisely declared: "The children are something of the
father, and as it were an extension of the person of the father;
and, to be perfectly accurate, they enter into and become part of
civil society, not directly by themselves, but through the family
in which they were born."(24) "And therefore," says
the same Leo XIII, "the father's power is of such a nature
that it cannot be destroyed or absorbed by the State; for it has
the same origin as human life itself."(25) It does not
however follow from this that the parents' right to educate their
children is absolute and despotic; for it is necessarily
subordinated to the last end and to natural and divine law, as Leo
XIII declares in another memorable encyclical, where He thus sums
up the rights and duties of parents: "By nature parents have
a right to the training of their children, but with this added
duty that the education and instruction of the child be in accord
with the end for which by God's blessing it was begotten.
Therefore it is the duty of parents to make every effort to
prevent any invasion of their rights in this matter, and to make
absolutely sure that the education of their children remain under
their own control in keeping with their Christian duty, and above
all to refuse to send them to those schools in which there is
danger of imbibing the deadly poison of impiety."(26)
36.
It must be borne in mind also that the obligation of the family to
bring up children, includes not only religious and moral
education, but physical and civic education as well,(27)
principally in so far as it touches upon religion and morality.
37.
This incontestable right of the family has at various times been
recognized by nations anxious to respect the natural law in their
civil enactments. Thus, to give one recent example, the Supreme
Court of the United States of America, in a decision on an
important controversy, declared that it is not in the competence
of the State to fix any uniform standard of education by forcing
children to receive instruction exclusively in public schools, and
it bases its decision on the natural law: the child is not the
mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his
destiny have the right coupled with the high duty, to educate him
and prepare him for the fulfillment of his obligations.(28)
38.
History bears witness how, particularly in modern times, the State
has violated and does violate rights conferred by God on the
family. At the same time it shows magnificently how the Church has
ever protected and defended these rights, a fact proved by the
special confidence which parents have in Catholic schools. As We
pointed out recently in Our letter to the Cardinal Secretary of
State:
The family has instinctively understood this to be so, and from
the earliest days of Christianity down to our own times, fathers
and mothers, even those of little or no faith, have been sending
or bringing their children in millions to places of education
under the direction of the Church.(29)
39.
It is paternal instinct, given by God, that thus turns with
confidence to the Church, certain of finding in her the protection
of family rights, thereby illustrating that harmony with which God
has ordered all things. The Church is indeed conscious of her
divine mission to all mankind, and of the obligation which all men
have to practice the one true religion; and therefore she never
tires of defending her right, and of reminding parents of their
duty, to have all Catholic-born children baptized and brought up
as Christians. On the other hand so jealous is she of the family's
inviolable natural right to educate the children, that she never
consents, save under peculiar circumstances and with special
cautions, to baptize the children of infidels, or provide for
their education against the will of the parents, till such time as
the children can choose for themselves and freely embrace the
Faith.(30)
40.
We have therefore two facts of supreme importance. As We said in
Our discourse cited above: The Church placing at the disposal of
families her office of mistress and educator, and the families
eager to profit by the offer, and entrusting their children to the
Church in hundreds and thousands. These two facts recall and
proclaim a striking truth of the greatest significance in the
moral and social order. They declare that the mission of education
regards before all, above all, primarily the Church and the
family, and this by natural and divine law, and that therefore it
cannot be slighted, cannot be evaded, cannot be supplanted.(31)
41.
From such priority of rights on the part of the Church and of the
family in the field of education, most important advantages, as we
have seen, accrue to the whole of society. Moreover in accordance
with the divinely established order of things, no damage can
follow from it to the true and just rights of the State in regard
to the education of its citizens.
42.
These rights have been conferred upon civil society by the Author
of nature Himself, not by title of fatherhood, as in the case of
the Church and of the family, but in virtue of the authority which
it possesses to promote the common temporal welfare, which is
precisely the purpose of its existence. Consequently education
cannot pertain to civil society in the same way in which it
pertains to the Church and to the family, but in a different way
corresponding to its own particular end and object.
43.
Now this end and object, the common welfare in the temporal order,
consists in that peace and security in which families and
individual citizens have the free exercise of their rights, and at
the same time enjoy the greatest spiritual and temporal prosperity
possible in this life, by the mutual union and coordination of
the work of all. The function therefore of the civil authority
residing in the State is twofold, to protect and to foster, but by
no means to absorb the family and the individual, or to substitute
itself for them.
44.
Accordingly in the matter of education, it is the right, or to
speak more correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect in
its legislation, the prior rights, already described, of the
family as regards the Christian education of its offspring, and
consequently also to respect the supernatural rights of the Church
in this same realm of Christian education.
45.
It also belongs to the State to protect the rights of the child
itself when the parents are found wanting either physically or
morally in this respect, whether by default, incapacity or
misconduct, since, as has been shown, their right to educate is
not an absolute and despotic one, but dependent on the natural and
divine law, and therefore subject alike to the authority and
jurisdiction of the Church, and to the vigilance and
administrative care of the State in view of the common good.
Besides, the family is not a perfect society, that is, it has not
in itself all the means necessary for its full development. In
such cases, exceptional no doubt, the State does not put itself in
the place of the family, but merely supplies deficiencies, and
provides suitable means, always in conformity with the natural
rights of the child and the supernatural rights of the Church.
46.
In general then it is the right and duty of the State to protect,
according to the rules of right reason and faith, the moral and
religious education of youth, by removing public impediments that
stand in the way. In the first place it pertains to the State, in
view of the common good, to promote in various ways the education
and instruction of youth. It should begin by encouraging and
assisting, of its own accord, the initiative and activity of the
Church and the family, whose successes in this field have been
clearly demonstrated by history and experience. It should moreover
supplement their work whenever this falls short of what is
necessary, even by means of its own schools and institutions. For
the State more than any other society is provided with the means
put at its disposal for the needs of all, and it is only right
that it use these means to the advantage of those who have
contributed them.(32)
47.
Over and above this, the State can exact and take measures to
secure that all its citizens have the necessary knowledge of their
civic and political duties, and a certain degree of physical,
intellectual and moral culture, which, considering the conditions
of our times, is really necessary for the common good.
48.
However it is clear that in all these ways of promoting education
and instruction, both public and private, the State should respect
the inherent rights of the Church and of the family concerning
Christian education, and moreover have regard for distributive
justice. Accordingly, unjust and unlawful is any monopoly,
educational or scholastic, which, physically or morally, forces
families to make use of government schools, contrary to the
dictates of their Christian conscience, or contrary even to their
legitimate preferences.
49.
This does not prevent the State from making due provision for the
right administration of public affairs and for the protection of
its peace, within or without the realm. These are things which
directly concern the public good and call for special aptitudes
and special preparation. The State may therefore reserve to itself
the establishment and direction of schools intended to prepare for
certain civic duties and especially for military service, provided
it be careful not to injure the rights of the Church or of the
family in what pertains to them. It is well to repeat this warning
here; for in these days there is spreading a spirit of nationalism
which is false and exaggerated, as well as dangerous to true peace
and prosperity. Under its influence various excesses are committed
in giving a military turn to the so-called physical training of
boys (sometimes even of girls, contrary to the very instincts of
human nature); or again in usurping unreasonably on Sunday, the
time which should be devoted to religious duties and to family
life at home. It is not our intention however to condemn what is
good in the spirit of discipline and legitimate bravery promoted
by these methods; We condemn only what is excessive, as for
example violence, which must not be confounded with courage nor
with the noble sentiment of military valor in defense of country
and public order; or again exaltation of athleticism which even in
classic pagan times marked the decline and downfall of genuine
physical training.
50.
In general also it belongs to civil society and the State to
provide what may be called civic education, not only for its
youth, but for all ages and classes. This consists in the practice
of presenting publicly to groups of individuals information having
an intellectual, imaginative and emotional appeal, calculated to
draw their wills to what is upright and honest, and to urge its
practice by a sort of moral compulsion, positively by
disseminating such knowledge, and negatively by suppressing what
is opposed to it.(33) This civic education, so wide and varied in
itself as to include almost every activity of the State intended
for the public good, ought also to be regulated by the norms of
rectitude, and therefore cannot conflict with the doctrines of the
Church, which is the divinely appointed teacher of these norms.
51.
All that we have said so far regarding the activity of the State
in educational matters, rests on the solid and immovable
foundation of the Catholic doctrine of The Christian Constitution
of States set forth in such masterly fashion by Our Predecessor
Leo XIII, notably in the Encyclicals Immortale Dei and Sapientiae
Christianae. He writes as follows:
God has divided the government of the human race between two
authorities, ecclesiastical and civil, establishing one over
things divine, the other over things human. Both are supreme, each
in its own domain; each has its own fixed boundaries which limit
its activities. These boundaries are determined by the peculiar
nature and the proximate end of each, and describe as it were a
sphere within which, with exclusive right, each may develop its
influence. As however the same subjects are under the two
authorities, it may happen that the same matter, though from a
different point of view, may come under the competence and
jurisdiction of each of them. If follows that divine Providence,
whence both authorities have their origin, must have traced with
due order the proper line of action for each. The powers that are,
are ordained of God.(34)
52.
Now the education of youth is precisely one of those matters that
belong both to the Church and to the State, "though in
different ways," as explained above. Therefore, continues Leo
XIII, between the two powers there must reign a well-ordered
harmony. Not without reason may this mutual agreement be compared
to the union of body and soul in man. Its nature and extent can
only be determined by considering, as we have said, the nature of
each of the two powers, and in particular the excellence and
nobility of the respective ends. To one is committed directly and
specifically the charge of what is helpful in worldly matters;
while the other is to concern itself with the things that pertain
to heaven and eternity. Everything therefore in human affairs that
is in any way sacred, or has reference to the salvation of souls
and the worship of God, whether by its nature or by its end, is
subject to the jurisdiction and discipline of the Church. Whatever
else is comprised in the civil and political order, rightly comes
under the authority of the State; for Christ commanded us to give
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that
are God's.(35)
53.
Whoever refuses to admit these principles, and hence to apply them
to education, must necessarily deny that Christ has founded His
Church for the eternal salvation of mankind, and maintain instead
that civil society and the State are not subject to God and to His
law, natural and divine. Such a doctrine is manifestly impious,
contrary to right reason, and, especially in this matter of
education, extremely harmful to the proper training of youth, and
disastrous as well for civil society as for the well-being of all
mankind. On the other hand from the application of these
principles, there inevitably result immense advantages for the
right formation of citizens. This is abundantly proved by the
history of every age. Tertullian in his Apologeticus could throw
down a challenge to the enemies of the Church in the early days of
Christianity, just as St. Augustine did in his; and we today can
repeat with him:
Let those who declare the teaching of Christ to be opposed to the
welfare of the State, furnish us with an army of soldiers such as
Christ says soldiers ought to be; let them give us subjects,
husbands, wives, parents, children, masters, servants, kings,
judges, taxpayers and tax gatherers who live up to the teachings
of Christ; and then let them dare assert that Christian doctrine
is harmful to the State. Rather let them not hesitate one moment
to acclaim that doctrine, rightly observed, the greatest safeguard
of the State.(36)
54.
While treating of education, it is not out of place to show here
how an ecclesiastical writer, who flourished in more recent times,
during the Renaissance, the holy and learned Cardinal Silvio
Antoniano, to whom the cause of Christian education is greatly
indebted, has set forth most clearly this well established point
of Catholic doctrine. He had been a disciple of that wonderful
educator of youth, St. Philip Neri; he was teacher and Latin
secretary to St. Charles Borromeo, and it was at the latter's
suggestion and under his inspiration that he wrote his splendid
treatise on The Christian Education of Youth. In it he argues as
follows:
The more closely the temporal power of a nation aligns itself with
the spiritual, and the more it fosters and promotes the latter, by
so much the more it contributes to the conservation of the
commonwealth. For it is the aim of the ecclesiastical authority by
the use of spiritual means, to form good Christians in accordance
with its own particular end and object; and in doing this it helps
at the same time to form good citizens, and prepares them to meet
their obligations as members of a civil society. This follows of
necessity because in the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic
Church, a good citizen and an upright man are absolutely one and
the same thing. How grave therefore is the error of those who
separate things so closely united, and who think that they can
produce good citizens by ways and methods other than those which
make for the formation of good Christians. For, let human prudence
say what it likes and reason as it pleases, it is impossible to
produce true temporal peace and tranquillity by things repugnant
or opposed to the peace and happiness of eternity.(37)
55.
What is true of the State, is true also of science, scientific
methods and scientific research; they have nothing to fear from
the full and perfect mandate which the Church holds in the field
of education. Our Catholic institutions, whatever their grade in
the educational and scientific world, have no need of apology. The
esteem they enjoy, the praise they receive, the learned works
which they promote and produce in such abundance, and above all,
the men, fully and splendidly equipped, whom they provide for the
magistracy, for the professions, for the teaching career, in fact
for every walk of life, more than sufficiently testify in their favor.(38)
56.
These facts moreover present a most striking confirmation of the
Catholic doctrine defined by the [First] Vatican Council:
Not only is it impossible for faith and reason to be at variance
with each other, they are on the contrary of mutual help. For
while right reason establishes the foundations of Faith, and, by
the help of its light, develops a knowledge of the things of God,
Faith on the other hand frees and preserves reason from error and
enriches it with varied knowledge. The Church therefore, far from
hindering the pursuit of the arts and sciences, fosters and
promotes them in many ways. For she is neither ignorant nor
unappreciative of the many advantages which flow from them to
mankind. On the contrary she admits that just as they come from
God, Lord of all knowledge, so too if rightly used, with the help
of His grace they lead to God. Nor does she prevent the sciences,
each in its own sphere, from making use of principles and methods
of their own. Only while acknowledging the freedom due to them,
she takes every precaution to prevent them from falling into error
by opposition to divine doctrine, or from overstepping their
proper limits, and thus invading and disturbing the domain of
Faith.(39)
57.
This norm of a just freedom in things scientific, serves also as
an inviolable norm of a just freedom in things didactic, or for
rightly understood liberty in teaching; it should be observed
therefore in whatever instruction is imparted to others. Its
obligation is all the more binding in justice when there is
question of instructing youth. For in this work the teacher,
whether public or private, has no absolute right of his own, but
only such as has been communicated to him by others. Besides every
Christian child or youth has a strict right to instruction in
harmony with the teaching of the Church, the pillar and ground of
truth. And whoever disturbs the pupil's Faith in any way, does him
grave wrong, inasmuch as he abuses the trust which children place
in their teachers, and takes unfair advantage of their
inexperience and of their natural craving for unrestrained
liberty, at once illusory and false.
58.
In fact it must never be forgotten that the subject of Christian
education is man whole and entire, soul united to body in unity of
nature, with all his faculties natural and supernatural, such as
right reason and revelation show him to be; man, therefore, fallen
from his original estate, but redeemed by Christ and restored to
the supernatural condition of adopted son of God, though without
the preternatural privileges of bodily immortality or perfect
control of appetite. There remain therefore, in human nature the
effects of original sin, the chief of which are weakness of will
and disorderly inclinations.
59.
"Folly is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of
correction shall drive it away."(40) Disorderly inclinations
then must be corrected, good tendencies encouraged and regulated
from tender childhood, and above all the mind must be enlightened
and the will strengthened by supernatural truth and by the means
of grace, without which it is impossible to control evil impulses,
impossible to attain to the full and complete perfection of
education intended by the Church, which Christ has endowed so
richly with divine doctrine and with the Sacraments, the
efficacious means of grace.
60.
Hence every form of pedagogic naturalism which in any way excludes
or weakens supernatural Christian formation in the teaching of
youth, is false. Every method of education founded, wholly or in
part, on the denial or forgetfulness of original sin and of grace,
and relying on the sole powers of human nature, is unsound. Such,
generally speaking, are those modern systems bearing various names
which appeal to a pretended self-government and unrestrained
freedom on the part of the child, and which diminish or even
suppress the teacher's authority and action, attributing to the
child an exclusive primacy of initiative, and an activity
independent of any higher law, natural or divine, in the work of
his education.
61.
If any of these terms are used, less properly, to denote the
necessity of a gradually more active cooperation on the part of
the pupil in his own education; if the intention is to banish from
education despotism and violence, which, by the way, just
punishment is not, this would be correct, but in no way new. It
would mean only what has been taught and reduced to practice by
the Church in traditional Christian education, in imitation of the
method employed by God Himself towards His creatures, of whom He
demands active cooperation according to the nature of each; for
His Wisdom "reacheth from end to end mightily and ordereth
all things sweetly."(41)
62.
But alas! it is clear from the obvious meaning of the words and
from experience, that what is intended by not a few, is the
withdrawal of education from every sort of dependence on the
divine law. So today we see, strange sight indeed, educators and
philosophers who spend their lives in searching for a universal
moral code of education, as if there existed no decalogue, no
gospel law, no law even of nature stamped by God on the heart of
man, promulgated by right reason, and codified in positive
revelation by God Himself in the ten commandments. These
innovators are wont to refer contemptuously to Christian education
as "heteronomous", "passive, obsolete",
because founded upon the authority of God and His holy law.
63.
Such men are miserably deluded in their claim to emancipate, as
they say, the child, while in reality they are making him the
slave of his own blind pride and of his disorderly affections,
which, as a logical consequence of this false system, come to be
justified as legitimate demands of a so-called autonomous nature.
64.
But what is worse is the claim, not only vain but false,
irreverent and dangerous, to submit to research, experiment and
conclusions of a purely natural and profane order, those matters
of education which belong to the supernatural order; as for
example questions of priestly or religious vocation, and in
general the secret workings of grace which indeed elevate the
natural powers, but are infinitely superior to them, and may
nowise be subjected to physical laws, for "the Spirit
breatheth where He will."(42)
65.
Another very grave danger is that naturalism which nowadays
invades the field of education in that most delicate matter of
purity of morals. Far too common is the error of those who with
dangerous assurance and under an ugly term propagate a so-called
sex-education, falsely imagining they can forearm youths against
the dangers of sensuality by means purely natural, such as a
foolhardy initiation and precautionary instruction for all
indiscriminately, even in public; and, worse still, by exposing
them at an early age to the occasions, in order to accustom them,
so it is argued, and as it were to harden them against such
dangers.
66.
Such persons grievously err in refusing to recognize the inborn
weakness of human nature, and the law of which the Apostle speaks,
fighting against the law of the mind;(43) and also in ignoring the
experience of facts, from which it is clear that, particularly in
young people, evil practices are the effect not so much of
ignorance of intellect as of weakness of a will exposed to
dangerous occasions, and unsupported by the means of grace.
67.
In this extremely delicate matter, if, all things considered, some
private instruction is found necessary and opportune, from those
who hold from God the commission to teach and who have the grace
of state, every precaution must be taken. Such precautions are
well known in traditional Christian education, and are adequately
described by Antoniano cited above, when he says:
Such is our misery and inclination to sin, that often in the very
things considered to be remedies against sin, we find occasions
for and inducements to sin itself. Hence it is of the highest
importance that a good father, while discussing with his son a
matter so delicate, should be well on his guard and not descend to
details, nor refer to the various ways in which this infernal
hydra destroys with its poison so large a portion of the world;
otherwise it may happen that instead of extinguishing this fire,
he unwittingly stirs or kindles it in the simple and tender heart
of the child. Speaking generally, during the period of childhood
it suffices to employ those remedies which produce the double
effect of opening the door to the virtue of purity and closing the
door upon vice.(44)
68.
False also and harmful to Christian education is the so-called
method of "coeducation." This too, by many of its
supporters, is founded upon naturalism and the denial of original
sin; but by all, upon a deplorable confusion of ideas that
mistakes a leveling promiscuity and equality, for the legitimate
association of the sexes. The Creator has ordained and disposed
perfect union of the sexes only in matrimony, and, with varying
degrees of contact, in the family and in society. Besides there is
not in nature itself, which fashions the two quite different in
organism, in temperament, in abilities, anything to suggest that
there can be or ought to be promiscuity, and much less equality,
in the training of the two sexes. These, in keeping with the
wonderful designs of the Creator, are destined to complement each
other in the family and in society, precisely because of their
differences, which therefore ought to be maintained and encouraged
during their years of formation, with the necessary distinction
and corresponding separation, according to age and circumstances.
These principles, with due regard to time and place, must, in
accordance with Christian prudence, be applied to all schools,
particularly in the most delicate and decisive period of
formation, that, namely, of adolescence; and in gymnastic
exercises and deportment, special care must be had of Christian
modesty in young women and girls, which is so gravely impaired by
any kind of exhibition in public.
69.
Recalling the terrible words of the Divine Master: "Woe to
the world because of scandals!"(45) We most earnestly appeal
to your solicitude and your watchfulness, Venerable Brethren,
against these pernicious errors, which, to the immense harm of
youth, are spreading far and wide among Christian peoples.
70.
In order to obtain perfect education, it is of the utmost
importance to see that all those conditions which surround the
child during the period of his formation, in other words that the
combination of circumstances which we call environment, correspond
exactly to the end proposed.
71.
The first natural and necessary element in this environment, as
regards education, is the family, and this precisely because so
ordained by the Creator Himself. Accordingly that education, as a
rule, will be more effective and lasting which is received in a
well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family; and more
efficacious in proportion to the clear and constant good example
set, first by the parents, and then by the other members of the
household.
72.
It is not our intention to treat formally the question of domestic
education, nor even to touch upon its principal points. The
subject is too vast. Besides there are not lacking special
treatises on this topic by authors, both ancient and modern, well
known for their solid Catholic doctrine. One which seems deserving
of special mention is the golden treatise already referred to, of
Antoniano, On the Christian Education of Youth, which St. Charles
Borromeo ordered to be read in public to parents assembled in
their churches.
73.
Nevertheless, Venerable Brethren and beloved children, We wish to
call your attention in a special manner to the present-day
lamentable decline in family education. The offices and
professions of a transitory and earthly life, which are certainly
of far less importance, are prepared for by long and careful
study; whereas for the fundamental duty and obligation of
educating their children, many parents have little or no
preparation, immersed as they are in temporal cares. The declining
influence of domestic environment is further weakened by another
tendency, prevalent almost everywhere today, which, under one
pretext or another, for economic reasons, or for reasons of
industry, trade or politics, causes children to be more and more
frequently sent away from home even in their tenderest years. And
there is a country where the children are actually being torn from
the bosom of the family, to be formed (or, to speak more
accurately, to be deformed and depraved) in godless schools and
associations, to irreligion and hatred, according to the theories
of advanced socialism; and thus is renewed in a real and more
terrible manner the slaughter of the Innocents.
74.
For the love of Our Savior Jesus Christ, therefore, we implore
pastors of souls, by every means in their power, by instructions
and catechisms, by word of mouth and written articles widely
distributed, to warn Christian parents of their grave obligations.
And this should be done not in a merely theoretical and general
way, but with practical and specific application to the various
responsibilities of parents touching the religious, moral and
civil training of their children, and with indication of the
methods best adapted to make their training effective, supposing
always the influence of their own exemplary lives. The Apostle of
the Gentiles did not hesitate to descend to such details of
practical instruction in his epistles, especially in the Epistle
to the Ephesians, where among other things he gives this advice:
"And you, fathers, provoke not your children to
anger."(46) This fault is the result not so much of excessive
severity, as of impatience and of ignorance of means best
calculated to effect a desired correction; it is also due to the
all too common relaxation of parental discipline which fails to
check the growth of evil passions in the hearts of the younger
generation. Parents therefore, and all who take their place in the
work of education, should be careful to make right use of the
authority given them by God, whose vicars in a true sense they
are. This authority is not given for their own advantage, but for
the proper up-bringing of their children in a holy and filial
"fear of God, the beginning of wisdom," on which
foundation alone all respect for authority can rest securely; and
without which, order, tranquillity and prosperity, whether in the
family or in society, will be impossible.
75.
To meet the weakness of man's fallen nature, God in His Goodness
has provided the abundant helps of His grace and the countless
means with which He has endowed the Church, the great family of
Christ. The Church therefore is the educational environment most
intimately and harmoniously associated with the Christian family.
76.
This educational environment of the Church embraces the
Sacraments, divinely efficacious means of grace, the sacred
ritual, so wonderfully instructive, and the material fabric of her
churches, whose liturgy and art have an immense educational value;
but it also includes the great number and variety of schools,
associations and institutions of all kinds, established for the
training of youth in Christian piety, together with literature and
the sciences, not omitting recreation and physical culture. And in
this inexhaustible fecundity of educational works, how marvelous,
how incomparable is the Church's maternal providence! So admirable
too is the harmony which she maintains with the Christian family,
that the Church and the family may be said to constitute together
one and the same temple of Christian education.
77.
Since however the younger generations must be trained in the arts
and sciences for the advantage and prosperity of civil society,
and since the family of itself is unequal to this task, it was
necessary to create that social institution, the school. But let
it be borne in mind that this institution owes its existence to
the initiative of the family and of the Church, long before it was
undertaken by the State. Hence considered in its historical
origin, the school is by its very nature an institution subsidiary
and complementary to the family and to the Church. It follows
logically and necessarily that it must not be in opposition to,
but in positive accord with those other two elements, and form
with them a perfect moral union, constituting one sanctuary of
education, as it were, with the family and the Church. Otherwise
it is doomed to fail of its purpose, and to become instead an
agent of destruction.
78.
This principle we find recognized by a layman, famous for his
pedagogical writings, though these because of their liberalism
cannot be unreservedly praised. "The school," he writes,
"if not a temple, is a den." And again: "When
literary, social, domestic and religious education do not go hand
in hand, man is unhappy and helpless."(47)
79.
From this it follows that the so-called "neutral" or
"lay" school, from which religion is excluded, is
contrary to the fundamental principles of education. Such a school
moreover cannot exist in practice; it is bound to become
irreligious. There is no need to repeat what Our Predecessors have
declared on this point, especially Pius IX and Leo XIII, at times
when laicism was beginning in a special manner to infest the
public school. We renew and confirm their declarations,(48) as
well as the Sacred Canons in which the frequenting of non-Catholic
schools, whether neutral or mixed, those namely which are open to
Catholics and non-Catholics alike, is forbidden for Catholic
children, and can be at most tolerated, on the approval of the
Ordinary alone, under determined circumstances of place and time,
and with special precautions.(49) Neither can Catholics admit that
other type of mixed school, (least of all the so-called "école
unique," obligatory on all), in which the students are
provided with separate religious instruction, but receive other
lessons in common with non-Catholic pupils from non-Catholic
teachers.
80.
For the mere fact that a school gives some religious instruction
(often extremely stinted), does not bring it into accord with the
rights of the Church and of the Christian family, or make it a fit
place for Catholic students. To be this, it is necessary that all
the teaching and the whole organization of the school, and its
teachers, syllabus and textbooks in every branch, be regulated by
the Christian spirit, under the direction and maternal supervision
of the Church; so that Religion may be in very truth the
foundation and crown of the youth's entire training; and this in
every grade of school, not only the elementary, but the
intermediate and the higher institutions of learning as well. To
use the words of Leo XIII:
It is necessary not only that religious instruction be given to
the young at certain fixed times, but also that every other
subject taught, be permeated with Christian piety. If this is
wanting, if this sacred atmosphere does not pervade and warm the
hearts of masters and scholars alike, little good can be expected
from any kind of learning, and considerable harm will often be the
consequence.(50)
81.
And let no one say that in a nation where there are different
religious beliefs, it is impossible to provide for public
instruction otherwise than by neutral or mixed schools. In such a
case it becomes the duty of the State, indeed it is the easier and
more reasonable method of procedure, to leave free scope to the
initiative of the Church and the family, while giving them such
assistance as justice demands. That this can be done to the full
satisfaction of families, and to the advantage of education and of
public peace and tranquillity, is clear from the actual experience
of some countries comprising different religious denominations.
There the school legislation respects the rights of the family,
and Catholics are free to follow their own system of teaching in
schools that are entirely Catholic. Nor is distributive justice
lost sight of, as is evidenced by the financial aid granted by the
State to the several schools demanded by the families.
82.
In other countries of mixed creeds, things are otherwise, and a
heavy burden weighs upon Catholics, who under the guidance of
their Bishops and with the indefatigable cooperation of the
clergy, secular and regular, support Catholic schools for their
children entirely at their own expense; to this they feel obliged
in conscience, and with a generosity and constancy worthy of all
praise, they are firmly determined to make adequate provision for
what they openly profess as their motto: "Catholic education
in Catholic schools for all the Catholic youth." If such
education is not aided from public funds, as distributive justice
requires, certainly it may not be opposed by any civil authority
ready to recognize the rights of the family, and the irreducible
claims of legitimate liberty.
83.
Where this fundamental liberty is thwarted or interfered with,
Catholics will never feel, whatever may have been the sacrifices
already made, that they have done enough, for the support and
defense of their schools and for the securing of laws that will do
them justice.
84.
For whatever Catholics do in promoting and defending the Catholic
school for their children, is a genuinely religious work and
therefore an important task of "Catholic Action." For
this reason the associations which in various countries are so
zealously engaged in this work of prime necessity, are especially
dear to Our paternal heart and are deserving of every
commendation.
85.
Let it be loudly proclaimed and well understood and recognized by
all, that Catholics, no matter what their nationality, in
agitating for Catholic schools for their children, are not mixing
in party politics, but are engaged in a religious enterprise
demanded by conscience. They do not intend to separate their
children either from the body of the nation or its spirit, but to
educate them in a perfect manner, most conducive to the prosperity
of the nation. Indeed a good Catholic, precisely because of his
Catholic principles, makes the better citizen, attached to his
country, and loyally submissive to constituted civil authority in
every legitimate form of government.
86.
In such a school, in harmony with the Church and the Christian
family, the various branches of secular learning will not enter
into conflict with religious instruction to the manifest detriment
of education. And if, when occasion arises, it be deemed necessary
to have the students read authors propounding false doctrine, for
the purpose of refuting it, this will be done after due
preparation and with such an antidote of sound doctrine, that it
will not only do no harm, but will an aid to the Christian
formation of youth.
87.
In such a school moreover, the study of the vernacular and of
classical literature will do no damage to moral virtue. There the
Christian teacher will imitate the bee, which takes the choicest
part of the flower and leaves the rest, as St. Basil teaches in
his discourse to youths on the study of the classics.(51) Nor will
this necessary caution, suggested also by the pagan Quintilian,(52)
in any way hinder the Christian teacher from gathering and turning
to profit, whatever there is of real worth in the systems and
methods of our modern times, mindful of the Apostle's advice:
"Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."(53)
Hence in accepting the new, he will not hastily abandon the old,
which the experience of centuries has found expedient and
profitable. This is particularly true in the teaching of Latin,
which in our days is falling more and more into disuse, because of
the unreasonable rejection of methods so successfully used by that
sane humanism, whose highest development was reached in the
schools of the Church. These noble traditions of the past require
that the youth committed to Catholic schools be fully instructed
in the letters and sciences in accordance with the exigencies of
the times. They also demand that the doctrine imparted be deep and
solid, especially in sound philosophy, avoiding the muddled
superficiality of those "who perhaps would have found the
necessary, had they not gone in search of the
superfluous."(54) In this connection Christian teachers
should keep in mind what Leo XIII says in a pithy sentence:
Greater stress must be laid on the employment of apt and solid
methods of teaching, and, what is still more important, on
bringing into full conformity with the Catholic faith, what is
taught in literature, in the sciences, and above all in
philosophy, on which depends in great part the right orientation
of the other branches of knowledge.(55)
88.
Perfect schools are the result not so much of good methods as of
good teachers, teachers who are thoroughly prepared and
well-grounded in the matter they have to teach; who possess the
intellectual and moral qualifications required by their important
office; who cherish a pure and holy love for the youths confided
to them, because they love Jesus Christ and His Church, of which
these are the children of predilection; and who have therefore
sincerely at heart the true good of family and country. Indeed it
fills Our soul with consolation and gratitude towards the divine
Goodness to see, side by side with religious men and women engaged
in teaching, such a large number of excellent lay teachers, who,
for their greater spiritual advancement, are often grouped in
special sodalities and associations, which are worthy of praise
and encouragement as most excellent and powerful auxiliaries of
"Catholic Action." All these labor unselfishly with zeal
and perseverance in what St. Gregory Nazianzen calls "the art
of arts and the science of sciences,"(56) the direction and
formation of youth. Of them also it may be said in the words of
the divine Master: "The harvest indeed is great, but the
laborers few."(57) Let us then pray the Lord of the harvest
to send more such workers into the field of Christian education;
and let their formation be one of the principal concerns of the
pastors of souls and of the superiors of Religious Orders.
89.
It is no less necessary to direct and watch the education of the
adolescent, "soft as wax to be moulded into vice,"(58)
in whatever other environment he may happen to be, removing
occasions of evil and providing occasions for good in his
recreations and social intercourse; for "evil communications
corrupt good manners."(59)
90.
More than ever nowadays an extended and careful vigilance is
necessary, inasmuch as the dangers of moral and religious
shipwreck are greater for inexperienced youth. Especially is this
true of impious and immoral books, often diabolically circulated
at low prices; of the cinema, which multiplies every kind of
exhibition; and now also of the radio, which facilitates every
kind of communications. These most powerful means of publicity,
which can be of great utility for instruction and education when
directed by sound principles, are only too often used as an
incentive to evil passions and greed for gain. St. Augustine
deplored the passion for the shows of the circus which possessed
even some Christians of his time, and he dramatically narrates the
infatuation for them, fortunately only temporary, of his disciple
and friend Alipius.(60) How often today must parents and educators
bewail the corruption of youth brought about by the modern theater
and the vile book!
91.
Worthy of all praise and encouragement therefore are those
educational associations which have for their object to point out
to parents and educators, by means of suitable books and
periodicals, the dangers to morals and religion that are often
cunningly disguised in books and theatrical representations. In
their spirit of zeal for the souls of the young, they endeavor at
the same time to circulate good literature and to promote plays
that are really instructive, going so far as to put up at the cost
of great sacrifices, theaters and cinemas, in which virtue will
have nothing to suffer and much to gain.
92.
This necessary vigilance does not demand that young people be
removed from the society in which they must live and save their
souls; but that today more than ever they should be forewarned and
forearmed as Christians against the seductions and the errors of
the world, which, as Holy Writ admonishes us, is all
"concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes and
pride of life."(61) Let them be what Tertullian wrote of the
first Christians, and what Christians of all times ought to be,
"sharers in the possession of the world, not of its
error."(62)
93.
This saying of Tertullian brings us to the topic which we propose
to treat in the last place, and which is of the greatest
importance, that is, the true nature of Christian education, as
deduced from its proper end. Its consideration reveals with
noonday clearness the pre-eminent educational mission of the
Church.
94.
The proper and immediate end of Christian education is to
cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect
Christian, that is, to form Christ Himself in those regenerated by
Baptism, according to the emphatic expression of the Apostle:
"My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until
Christ be formed in you."(63) For the true Christian must
live a supernatural life in Christ: "Christ who is your
life,"(64) and display it in all his actions: "That the
life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal
flesh."(65)
95.
For precisely this reason, Christian education takes in the whole
aggregate of human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and
moral, individual, domestic and social, not with a view of
reducing it in any way, but in order to elevate, regulate and
perfect it, in accordance with the example and teaching of Christ.
96.
Hence the true Christian, product of Christian education, is the
supernatural man who thinks, judges and acts constantly and
consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the
supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ; in other
words, to use the current term, the true and finished man of
character. For, it is not every kind of consistency and firmness
of conduct based on subjective principles that makes true
character, but only constancy in following the eternal principles
of justice, as is admitted even by the pagan poet when he praises
as one and the same "the man who is just and firm of
purpose."(66) And on the other hand, there cannot be full
justice except in giving to God what is due to God, as the true
Christian does.
97.
The scope and aim of Christian education as here described,
appears to the worldly as an abstraction, or rather as something
that cannot be attained without the suppression or dwarfing of the
natural faculties, and without a renunciation of the activities of
the present life, and hence inimical to social life and temporal
prosperity, and contrary to all progress in letters, arts and
sciences, and all the other elements of civilization. To a like
objection raised by the ignorance and the prejudice of even
cultured pagans of a former day, and repeated with greater
frequency and insistence in modern times, Tertullian has replied
as follows:
We are not strangers to life. We are fully aware of the gratitude
we owe to God, our Lord and Creator. We reject none of the fruits
of His handiwork; we only abstain from their immoderate or
unlawful use. We are living in the world with you; we do not shun
your forum, your markets, your baths, your shops, your factories,
your stables, your places of business and traffic. We take shop
with you and we serve in your armies; we are farmers and merchants
with you; we interchange skilled labor and display our works in
public for your service. How we can seem unprofitable to you with
whom we live and of whom we are, I know not.(67)
98.
The true Christian does not renounce the activities of this life,
he does not stunt his natural faculties; but he develops and
perfects them, by coordinating them with the supernatural. He thus
ennobles what is merely natural in life and secures for it new
strength in the material and temporal order, no less then in the
spiritual and eternal.
99.
This fact is proved by the whole history of Christianity and its
institutions, which is nothing else but the history of true
civilization and progress up to the present day. It stands out
conspicuously in the lives of the numerous Saints, whom the
Church, and she alone, produces, in whom is perfectly realized the
purpose of Christian education, and who have in every way ennobled
and benefited human society. Indeed, the Saints have ever been,
are, and ever will be the greatest benefactors of society, and
perfect models for every class and profession, for every state and
condition of life, from the simple and uncultured peasant to the
master of sciences and letters, from the humble artisan to the
commander of armies, from the father of a family to the ruler of
peoples and nations, from simple maidens and matrons of the
domestic hearth to queens and empresses. What shall we say of the
immense work which has been accomplished even for the temporal
well-being of men by missionaries of the Gospel, who have brought
and still bring to barbarous tribes the benefits of civilization
together with the light of the Faith? What of the founders of so
many social and charitable institutions, of the vast numbers of
saintly educators, men and women, who have perpetuated and
multiplied their life work, by leaving after them prolific
institutions of Christian education, in aid of families and for
the inestimable advantage of nations?
100.
Such are the fruits of Christian education. Their price and value
is derived from the supernatural virtue and life in Christ which
Christian education forms and develops in man. Of this life and
virtue Christ our Lord and Master is the source and dispenser. By
His example He is at the same time the universal model accessible
to all, especially to the young in the period of His hidden life,
a life of labor and obedience, adorned with all virtues, personal,
domestic and social, before God and men.
101.
Now all this array of priceless educational treasures which We
have barely touched upon, is so truly a property of the Church as
to form her very substance, since she is the mystical body of
Christ, the immaculate spouse of Christ, and consequently a most
admirable mother and an incomparable and perfect teacher. This
thought inspired St. Augustine, the great genius of whose blessed
death we are about to celebrate the fifteenth centenary, with
accents of tenderest love for so glorious a mother:
O Catholic Church, true Mother of Christians! Not only doest thou
preach to us, as is meet, how purely and chastely we are to
worship God Himself, Whom to possess is life most blessed; thou
does moreover so cherish neighborly love and charity, that all the
infirmities to which sinful souls are subject, find their most
potent remedy in thee. Childlike thou are in molding the child,
strong with the young man, gentle with the aged, dealing with each
according to his needs of mind of body. Thou does subject child to
parent in a sort of free servitude, and settest parent over child
in a jurisdiction of love. Thou bindest brethren to brethren by
the bond of religion, stronger and closer then the bond of blood
... Thou unitest citizen to citizen, nation to nation, yea, all
men, in a union not of companionship only, but of brotherhood,
reminding them of their common origin. Thou teachest kings to care
for their people, and biddest people to be subject to their kings.
Thou teachest assiduously to whom honor is due, to whom love, to
whom reverence, to whom fear, to whom comfort, to whom rebuke, to
whom punishment; showing us that whilst not all things nor the
same things are due to all, charity is due to all and offense to
none.(68)
102.
Let us then, Venerable Brethren, raise our hands and our hearts in
supplication to heaven, "to the Shepherd and Bishop of our
Souls,"(69) to the divine King "who gives laws to
rulers," that in His almighty power He may cause these
splendid fruits of Christian education to be gathered in ever
greater abundance "in the whole world," for the lasting
benefit of individuals and of nations.
As
a pledge of these heavenly favors, with paternal affection We
impart to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and your people,
the Apostolic Benediction.
Given
at Rome, at St. Peter's, the thirty-first day of December, in the
year 1929, the eighth of Our Pontificate.
Endnotes:
1.
Marc., X, 14 | 2. II Tim., IV, 2 | 3. Confess., I, I | 4. Prov.
XXII, 6 | 5. Hom. 60, in c. 18 Matth. | 6. Marc., IX, 36 | 7. Mt.,
XXVIII, 18-20 | 8. Pius IX, Ep. Quum non sine, 14 Iul, 1864. | 9.
De Symbolo ad catech., XIII | 10. Ep. enc. Libertas, 20 Iun. 1888
| 11. Ep. enc. Singulari quadam. 24 Sept. 1912 | 12. A. Manzoni,
Osservazioni sulla Morale Cattolica, c. III | 13. Codex Iuris
Canonici, c. 1375 | 14. Commentar. in Matth., cap. 18 | 15. Cod.
I.C., cc. 1381, 1382 | 16. Ep. enc. Nobilissima Gallorum Gens, 8
Febr. 1884 | 17. Mt., XXVIII, 19 | 18. Discourse to the students
of Mondragone College, May 14,1929 | 19. Deut., XXXII, 4 | 20. S.
Th., 2-2, Q. CII, a. I | 21. S. Th., 2-2, Q. X, a. 12 | 22. Suppl.
S. Th. 3; p. Q. 41, a. 1 | 23. Cod. I. C., c. 1113 | 24. Ep. enc.
Rerum novarum, 15 Maii 1891 | 25. Ep. enc. Rerum novarum, 15 Maii
1891 | 26. Ep. enc. Sapientiae Christianae, 10 Ian. 1890 | 27. Cod.
I. C., c.1113 | 28. "The fundamental theory of liberty upon
which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general
power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to
accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the
mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his
destiny have the right coupled with the high duty, to recognize,
and prepare him for additional duties." U.S. Supreme Court
Decision in the Oregon School Case, June 1, 1925 | 29. Letter to
the Cardinal Secretary of State, May 30, 1929 | 30. Cod. I. C., c.
750, 2. S. Th., 2, 2. Q. X., a. 12 | 31. Discourse to the
students of Mondragone College, May 14,1929 | 32. Discourse to the
students of Mondragone College, May 14,1929 | 33. P. L. Taparelli,
Saggio teor. di Diritto Naturale, n. 922 (Cfr.
Our Discourse of Dec. 18, 1927) | 34. Ep. enc. Immortale Dei, 1
Nov. 1885 (Rom., XIII, 1) | 35. Ep. enc. Immortale Dei, 1 Nov.
1885 | 36. Ep. 138 Un. | 37. Dell 'educaz. crist., lib. I, c. 43 | 38.
Letter to the Cardinal Secretary of State, May 30, 1929 | 39.
Conc. Vat., Sess. 3, cap. 4 | 40. Prov., XXII, 15 [Note: This
passage should not be taken as a license to abuse children.
Discipline of children should always be done in an appropriate -
and not an abusive - manner.] | 41. Sap.,
VIII, 1 | 42. Io., III, 8 | 43. Rom., VII, 23 | 44. Silvio
Antonio, Dell 'educazione cristiana dei figliuoli, lib. II, e. 88
| 45. Mt., XVIII, 7 | 46. Eph., VI, 4 | 47. Nic. Tommaseo,
Pensieri sull 'educazione, Parte I, 3, 6 | 48. Pius IX, Ep. Quum
non sine, 14 Jul. 1864. - Syllabus, Prop. 48. - Leo XIII, alloc.
Summi Pontificatus, 20 Aug. 1880, Ep. enc. Nobilissima, 8 Febr.
1884, Ep. enc. Quod multum, 22 Aug. 1886, Ep. Officio sanctissimo,
22 Dec. 1887, Ep. enc. Caritatis, 19 Mart. 1894, etc. (cfr. Cod.
I.C. cum. Fontium Annot., c. 1374) | 49. Cod. I.C., c. 1374 | 50.
Ep. enc. Militantis Ecclesiae, 1 Aug. 1897 | 51. P.G., t. 31, 570
| 52. Inst. Or., I, 8 | 53. I Thess., V, 21 | 54. Seneca, Epist.
45 | 55. Leo XII, Ep. enc., Insrutabli 21 Apr. 1878 | 56. Oratio
II, P.G., t. 35, 426 | 57. Mt., IX, 37 | 58. Horat., Art. poet.,
v. 163 | 59. I Cor. XV, 33 | 60. Conf., VI, 8 | 61. I Io., II, 16
| 62. De Idololatria, 14 | 63. Gal., IV, 19 | 64. Col., III, 4 |
65. II Cor., IV, II | 66. Horat., Od., 1, III, od. 3, v. 1 | 67.
Apol., 42 | 68. De moribus Eccleslae catholicae, lib. 1, c. 30 |
69. Cfr. I Pt., II, 25
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