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Title: |
Mirari Vos
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Descr.: |
On Liberalism And Religious Indifferentism
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Pope: |
Pope Gregory XVI
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Date: |
August 15, 1832
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All
Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic
World.
Venerable
Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Benediction.
1.
We think that you wonder why, from the time of Our assuming the
pontificate, We have not yet sent a letter to you as is customary
and as Our benevolence for you demanded. We wanted very much to
address you by that voice by which We have been commanded, in the
person of blessed Peter, to strengthen the brethren.(1) You know
what storms of evil and toil, at the beginning of Our pontificate,
drove Us suddenly into the depths of the sea. If the right hand of
God had not given Us strength, We would have drowned as the result
of the terrible conspiracy of impious men. The mind recoils from
renewing this by enumerating so many dangers; instead We bless the
Father of consolation Who, having overthrown all enemies, snatched
Us from the present danger. When He had calmed this violent storm,
He gave Us relief from fear. At once We decided to advise you on
healing the wounds of Israel; but the mountain of concerns We
needed to address in order to restore public order delayed Us.
2.
In the meantime We were again delayed because of the insolent and
factious men who endeavored to raise the standard of treason.
Eventually, We had to use Our God-given authority to restrain the
great obstinacy of these men with the rod.(2) Before We did, their
unbridled rage seemed to grow from continued impunity and Our
considerable indulgence. For these reasons Our duties have been
heavy.
3.
But when We had assumed Our pontificate according to the custom
and institution of Our predecessors and when all delays had been
laid aside, We hastened to you. So We now present the letter and
testimony of Our good will toward you on this happy day, the feast
of the Assumption of the Virgin. Since she has been Our patron and
savior amid so many great calamities, We ask her assistance in
writing to you and her counsels for the flock of Christ.
4.
We come to you grieving and sorrowful because We know that you are
concerned for the faith in these difficult times. Now is truly the
time in which the powers of darkness winnow the elect like
wheat.(3) "The earth mourns and fades away...And the earth
is infected by the inhabitants thereof, because they have
transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinances, they have
broken the everlasting covenant."(4)
5.
We speak of the things which you see with your own eyes, which We
both bemoan. Depravity exults; science is impudent; liberty,
dissolute. The holiness of the sacred is despised; the majesty of
divine worship is not only disapproved by evil men, but defiled
and held up to ridicule. Hence sound doctrine is perverted and
errors of all kinds spread boldly. The laws of the sacred, the
rights, institutions, and discipline - none are safe from the
audacity of those speaking evil. Our Roman See is harassed
violently and the bonds of unity are daily loosened and severed.
The divine authority of the Church is opposed and her rights shorn
off. She is subjected to human reason and with the greatest
injustice exposed to the hatred of the people and reduced to vile
servitude. The obedience due bishops is denied and their rights
are trampled underfoot. Furthermore, academies and schools resound
with new, monstrous opinions, which openly attack the Catholic
faith; this horrible and nefarious war is openly and even publicly
waged. Thus, by institutions and by the example of teachers, the
minds of the youth are corrupted and a tremendous blow is dealt to
religion and the perversion of morals is spread. So the restraints
of religion are thrown off, by which alone kingdoms stand. We see
the destruction of public order, the fall of principalities, and
the overturning of all legitimate power approaching. Indeed this
great mass of calamities had its inception in the heretical
societies and sects in which all that is sacrilegious, infamous,
and blasphemous has gathered as bilge water in a ship's hold, a
congealed mass of all filth.
6.
These and many other serious things, which at present would take
too long to list, but which you know well, cause Our intense
grief. It is not enough for Us to deplore these innumerable evils
unless We strive to uproot them. We take refuge in your faith and
call upon your concern for the salvation of the Catholic flock.
Your singular prudence and diligent spirit give Us courage and
console Us, afflicted as We are with so many trials. We must raise
Our voice and attempt all things lest [an enemy sow destruction in
the Lord's vineyard]. It is Our
duty to lead the flock only to the food which is healthful. In
these evil and dangerous times, the shepherds must never neglect
their duty; they must never be so overcome by fear that they
abandon the sheep. Let them never neglect the flock and become
sluggish from idleness and apathy. Therefore, united in spirit,
let us promote our common cause, or more truly the cause of God;
let our vigilance be one and our effort united against the common
enemies.
7.
Indeed you will accomplish this perfectly if, as the duty of your
office demands, you attend to yourselves and to doctrine and
meditate on these words: "the universal Church is affected by
any and every novelty"(5) and the admonition of Pope Agatho:
"nothing of the things appointed ought to be diminished;
nothing changed; nothing added; but they must be preserved both as
regards expression and meaning."(6) Therefore may the unity
which is built upon the See of Peter as on a sure foundation stand
firm. May it be for all a wall and a security, a safe port, and a
treasury of countless blessings.(7) To check the audacity of those
who attempt to infringe upon the rights of this Holy See or to
sever the union of the churches with the See of Peter, instill in
your people a zealous confidence in the papacy and sincere
veneration for it. As St. Cyprian wrote: "He who abandons the
See of Peter on which the Church was founded, falsely believes
himself to be a part of the Church."(8)
8.
In this you must labor and diligently take care that the faith may
be preserved amidst this great conspiracy of impious men who
attempt to tear it down and destroy it. May all remember the
judgment concerning sound doctrine with which the people are to be
instructed. Remember also that the government and administration
of the whole Church rests with the Roman Pontiff to whom, in the
words of the Fathers of the Council of Florence, "the full
power of nourishing, ruling, and governing the universal Church
was given by Christ the Lord."(9) It is the duty of
individual bishops to cling to the See of Peter faithfully, to
guard the faith piously and religiously, and to feed their flock.
It behooves priests to be subject to the bishops, whom "they
are to look upon as the parents of their souls," as Jerome
admonishes.(10) Nor may the priests ever forget that they are
forbidden by ancient canons to undertake ministry and to assume
the tasks of teaching and preaching "without the permission
of their bishop to whom the people have been entrusted; an
accounting for the souls of the people will be demanded from the
bishop."(11) Finally let them understand that all those who
struggle against this established order disturb the position of
the Church.
9.
Furthermore, the discipline sanctioned by the Church must never be
rejected or be branded as contrary to certain principles of
natural law. It must never be called crippled, or imperfect or
subject to civil authority. In this discipline the administration
of sacred rites, standards of morality, and the reckoning of the
rights of the Church and her ministers are embraced.
10.
To use the words of the fathers of Trent, it is certain that the
Church "was instructed by Jesus Christ and His Apostles and
that all truth was daily taught it by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit."(12) Therefore, it is obviously absurd and injurious
to propose a certain "restoration and regeneration" for
her as though necessary for her safety and growth, as if she could
be considered subject to defect or obscuration or other
misfortune. Indeed these authors of novelties consider that a
"foundation may be laid of a new human institution," and
what Cyprian detested may come to pass, that what was a divine
thing "may become a human church."(13) Let those who
devise such plans be aware that, according to the testimony of St.
Leo, "the right to grant dispensation from the canons is
given" only to the Roman Pontiff. He alone, and no private
person, can decide anything "about the rules of the Church
Fathers." As St. Gelasius writes: "It is the papal
responsibility to keep the canonical decrees in their place and to
evaluate the precepts of previous popes so that when the times
demand relaxation in order to rejuvenate the churches, they may be
adjusted after diligent consideration."(14)
11.
Now, however, We want you to rally to combat the abominable
conspiracy against clerical celibacy. This conspiracy spreads
daily and is promoted by profligate philosophers, some even from
the clerical order. They have forgotten their person and office,
and have been carried away by the enticements of pleasure. They
have even dared to make repeated public demands to the princes for
the abolition of that most holy discipline. But it is disgusting
to dwell on these evil attempts at length. Rather, We ask that you
strive with all your might to justify and to defend the law of
clerical celibacy as prescribed by the sacred canons, against
which the arrows of the lascivious are directed from every side.
12.
Now the honorable marriage of Christians, which Paul calls "a
great sacrament in Christ and the Church,"(15) demands our
shared concern lest anything contrary to its sanctity and
indissolubility is proposed. Our predecessor Pius VIII would
recommend to you his own letters on the subject. However,
troublesome efforts against this sacrament still continue to be
made. The people therefore must be zealously taught that a
marriage rightly entered upon cannot be dissolved; for those
joined in matrimony God has ordained a perpetual companionship for
life and a knot of necessity which cannot be loosed except by
death. Recalling that matrimony is a sacrament and therefore
subject to the Church, let them consider and observe the laws of
the Church concerning it. Let them take care lest for any reason
they permit that which is an obstruction to the teachings of the
canons and the decrees of the councils. They should be aware that
those marriages will have an unhappy end which are entered upon
contrary to the discipline of the Church or without God's favor or
because of concupiscence alone, with no thought of the sacrament
and of the mysteries signified by it.
13.
Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which
the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse
opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who
claim that it is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the
soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as
morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will
drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your
care. With the admonition of the apostle that "there is one
God, one faith, one baptism"(16) may those fear who contrive
the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of
any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of
Christ Himself that "those who are not with Christ are
against Him,"(17) and that they disperse unhappily who do not
gather with Him. Therefore "without a doubt, they will perish
forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and
inviolate."(18) Let them hear Jerome who, while the Church
was torn into three parts by schism, tells us that whenever
someone tried to persuade him to join his group he always
exclaimed: "He who is for the See of Peter is for
me."(19) A schismatic flatters himself falsely if he asserts
that he, too, has been washed in the waters of regeneration.
Indeed Augustine would reply to such a man: "The branch has
the same form when it has been cut off from the vine; but of what
profit for it is the form, if it does not live from the
root?"(20)
14.
This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and
erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must
be maintained for everyone. It spreads ruin in sacred and civil
affairs, though some repeat over and over again with the greatest
impudence that some advantage accrues to religion from it.
"But the death of the soul is worse than freedom of
error," as Augustine was wont to say.(21) When all restraints
are removed by which men are kept on the narrow path of truth,
their nature, which is already inclined to evil, propels them to
ruin. Then truly "the bottomless pit"(22) is open from
which John saw smoke ascending which obscured the sun, and out of
which locusts flew forth to devastate the earth. Thence comes
transformation of minds, corruption of youths, contempt of sacred
things and holy laws - in other words, a pestilence more deadly to
the state than any other. Experience shows, even from earliest
times, that cities renowned for wealth, dominion, and glory
perished as a result of this single evil, namely immoderate
freedom of opinion, license of free speech, and desire for
novelty.
15.
Here We must include that harmful and never sufficiently denounced
freedom to publish any writings whatever and disseminate them to
the people, which some dare to demand and promote with so great a
clamor. We are horrified to see what monstrous doctrines and
prodigious errors are disseminated far and wide in countless
books, pamphlets, and other writings which, though small in
weight, are very great in malice. We are in tears at the abuse
which proceeds from them over the face of the earth. Some are so
carried away that they contentiously assert that the flock of
errors arising from them is sufficiently compensated by the
publication of some book which defends religion and truth. Every
law condemns deliberately doing evil simply because there is some
hope that good may result. Is there any sane man who would say
poison ought to be distributed, sold publicly, stored, and even
drunk because some antidote is available and those who use it may
be snatched from death again and again?
16.
The Church has always taken action to destroy the plague of bad
books. This was true even in apostolic times for we read that the
apostles themselves burned a large number of books.(23) It may be
enough to consult the laws of the fifth Council of the Lateran on
this matter and the Constitution which Leo X published afterwards
lest "that which has been discovered advantageous for the
increase of the faith and the spread of useful arts be converted
to the contrary use and work harm for the salvation of the
faithful."(24) This also was of great concern to the fathers
of Trent, who applied a remedy against this great evil by
publishing that wholesome decree concerning the Index of books
which contain false doctrine.(25) "We must fight
valiantly," Clement XIII says in an encyclical letter about
the banning of bad books, "as much as the matter itself
demands and must exterminate the deadly poison of so many books;
for never will the material for error be withdrawn, unless the
criminal sources of depravity perish in flames."(26) Thus it
is evident that this Holy See has always striven, throughout the
ages, to condemn and to remove suspect and harmful books. The
teaching of those who reject the censure of books as too heavy and
onerous a burden causes immense harm to the Catholic people and to
this See. They are even so depraved as to affirm that it is
contrary to the principles of law, and they deny the Church the
right to decree and to maintain it.
17.
We have learned that certain teachings are being spread among the
common people in writings which attack the trust and submission
due to princes; the torches of treason are being lit everywhere.
Care must be taken lest the people, being deceived, are led away
from the straight path. May all recall, according to the
admonition of the apostle that "there is no authority except
from God; what authority there is has been appointed by God.
Therefore he who resists authority resists the ordinances of God;
and those who resist bring on themselves condemnation."(27)
Therefore both divine and human laws cry out against those who
strive by treason and sedition to drive the people from confidence
in their princes and force them from their government.
18.
And it is for this reason that the early Christians, lest they
should be stained by such great infamy deserved well of the
emperors and of the safety of the state even while persecution
raged. This they proved splendidly by their fidelity in performing
perfectly and promptly whatever they were commanded which was not
opposed to their religion, and even more by their constancy and
the shedding of their blood in battle. "Christian
soldiers," says St. Augustine, "served an infidel
emperor. When the issue of Christ was raised, they acknowledged no
one but the One who is in heaven. They distinguished the eternal
Lord from the temporal lord, but were also subject to the temporal
lord for the sake of the eternal Lord."(28) St. Mauritius,
the unconquered martyr and leader of the Theban legion had this in
mind when, as St. Eucharius reports, he answered the emperor in
these words: "We are your soldiers, Emperor, but also
servants of God, and this we confess freely... and now this final
necessity of life has not driven us into rebellion: I see, we are
armed and we do not resist, because we wish rather to die than to
be killed."(29) Indeed the faith of the early Christians
shines more brightly, if with Tertullian we consider that since
the Christians were not lacking in numbers and in troops, they
could have acted as foreign enemies. "We are but of
yesterday," he says, "yet we have filled all your
cities, islands, fortresses, municipalities, assembly places, the
camps themselves, the tribes, the divisions, the palace, the
senate, the forum...For what war should we not have been fit and
ready even if unequal in forces - we who are so glad to be cut to
pieces - were it not, of course, that in our doctrine we would
have been permitted more to be killed rather than to kill?...If so
great a multitude of people should have deserted to some remote
spot on earth, it would surely have covered your domination with
shame because of the loss of so many citizens, and it would even
have punished you by this very desertion. Without a doubt you
would have been terrified at your solitude... You would have
sought whom you might rule; more enemies than citizens would have
remained for you. Now however you have fewer enemies because of
the multitude of Christians."(30)
19.
These beautiful examples of the unchanging subjection to the
princes necessarily proceeded from the most holy precepts of the
Christian religion. They condemn the detestable insolence and
improbity of those who, consumed with the unbridled lust for
freedom, are entirely devoted to impairing and destroying all
rights of dominion while bringing servitude to the people under
the slogan of liberty. Here surely belong the infamous and wild
plans of the Waldensians, the Beghards, the Wycliffites, and other
such sons of Belial, who were the sores and disgrace of the human
race; they often received a richly deserved anathema from the Holy
See. For no other reason do experienced deceivers devote their
efforts, except so that they, along with Luther, might joyfully
deem themselves "free of all." To attain this end more
easily and quickly, they undertake with audacity any infamous plan
whatever.
20.
Nor can We predict happier times for religion and government from
the plans of those who desire vehemently to separate the Church
from the state, and to break the mutual concord between temporal
authority and the priesthood. It is certain that that concord
which always was favorable and beneficial for the sacred and the
civil order is feared by the shameless lovers of liberty.
21.
But for the other painful causes We are concerned about, you
should recall that certain societies and assemblages seem to draw
up a battle line together with the followers of every false
religion and cult. They feign piety for religion; but they are
driven by a passion for promoting novelties and sedition
everywhere. They preach liberty of every sort; they stir up
disturbances in sacred and civil affairs, and [destroy authority].
22.
We write these things to you with grieving mind but trusting in
Him who commands the winds and makes them still. Take up the
shield of faith and fight the battles of the Lord vigorously. You
especially must stand as a wall against every height which raises
itself against the knowledge of God. Unsheathe the sword of the
spirit, which is the word of God, and may those who hunger after
justice receive bread from you. Having been called so that you
might be diligent cultivators in the vineyard of the Lord, do this
one thing, and labor in it together, so that every root of
bitterness may be removed from your field, all seeds of vice
destroyed, and a happy crop of virtues may take root and grow. The
first to be embraced with paternal affection are those who apply
themselves to the sacred sciences and to philosophical studies.
For them may you be exhorter and supporter, lest trusting only in
their own talents and strength, they may imprudently wander away
from the path of truth onto the road of the impious. Let them
remember that God is the guide to wisdom and the director of the
wise.(31) It is impossible to know God without God who teaches men
to know Himself by His word.(32) It is the proud, or rather
foolish, men who examine the mysteries of faith which surpass all
understanding with the faculties of the human mind, and rely on
human reason which by the condition of man's nature, is weak and
infirm.
23.
May Our dear sons in Christ, the princes, support these Our
desires for the welfare of Church and State with their resources
and authority. May they understand that they received their
authority not only for the government of the world, but especially
for the defense of the Church. They should diligently consider
that whatever work they do for the welfare of the Church accrues
to their rule and peace. Indeed let them persuade themselves that
they owe more to the cause of the faith than to their kingdom. Let
them consider it something very great for themselves as We say
with Pope St. Leo, "if in addition to their royal diadem the
crown of faith may be added." Placed as if they were parents
and teachers of the people, they will bring them true peace and
tranquility, if they take special care that religion and piety
remain safe. God, after all, calls Himself "King of kings and
Lord of lords."
24.
That all of this may come to pass prosperously and happily, let Us
raise Our eyes and hands to the most holy Virgin Mary, who alone
crushes all heresies, and is Our greatest reliance and the whole
reason for Our hope.(33) May she implore by her patronage a
successful outcome for Our plans and actions. Let Us humbly ask of
the Prince of the Apostles, Peter and his co-apostle Paul that all
of you may stand as a wall lest a foundation be laid other than
that which has already been laid. Relying on this happy hope, We
trust that the Author and Crown of Our faith Jesus Christ will
console Us in all these Our tribulations. We lovingly impart the
apostolic benediction to you, venerable brothers, and to the sheep
committed to your care as a sign of heavenly aid.
Given
in Rome at St. Mary Major, on August 15, the feast of the
Assumption of the Virgin, in the year of Our Lord 1832, the second
year of Our Pontificate.
Endnotes:
1.
Lk. 22:32 | 2. 1 Cor. 4:21 | 3. Lk. 22:53 | 4. Isa. 24:5 | 5. St.
Celestine, Pope, epistle 21 to Bishop Galliar | 6. St. Agatho,
Pope, epistle to the emperor, apud Labb., ed. Mansi, vol. 2, p.
235 | 7. St. Innocent, epistle 11 apud Constat | 8. St. Cyprian,
de unitate eccles | 9. Council of Florence, session 25, in definit.
apud Labb., ed. Venet., vol. 18, col. 527 | 10. St. Jerome,
epistle 2 to Nepot. a. 1, 24 | 11. From canon ap. 38 apud Labb.,
ed Mansi, vol. 1, p. 38 | 12. Council of Trent, session 13 on the
Eucharist, prooemium | 13. St. Cyprian, epistle 52, ed. Baluz |
14. St. Gelasius, Pope, in epistle to the bishop of Lucaniae | 15.
Heb. 13:4 | 16. Eph. 4:5 | 17. Lk. 11:23 | 18. Symbol S.
Athanasius | 19. St. Jerome, epistle 57 | 20. St. Augustine, in
psalm. contra part. Donat | 21. St. Augustine, epistle 166 | 22.
Ap. 9:3 | 23. Acts 19 | 24. Acts of the Lateran Council 5, session
10, where the constitution of Leo X is mentioned; the earlier
constitution of Alexander VI, Inter multiplices, ought to be read,
in which there are many things on this point | 25. Council of
Trent, sessions 18 and 25 | 26. Letter of Clement XIII,
Christianae, 25 November 1766 | 27. Rom. 13:2 | 28. St. Augustine
in psalt. 124, n. 7 | 29. St. Euchenius apud Ruinart. Acts of the
Holy Martyrs concerning Saint Maurius and his companions, n. 4 |
30. Tertullian, in apologet., chap. 37 | 31. Wis. 7:15 | 32. St.
Irenaeus, bk. 14, chap. 10 | 33. St. Bernard, serm de nat. b.M.v.,
sect. 7
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