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Given by His
Holiness Pope Leo XIII
April 20, 1884
To the Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World in Grace and Communion
with the Apostolic See.
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver
of heavenly gifts, "through the envy of the devil," separated into two diverse
and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue,
the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The
one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ;
and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain
salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their
whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in
whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of
their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine
and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God,
and many aims also against God.
2. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described after
the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because striving for contrary
objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed the efficient cause of each
in these words: "Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching
even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to
contempt of self, a heavenly one."(1) At every period of time each has been
in conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons and
of warfare, although not always with equal ardour and assault. At this period,
however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be
struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized
and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret
of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God Himself. They
are planning the destruction of holy Church publicly and openly, and this
with the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations of Christendom, if
it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us through Jesus Christ our
Saviour. Lamenting these evils, We are constrained by the charity which urges
Our heart to cry out often to God: "For lo, Thy enemies have made a noise;
and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They have taken a malicious
counsel against Thy people, and they have consulted against Thy saints. They
have said, `come, and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation.'
(2)
3. At so urgent a crisis, when so fierce and so pressing an onslaught is
made upon the Christian name, it is Our office to point out the danger, to
mark who are the adversaries, and to the best of Our power to make head against
their plans and devices, that those may not perish whose salvation is committed
to Us, and that the kingdom of Jesus Christ entrusted to Our charge may not
stand and remain whole, but may be enlarged by an ever-increasing growth
throughout the world.
4. The Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors, in their incessant watchfulness over
the safety of the Christian people, were prompt in detecting the presence
and the purpose of this capital enemy immediately it sprang into the light
instead of hiding as a dark conspiracy; and , moreover, they took occasion
with true foresight to give, as it were on their guard, and not allow themselves
to be caught by the devices and snares laid out to deceive them.
5. The first warning of the danger was given by Clement XII in the year 1738,(3)
and his constitution was confirmed and renewed by Benedict XIV.(4) Pius VII
followed the same path;(5) and Leo XII, by his apostolic constitution, Quo
Graviora,(6) put together the acts and decrees of former Pontiffs on this
subject, and ratified and confirmed them forever. In the same sense spoke
Pius VIII,(7) Gregory XVI,(8) and, many times over, Pius IX.(9)
6. For as soon as the constitution and the spirit of the masonic sect were
clearly discovered by manifest signs of its actions, by the investigation
of its causes, by publication of its laws, and of its rites and commentaries,
with the addition often of the personal testimony of those who were in the
secret, this apostolic see denounced the sect of the Freemasons, and publicly
declared its constitution, as contrary to law and right, to be pernicious
no Less to Christiandom than to the State; and it forbade any one to enter
the society, under the penalties which the Church is wont to inflict upon
exceptionally guilty persons. The sectaries, indignant at this, thinking
to elude or to weaken the force of these decrees, partly by contempt of them,
and partly by calumny, accused the sovereign Pontiffs who had passed them
either of exceeding the bounds of moderation in their decrees or of decreeing
what was not just. This was the manner in which they endeavoured to elude
the authority and the weight of the apostolic constitutions of Clement XII
and Benedict XIV, as well as of Pius VII and Pius IX.(10) Yet, in the very
society itself, there were to be found men who unwillingly acknowledged that
the Roman Pontiffs had acted within their right, according to the Catholic
doctrine and discipline. The Pontiffs received the same assent, and in strong
terms, from many princes and heads of governments, who made it their business
either to delate the masonic society to the apostolic see, or of their own
accord by special enactments to brand it as pernicious, as, for example,
in Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Bavaria, Savoy, and other parts
of Italy.
7. But, what is of highest importance, the course of events has demonstrated
the prudence of Our predecessors. For their provident and paternal solicitude
had not always and every where the result desired; and this, either because
of the simulation and cunning of some who were active agents in the mischief,
or else of the thoughtless levity of the rest who ought, in their own interest,
to have given to the matter their diligent attention. In consequence, the
sect of Freemasons grew with a rapidity beyond conception in the course of
a century and a half, until it came to be able, by means of fraud or of audacity,
to gain such entrance into every rank of the State as to seem to be almost
its ruling power. This swift and formidable advance has brought upon the
Church, upon the power of princes, upon the public well-being, precisely
that grievous harm which Our predecessors had long before foreseen. Such
a condition has been reached that henceforth there will be grave reason to
fear, not indeed for the Church-for her foundation is much too firm to be
overturned by the effort of men-but for those States in which prevails the
power, either of the sect of which we are speaking or of other sects not
dissimilar which lend themselves to it as disciples and subordinates.
8. For these reasons We no sooner came to the helm of the Church than We
clearly saw and felt it to be Our duty to use Our authority to the very utmost
against so vast an evil. We have several times already, as occasion served,
attacked certain chief points of teaching which showed in a special manner
the perverse influence of Masonic opinions. Thus, in Our encyclical letter,
Quod Apostolici Muneris, We endeavoured to refute the monstrous doctrines
of the socialists and communists; afterwards, in another beginning "Arcanum,"
We took pains to defend and explain the true and genuine idea of domestic
life, of which marriage is the spring and origin; and again, in that which
begins '`Diuturnum,"(11) We described the ideal of political government conformed
to the principles of Christian wisdom, which is marvellously in harmony,
on the one hand, with the natural order of things, and, in the other, with
the well-being of both sovereign princes and of nations. It is now Our intention,
following the example of Our predecessors, directly to treat of the masonic
society itself, of its whole teaching, of its aims, and of its manner of
thinking and acting, in order to bring more and more into the light its power
for evil, and to do what We can to arrest the contagion of this fatal plague.
9. There are several organized bodies which, though differing in name, in
ceremonial, in form and origin, are nevertheless so bound together by community
of purpose and by the similarity of their main opinions, as to make in fact
one thing with the sect of the Freemasons, which is a kind of center whence
they all go forth, and whither they all return. Now, these no longer show
a desire to remain concealed; for they hold their meetings in the daylight
and before the public eye, and publish their own newspaper organs; and yet,
when thoroughly understood, they are found still to retain the nature and
the habits of secret societies. There are many things like mysteries which
it is the fixed rule to hide with extreme care, not only from strangers,
but from very many members, also; such as their secret and final designs,
the names of the chief leaders, and certain secret and inner meetings, as
well as their decisions, and the ways and means of carrying them out. This
is, no doubt, the object of the manifold difference among the members as
to right, office, and privilege, of the received distinction of orders and
grades, and of that severe discipline which is maintained. Candidates are
generally commanded to promise-nay, with a special oath, to swear-that they
will never, to any person, at any time or in any way, make known the members,
the passes, or the subjects discussed. Thus, with a fraudulent external
appearance, and with a style of simulation which is always the same, the
Freemasons, like the Manichees of old, strive, as far as possible, to conceal
themselves, and to admit no witnesses but their own members. As a convenient
manner of concealment, they assume the character of literary men and scholars
associated for purposes of learning. They speak of their zeal for a more
cultured refinement, and of their love for the poor; and they declare their
one wish to be the amelioration of the condition of the masses, and to share
with the largest possible number all the benefits of civil life. Were these
purposes aimed at in real truth, they are by no means the whole of their
object. Moreover, to be enrolled, it is necessary that the candidates promise
and undertake to be thenceforward strictly obedient to their leaders and
masters with the utmost submission and fidelity, and to be in readiness to
do their bidding upon the slightest expression of their will; or, if disobedient,
to submit to the direst penalties and death itself. As a fact, if any are
judged to have betrayed the doings of the sect or to have resisted commands
given, punishment is inflicted on them not infrequently, and with so much
audacity and dexterity that the assassin very often escapes the detection
and penalty of his crime.
10. But to simulate and wish to lie hid; to bind men like slaves in the very
tightest bonds, and without giving any sufficient reason; to make use of
men enslaved to the will of another for any arbitrary act ; to arm men's
right hands for bloodshed after securing impunity for the crime-all this
is an enormity from which nature recoils. Wherefore, reason and truth itself
make it plain that the society of which we are speaking is in antagonism
with justice and natural uprightness. And this becomes still plainer, inasmuch
as other arguments, also, and those very manifest, prove that it is essentially
opposed to natural virtue. For, no matter how great may be men's cleverness
in concealing and their experience in lying, it is impossible to prevent
the effects of any cause from showing, in some way, the intrinsic nature
of the cause whence they come. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor
a bad tree produce good fruit."(12) Now, the masonic sect produces fruits
that are pernicious and of the bitterest savour. For, from what We have above
most clearly shown, that which is their ultimate purpose forces itself into
view-namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order
of the world which the Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution
of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations
and laws shall be drawn from mere naturalism.
11. What We have said, and are about to say, must be understood of the sect
of the Freemasons taken generically, and in so far as it comprises the
associations kindred to it and confederated with it, but not of the individual
members of them. There may be persons amongst these, and not a few who, although
not free from the guilt of having entangled themselves in such associations,
yet are neither themselves partners in their criminal acts nor aware of the
ultimate object which they are endeavoring to attain. In the same way, some
of the affiliated societies, perhaps, by no means approve of the extreme
conclusions which they would, if consistent, embrace as necessarily following
from their common principles, did not their very foulness strike them with
horror. Some of these, again, are led by circumstances of times and places
either to aim at smaller things than the others usually attempt or than they
themselves would wish to attempt. They are not, however, for this reason,
to be reckoned as alien to the masonic federation; for the masonic federation
is to be judged not so much by the things which it has done, or brought to
completion, as by the sum of its pronounced opinions.
12. Now, the fundamental doctrine of the naturalists, which they sufficiently
make known by their very name, is that human nature and human reason ought
in all things to be mistress and guide. Laying this down, they care little
for duties to God, or pervert them by erroneous and vague opinions. For they
deny that anything has been taught by God; they allow no dogma of religion
or truth which cannot be understood by the human intelligence, nor any teacher
who ought to be believed by reason of his authority. And since it is the
special and exclusive duty of the Catholic Church fully to set forth in words
truths divinely received, to teach, besides other divine helps to salvation,
the authority of its office, and to defend the same with perfect purity,
it is against the Church that the rage and atack of the enemies are principally
directed.
13. In those matters which regard religion let it be seen how the sect of
the Freemasons acts, especially where it is more free to act without restraint,
and then let any one judge whether in fact it does not wish to carry out
the policy of the naturalists. By a long and persevering labor, they endeavor
to bring about this result-namely, that the teaching office and authority
of the Church may become of no account in the civil State; and for this same
reason they declare to the people and contend that Church and State ought
to be altogether disunited. By this means they reject from the laws and from
the commonwealth thewholesome influence of the Catholic religion; and they
consequently imagine that States ought to be constituted without any regard
for the laws and precepts of the Church.
14. Nor do they think it enough to disregard the Church-the best of guides-unless
they also injure it by their hostility. Indeed, with them it is lawful to
attack with impunity the very foundations of the Catholic religion, in speech,
in writing, and in teaching; and even the rights of the Church are not spared,
and the offices with which it is divinely invested are not safe. The least
possible liberty to manage affairs is left to the Church; and this is done
by laws not apparently very hostile, but in reality framed and fitted to
hinder freedom of action. Moreover, We see exceptional and onerous laws imposed
upon the clergy, to the end that they may be continually diminished in number
and in necessary means. We see also the remnants of the possessions of the
Church fettered by the strictest conditions, and subjected to the power and
arbitrary will of the administrators of the State, and the religious orders
rooted up and scattered.
15. But against the apostolic see and the Roman Pontiff the contention of
these enemies has been for a long time directed. The Pontiff was first, for
specious reasons, thrust out from the bulwark of his liberty and of his right,
the civil princedom; soon, he was unjustly driven into a condition which
was unbearable because of the difficulties raised on all sides; and now the
time has come when the partisans of the sects openly declare, what in secret
among themselves they have for a long time plotted, that the sacred power
of the Pontiffs must be abolished, and that the papacy itself, founded by
divine right, must be utterly destroyed. If other proofs were wanting, this
fact would be sufficiently disclosed by the testimony of men well informed,
of whom some at other times, and others again recently, have declared it
to be true of the Freemasons that they especially desire to assail the Church
with irreconcilable hostility, and that they will never rest until they have
destroyed whatever the supreme Pontiffs have established for the sake of
religion.
16. If those who are admitted as members are not commanded to abjure by any
form of words the Catholic doctrines, this omission, so far from being adverse
to the designs of the Freemasons, is more useful for their purposes. First,
in this way they easily deceive the simple-minded and the heedless, and can
induce a far greater number to become members. Again, as all who offer themselves
are received whatever may be their form of religion, they thereby teach the
great error of this age-that a regard for religion should be held as an
indifferent matter, and that all religions are alike. This manner of reasoning
is calculated to bring about the ruin of all forms of religion, and especially
of the Catholic religion, which, as it is the only one that is true, cannot,
without great injustice, be regarded as merely equal to other religions.
17. But the naturalists go much further; for, having, in the highest things,
entered upon a wholly erroneous course, they are carried headlong to extremes,
either by reason of the weakness of human nature, or because God inflicts
upon them the just punishment of their pride. Hence it happens that they
no longer consider as certain and permanent those things which are fully
understood by the natural light of reason, such as certainly are-the existence
of God, the immaterial nature of the human soul, and its immortality. The
sect of the Freemasons, by a similar course of error, is exposed to these
same dangers; for, although in a general way they may profess the existence
of God, they themselves are witnesses that they do not all maintain this
truth with the full assent of the mind or with a firm conviction. Neither
do they conceal that this question about God is the greatest source and cause
of discords among them; in fact, it is certain that a considerable contention
about this same subject has existed among them very lately. But, indeed,
the sect allows great liberty to its votaries, so that to each side is given
the right to defend its own opinion, either that there is a God, or that
there is none; and those who obstinately contend that there is no God are
as easily initiated as those who contend that God exists, though, like the
pantheists, they have false notions concerning Him: all which is nothing
else than taking away the reality, while retaining some absurd representation
of the divine nature.
18. When this greatest fundamental truth has been overturned or weakened,
it follows that those truths, also, which are known by the teaching of nature
must begin to fall-namely, that all things were made by the free will of
God the Creator; that the world is governed by Providence; that souls do
not die; that to this life of men upon the earth there will succeed another
and an everlasting life.
19. When these truths are done away with, which are as the principles of
nature and important for knowledge and for practical use, it is easy to see
what will become of both public and private morality. We say nothing of those
more heavenly virtues, which no one can exercise or even acquire without
a special gift and grace of God; of which necessarily no trace can be found
in those who reject as unknown the redemption of mankind, the grace of God,
the sacraments, and the happiness to be obtained in heaven. We speak now
of the duties which have their origin in natural probity. That God is the
Creator of the world and its provident Ruler; that the eternal law commands
the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; that
the last end of men is a destiny far above human things and beyond this
sojourning upon the earth: these are the sources and these the principles
of all justice and morality. If these be taken away, as the naturalists and
Freemasons desire, there will immediately be no knowledge as to what constitutes
justice and injustice, or upon what principle morality is founded. And, in
truth, the teaching of morality which alone finds favor with the sect of
Freemasons, and in which they contend that youth should be instructed, is
that which they call "civil," and "independent," and "free," namely, that
which does not contain any religious belief. But, how insufficient such teaching
is, how wanting in soundness, and how easily moved by every impulse of passion,
is sufficiently proved by its sad fruits, which have already begun to appear.
For, wherever, by removing Christian education, this teaching has begun more
completely to rule, there goodness and integrity of morals have begun quickly
to perish, monstrous and shameful opinions have grown up, and the audacity
of evil deeds has risen to a high degree. All this is commonly complained
of and deplored; and not a few of those who by no means wish to do so are
compelled by abundant evidence to give not infrequently the same testimony.
20. Moreover, human nature was stained by original sin, and is therefore
more disposed to vice than to virtue. For a virtuous life it is absolutely
necessary to restrain the disorderly movements of the soul, and to make the
passions obedient to reason. In this conflict human things must very often
be despised, and the greatest labors and hardships must be undergone, in
order that reason may always hold its sway. But the naturalists and Freemasons,
having no faith in those things which we have learned by the revelation of
God, deny that our first parents sinned, and consequently think that free
will is not at all weakened and inclined to evil.(13) On the contrary,
exaggerating rather the power and the excellence of nature, and placing therein
alone the principle and rule of justice, they cannot even imagine that there
is any need at all of a constant struggle and a perfect steadfastness to
overcome the violence and rule of our passions. Wherefore we see that men
are publicly tempted by the many allurements of pleasure; that there are
journals and pamphlets with neither moderation nor shame; that stage-plays
are remarkable for license; that designs for works of art are shamelessly
sought in the laws of a so called verism; that the contrivances of a soft
and delicate life are most carefully devised; and that all the blandishments
of pleasure are diligently sought out by which virtue may be lulled to sleep.
Wickedly, also, but at the same time quite consistently, do those act who
do away with the expectation of the joys of heaven, and bring down all happiness
to the level of mortality, and, as it were, sink it in the earth. Of what
We have said the following fact, astonishing not so much in itself as in
its open expression, may serve as a confirmation. For, since generally no
one is accustomed to obey crafty and clever men so submissively as those
whose soul is weakened and broken down by the domination of the passions,
there have been in the sect of the Freemasons some who have plainly determined
and proposed that, artfully and of set purpose, the multitude should be satiated
with a boundless license of vice, as, when this had been done, it would easily
come under their power and authority for any acts of daring.
21. What refers to domestic life in the teaching of the naturalists is almost
all contained in the following declarations: that marriage belongs to the
genus of commercial contracts, which can rightly be revoked by the will of
those who made them, and that the civil rulers of the State have power over
the matrimonial bond; that in the education of youth nothing is to be taught
in the matter of religion as of certain and fixed opinion; and each one must
be left at liberty to follow, when he comes of age, whatever he may prefer.
To these things the Freemasons fully assent; and not only assent, but have
long endeavoured to make them into a law and institution. For in many countries,
and those nominally Catholic, it is enacted that no marriages shall be considered
lawful except those contracted by the civil rite; in other places the law
permits divorce; and in others every effort is used to make it lawful as
soon as may be. Thus, the time is quickly coming when marriages will be turned
into another kind of contract-that is into changeable and uncertain unions
which fancy may join together, and which the same when changed may disunite.
With the greatest unanimity the sect of the Freemasons also endeavours to
take to itself the education of youth. They think that they can easily mold
to their opinions that soft and pliant age, and bend it whither they will;
and that nothing can be more fitted than this to enable them to bring up
the youth of the State after their own plan. Therefore, in the education
and instruction of children they allow no share, either of teaching or of
discipline, to the ministers of the Church; and in many places they have
procured that the education of youth shall be exclusively in the hands of
laymen, and that nothing which treats of the most important and most holy
duties of men to God shall be introduced into the instructions on morals.
22. Then come their doctrines of politics, in which the naturalists lay down
that all men have the same right, and are in every respect of equal and like
condition; that each one is naturally free; that no one has the right to
command another; that it is an act of violence to require men to obey any
authority other than that which is obtained from themselves. According to
this, therefore, all things belong to the free people; power is held by the
command or permission of the people, so that, when the popular will changes,
rulers may lawfully be deposed and the source of all rights and civil duties
is either in the multitude or in the governing authority when this is constituted
according to the latest doctrines. It is held also that the State should
be without God; that in the various forms of religion there is no reason
why one should have precedence of another; and that they are all to occupy
the same place.
23. That these doctrines are equally acceptable to the Freemasons, and that
they would wish to constitute States according to this example and model,
is too well known to require proof. For some time past they have openly
endeavoured to bring this about with all their strength and resources; and
in this they prepare the way for not a few bolder men who are hurrying on
even to worse things, in their endeavor to obtain equality and community
of all goods by the destruction of every distinction of rank and property.
24. What, therefore, sect of the Freemasons is, and what course it pursues,
appears sufficiently from the summary We have briefly given. Their chief
dogmas are so greatly and manifestly at variance with reason that nothing
can be more perverse. To wish to destroy the religion and the Church which
God Himself has established, and whose perpetuity He insures by His protection,
and to bring back after a lapse of eighteen centuries the manners and customs
of the pagans, is signal folly and audacious impiety. Neither is it less
horrible nor more tolerable that they should repudiate the benefits which
Jesus Christ so mercifully obtained, not only for individuals, but also for
the family and for civil society, benefits which, even according to the judgment
and testimony of enemies of Christianity, are very great. In this insane
and wicked endeavor we may almost see the implacable hatred and spirit of
revenge with which Satan himself is inflamed against Jesus Christ.-So also
the studious endeavour of the Freemasons to destroy the chief foundations
of justice and honesty, and to co-operate with those who would wish, as if
they were mere animals, to do what they please, tends only to the ignominious
and disgraceful ruin of the human race. The evil, too, is increased by the
dangers which threaten both domestic and civil society. As We have elsewhere
shown,(14) in marriage, according to the belief of almost every nation, there
is something sacred and religious; and the law of God has determined that
marriages shall not be dissolved. If they are deprived of their sacred character,
and made dissoluble, trouble and confusion in the family will be the result,
the wife being deprived of her dignity and the children left without protection
as to their interests and well being.-To have in public matters no care for
religion, and in the arrangement and administration of civil affairs to have
no more regard for God than if He did not exist, is a rashness unknown to
the very pagans; for in their heart and soul the notion of a divinity and
the need of public religion were so firmly fixed that they would have thought
it easier to have city without foundation than a city without God. Human
society, indeed for which by nature we are formed, has been constituted by
God the Author of nature; and from Him, as from their principle and source,
flow in all their strength and permanence the countless benefits with which
society abounds. As we are each of us admonished by the very voice of nature
to worship God in piety and holiness, as the Giver unto us of life and of
all that is good therein, so also and for the same reason, nations and States
are bound to worship Him; and therefore it is clear that those who would
absolve society from all religious duty act not only unjustly but also with
ignorance and folly.
25. As men are by the will of God born for civil union and society, and as
the power to rule is so necessary a bond of society that, if it be taken
away, society must at once be broken up, it follows that from Him who is
the Author of society has come also the authority to rule; so that whosoever
rules, he is the minister of God. Wherefore, as the end and nature of human
society so requires, it is right to obey the just commands of lawful authority,
as it is right to obey God who ruleth all things; and it is most untrue that
the people have it in their power to cast aside their obedience whensoever
they please.
26. In like manner, no one doubts that all men are equal one to another,
so far as regards their common origin and nature, or the last end which each
one has to attain, or the rights and duties which are thence derived. But,
as the abilities of all are not equal, as one differs from another in the
powers of mind or body, and as there are very many dissimilarities of manner,
disposition, and character, it is most repugnant to reason to endeavor to
confine all within the same measure, and to extend complete equality to the
institutions of civic life. Just as a perfect condition of the body results
from the conjunction and composition of its various members, which, though
differing in form and purpose, make, by their union and the distribution
of each one to its proper place, a combination beautiful to behole, firm
in strength, and necessary for use; so, in the commonwealth, there is an
almost infinite dissimilarity of men, as parts of the whole. If they are
to be all equal, and each is to follow his own will, the State will appear
most deformed; but if, with a distinction of degrees of dignity, of pursuits
and employments, all aptly conspire for the common good, they will present
the image of a State both well constituted and conformable to nature.
27. Now, from the disturbing errors which We have described the greatest
dangers to States are to be feared. For, the fear of God and reverence for
divine laws being taken away, the authority of rulers despised, sedition
permitted and approved, and the popular passions urged on to lawlessness,
with no restraint save that of punishment, a change and overthrow of all
things will necessarily follow. Yea, this change and overthrow is deliberately
planned and put forward by many associations of communists and socialists;
and to their undertakings the sect of Freemasons is not hostile, but greatly
favours their designs, and holds in common with them their chief opinions.
And if these men do not at once and everywhere endeavour to carry out their
extreme views, it is not to be attributed to their teaching and their will,
but to the virtue of that divine religion which cannot be destroyed; and
also because the sounder part of men, refusing to be enslaved to secret
societies, vigorously resist their insane attempts.
28. Would that all men would judge of the tree by its fruit, and would
acknowledge the seed and origin of the evils which press upon us, and of
the dangers that are impending! We have to deal with a deceitful and crafty
enemy, who, gratifying the ears of people and of princes, has ensnared them
by smooth speeches and by adulation. Ingratiating themselves with rulers
under a pretense of friendship, the Freemasons have endeavoured to make them
their allies and powerful helpers for the destruction of the Christian name;
and that they might more strongly urge them on, they have, with determined
calumny, accused the Church of invidiously contending with rulers in matters
that affect their authority and sovereign power. Having, by these artifices,
insured their own safety and audacity, they have begun to exercise great
weight in the government of States; but nevertheless they are prepared to
shake the foundations of empires, to harass the rulers of the State, to accuse,
and to cast them out, as often as they appear to govern otherwise than they
themselves could have wished. In like manner, they have by flattery deluded
the people. Proclaiming with a loud voice liberty and public prosperity,
and saying that it was owing to the Church and to sovereigns that the mutitude
were not drawn out of their unjust servitude and poverty, they have imposed
upon the people, and, exciting them by a thirst for novelty, they have urged
them to assail both the Church and the civil power. Nevertheless, the expectation
of the benefits which was hoped for is greater than the reality; indeed,
the common people, more oppressed than they were before, are deprived in
their misery of that solace which, if things had been arranged in a Christian
manner, they would have had with ease and in abundance. But, whoever strive
against the order which Divine Providence has constituted pay usually the
penalty of their pride, and meet with affliction and misery where they rashly
hoped to find all things prosperous and in conformity with their desires.
29. The Church, if she directs men to render obedience chiefly and above
all to God the sovereign Lord, is wrongly and falsely believed either to
be envious of the civil power or to arrogate to herself something of the
rights of sovereigns. On the contrary, she teaches that what is rightly due
to the civil power must be rendered to it with a conviction and consciousness
of duty. In teaching that from God Himself comes the right of ruling, she
adds a great dignity to civil authority, and on small help towards obtaining
the obedience and good will of the citizens. The friend of peace and sustainer
of concord, she embraces all with maternal love, and, intent only upon giving
help to mortal man, she teaches that to justice must be joined clemency,
equity to authority, and moderation to lawgiving; that no one's right must
be violated; that order and public tranquillity are to be maintained; and
that the poverty of those are in need is, as far as possible, to be relieved
by public and private charity. "But for this reason," to use the words of
St. Augustine, "men think, or would have it believed, that Christian teaching
is not suited to the good of the State; for they wish the State to be founded
not on solid virtue, but on the impunity of vice."(15) Knowing these things,
both princes and people would act with political wisdom,(16) and according
to the needs of general safety, if, instead of joining with Freemasons to
destroy the Church, they joined with the Church in repelling their attacks.
30 .Whatever the future may be, in this grave and widespread evil it is Our
duty, venerable brethren, to endeavour to find a remedy. And because We know
that Our best and firmest hope of a remedy is in the power of that divine
religion which the Freemasons hate in proportion to their fear of it, We
think it to be of chief importance to call that most saving power to Our
aid against the common enemy. Therefore, whatsoever the Roman Pontiffs Our
predecessors have decreed for the purpose of opposing the undertakings and
endeavours of the masonic sect, and whatsoever they have enacted to enter
or withdraw men from societies of this kind, We ratify and confirm it all
by our apostolic authority: and trusting greatly to the good will of Christians,
We pray and beseech each one, for the sake of his eternal salvation, to be
most conscientiously careful not in the least to depart from what the apostolic
see has commanded in this matter.
31. We pray and beseech you, venerable brethren, to join your efforts with
Ours, and earnestly to strive for the extirpation of this foul plague, which
is creeping through the veins of the body politic. You have to defend the
glory of God and the salvation of your neighbour; and with the object of
your strife before you, neither courage nor strength will be wanting. It
will be for your prudence to judge by what means you can best overcome the
difficulties and obstacles you meet with. But, as it befits the authority
of Our office that We Ourselves should point out some suitable way of proceeding,
We wish it to be your rule first of all to tear away the mask from Freemasonry,
and to let it be seen as it really is; and by sermons and pastoral letters
to instruct the people as to the artifices used by societies of this kind
in seducing men and enticing them into their ranks, and as to the depravity
of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts. As Our predecessors have
many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever
join the masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation
as he ought to value them. Let no one be deceived by a pretense of honesty.
It may seem to some that Freemasons demand nothing that is openly contrary
to religion and morality; but, as the whole principle and object of the sect
lies in what is vicious and criminal, to join with these men or in any way
to help them cannot be lawful.
32. Further, by assiduous teaching and exhortation, the multitude must be
drawn to learn diligently the precepts of religion; for which purpose we
earnestly advise that by opportune writings and sermons they be taught the
elements of those sacred truths in which Christian philosophy is contained.
The result of this will be that the minds of men will be made sound by
instruction, and will be protected against many forms of error and inducements
to wickedness, especially in the present unbounded freedom of writing and
insatiable eagerness for learning.
33. Great, indeed, is the work; but in it the clergy will share your labours,
if, through your care, they are fitted for it by learning and a well-turned
life. This good and great work requires to be helped also by the industry
of those amongst the laity in whom a love of religion and of country is joined
to learning and goodness of life. By uniting the efforts of both clergy and
laity, strive, venerable brethren, to make men thoroughly know and love the
Church; for, the greater their knowledge and love of the Church, the more
will they be turned away from clandestine societies.
34. Wherefore, not without cause do We use this occasion to state again what
We have stated elsewhere, namely, that the Third Order of St. Francis, whose
discipline We a little while ago prudently mitigated,(16) should be studiously
promoted and sustained; for the whole object of this Order, as constituted
by its founder, is to invite men to an imitation of Jesus Christ, to a love
of the Church, and to the observance of all Christian virtues; and therefore
it ought to be of great influence in suppressing the contagion of wicked
societies. Let, therefore, this holy sodality be strengthened by a daily
increase. Amongst the many benefits to be expected from it will be the great
benefit of drawing the minds of men to liberty, fraternity, and equality
of right; not such as the Freemasons absurdly imagine, but such as Jesus
Christ obtained for the human race and St. Francis aspired to: the liberty,
We mean, of sons of God, through which we may be free from slavery to Satan
or to our passions, both of them most wicked masters; the fraternity whose
origin is in God, the common Creator and Father of all; the equality which,
founded on justice and charity, does not take away all distinctions among
men, but, out of the varieties of life, of duties, and of pursuits, forms
that union and that harmony which naturally tend to the benefit and dignity
of society.
35. In the third place, there is a matter wisely instituted by our forefathers,
but in course of time laid aside, which may now be used as a pattern and
form of something similar. We mean the associations of guilds of workmen,
for the protection, under the guidance of religion, both of their temporal
interests and of their morality. If our ancestors, by long use and experience,
felt the benefit of these guilds, our age perhaps will feel it the more by
reason of the opportunity which they will give of crushing the power of the
sects. Those who support themselves by the labour of their hands, besides
being, by their very condition, most worthy above all others of charity and
consolation, are also especially exposed to the allurements of men whose
ways lie in fraud and deceit. Therefore, they ought to be helped with the
greatest possible kindness, and to be invited to join associations that are
good, lest they be drawn away to others that are evil. For this reason, We
greatly wish, for the salvation of the people, that, under the auspices and
patronage of the bishops, and at convenient times, these gilds may be generally
restored. To Our great delight, sodialities of this kind and also associations
of masters have in many places already been established, having, each class
of them, for their object to help the honest workman, to protect and guard
his children and family, and to promote in them piety, Christian knowledge,
and a moral life. And in this matter We cannot omit mentioning that exemplary
society, named after its founder, St. Vincent, which has deserved so well
of the lower classes. Its acts and its aims are well known. Its whole object
is to give relief to the poor and miserable. This it does with singular prudence
and modesty; and the less it wishes to be seen, the better is it fitted for
the exercise of Christian charity, and for the relief of suffering.
36. In the fourth place, in order more easily to attain what We wish, to
your fidelity and watchfulness We commend in a special manner the young,
as being the hope of human society. Devote the greatest part of your care
to their instruction; and do not think that any precaution can be great enough
in keeping them from masters and schools whence the pestilent breath of the
sects is to be feared. Under your guidance, let parents, religious instructors,
and priests having the cure of souls use every opportunity, in their Christian
teaching, of warning their children and pupils of the infamous nature of
these societies, so that they may learn in good time to beware of the various
and fraudulent artifices by which their promoters are accustomed to ensnare
people. And those who instruct the young in religious knowledge will act
wisely if they induce all of them to resolve and to undertake never to bind
themselves to any society without the knowledge of their parents, or the
advice of their parish priest or director.
37. We well know, however, that our united labours will by no means suffice
to pluck up these pernicious seeds from the Lord's Eield, unless the Heavenly
Master of the vineyard shall mercifully help us in our endeavours. We must,
therefore, with great and anxious care, implore of Him the help which the
greatness of the danger and of the need requires. The sect of the Freemasons
shows itself insolent and proud of its success, and seems as if it would
put no bounds to its pertinacity. Its followers, joined together by a wicked
compact and by secret counsels, give help one to another, and excite one
another to an audacity for evil things. So vehement an attack demands an
equal defence-namely, that all good men should form the widest possible
association of action and of prayer. We beseech them, therefore, with united
hearts, to stand together and unmoved against the advancing force of the
sects; and in mourning and supplication to stretch out their hands to God,
praying that the Christian name may flourish and prosper, that the Church
may enjoy its needed liberty, that those who have gone astray may return
to a right mind, that error at length may give place to truth, and vice to
virtue. Let us take our helper and intercessor the Virgin Mary, Mother of
God, so that she, who from the moment of her conception overcame Satan may
show her power over these evil sects, in which is revived the contumacious
spirit of the demon, together with his unsubdued perfidy and deceit. Let
us beseech Michael, the prince of the heavenly angels, who drove out the
infernal foe; and Joseph, the spouse of the most holy Virgin, and heavenly
patron of the Catholic Church; and the great Apostles, Peter and Paul, the
fathers and victorious champions of the Christian faith. By their patronage,
and by perseverance in united prayer, we hope that God will mercifully and
opportunely succor the human race, which is encompassed by so many dangers.
38. As a pledge of heavenly gifts and of Our benevolence, We lovingly grant
in the Lord, to you, venerable brethren, and to the clergy and all the people
commited to your watchful care, Our apostolic benediction.
REFERENCES:
1. De civ. Dei, 14, 28 (PL 41, 436).
2. Ps.81:24.
3. Const. In Eminenti, April 24, 1738.
4. Const. Providas, May 18, 1751.
5. Const. Ecclesiam a Jesu Chrisro, Sept. 13, 1821.
6. Const. given March 13, 1825.
7. Encyc. Traditi, May 21, 1829.
8. Encyc. Mirari, Augusr 15, 1832.
9. Encyc. Qtsi Pluribus, Nov. 9, 1846; address Multiplices inter, Sept. 25,
1865, etc.
10. Clement XII (1730-40); Benedict XIV (1740-58); Pius VII (1800-23); Pius
IX (1846-78).
11. See nos. 79, 81, 84.
12. Matt. 7:18.
13. Trid., sess. vi, De justif., c. 1. Text of the Council of Trent: "tamecsi
in eis (sc. ]udaeis) liberum arbitrium and all minime extinctum esset, viribus
licet attenuatum et inclinatum".
14. See Arcanum, no. 81.
15. Epistola 137, ad Volusianum, c. v, n. 20 (PL 33 525).
16. The text here refers to the encyclical letter Auspicato Concessum (Sept.
17, 1882), in which Pope Leo XIII had recently glorified St. Francis of Assisi
on the occasion of the seventh centenary of his birch. In this encyclical,
the Pope had presented the Third Order of St. Francis as a Christian answer
to the social problems of the times. The constitution Misericors Dei Filius
(June 23, 1883) expressly recalled that the neglect in which Christian virtues
are held is the main cause of the evils that threaten societies. In confirming
the rule of the Third Order and adapting it to the needs of modern times,
Pope Leo XIII had intended to bring back the largest possible number of souls
to the practice of these virtues. |
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