Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, with the
approval of the sacred council, for an everlasting record.
The
Son of God, redeemer of the human race, our lord Jesus Christ, promised,
when about to return to his heavenly Father, that he would be with this
church militant upon earth all days even to the end of the world
3. Hence never at any time has he ceased to stand by his
beloved bride,
Now
this redemptive providence appears very clearly in unnumbered benefits,
but most especially is it manifested in the advantages which have been
secured for the christian world by ecumenical councils, among which the council
of Trent requires special mention, celebrated though it was in evil
days.
Thence
came
1. a closer definition and
more fruitful exposition of the holy dogmas of religion and
2. the condemnation and
repression of errors; thence too,
3. the restoration and
vigorous strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline,
4. the advancement of the
clergy in zeal for
5. the founding of
colleges for the training of the young for the service of religion; and finally
6. the renewal of the
moral life of the christian people by
7. a closer union of the
members with the visible head, and an increased vigour in the whole mystical
body of Christ. Thence came
8. the multiplication of
religious orders and other organisations of christian piety; thence too
9. that determined and
constant ardour for the spreading of Christ's kingdom abroad in the world, even
at the cost of shedding one's blood.
While
we recall with grateful hearts, as is only fitting, these and other
outstanding gains, which the divine mercy has bestowed on the church
especially by means of the last ecumenical synod, we cannot subdue the
bitter grief that we feel at most serious evils, which have largely arisen
either because
Everybody
knows that those heresies, condemned by the fathers of Trent, which
rejected the divine magisterium of the church and allowed religious
questions to be a matter for the judgment of each individual, have
gradually collapsed into a multiplicity of sects, either at variance or in
agreement with one another; and by this means a good many people have had
all faith in Christ destroyed.
Indeed
even the holy Bible itself, which they at one time claimed to be the sole
source and judge of the christian faith, is no longer held to be divine,
but they begin to assimilate it to the inventions of myth.
Thereupon
there came into being and spread far and wide throughout the world
that doctrine of rationalism or naturalism, - utterly opposed to
the christian religion, since this is of supernatural origin, - which
spares no effort to bring it about that Christ, who alone is our lord and
saviour, is shut out from the minds of people and the moral life of
nations. Thus they would establish what they call the rule of simple
reason or nature. The abandonment and rejection of the christian religion,
and the denial of God and his Christ, has plunged the minds of many into
the abyss of pantheism, materialism and atheism, and the
consequence is that they strive to destroy rational nature itself, to deny
any criterion of what is right and just, and to overthrow the very
foundations of human society.
With
this impiety spreading in every direction, it has come about, alas,
that many even among the children of the catholic church have
strayed from the path of genuine piety, and as the truth was gradually
diluted in them, their catholic sensibility was weakened. Led away by
diverse and strange teachings 4 and confusing
they are found to distort the
genuine sense of the dogmas which holy mother church holds and teaches, and
to endanger the integrity and genuineness of the faith.
At
the sight of all this, how can the inmost being of the church not suffer
anguish? For
Thus she can never cease from
witnessing to the truth of God which heals all8 and from declaring it,
for she knows that these words were directed to her: My spirit which is upon
you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your
mouth from this time forth and for evermore9 .
And
so we, following in the footsteps of our predecessors, in accordance with
our supreme apostolic office, have never left off
But now it is our purpose to
This we shall do
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