To Our Venerable Brethren and Beloved Sons,
the Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Spain.

Venerable Brethren and Beloved Sons, Health and the Apostolic Benediction.

Many are the points in which the noble and generous Spanish nation has shown itself preeminent; but above all others, and worthy of the highest praise, is their preservation, through so varied a succession of men and of events, of that love of the Catholic faith with which the prosperity and greatness of Spain have always appeared to be bound up. Of this affection various proofs might be mentioned, but the chief one is that peculiar devotion to this Apostolic Chair of which Spaniards have given such repeated and striking testimony by all manner of manifestations, by letters, by their liberality, and by their pilgrimages. The recollection must still be fresh of that recent period when Europe beheld their courage and their piety, at a time when the Holy See became a victim of dire and unfortunate circumstances.