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Title: |
Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio
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Descr.: |
On The Peace Of Christ In The Kingdom Of Christ
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Pope: |
Pope Pius XI
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Date: |
December 23, 1922
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To
Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops,
Bishops, and Other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the
Apostolic See.
1.
From the very hour when in the inscrutable designs of God, We
though unworthy, were elevated to this Chair of Truth and Love, We
earnestly desired to address a heartfelt message to you, Venerable
Brothers, and to all Our beloved children who are under your
immediate direction and care. This Our desire found its
inspiration in the solemn benediction - Urbi et Orbi - which We
gave to an immense multitude from the balcony of the Vatican
Basilica following Our election to the Supreme Pontificate. This
blessing of Ours was received with every manifestation of joy and
gratitude by you, by people from every part of the world, and by
the Sacred College of Cardinals. This fact was for Us a most
comforting assurance, added to that other which comes from Our
trust in the divine assistance, in preparing Us to take up the
tremendous office which quite unexpectedly We have been called
upon to assume.
2.
We, therefore, write to you now, "our mouth is open to
you" (II Cor. vi, 11) as the birthday of Our Lord Jesus
Christ and the New Year approach, and wish this letter to be not
only a message of glad greetings but a Christmas gift as well from
a father to his loving children.
3.
Many reasons prevented Us up to this time from fulfilling Our wish
to write. In the first place, there was what one might call a
contest of filial devotion by reason of which there came to us in
letters without number the good wishes of Our brothers and
children from every quarter of the globe, messages which bespoke a
welcome to the newly elected Successor of St. Peter and offered
him the well-wishes born of a devoted homage.
4.
Following close upon these messages We were called upon to
experience personally and for the first time what St. Paul has
called "my daily instance, the solicitude for all the
churches." (II Cor. xi, 28) To Our everyday duties there were
added many extraordinary ones, as for example, those most
important affairs already well advanced towards a solution before
Our election and which We had to rush to completion, which had to
do with the Holy Places, which affected the welfare of
Christianity itself, or the status of dioceses numbered among the
most important of the Catholic world. Then there were to be
considered international meetings and treaties which deeply
influenced the future of whole peoples and of nations. Faithful to
the ministry of peace and reconciliation which has been confided
to Our care by God, We strove to make known far and wide the law
of justice, tempered always by charity, and to obtain merited
consideration for those values and interests which, because they
are spiritual, are none the less grave and important. As a matter
of fact, they are much more serious and important than any merely
material thing whatsoever. We were occupied, too, with the almost
unbelievable sufferings of those peoples, living in districts far
remote from Us, who had been stricken with famine and every kind
of calamity. We hastened to send them all the help which Our own
straitened circumstances permitted, and did not fail to call upon
the whole world to assist Us in this task. Finally, there did not
escape Us those uprisings accompanied by acts of violence which
had broken out in the very midst of Our own beloved people, here
where We were born, here where the hand of Divine Providence has
set down the Chair of St. Peter. For a time these troubles seemed
to threaten the very future of Our country, nor could We rest
until We had done everything within Our power to quiet such
serious disorders.
There were, on the other hand, certain extraordinary events which
filled Our soul with joy. Such were, for example, the Twenty-Sixth
International Eucharistic Congress and the Three Hundredth
Anniversary of the establishment of the Sacred Congregation of the
Propagation of the Faith. These celebrations brought to Us such
inexpressible consolation and such great spiritual joy that We
never imagined such a thing possible at the very outset of Our
Pontificate. We also saw at that time practically all the members
of the hundreds of bishops who had come to Rome from every part of
the world. Under normal circumstances it would have taken several
years to interview a like number of bishops. We gave audience also
to many thousands of the faithful and blessed with Our fatherly
blessing large and dignified representations of that immense
family "from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation" as
we read in the Book of the Apocalypse, (v, 9) which God has
confided to Us. Together with them We were privileged to assist at
spectacles which were little short of divine, for We witnessed Our
Blessed Redeemer reassume His rightful place as King of all men,
of all states, and of all nations when, though hidden behind the
veils of the Eucharistic species, He was carried in a magnificent
and truly royal triumph of faith through the streets of Our own
city, Rome, accompanied by an immense concourse of people
representing every nation on earth. We beheld, too, the Holy
Spirit, as it were, descend into the hearts of both priests and
faithful as He did on the first Pentecost Sunday, to rekindle in
them the spirit of prayer and of the apostolate. We were overjoyed
to behold the fervent faith of the inhabitants of Rome proclaimed
once again to the world, to the great glory of God and to the
edification of souls.
5.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Our own dear Mother,
who had most lovingly looked down on us at the Sanctuaries of
Czestochowa and of Ostrabrama as well as at the miraculous grotto
of Lourdes and from the lofty spires of Our own city of Milan, to
say nothing of that most holy Sanctuary of the Rho, deigned to
accept the homage of Our love on the occasion when We gave back to
the Venerable Basilica of Loreto, which had been restored after
the serious damage caused to it by fire, her beautiful statue
which had been not only done over at Our behest but had been
blessed and crowned as well by Our own hands. That occasion was
without question a veritable triumph for Mary. During the passage
of her statue from Rome to Loreto, the faithful of each town
rivaled one another in acclaiming her by a spontaneous and
continuous outburst of profoundly religious sentiment, which
showed forth a most tender affection for Our Blessed Lady, as well
as a devoted attachment to the Vicar of Jesus Christ.
6.
These different events, some sad and some joyful, the history of
which We wish to record for the edification of posterity, spoke
most eloquently to Us, making more and more clear to Our mind
those objectives which seem to claim the foremost place in Our
Apostolic Ministry and of which it behooves Us to speak now in as
solemn a manner as possible in this, Our very first message to
you.
7.
One thing is certain today. Since the close of the Great War [WWI]
individuals, the different classes of society, the nations of the
earth have not as yet found true peace. They do not enjoy,
therefore, that active and fruitful tranquillity which is the
aspiration and the need of mankind. This is a sad truth which
forces itself upon us from every side. For anyone who, as We do,
desires profoundly to study and successfully to apply the means
necessary to overcome such evils, it is all-important that he
recognize both the fact and the gravity of this state of affairs
and attempt beforehand to discover its causes. This duty is
imposed upon Us in commanding fashion by the very consciousness
which We have of Our Apostolic Office. We cannot but resolve to
fulfill that which is so clearly Our duty. This We shall do now by
this Our first encyclical, and afterward with all solicitude in
the course of Our sacred ministry.
8.
Since the selfsame sad conditions continue to exist in the world
today which were the object of constant and almost heartbreaking
preoccupation on the part of Our respected Predecessor, Benedict
XV, during the whole period of his pontificate, naturally We have
come to make his thoughts and his solutions of these problems Our
own. May they become, too, the thoughts and ideals of everyone, as
they are Our thoughts, and if this should happen we would
certainly see, with the help of God and the cooperation of all
men of good will, the most wonderful effects come to pass by a
true and lasting reconciliation of men one with another.
9.
The inspired words of the Prophets seem to have been written
expressly for our own times: "We looked for peace and no good
came: for a time of healing, and behold fear," (Jer. viii,
15) "for the time of healing, and behold trouble." (Jer.
xiv, 19) "We looked for light, and behold darkness...we have
looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is
far from us." (Isaias lix, 9, 11)
10.
The belligerents of yesterday have laid down their arms but on the
heels of this act we encounter new horrors and new threats of war
in the Near East. The conditions in many sections of these
devastated regions have been greatly aggravated by famine,
epidemics, and the laying waste of the land, all of which have not
failed to take their toll of victims without number, especially
among the aged, women and innocent children. In what has been so
justly called the immense theater of the World War, the old
rivalries between nations have not ceased to exert their
influence, rivalries at times hidden under the manipulations of
politics or concealed beneath the fluctuations of finance, but
openly appearing in the press, in reviews and magazines of every
type, and even penetrating into institutions devoted to the
cultivation of the arts and sciences, places where otherwise the
atmosphere of quiet and peace would reign supreme.
11.
Public life is so enveloped, even at the present hour, by the
dense fog of mutual hatreds and grievances that it is almost
impossible for the common people so much as freely to breathe
therein. If the defeated nations continue to suffer most terribly,
no less serious are the evils which afflict their conquerors.
Small nations complain that they are being oppressed and exploited
by great nations. The great powers, on their side, contend that
they are being judged wrongly and circumvented by the smaller. All
nations, great and small, suffer acutely from the sad effects of
the late War. Neither can those nations which were neutral contend
that they have escaped altogether the tremendous sufferings of the
War or failed to experience its evil results almost equally with
the actual belligerents. These evil results grow in volume from
day to day because of the utter impossibility of finding anything
like a safe remedy to cure the ills of society, and this in spite
of all the efforts of politicians and statesmen whose work has
come to naught if it has not unfortunately tended to aggravate the
very evils they tried to overcome. Conditions have become
increasingly worse because the fears of the people are being
constantly played upon by the ever-present menace of new wars,
likely to be more frightful and destructive than any which have
preceded them. Whence it is that the nations of today live in a
state of armed peace which is scarcely better than war itself, a
condition which tends to exhaust national finances, to waste the
flower of youth, to muddy and poison the very fountainheads of
life, physical, intellectual, religious, and moral.
12.
A much more serious and lamentable evil than these threats of
external aggression is the internal discord which menaces the
welfare not only of nations but of human society itself. In the
first place, we must take cognizance of the war between the
classes, a chronic and mortal disease of present-day society,
which like a cancer is eating away the vital forces of the social
fabric, labor, industry, the arts, commerce, agriculture -
everything in fact which contributes to public and private welfare
and to national prosperity. This conflict seems to resist every
solution and grows worse because those who are never satisfied
with the amount of their wealth contend with those who hold on
most tenaciously to the riches which they have already acquired,
while to both classes there is common the desire to rule the other
and to assume control of the other's possessions. From this class
war there result frequent interruptions of work, the causes for
which most often can be laid to mutual provocations. There result,
too, revolutions, riots, and forcible repression of one side or
other by the government, all of which cannot but end in general
discontent and in grave damage to the common welfare.
To these evils we must add the contests between political parties,
many of which struggles do not originate in a real difference of
opinion concerning the public good or in a laudable and
disinterested search for what would best promote the common
welfare, but in the desire for power and for the protection of
some private interest which inevitably result in injury to the
citizens as a whole. From this course there often arise robberies
of what belongs rightly to the people, and even conspiracies
against and attacks on the supreme authority of the state, as well
as on its representatives. These political struggles also beget
threats of popular action and, at times, eventuate in open
rebellion and other disorders which are all the more deplorable
and harmful since they come from a public to whom it has been
given, in our modern democratic states, to participate in very
large measure in public life and in the affairs of government.
Now, these different forms of government are not of themselves
contrary to the principles of the Catholic Faith, which can easily
be reconciled with any reasonable and just system of government.
Such governments, however, are the most exposed to the danger of
being overthrown by one faction or another.
13.
It is most sad to see how this revolutionary spirit has penetrated
into that sanctuary of peace and love, the family, the original
nucleus of human society. In the family these evil seeds of
dissension, which were sown long ago, have recently been spread
about more and more by the fact of the absence of fathers and sons
from the family fireside during the War and by the greatly
increased freedom in matters of morality which followed on it as
one of its effects. Frequently we behold sons alienated from their
fathers, brothers quarreling with brothers, masters with servants,
servants with masters. Too often likewise have we seen both the
sanctity of the marriage tie and the duties to God and to
humankind, which this tie imposes upon men, forgotten.
14.
Just as the smallest part of the body feels the effect of an
illness which is ravaging the whole body or one of its vital
organs, so the evils now besetting society and the family afflict
even individuals. In particular, We cannot but lament the morbid
restlessness which has spread among people of every age and
condition in life, the general spirit of insubordination and the
refusal to live up to one's obligations which has become so
widespread as almost to appear the customary mode of living. We
lament, too, the destruction of purity among women and young girls
as is evidenced by the increasing immodesty of their dress and
conversation and by their participation in shameful dances, which
sins are made the more heinous by the vaunting in the faces of
people less fortunate than themselves their luxurious mode of
life. Finally, We cannot but grieve over the great increase in the
number of what might be called social misfits who almost
inevitably end by joining the ranks of those malcontents who
continually agitate against all order, be it public or private.
15.
It is surprising, then, that we should no longer possess that
security of life in which we can place our trust and that there
remains only the most terrible uncertainty, and from hour to hour
added fears for the future? Instead of regular daily work there is
idleness and unemployment. That blessed tranquillity which is the
effect of an orderly existence and in which the essence of peace
is to be found no longer exists, and, in its place, the restless
spirit of revolt reigns. As a consequence industry suffers,
commerce is crippled, the cultivation of literature and the arts
becomes more and more difficult, and what is worse than all,
Christian civilization itself is irreparably damaged thereby. In
the face of our much praised progress, we behold with sorrow
society lapsing back slowly but surely into a state of barbarism.
16.
We wish to record, in addition to the evils already mentioned,
other evils which beset society and which occupy a place of prime
importance but whose very existence escapes the ordinary observer,
the sensual man - he who, as the Apostle says, does not perceive
"the things that are of the Spirit of God" (I Cor. ii,
14), yet which cannot but be judged the greatest and most
destructive scourges of the social order of today. We refer
specifically to those evils which transcend the material or
natural sphere and lie within the supernatural and religious order
properly so-called; in other words, those evils which affect the
spiritual life of souls. These evils are all the more to be
deplored since they injure souls whose value is infinitely greater
than that of any merely material object.
17.
Over and above the laxity in the performance of Christian duties
which is so widespread, We cannot but sorrow with you, Venerable
Brothers, over the fact that very many churches, which during the
War had been turned to profane uses, have not yet been restored to
their original purpose as temples of prayer and of divine worship;
moreover, that many seminaries whose existence is vital for the
preparation and formation of worthy leaders and teachers of the
religious life have not yet been reopened; that the ranks of the
clergy in almost every country have been decimated, either because
so many priests have died on the battlefield in the exercise of
their sacred ministry or have been lost to the Church because they
proved faithless to their holy vocation, due to the unfavorable
conditions under which they were compelled to live for so long;
and, finally, that in many places even the preaching of the Word
of God, so necessary and so fruitful for "the edifying of the
body of Christ" (Ephesians iv, 12) has been silenced.
18.
The evil results of the Great War, as they affect the spiritual
life, have been felt all over the world, even in out-of-the-way
and lonely sections of far-off continents. Missionaries have been
forced to abandon the field of their apostolic labors, and many
have been unable to return to their work, thus causing
interruptions to and even abandonment of those glorious conquests
of the Faith which have done so much to raise the level of
civilization, moral, material, and religious. It is quite true
that there have been some worthwhile compensations for these great
spiritual misfortunes. Among these compensations is one which
stands out in bold relief and gives the lie to many ancient
calumnies, namely, that a pure love of country and a generous
devotion to duty burn brightly in the souls of those consecrated
to God, and that through their sacred ministry the consolations of
religion were brought to thousands dying on the fields of battle
wet with human blood. Thus, many, in spite of their prejudices,
were led to honor again the priesthood and the Church by reason of
the wonderful examples of sacrifice of self, with which they had
become acquainted. For these happy results we are indebted solely
to the infinite goodness and wisdom of God, Who draws good from
evil.
19.
Our letter so far has been devoted to a recital of the evils which
afflict present-day society. We must now search out, with all
possible care, the causes of these disorders, some of which have
already been referred to. At this point, Venerable Brothers, there
seems to come to Us the voice of the Divine Consoler and Physician
Who, speaking of these human infirmities says: "All these
evil things come from within." (Mark vii, 23.)
20.
Peace indeed was signed in solemn conclave between the
belligerents of the late War. This peace, however, was only
written into treaties. It was not received into the hearts of men,
who still cherish the desire to fight one another and to continue
to menace in a most serious manner the quiet and stability of
civil society. Unfortunately the law of violence held sway so long
that it has weakened and almost obliterated all traces of those
natural feelings of love and mercy which the law of Christian
charity has done so much to encourage. Nor has this illusory
peace, written only on paper, served as yet to reawaken similar
noble sentiments in the souls of men. On the contrary, there has
been born a spirit of violence and of hatred which, because it has
been indulged in for so long, has become almost second nature in
many men. There has followed the blind rule of the inferior parts
of the soul over the superior, that rule of the lower elements
"fighting against the law of the mind," which St. Paul
grieved over. (Rom. vii, 23)
21.
Men today do not act as Christians, as brothers, but as strangers,
and even enemies. The sense of man's personal dignity and of the
value of human life has been lost in the brutal domination
begotten of might and mere superiority in numbers. Many are intent
on exploiting their neighbors solely for the purpose of enjoying
more fully and on a larger scale the goods of this world. But they
err grievously who have turned to the acquisition of material and
temporal possessions and are forgetful of eternal and spiritual
things, to the possession of which Jesus, Our Redeemer, by means
of the Church, His living interpreter, calls mankind.
22.
It is in the very nature of material objects that an inordinate
desire for them becomes the root of every evil, of every discord,
and in particular, of a lowering of the moral sense. On the one
hand, things which are naturally base and vile can never give rise
to noble aspirations in the human heart which was created by and
for God alone and is restless until it finds repose in Him. On the
other hand, material goods (and in this they differ greatly from
those of the spirit which the more of them we possess the more
remain to be acquired) the more they are divided among men the
less each one has and, by consequence, what one man has another
cannot possibly possess unless it be forcibly taken away from the
first. Such being the case, worldly possessions can never satisfy
all in equal manner nor give rise to a spirit of universal
contentment, but must become perforce a source of division among
men and of vexation of spirit, as even the Wise Man Solomon
experienced: "Vanity of vanities, and vexation of
spirit." (Ecclesiastes i, 2, 14)
23.
The same effects which result from these evils among individuals
may likewise be expected among nations. "From whence are wars
and contentions among you?" asks the Apostle St. James.
"Are they not hence from your concupiscences, which war in
your members?" (James iv, 1, 2)
24.
The inordinate desire for pleasure, concupiscence of the flesh,
sows the fatal seeds of division not only among families but
likewise among states; the inordinate desire for possessions,
concupiscence of the eyes, inevitably turns into class warfare and
into social egotism; the inordinate desire to rule or to domineer
over others, pride of life, soon becomes mere party or factional
rivalries, manifesting itself in constant displays of conflicting
ambitions and ending in open rebellion, in the crime of lese
majeste, and even in national parricide.
25.
These unsuppressed desires, this inordinate love of the things of
the world, are precisely the source of all international
misunderstandings and rivalries, despite the fact that oftentimes
men dare to maintain that acts prompted by such motives are
excusable and even justifiable because, forsooth, they were
performed for reasons of state or of the public good, or out of
love for country. Patriotism - the stimulus of so many virtues and
of so many noble acts of heroism when kept within the bounds of
the law of Christ - becomes merely an occasion, an added incentive
to grave injustice when true love of country is debased to the
condition of an extreme nationalism, when we forget that all men
are our brothers and members of the same great human family, that
other nations have an equal right with us both to life and to
prosperity, that it is never lawful nor even wise, to dissociate
morality from the affairs of practical life, that, in the last
analysis, it is "justice which exalteth a nation: but sin
maketh nations miserable." (Proverbs xiv, 34)
26.
Perhaps the advantages to one's family, city, or nation obtained
in some such way as this may well appear to be a wonderful and
great victory (this thought has been already expressed by St.
Augustine), but in the end it turns out to be a very shallow
thing, something rather to inspire us with the most fearful
apprehensions of approaching ruin. "It is a happiness which
appears beautiful but is brittle as glass. We must ever be on
guard lest with horror we see it broken into a thousand pieces at
the first touch." (St. Augustine de Civitate Dei, Book iv,
Chap. 3)
27.
There is over and above the absence of peace and the evils
attendant on this absence, another deeper and more profound cause
for present-day conditions. This cause was even beginning to show
its head before the War and the terrible calamities consequent on
that cataclysm should have proven a remedy for them if mankind had
only taken the trouble to understand the real meaning of those
terrible events. In the Holy Scriptures we read: "They that
have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed." (Isaias i, 28) No
less well known are the words of the Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ,
Who said: "Without me you can do nothing" (John xv, 5)
and again, "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth."
(Luke xi, 23)
28.
These words of the Holy Bible have been fulfilled and are now at
this very moment being fulfilled before our very eyes. Because men
have forsaken God and Jesus Christ, they have sunk to the depths
of evil. They waste their energies and consume their time and
efforts in vain sterile attempts to find a remedy for these ills,
but without even being successful in saving what little remains
from the existing ruin. It was a quite general desire that both
our laws and our governments should exist without recognizing God
or Jesus Christ, on the theory that all authority comes from men,
not from God. Because of such an assumption, these theorists fell
very short of being able to bestow upon law not only those
sanctions which it must possess but also that secure basis for the
supreme criterion of justice which even a pagan philosopher like
Cicero saw clearly could not be derived except from the divine
law. Authority itself lost its hold upon mankind, for it had lost
that sound and unquestionable justification for its right to
command on the one hand and to be obeyed on the other. Society,
quite logically and inevitably, was shaken to its very depths and
even threatened with destruction, since there was left to it no
longer a stable foundation, everything having been reduced to a
series of conflicts, to the domination of the majority, or to the
supremacy of special interests.
29.
Again, legislation was passed which did not recognize that either
God or Jesus Christ had any rights over marriage - an erroneous
view which debased matrimony to the level of a mere civil
contract, despite the fact that Jesus Himself had called it a
"great sacrament" (Ephesians v, 32) and had made it the
holy and sanctifying symbol of that indissoluble union which binds
Him to His Church. The high ideals and pure sentiments with which
the Church has always surrounded the idea of the family, the germ
of all social life, these were lowered, were unappreciated, or
became confused in the minds of many. As a consequence, the
correct ideals of family government, and with them those of family
peace, were destroyed; the stability and unity of the family
itself were menaced and undermined, and, worst of all, the very
sanctuary of the home was more and more frequently profaned by
acts of sinful lust and soul-destroying egotism - all of which
could not but result in poisoning and drying up the very sources
of domestic and social life.
30.
Added to all this, God and Jesus Christ, as well as His doctrines,
were banished from the school. As a sad but inevitable
consequence, the school became not only secular and non-religious
but openly atheistical and anti-religious. In such circumstances
it was easy to persuade poor ignorant children that neither God
nor religion are of any importance as far as their daily lives are
concerned. God's name, moreover, was scarcely ever mentioned in
such schools unless it were perchance to blaspheme Him or to
ridicule His Church. Thus, the school forcibly deprived of the
right to teach anything about God or His law could not but fail in
its efforts to really educate, that is, to lead children to the
practice of virtue, for the school lacked the fundamental
principles which underlie the possession of a knowledge of God and
the means necessary to strengthen the will in its efforts toward
good and in its avoidance of sin. Gone, too, was all possibility
of ever laying a solid groundwork for peace, order, and
prosperity, either in the family or in social relations. Thus the
principles based on the spiritualistic philosophy of Christianity
having been obscured or destroyed in the minds of many, a
triumphant materialism served to prepare mankind for the
propaganda of anarchy and of social hatred which was let loose on
such a great scale.
31.
Is it to be wondered at then that, with the widespread refusal to
accept the principles of true Christian wisdom, the seeds of
discord sown everywhere should find a kindly soil in which to grow
and should come to fruit in that most tremendous struggle, the
Great War, which unfortunately did not serve to lessen but
increased, by its acts of violence and of bloodshed, the
international and social animosities which already existed?
32.
Up to this We have analyzed briefly the causes of the ills which
afflict present-day society, the recital of which however,
Venerable Brothers, should not cause us to lose hope of finding
their appropriate remedy, since the evils themselves seem to
suggest a way out of these difficulties.
33.
First, and most important of all, for mankind is the need of
spiritual peace. We do not need a peace that will consist merely
in acts of external or formal courtesy, but a peace which will
penetrate the souls of men and which will unite, heal, and reopen
their hearts to that mutual affection which is born of brotherly
love. The peace of Christ is the only peace answering this
description: "let the peace of Christ rejoice in your
hearts." (Colossians iii, 15) Nor is there any other peace
possible than that which Christ gave to His disciples (John xiv,
27) for since He is God, He "beholdeth the heart" (I
Kings xvi, 7) and in our hearts His kingdom is set up. Again,
Jesus Christ is perfectly justified when He calls this peace of
soul His own for He was the first Who said to men, "all you
are brethren." (Matt. xxiii, 8) He gave likewise to us,
sealing it with His own life's blood, the law of brotherly love,
of mutual forbearance - "This is my commandment, that you
love one another, as I have loved you." (John xv, 12)
"Bear ye one another's burdens; and so you shall fulfill the
law of Christ." (Galatians vi, 2)
34.
From this it follows, as an immediate consequence, that the peace
of Christ can only be a peace of justice according to the words of
the prophet "the work of justice shall be peace" (Isaias
xxxii, 17) for he is God "who judgest justice." (Psalms
ix, 5) But peace does not consist merely in a hard inflexible
justice. It must be made acceptable and easy by being compounded
almost equally of charity and a sincere desire for reconciliation.
Such peace was acquired for us and the whole world by Jesus
Christ, a peace which the Apostle in a most expressive manner
incarnates in the very person of Christ Himself when he addresses
Him, "He is our peace," for it was He Who satisfied
completely divine justice by his death on the cross, destroying
thus in His own flesh all enmities toward others and making peace
and reconciliation with God possible for mankind. (Ephesians ii,
14) Therefore, the Apostle beholds in the work of Redemption,
which is a work of justice at one and the same time, a divine work
of reconciliation and of love. "God indeed was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself." (II Corinthians v, 19)
"God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten
Son." (John iii, 16)
35.
Thomas Aquinas, the Angel of the Schools, also discovered in this
fact the very formula and essence of our belief, for he writes
that a true and lasting peace is more a matter of love than of
justice. The reason for his statement is that it is the function
of justice merely to do away with obstacles to peace, as for
example, the injury done or the damage caused. Peace itself,
however, is an act and results only from love. (Summa Theologica,
II-II, Q. 29 Art. 3, Ad. III)
36.
Of this peace of Christ, which dwells in our hearts and is, in
effect, the love of God, We can repeat what the Apostle has said
of the kingdom of God which also rules by love - "the kingdom
of Christ is not a matter of food and drink." (Romans xiv, 17) In other
words, the peace of Christ is not nourished on the things of
earth, but on those of heaven. Nor could it well be otherwise,
since it is Jesus Christ Who has revealed to the world the
existence of spiritual values and has obtained for them their due
appreciation. He has said, "For what doth it profit a man, if
he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own
soul?" (Matt. xvi, 26) He also taught us a divine lesson of
courage and constancy when He said, "Fear ye not them that
kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him that can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt. x,
28; Luke xii, 14)
37.
This does not mean that the peace of Christ, which is the only
true peace, exacts of us that we give up all worldly possessions.
On the contrary, every earthly good is promised in so many words
by Christ to those who seek His peace: "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be
added unto you." (Matt. vi, 33; Luke xii, 31)
38.
This peace of Christ, however, surpasses all human understanding -
"the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding"
(Philippians iv, 7), and for this very reason dominates our sinful
passions and renders such evils as division, strife, and discord,
which result solely from the unrestrained desire for earthly
possessions, impossible. If the desire for worldly possessions
were kept within bounds and the place of honor in our affections
given to the things of the spirit, which place undoubtedly they
deserve, the peace of Christ would follow immediately, to which
would be joined in a natural and happy union, as it were, a higher
regard for the value and dignity of human life. Human personality,
too, would be raised to a higher level, for man has been ennobled
by the Blood of Christ and made kin to God Himself by means of
holiness and the bond of brotherly love which unites us closely
with Christ, by prayer and by the reception of the Sacraments,
means infallibly certain to produce this elevation to and
participation in the life of God, by the desire to attain
everlasting possession of the glory and happiness of heaven which
is held out to all by God as our goal and final reward.
39.
We have already seen and come to the conclusion that the principal
cause of the confusion, restlessness, and dangers which are so
prominent a characteristic of false peace is the weakening of the
binding force of law and lack of respect for authority, effects
which logically follow upon denial of the truth that authority
comes from God, the Creator and Universal Law-giver.
40.
The only remedy for such a state of affairs is the peace of Christ
since the peace of Christ is the peace of God, which could not
exist if it did not enjoin respect for law, order, and the rights
of authority. In the Holy Scriptures We read: "My children,
keep discipline in peace." (Ecclesiasticus xli, 17)
"Much peace have they that love the law, O Lord."
(Psalms cxviii, 165) "He that feareth the commandment, shall
dwell in peace." (Proverbs xiii, 13) Jesus Christ very
expressly states: "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's." (Matt. xxii, 21) He even recognized that Pilate
possessed authority from on High (John xiv, 11) as he acknowledged
that the scribes and Pharisees who though unworthy sat in the
chair of Moses (Matt. xxiii, 2) were not without a like authority.
In Joseph and Mary, Jesus respected the natural authority of
parents and was subject to them for the greater part of His life.
(Luke ii, 51) He also taught, by the voice of His Apostle, the
same important doctrine: "Let every soul be subject to higher
powers: for there is no power but from God." (Romans xiii, 1;
cf. also 1 Peter ii, 13, 18)
41.
If we stop to reflect for a moment that these ideals and doctrines
of Jesus Christ, for example, his teachings on the necessity and
value of the spiritual life, on the dignity and sanctity of human
life, on the duty of obedience, on the divine basis of human
government, on the sacramental character of matrimony and by
consequence the sanctity of family life - if we stop to reflect,
let Us repeat, that these ideals and doctrines of Christ (which
are in fact but a portion of the treasury of truth which He left
to mankind) were confided by Him to His Church and to her alone
for safekeeping, and that He has promised that His aid will never
fail her at any time for she is the infallible teacher of His
doctrines in every century and before all nations, there is no one
who cannot clearly see what a singularly important role the
Catholic Church is able to play, and is even called upon to
assume, in providing a remedy for the ills which afflict the world
today and in leading mankind toward a universal peace.
42.
Because the Church is by divine institution the sole depository
and interpreter of the ideals and teachings of Christ, she alone
possesses in any complete and true sense the power effectively to
combat that materialistic philosophy which has already done and,
still threatens, such tremendous harm to the home and to the
state. The Church alone can introduce into society and maintain
therein the prestige of a true, sound spiritualism, the
spiritualism of Christianity which both from the point of view of
truth and of its practical value is quite superior to any
exclusively philosophical theory. The Church is the teacher and an
example of world goodwill, for she is able to inculcate and
develop in mankind the "true spirit of brotherly love"
(St. Augustine, De Moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae, i, 30) and by
raising the public estimation of the value and dignity of the
individual's soul help thereby to lift us even unto God.
43.
Finally, the Church is able to set both public and private life on
the road to righteousness by demanding that everything and all men
become obedient to God "Who beholdeth the heart," to His
commands, to His laws, to His sanctions. If the teachings of the
Church could only penetrate in some such manner as We have
described the inner recesses of the consciences of mankind, be
they rulers or be they subjects, all eventually would be so
apprised of their personal and civic duties and their mutual
responsibilities that in a short time "Christ would be all,
and in all." (Colossians iii, 11)
44.
Since the Church is the safe and sure guide to conscience, for to
her safe-keeping alone there has been confided the doctrines and
the promise of the assistance of Christ, she is able not only to
bring about at the present hour a peace that is truly the peace of
Christ, but can, better than any other agency which We know of,
contribute greatly to the securing of the same peace for the
future, to the making impossible of war in the future. For the
Church teaches (she alone has been given by God the mandate and
the right to teach with authority) that not only our acts as
individuals but also as groups and as nations must conform to the
eternal law of God. In fact, it is much more important that the
acts of a nation follow God's law, since on the nation rests a
much greater responsibility for the consequences of its acts than
on the individual.
45.
When, therefore, governments and nations follow in all their
activities, whether they be national or international, the
dictates of conscience grounded in the teachings, precepts, and
example of Jesus Christ, and which are binding on each and every
individual, then only can we have faith in one another's word and
trust in the peaceful solution of the difficulties and
controversies which may grow out of differences in point of view
or from clash of interests. An attempt in this direction has
already and is now being made; its results, however, are almost
negligible and, especially so, as far as they can be said to
affect those major questions which divide seriously and serve to
arouse nations one against the other. No merely human institution
of today can be as successful in devising a set of international
laws which will be in harmony with world conditions as the Middle
Ages were in the possession of that true League of Nations,
Christianity. It cannot be denied that in the Middle Ages this law
was often violated; still it always existed as an ideal, according
to which one might judge the acts of nations, and a beacon light
calling those who had lost their way back to the safe road.
46.
There exists an institution able to safeguard the sanctity of the
law of nations. This institution is a part of every nation; at the
same time it is above all nations. She enjoys, too, the highest
authority, the fullness of the teaching power of the Apostles.
Such an institution is the Church of Christ. She alone is adapted
to do this great work, for she is not only divinely commissioned
to lead mankind, but moreover, because of her very make-up and the
constitution which she possesses, by reason of her age-old
traditions and her great prestige, which has not been lessened but
has been greatly increased since the close of the War, cannot but
succeed in such a venture where others assuredly will fail.
47.
It is apparent from these considerations that true peace, the
peace of Christ, is impossible unless we are willing and ready to
accept the fundamental principles of Christianity, unless we are
willing to observe the teachings and obey the law of Christ, both
in public and private life. If this were done, then society being
placed at last on a sound foundation, the Church would be able, in
the exercise of its divinely given ministry and by means of the
teaching authority which results therefrom, to protect all the
rights of God over men and nations.
48.
It is possible to sum up all We have said in one word, "the
Kingdom of Christ." For Jesus Christ reigns over the minds of
individuals by His teachings, in their hearts by His love, in each
one's life by the living according to His law and the imitating of
His example. Jesus reigns over the family when it, modeled after
the holy ideals of the sacrament of matrimony instituted by
Christ, maintains unspotted its true character of sanctuary. In
such a sanctuary of love, parental authority is fashioned after
the authority of God, the Father, from Whom, as a matter of fact,
it originates and after which even it is named. (Ephesians iii,
15) The obedience of the children imitates that of the Divine
Child of Nazareth, and the whole family life is inspired by the
sacred ideals of the Holy Family. Finally, Jesus Christ reigns
over society when men recognize and reverence the sovereignty of
Christ, when they accept the divine origin and control over all
social forces, a recognition which is the basis of the right to
command for those in authority and of the duty to obey for those
who are subjects, a duty which cannot but ennoble all who live up
to its demands. Christ reigns where the position in society which
He Himself has assigned to His Church is recognized, for He
bestowed on the Church the status and the constitution of a
society which, by reason of the perfect ends which it is called
upon to attain, must be held to be supreme in its own sphere; He
also made her the depository and interpreter of His divine
teachings, and, by consequence, the teacher and guide of every
other society whatsoever, not of course in the sense that she
should abstract in the least from their authority, each in its own
sphere supreme, but that she should really perfect their
authority, just as divine grace perfects human nature, and should
give to them the assistance necessary for men to attain their true
final end, eternal happiness, and by that very fact make them the
more deserving and certain promoters of their happiness here
below.
49.
It is, therefore, a fact which cannot be questioned that the true
peace of Christ can only exist in the Kingdom of Christ -
"the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ." It is no
less unquestionable that, in doing all we can to bring about the
re-establishment of Christ's kingdom, we will be working most
effectively toward a lasting world peace.
Pius X in taking as his motto "To restore all things in
Christ" was inspired from on High to lay the foundations of
that "work of peace" which became the program and
principal task of Benedict XV. These two programs of Our
Predecessors We desire to unite in one - the re-establishment of
the Kingdom of Christ by peace in Christ - "the peace of
Christ in the Kingdom of Christ." With might and main We
shall ever strive to bring about this peace, putting Our trust in
God, Who when He called Us to the Chair of Peter, promised that
the divine assistance would never fail Us. We ask that all assist
and cooperate with Us in this Our mission. Particularly We ask
you to aid us, Venerable Brothers, you, His sheep, whom Our leader
and Lord, Jesus Christ, has called to feed and to watch over as
the most precious portion of His flock, which comprises all
mankind. For, it is you whom the "Holy Ghost hath placed to
rule the Church of God" (Acts xx, 28), you to whom above all,
and principally, God "hath given the ministry of
reconciliation, and who for Christ therefore are
ambassadors." (II Cor. v, 18, 20) You participate in His
teaching power and are "the dispensers of the mysteries of
God." (I Cor. iv, 1) You have been called by Him "the
salt of the earth," "the light of the world" (Matt.
v, 13, 14), fathers and teachers of Christian peoples, "a
pattern of the flock from the heart" (I Peter v, 3), and
"you shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
(Matt. v, 19) In fine, you are the links of gold, as it were, by
which "the whole body of Christ, which is the Church, is held
compacted and fitly joined together" (Ephesians iv, 15, 16),
built as it is on the solid rock of Peter.
50.
Of your praiseworthy industry, We have had a quite recent proof on
the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress held in
Rome and of the celebration of the Centenary of the Sacred
Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, when several hundred
bishops from all sections of the globe were reunited with Us
before the tomb of the Holy Apostles. That brotherly reunion, so
solemn, because of the great number and high dignity of the
bishops who were present, carried our thoughts to the possibility
of another similar meeting of the whole episcopate here in the
center of Catholic unity, and of the many effective results which
might follow such a meeting toward the re-establishment of the
social order after the terrible disorders through which we have
just passed. The very proximity of the Holy Year fills Us with the
solemn hope that this Our desire may be fully realized.
51.
We scarcely dare to include, in so many words, in the program of
Our Pontificate the reassembling of the Ecumenical Council which
Pius IX, the Pontiff of Our youth, had called but had failed to
see through except to the completion of a part, albeit most
important, of its work. We as the leader of the chosen people must
wait and pray for an unmistakable sign from the God of mercy and
of love of His holy will in this regard. (Judges vi, 17)
52.
In the meantime, though We are quite conscious that it is not
necessary for Us to exhort you to greater and more zealous efforts
but rather to bestow on you the praise which you so richly
deserve, yet the very consciousness of Our Apostolic Office, of
the fact that We are the Common Father of all, constrains Us to
beseech you to exhibit at all times a very special and tender love
toward that large family of spiritual children which is, in a very
special way, committed to your immediate supervision. From the
reports received from you by Us and by public fame, which is amply
confirmed in the press and in many other ways, We know only too
well what thanks we should, in union with you, render to the Good
God for the great work which, as the occasion permitted, He has
done through you and through your predecessors, both for your
clergy and for your faithful people, a work which has come to
maturity in our own times and which We see being multiplied on all
sides in a most fruitful manner.
53.
In particular, We refer to the numberless and diverse activities
initiated for the education and development, as well as for the
sanctification of both the clergy and laity, the organizations of
clergy and laity formed to aid the missions in their manifold
activities, both physical and moral, of the natural and the
supernatural order, by the spreading far and wide of the Kingdom
of Christ. We refer to the various organizations of young people
which have helped to develop such ardent and true love for the
Holy Eucharist and such tender devotion for the Blessed Virgin,
virtues which have made certain their faith, their purity, and
their union one with another: to the solemn celebrations in honor
of the Blessed Sacrament, at which the Divine Prince of Peace is
honored by truly royal triumphal processions, for about the Sacred
Host, center of peace and love, gather multitudes from every
country and the representatives of all peoples and nations, joined
together in a union most wonderful by one and the same faith, in
adoration, in prayer, and in the enjoyment of all heavenly graces.
54.
The fruits of such piety are manifest, the widespread diffusion
and great activity of the apostolate which, by prayer, word of
mouth, by the religious press, by personal example, by works of
charity seeks in every way possible to lead souls to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus and to restore to the same Sacred Heart His
sovereign rule over the family and over society. We refer also to
the holy battle waged on so many fronts to vindicate for the
family and the Church the natural and divinely given rights which
they possess over education and the school. Finally, We include
among these fruits of piety that whole group of movements,
organizations, and works so dear to Our fatherly heart which
passes under the name of "Catholic Action," and in which
We have been so intensely interested.
55.
All these organizations and movements ought not only to continue
in existence, but ought to be developed more and more, always of
course as the conditions of time and place seem to demand. There
can be no question of the fact that these conditions are at times
very difficult and exact of both pastors and the faithful a great
and increasing amount of sacrifice and labor. But since such work
is vitally necessary, it is without question an essential part of
our Christian life and of the sacred ministry and is therefore
indissolubly bound up with the restoration of the Kingdom of
Christ and the re-establishment of that true peace which can be
found only in His Kingdom - "the peace of Christ in the
Kingdom of Christ."
56.
Tell, therefore, your clergy, Venerable Brothers, whom We know
have labored so devotedly in these different fields of activity
for the Church of Christ, and whose work We have seen at close
range and have even participated in and which We appreciate so
highly, tell them that when they cooperate with you, they are
united with Christ and guided by Him through you; that at the same
time they also cooperate with Us, and that We bless them with Our
fatherly blessing.
57.
It is scarcely necessary to add, Venerable Brothers, how much We
depend on the regular clergy to aid in the successful execution of
the different parts of Our program. You know as well as We what a
magnificent contribution they have made to the interior life of
the Church and to the spread of the Kingdom of Christ. They are
actuated not only by the precepts but by the counsels of Christ.
Both in the holy silence of the cloister and in pious works
outside convent walls they exhibit the high ideals of Christian
perfection by their works of true piety, by their keeping
uppermost in the minds of Christian people the pure ideals of
Christ, by the example which they give due to their
self-sacrificing renunciation of all worldly comforts and material
goods, by their acquisition of spiritual treasures. Because of the
consecration of their whole being to the common good, they
undertake truly miraculous activities which succor every ill - spiritual and bodily, and help all in finding a sure remedy or
assistance from the evils which we must encounter. As the history
of the Church bears witness, members of the religious orders under
the inspiration of God's love, have often gone to such lengths in
their work of preaching the Gospel that they have given up their
lives for the salvation of souls, thus by their death spreading
the unity of the faith and the doctrine of Christian brotherhood
and at the same time extending farther and farther the boundaries
of the Kingdom of Christ.
58.
Tell your faithful children of the laity that when, united with
their pastors and their bishops, they participate in the works of
the apostolate, both individual and social, the end purpose of
which is to make Jesus Christ better known and better loved, then
they are more than ever "a chosen generation, a kingly
priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people," of whom St.
Peter spoke in such laudatory terms. (I Peter ii, 9) Then, too,
they are more than ever united with Us and with Christ, and become
great factors in bringing about world peace because they work for
the restoration and spread of the Kingdom of Christ. Only in this
Kingdom of Christ can we find that true human equality by which
all men are ennobled and made great by the selfsame nobility and
greatness, for each is ennobled by the precious blood of Christ.
As for those who are in authority, they are, according to the
example of our Lord Jesus Christ, but ministers of the good,
servants of the servants of God, particularly of the sick and of
those in need.
59.
However, these very social changes, which have created and
increased the need of cooperation between the clergy and laity to
which We have just referred, have themselves brought along in
their wake new and most serious problems and dangers. As an
after-effect of the upheaval caused by the Great War and of its
political and social consequences, false ideas and unhealthy
sentiments have, like a contagious disease, so taken possession of
the popular mind that We have grave fears that even some among the
best of our laity and of the clergy, seduced by the false
appearance of truth which some of these doctrines possess, have
not been altogether immune from error.
60.
Many believe in or claim that they believe in and hold fast to
Catholic doctrine on such questions as social authority, the right
of owning private property, on the relations between capital and
labor, on the rights of the laboring man, on the relations between
Church and State, religion and country, on the relations between
the different social classes, on international relations, on the
rights of the Holy See and the prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff
and the Episcopate, on the social rights of Jesus Christ, Who is
the Creator, Redeemer, and Lord not only of individuals but of
nations. In spite of these protestations, they speak, write, and,
what is more, act as if it were not necessary any longer to
follow, or that they did not remain still in full force, the
teachings and solemn pronouncements which may be found in so many
documents of the Holy See, and particularly in those written by
Leo XIII, Pius X, and Benedict XV.
61.
There is a species of moral, legal, and social modernism which We
condemn, no less decidedly than We condemn theological modernism.
62.
It is necessary ever to keep in mind these teachings and
pronouncements which We have made; it is no less necessary to
reawaken that spirit of faith, of supernatural love, and of
Christian discipline which alone can bring to these principles
correct understanding, and can lead to their observance. This is
particularly important in the case of youth, and especially those
who aspire to the priesthood, so that in the almost universal
confusion in which we live they at least, as the Apostle writes,
will not be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness,
by which they lie in wait to deceive." (Ephesians iv, 14)
63.
From this Apostolic Center of the Church of Christ, We turn Our
eyes toward those who, unfortunately in great numbers, are either
ignorant of Christ and His Redemption or do not follow in their
entirety His teachings, or who are separated from the unity of His
Church and thus are without His Fold, although they too have been
called by Christ to membership in His Church. The Vicar of the
Good Shepherd, seeing so many of his sheep gone astray, cannot but
recall and make his own the simple but expressive words of Christ,
words which are permeated through and through by the longings born
of divine desire: "And other sheep I have, that are not of
this fold: them also I must bring." (John x, 16) He cannot
but rejoice in the wonderful prophecy which filled even the Sacred
Heart of Jesus with joy. "And they shall hear my voice, and
there shall be one fold and one shepherd." May God, and We
join with you and with all the faithful in this prayer, shortly
bring to fulfillment His prophecy by transforming this consoling
vision of the future into a present reality.
64.
One of the outstanding manifestations of this religious unity, and
a happy augury for the future, is that altogether unexpected, but
well-known fact of which you have knowledge, Venerable Brothers, a
fact not pleasing to some perhaps, but certainly very consoling
both to us and to you, namely, that recently the representatives
and rulers of practically every nation, motivated by a common and
instinctive desire for union and peace, have turned to this
Apostolic See in order to bind themselves closer to Us or to renew
in some cases the bonds of amity and friendship which had joined
us together previously. We rejoice at this fact, not merely
because it increases the prestige of Holy Church, but because it
is becoming increasingly evident on all sides, and especially from
actual experience, what great possibilities for peace and
happiness, even here below, such a union with Us possesses for
human society. Although the Church is committed by God, first of
all, to the attainment of spiritual and imperishable purposes,
because of the very intimate and necessary connection of things
one with another, such a mission serves likewise to advance the
temporal prosperity of nations and individuals, even more so than
if she were instituted primarily to promote such ends.
65.
The Church does not desire, neither ought she to desire, to [head]
without a just cause in the direction of purely civil affairs. On
the other hand, she cannot permit or tolerate that the state use
the pretext of certain laws of unjust regulations to do injury to
the rights of an order superior to that of the state, to interfere
with the constitution given the Church by Christ, or to violate
the rights of God Himself over civil society.
66.
We make Our very own, Venerable Brothers, the words which Benedict
XV, of happy memory, used in the last allocution which he
pronounced at the Consistory of November twenty-first of last
year, when he spoke of the treaties asked for or proposed to Us by
various states: "We cannot possibly permit that anything
harmful to the dignity or liberty of the Church creep into these
treaties, for it is all-important that the safety and freedom of
the Church be guarded at all times, and especially in our own
days, and this in the lasting interests of human society
itself."
67.
It is scarcely necessary to say here how painful it is to Us to
note that from this galaxy of friendly powers which surround Us
one is missing, Italy, Our own dear native land, the country where
the hand of God, who guides the course of history, has set down
the Chair of His Vicar on earth, in this city of Rome which, from
being the capital of the wonderful Roman Empire, was made by Him
the capital of the whole world, because He made it the seat of a
sovereignty which, since it extends beyond the confines of nations
and states, embraces within itself all the peoples of the whole
world. The very origin and divine nature of this sovereignty
demands, the inviolable rights of conscience of millions of the
faithful of the whole world demand that this sacred sovereignty
must not be, neither must it ever appear to be, subject to any
human authority or law whatsoever, even though that law be one
which proclaims certain guaranties for the liberty of the Roman
Pontiff.
68.
The true guaranties of liberty, in no way injurious, but on the
contrary of incalculable benefit to Italy, which Divine
Providence, the ruler and arbiter of mankind, has conferred upon
the sovereignty of the Vicar of Christ here below, these
guaranties which for centuries have fitted in so marvelously with
the divine designs in order to protect the liberty of the Roman
Pontiff, neither Divine Providence itself has manifested nor human
ingenuity has as yet discovered any substitute which would
compensate for the loss of these rights; these guaranties We
declare have been and are still being violated. Whence it is that
there has been created a certain abnormal condition of affairs
which has grievously troubled and, up to the present hour,
continues to trouble the consciences of the Catholics of Italy and
of the entire world.
69.
We, therefore, who are now the heirs and depositories of the
ideals and sacred duties of Our Venerated Predecessors, and like
them alone invested with competent authority in such a weighty
matter and responsible to no one but God for Our decisions, We
protest, as they have protested before Us, against such a
condition of affairs in defense of the rights and of the dignity
of the Apostolic See, not because We are moved by any vain earthly
ambition of which We should be ashamed, but out of a sense of Our
duty to the dictates of conscience itself, mindful always of the
fact that We too must one day die and of the awful account which
We must render to the Divine Judge of the ministry which He has
confided to Our care.
70.
At all events, Italy has not nor will she have in the future
anything to fear from the Holy See. The Pope, no matter who he
shall be, will always repeat the words: "I think thoughts of
peace not of affliction" (Jeremias xxix, 11), thoughts of a
true peace which is founded on justice and which permit him
truthfully to say: "Justice and Peace have kissed."
(Psalms lxxxiv, 11) It is God's task to bring about this happy
hour and to make it known to all; men of wisdom and of goodwill
surely will not permit it to strike in vain. When it does arrive,
it will turn out to be a solemn hour, one big with consequences
not only for the restoration of the Kingdom of Christ, but for the
pacification of Italy and the world as well.
71.
We pray most fervently, and ask others likewise to pray for this
much-desired pacification of society, especially at this moment
when after twenty centuries the day and hour approach when all
over the world men will celebrate the humble and meek coming among
us of the Sweet Prince of Peace, at whose birth the heavenly hosts
sang: "Glory be to God in the highest; and on earth peace to
men of good will." (Luke ii, 14)
72.
As an augury of this peace for mankind, may the Apostolic
Blessing, which We invoke upon you and your flock, on your clergy,
your people, on their families and homes bring happiness to the
living, peace and eternal rest to the dead. From the depths of Our
heart as a sign of Our fatherly love, We impart to you, to your
clergy, and to your people, the Apostolic Blessing.
Given
at Rome, at St. Peter's, on the twenty-third day of December, in
the year 1922, the first of Our Pontificate.
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