The Reunion of Christendom
Encyclical Letter Præclara Gratulationis Publicæ of
Pope Leo XIII
JUNE 20, 1894.
The splendid tokens of public rejoicing
which have come to Us from all sides in the whole course of last year,
to commemorate Our Episcopal Jubilee, and which were lately crowned by
the remarkable devotion of the Spanish nation, have afforded Us special
joy, inasmuch as the unity of the Church and the admirable adhesion of
her members to the Sovereign Pontiff have shone forth in this perfect agreement
of concurring sentiments. During those days it seemed as if the Catholic
world, forgetful of everything else, had centered its gaze and all its
thoughts upon the Vatican.
The special missions sent by kings and princes,
the many pilgrimages, the letters We received so full of affectionate feeling,
the sacred services--everything clearly brought out the fact that all Catholics
are of one mind and of one heart in their veneration for the Apostolic
See. And this was all the more pleasing and agreeable to Us, that it is
entirely in conformity with Our intent and with Our endeavors. For, indeed,
well acquainted with Our times, and mindful of the duties of Our ministry,
We have constantly sought during the whole course of Our Pontificate and
striven, as far as it was possible, by teaching and action, to bind every
nation and people more closely to Us, and make manifest everywhere the
salutary influence of the See of Rome. Therefore do We most earnestly offer
thanks in the first place to the goodness of God, by whose help and bounty
We have been preserved to attain Our great age; and then next, to all the
princes and rulers, to the bishops and clergy, and to as many as have cooperated
by such repeated tokens of piety and reverence to honor Our character and
office, while affording Us personally such seasonable consolation.
A great deal, however, has been wanting to the entire
fulness of that consolation. Amidst these very manifestations of public
joy and reverence Our thoughts went out towards the immense multitude of
those who are strangers to the gladness that filled all Catholic hearts:
some because they lie in absolute ignorance of the Gospel; others because
they dissent from the Catholic belief, though they bear the same name of
Christians.
This thought has been, and is, a source of deep
concern to Us; for it is impossible to think of such a large portion of
mankind deviating, as it were, from the right path, as they move away from
Us, and not experience a sentiment of innermost grief.
But since We hold upon this earth the place of God
Almighty, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth, and now that Our advanced age and the bitterness of anxious
cares urge Us on towards the end common to every mortal, We feel drawn
to follow the example of Our Redeemer and Master, Jesus Christ, who when
about to return to heaven, implored of God, His Father, in earnest prayer,
that His disciples and followers should be of one mind and of one heart:
I pray ... that they all may be one, as thou Father in Me, and I in
Thee: that they also may be one in Us. And as this divine prayer and
supplication does not include only the souls who then believed in Jesus
Christ, but also every one of those who were henceforth to believe in Him,
this prayer holds out to Us no indifferent reason for confidently expressing
Our hopes, and for making all possible endeavors in order that the men
of every race and clime should be called and moved to embrace the unity
of divine faith.
Pressed on to Our intent by charity, that hastens
fastest there where the need is greatest, We direct Our first thoughts
to those most unfortunate of all nations who have never received the light
of the Gospel, or who, after having possessed it, have lost it through
neglect or the vicissitudes of time: hence do they ignore God, and live
in the depths of error. Now, as all salvation comes from Jesus Christ--for
there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved--Our
ardent desire is that the most holy name of Jesus should rapidly pervade
and fill every land.
And here, indeed, is a duty which the Church, faithful
to the divine mission entrusted to her, has never neglected. What has been
the object of her labors for more than nineteen centuries? Is there any
other work she has undertaken with greater zeal and constancy than that
of bringing the nations of the earth to the truth and principles of Christianity?
To-day, as ever, by Our authority, the heralds of the Gospel constantly
cross the seas to reach the farthest corners of the earth; and We pray
to God daily that in His goodness He may deign to increase the number of
His ministers who are really worthy of this apostolate, and who are ready
to sacrifice their convenience, their health, and their very life, if need
be, in order to extend the frontiers of the kingdom of Christ.
Do Thou, above all, O Saviour and Father of mankind,
Christ Jesus, hasten and do not delay to bring about what Thou didst once
promise to do--that when lifted up from the earth Thou wouldst draw all
things to Thyself. Come, then, at last, and manifest Thyself to the immense
multitude of souls who have not felt, as yet, the ineffable blessings which
Thou hast earned for men with Thy blood; rouse those who are sitting in
darkness and in the shadow of death, that, enlightened by the rays of Thy
wisdom and virtue, in Thee and by Thee "they may be made perfect in one."
As we consider the mystery of this unity We see
before Us all the countries which have long since passed, by the mercy
of God, from timeworn error to the wisdom of the Gospel. Nor could We,
indeed, recall anything more pleasing or better calculated to extol the
work of divine Providence than the memory of the days of yore, when the
faith that had come down from heaven was looked upon as the common inheritance
of one and all; when civilized nations, separated by distance, character
and habits, inspite of frequent disagreements and warfare on other points,
were united by Christian faith in all that concerned religion. The recollection
of that time causes Us to regret all the more deeply that as the ages rolled
by the waves of suspicion and hatred arose, and great and flourishing nations
were dragged away, in an evil hour, from the bosom of the Roman Church.
In spite of that, however, We trust in the mercy of God's almighty power,
in Him who alone can fix the hour of His benefits and who has power to
incline man's will as He pleases; and We turn to those same nations, exhorting
and beseeching them with fatherly love to put an end to their dissentions
and return again to unity.
First of all, then, We cast an affectionate look
upon the East, from whence in the beginning came forth the salvation of
the world. Yes, and the yearning desire of Our heart bids us conceive and
hope that the day is not far distant when the Eastern Churches, so illustrious
in their ancient faith and glorious past, will return to the fold they
have abandoned. We hope it all the more, that the distance separating them
from Us is not so great: nay, with some few exception, we agree so entirely
on other heads that, in defence of the Catholic faith, we often have recourse
to reasons and testimony borrowed from the teaching, the rites, and customs
of the East.
The principle subject of contention is the primacy
of the Roman Pontiff. But let them look back to the early years of their
existence, let them consider the sentiments entertained by their forefathers,
and examine what the oldest traditions testify, and it will, indeed, become
evident to them that Christ's divine utterance, Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build My Church, has undoubtedly been realized
in the Roman Pontiffs. Many of these latter in the first ages of the Church
were chosen from the East, and foremost among them Anacletus, Evaristus,
Anicetus, Eleutherius, Zosimus, and Agatho; and of these a great number,
after governing the Church in wisdom and sanctity, consecrated their ministry
with the shedding of their blood. The time, the reasons, the promoters
of the unfortunate division, are well known. Before the day when man separated
what God had joined together, the name of the Apostolic See was held in
reverence by all the nations of the Christian world: and the East, like
the West, agreed without hesitation in its obedience to the Pontiff of
Rome, as the legitimate successor of St. Peter, and, therefore, the Vicar
of Christ here on earth.
And accordingly, if we refer to the beginning of
the dissension, we shall see that Photius himself was careful to send his
advocates to Rome on the matters that concerned him; and Pope Nicholas
I. sent his legates to Constantinople from the Eternal City, without the
slightest opposition, "in order to examine the case of Ignatius the Patriarch
with all diligence, and to bring back to the Apostolic See a full and accurate
report"; so that the history of the whole negotiation is a manifest confirmation
of the primacy of the Roman See with which the distention then began. Finally,
in two great Councils, the second of Lyons and that of Florence, Latins
and Greeks, as is notorious, easily agreed, and all unanimously proclaimed
as dogma the supreme power of the Roman Pontiffs.
We have recalled these things intentionally, for
they constitute an invitation to peace and reconciliation; and with all
the more reason that in Our own days it would seem as if there were a more
conciliatory spirit towards Catholics on the part of the Eastern Churches,
and even some degree of kindly feeling. To mention an instance, those sentiments
were lately made manifest when some of Our faithful travelled to the East
on a holy enterprise, and received so many proofs of courtesy and good-will.
Therefore, Our mouth is open to you, to you
all of Greek or other Oriental rites who are separated from the Catholic
Church. We earnestly desire that each and every one of you should meditate
upon the words, so full of gravity and love, addressed by Bessarion to
your forefathers: "What answer shall we give to God when He comes to ask
why we have separated from our brethren: to Him who, to unite us and bring
us into one fold, came down from heaven, was incarnate, and was crucified?
What will our defence be in the eyes of posterity? Oh, my Venerable Fathers,
we must not suffer this to be, we must not entertain this thought, we must
not thus so ill provide for ourselves and for our brethren."
Weigh carefully in your minds and before God the
nature of Our request. It is not for any human motive, but impelled by
divine charity and a desire for the salvation of all, that We advise the
reconciliation and union with the Church of Rome; and We mean a perfect
and complete union, such as could not subsist in any way if nothing else
was brought about but a certain kind of agreement in the tenets of belief
and an intercourse of fraternal love. The true union between Christians
is that which Jesus Christ, the Author of the Church, instituted and desired,
and which consists in a unity of faith and a unity of government.
Nor is there any reason for you to fear on that
account that We or any of Our successors will ever diminish your rights,
the privileges of your patriarchs, or the established ritual of any one
of your churches. It has been and always will be the intent and tradition
of the Apostolic See, to make a large allowance, in all that is right and
good, for the primitive traditions and special customs of every nation.
On the contrary, if you re-establish union with Us, you will see how, by
God's bounty, the glory and dignity of your churches will be remarkably
increased. May God, then, in His goodness, hear the prayer that you yourselves
address to Him: "Make the schisms of the churches cease," and "Assemble
those who are dispersed, bring back those who err, and unite them to Thy
Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." May you thus return to that one holy
Faith which has been handed down both to Us and to you from time immemorial;
which your forefathers preserved untainted, and which was enhanced by the
rival splendor of the virtues, the great genius, and the sublime learning
of St. Athanasius and St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzum and St. John
Chrysostom, the two saints who bore the name of Cyril, and so many other
great men whose glory belongs as a common inheritance to the East and to
the West.
Suffer that We should address you more particularly,
nations of the Slavonic race, you whose glorious name and deeds are attested
by many an ancient record. You know full well how much the Slavs are indebted
to the merits of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, to whose memory We Ourselves
have rendered due honor only a few years ago. Their virtues and their labors
were to great numbers of your race the source of civilization and salvation.
And hence the admirable interchange, which existed for so long between
the Slavonic nations and the Pontiffs of Rome, of favors on the one side
and of filial devotion on the other. If in unhappy time many of your forefathers
were separated from the Faith of Rome, consider now what priceless benefits
a return of unity would bring to you. The Church may give you manifold
aids to salvation, prosperity, and grandeur.
With no less affection do We now look upon the nations
who, at a more recent date, were separated from the Roman Church by an
extraordinary revolution of things and circumstances. Let them forget the
various events of times gone by, let them raise their thoughts far above
all that is human, and seeking only truth and salvation, reflect within
their hearts upon the Church as it was constituted by Christ. If they will
but compare that Church with their own communions, and consider what the
actual state of religion is in these, they will easily acknowledge that,
forgetful of their early history, they have drifted away, on many and important
points, into the novelty of various errors; nor will they deny that of
what may be called the patrimony of truth, which the authors of those innovations
carried away with them in their desertion, there now scarcely remains to
them any article of belief that is really certain and supported by authority.
Nay, more, things have already come to such a pass
that many do not even hesitate to root up the very foundation upon which
alone rests all religion, and the hope of men, to wit, the divine nature
of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. And again, whereas formerly they used to
assert that the books of the Old and the New Testament were written under
the inspiration of God, they now deny them that authority: this, indeed,
was an inevitable consequence when they granted to all the right of private
interpretation. Hence, too, the acceptance of individual conscience as
the sole guide and rule of conduct to the exclusion of any other: hence
those conflicting opinions and numerous sects that fall away so often into
the doctrines of Naturalism and Rationalism.
Therefore it is, that having lost all hope of an
agreement in their persuasions, they now proclaim and recommend a union
of brotherly love. And rightly, too, no doubt, for we should all be united
by the bond of mutual charity. Our Lord Jesus Christ enjoined it most emphatically,
and wished that this love of one another should be the mark of His disciples.
But how can hearts be united in perfect charity where minds do not agree
in faith?
It is on this account that many of those We allude
to men of sound judgment and seeking after truth, have looked to the Catholic
Church for the sure way of salvation; for they clearly understand that
they could never be united to Jesus Christ as their head if they were not
members of His body, which is the Church; nor really acquire the true Christian
faith if they rejected the legitimate teaching confided to Peter and his
successors. Such men as these have recognized in the Church of Rome the
form and image of the true Church, which is clearly made manifest by the
marks of God, her Author, placed upon her: and not a few who were possessed
with penetrating judgment and a special talent for historical research,
have shown forth in their remarkable writings the uninterrupted succession
of the Church of Rome from the apostles, the integrity of her doctrine,
and the consistency of her rule and discipline.
With the example of such men before you, Our heart
appeals to you even more than Our words: to you, Our Brethren, who for
three centuries and more differ from Us on Christian faith; and to you
all likewise, who in later times, for any reason whatsoever, have turned
away from Us: Let us all meet in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God. Suffer that We should invite you to the unity which
has ever existed in the Catholic Church and can never fail; suffer that
We should lovingly hold out Our hand to you. The Church, as the common
mother of all, has long been calling you back to her; the Catholics of
the world await you with brotherly love, that you may render holy worship
to God together with us, united in perfect charity by the profession of
one Gospel, one faith, and one hope.
To complete the harmony of this most desired unity,
it remains for Us to address all those throughout the world whose salvation
has long been the object of Our thoughts and watchful cares; We mean Catholics,
whom the profession of the Roman faith, while it renders them obedient
to the Apostolic See, preserves in union with Jesus Christ. There is no
need to exhort them to true and holy unity, since through the divine goodness
they already possess it; nevertheless, they must be admonished, lest under
pressure of the growing perils on all sides around them, through negligence
or indolence they should lose this great blessing of God. For this purpose,
let them take this rule of thought and action, as the occasion may require,
from those instructions which at other times We have addressed to Catholic
peoples, either collectively or individually; and above all, let them lay
down for themselves as a supreme law, to yield obedience in all things
to the teaching and authority of the Church, in no narrow or mistrustful
spirit, but with their whole soul and promptitude of will.
On this account let them consider how injurious
to Christian unity is that error, which in various forms of opinion has
ofttimes obscured, nay, even destroyed the true character and idea of the
Church. For by the will and ordinance of God, its Founder, it is a society
perfect in its kind, whose office and mission it is to school mankind in
the precepts and teachings of the Gospel, and by safeguarding the integrity
of moral and the exercise of Christian virtue, to lead men to that happiness
which is held out to every one in heaven. And since it is, as we have said,
a perfect society, therefore it is endowed with a living power and efficacy
which is not derived from any external source, but in virtue of the ordinance
of God and its own constitution, inherent in its very nature; for the same
reason it has an inborn power of making laws, and justice requires that
it its exercise it should be dependent on no one; it must likewise have
freedom in other matters appertaining to its rights.
But this freedom is not of a kind to occasion rivalry
or envy, for the Church does not covet power, nor is she urged on by any
selfish desire; but this one thing she does wish, this only does she seek,
to preserve amongst men the duties which virtue imposes, and by this means
and in this way to provide for their everlasting welfare. Therefore is
she wont to be yielding and indulgent as a mother; yea, it not unfrequently
happens that in making large concessions to the exigencies of States, she
refrains from the exercise of her own rights, as the compacts often concluded
with civil governments abundantly testify.
Nothing is more foreign to her disposition than
to encroach on the rights of civil power; but the civil power in its turn
must respect the rights of the Church and beware of arrogating them in
any degree to itself. Now, what is the ruling spirit of the times when
actual events and circumstances are taken into account? No other than this:
it has been the fashion to regard the Church with suspicion, to despise
and hate and spitefully calumniate her; and, more tolerable still, men
strive with might and main to bring her under the sway of civil governments.
Hence it is that her property has been plundered and her liberty curtailed:
hence again, that the training of her priesthood has been beset with difficulties;
that laws of exceptional rigor have been passed against her clergy; that
religious orders, those excellent safeguards of Christianity, have been
suppressed and placed under a ban; in a word, the principles and practice
of the regalists have been renewed with increased virulence.
Such a policy is a violation of the most sacred
rights of the Church, and it breeds enormous evils to States, for the very
reason that it is open conflict with the purposes of God. When God, in
His most wise providence, placed over human society both temporal and spiritual
authority, He intended them to remain distinct indeed, but by no means
disconnected and at war with each other. On the contrary, both the will
of God and the common weal of human society imperatively require that the
civil power should be in accord with the ecclesiastical in its rule and
administration.
Hence the State has its own peculiar rights and
duties, the Church likewise has hers; but it is necessary that each should
be united with the other in the bonds of Concord. Thus will it come about
that the close of mutual relations of Church and State will be freed from
the present turmoil, which for manifold reasons is ill-advised and most
distressing to all well-disposed persons; furthermore, it will be brought
to pass that, without confusion or separation of the peculiar interests
of each, the people will render unto Cæsar the things that are
Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's.
There is likewise a great danger threatening unity
on the part of that association which goes by the name of the society of
Freemasons, whose fatal influence for a long time past oppresses Catholic
nations in particular. Favored by the agitations of the times, and waxing
insolent in its power and resources and success, it strains every nerve
to consolidate its sway and enlarge it sphere. It has already sallied forth
from its hiding-places, where it hatched its plots, into the throng of
cities, and as if to defy the Almighty, has set up its throne in this very
city of Rome, the capitol of the Catholic world. But what is most disastrous
is, that wherever it has set its foot it penetrates into all ranks and
departments of the commonwealth, in the hope of obtaining at last supreme
control. This is, indeed, a great calamity: for its depraved principles
and iniquitous designs are well known. Under the pretence of vindicating
the rights of man and of reconstituting society, it attacks Christianity;
it rejects revealed doctrine, denounces practices of piety, the divine
sacraments, and every sacred thing as superstition; it strives to eliminate
the Christian character from marriage and the family and the education
of youth, and from every form of instruction, whether public or private,
and to root out from the minds of men all respect for authority, whether
human or divine. On its own part, it preaches the worship of nature, and
maintains that the principles of nature are truth and probity and justice
to be measured and regulated. In this way, as is quite evident, man is
being driven to adopt customs and habits of like akin to those of the heathen,
only more corrupt in proportion as the incentives to sin are more numerous.
Although We have spoken on this subject in the strongest
terms before, yet We are led by our Apostolic watchfulness to urge it once
more, and we repeat Our warning again and again, that in face of such an
eminent peril, no precaution, howsoever great, can be looked upon as sufficient.
May God in His mercy bring to naught their impious designs; nevertheless,
let all Christians know and understand that the shameful yoke of Freemasonry
must be shaken off once and for all; and let them be the first to shake
it off who are most galled by its oppression--the men of Italy and France.
With what weapons and by what means this may best be done We Ourselves
have already pointed out: the victory cannot be doubtful to those who trust
in that leader whose divine words still remain in all their force: I
have overcome the world.
Were this twofold danger averted, and government
and States restored to the unity of faith, it is wonderful what efficacious
remedies for evils and abundant store of benefits would ensue. We will
touch upon the principle ones.
The first regards the dignity and office of the
Church. She would receive that honor which is her due and she would go
on her way, free from envy and strong in her liberty, as the minister of
Gospel truth and grace to the notable welfare of States. For as she has
been given by God as a teacher and guide to the human race, she can contribute
assistance which is peculiarly adapted to direct even the most radical
transformations of time to the common good, to solve the most complicated
questions, and to promote uprightness and justice, which are the most solid
foundations of the commonwealth.
Moreover there would be a marked increase of union
among the nations, a thing most desirable to ward off the horrors of war.
We behold the condition of Europe. For many years
past peace has been rather an appearance than a reality. Possessed with
the mutual suspicions, almost all the nations are vying with one another
in equipping themselves with military armaments. Inexperienced youths are
removed from parental direction and control, to be thrown amid the dangers
of the soldier's life; robust young men are taken from agriculture or ennobling
studies or trade or the arts to be put under arms. Hence the treasures
of States are exhausted by the enormous expenditure, the national resources
are frittered away, and private fortunes are impaired; and this, as it
were, armed peace, which now prevails, cannot last much longer. Can this
be the normal condition of human society? Yet we cannot escape from this
situation, and obtain true peace, except by the aid of Jesus Christ. For
to repress ambition and covetousness and envy--the chief instigators of
war--nothing is more fitted than the Christian virtues and, in particular,
the virtue of justice; for, by its exercise, both the law of nations and
the faith of treaties may be maintained inviolate, and the bonds of brotherhood
continue unbroken, if men are but convinced that justice exalteth a
nation.
As in its external relations, so in the internal
life of the State itself, the Christian virtues will provide a guarantee
of the commonweal much more sure and stronger far than any which laws or
armies can afford. For there is no one who does not see that the dangers
to public security and order are daily on the increase, since seditious
societies continue to conspire for the overthrow and ruin of States, as
the frequency of their atrocious outrages testifies.
There are two questions, forsooth--the one called
the social, and the other the political question--which are
discussed with the greatest vehemence. Both of them, without doubt, are
of the last importance, and, though praiseworthy efforts have been put
forth, in studies and measures and experiments for their wise and just
solution, yet nothing could contribute more to this purpose than that of
the minds of men in general should be imbued with right sentiments of duty
from the internal principle of Christian faith. We treated expressly of
the social question in this sense a short time ago, from the standpoint
of principles drawn from the Gospel and natural reason.
As regards the political question, which aims at
reconciling liberty with authority--two things which many confound in theory,
and separate too widely in practice--most efficient aid may be derived
from the Christian philosophy. For, when this point has been settled and
recognized by common agreement, that, whatsoever the form of government,
the authority is from God, reason at once perceives that in some there
is a legitimate right to command, in others the corresponding duty to obey,
and that without prejudice to their dignity, since obedience is rendered
to God rather than to man; and God has denounced the most rigorous judgment
against those in authority, if they fail to represent Him with uprightness
and justice. Then the liberty of the individual can afford ground of suspicion
or envy to no one; since, without injury to any, his conduct will be guided
by truth and rectitude and whatever is allied to public order. Lastly,
if it be considered what influence is possessed by the Church, the mother
of and peacemaker between rulers and peoples, whose mission it is to help
them both with her authority and counsel, then it will be most manifest
how much it concerns the commonweal that all nations should resolve to
unite in the same belief and the same profession of the Christian faith.
With these thoughts in Our mind and ardent yearnings
in Our heart, We see from afar what would be the new order of things that
would arise upon the earth, and nothing could be sweeter to Us than the
contemplation of the benefits that would flow from it. It can hardly be
imagined what immediate and rapid progress would be made all over the earth,
in all manner of greatness and prosperity, with the establishment of tranquillity
and peace, the promotion of studies, the founding and the multiplying on
Christian lines according to Our directions, of associations for the cultivators
of soil, for workmen and tradesman, through whose agency rapacious usury
would be put down, and a large field opened up for useful labors.
And these abundant benefits would not be confined
within the limits of civilized nations, but, like an overcharged river,
would flow far and wide. It must be remembered, as we observed at the outset,
that an immense number of races have been waiting, all through the long
ages, to receive the light of truth and civilization. Most certainly, the
counsels of God with regard to the eternal salvation of peoples are far
removed above the understanding of man; yet if miserable superstition still
prevails in so many parts of the world, the blame must be attributed in
no small measure to religious dissentions. For, as far as it given to human
reason to judge from the nature of events, this seems without doubt to
be the mission assigned by God to Europe, to go on by degrees carrying
Christian civilization to every portion of the earth. The beginnings and
first growth of this great work, which sprang from the labors of former
centuries, were rapidly receiving large development, when all of a sudden
the discord of the sixteenth century broke out. Christendom was torn with
quarrels and dissentions, Europe exhausted with contests and wars, and
the sacred missions felt the baneful influence of the times. While the
causes of distention still remain, what wonder is it that so large a portion
of mankind is held enthralled with barbarous customs and insane rites?
Let us one and all, then, for the sake of the common
welfare, labor with equal assiduity to restore the ancient concord. In
order to bring about this concord, and spread abroad the benefits of the
Christian revelation, the present is the most seasonable time; for never
before have the sentiments of human brotherhood penetrated so deeply into
the souls of men, and never in any age has man been seen to seek out his
fellowmen more eagerly in order to know them better and to help them. Immense
tracts of land and sea are traversed with incredible rapidly, and thus
extraordinary advantages are afforded not only for commerce and scientific
investigations but also for the propagation of the word of God from the
rising of the sun to the going down of the same.
We are well aware of the long labors involved in
the restoration of that order of things which We desire; and it may be
that there are those who consider that We are far too sanguine and look
for things that are rather too be wished for than expected. But We unhesitatingly
place all Our hope and confidence in the Saviour of mankind, Jesus Christ,
well remembering what great things have been achieved in times past by
the folly of the Cross and its preaching, to the astonishment and confusion
of the wisdom of the world. We beg of princes and rulers of States,
appealing to their statesmanship and earnest solicitude for the people,
to weigh Our counsels in the balance of truth and second them with their
authority and favor. If only a portion of the looked-for results should
come about, it will cause no inconsiderable boon in the general decadence,
with the intolerable evils of the present day bring them with dread of
further evils in days to come.
The last years of the past century left Europe worn
out with disasters and panic-stricken with the turmoils of revolution.
And why should not our present century, which is now hastening to its close,
by a reversion of circumstances bequeath to mankind the pledges of concord,
with the prospects of the great benefits which are bound up in the unity
of the Christian faith?
May God, who is rich in mercy, and in whose power
are the times and moments, grant Our wishes and desires, and in His
great goodness, hasten the fulfilment of that divine promise of Jesus Christ:
There will be one Fold and one Shepherd.
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