To the Venerable Brothers, Archbishops and Bishops of the Kingdom of Poland.

Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Blessing.

We deplore the abuse by which Christian marriages, even long-stable ones, are now dissolved in the Ecclesiastical Courts of Poland. This abuse involves dissolution without due cause or in violation of canon law, and threatens grave injury to the faithful. We warned about this in Our Brief of April 11, 1741, and We exhorted you in the name of the Lord to watch over the flock entrusted to your care. We also warned that We were considering measures of redress and a suitable opportunity to pursue this matter.

Hidden Marriages

Meanwhile We had learned that an evil custom of hidden marriages, more popularly known as marriages of joint knowledge, has spread throughout much of the Christian world. Among the resulting irregularities is that hidden marriages of this sort were themselves being dissolved where other marriages were publicly celebrated. In another encyclical letter to the Venerable Brothers, Patriarchs, Primates, and all Bishops on August 26 of the same year, We prescribed that the aforementioned evil custom must be abrogated and the provisions of the sacred canons and the decrees of the Council of Trent must be accurately observed.