d) "I CANNOT KEEP SILENT"

"Three things are always weighing on a bishop's mind"

In his position as overseer, a job that is always hard and often dangerous, a bishop has three things always weighing on his mind, namely, dangers to immortal souls, the crime of silence, and the judgment of God.  So he fulfills all the duties of the good shepherd, guiding his sheep to green pastures and clear waters, moving fearlessly

and resolutely against the wolves in sheep's clothing who have entered the fold.  He speaks, writes, and acts.  In speaking, writing, and acting, he has no other aim but the glory of God and the salvation of souls.  No beating around the bush, no equivocating, no shamming, no secondary motives.

On his lips, the word is a ray of heavenly light, a seed of Christian virtues.  His good faith may sometimes be deceived, but he himself deceives no one.  In fact, it is to keep others from being deceived that he often exposes himself to opposition and sufferings beyond belief.  He is not concerned about his own comfort, interests, petty satisfactions, or those of others, but about the truth.  The truth is his sole rule and guide, and he sacrifices everything rather than betray it.²⁶

"We shepherds will never keep silent"

I know that, in the name of this false freedom, some modern unbelievers would like to frustrate the holy freedom we Catholics, we bishops, have received from God.  Even if the law does not speak out, we shepherds will never keep silent.  With the help of God, I, for one, will never keep silent or stop raising my voice, the voice of duty and authority, so as to destroy evil wherever it may be hiding and denounce the dangers and snares into which the ungodly are trying to lure my sons and daughters: "For Zion's sake I shall not keep silent."

I will not keep quiet.  To one and all I will keep repeating the words of the Gospel: be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but underneath are wolves on the prowl.  I will not keep quiet.  I will say once again: it is an affront for outside teachers of false doctrines to come into our home, so to speak, to disturb the peace of our families and insult our religion, the religion of our forefathers, the religion that is interwoven with our history, our arts, our customs, our heartbeats, our breath.²⁷

"We are called to share in the care of all the churches"

What then!  Is a bishop no longer allowed to speak or write as his conscience, his right and ‑- more than his right ‑- his duty dictates, without having people, who have been admonished more than once, try to impose themselves on him?

Is a bishop, guardian of divine wisdom, as the Apostolic Constitutions call him, mediator between God and man, "prince and leader, king and ruler, after God an earthly god, endowed with the dignity of God, as it were"; is he no longer allowed to exercise his ministry without having to fear that his dignity will be dragged through the mud by those who keep insisting they are respecting it?

Is a bishop ‑- appointed by the Holy Spirit to rule the Church of God and called upon to share in the pastoral care of all the churches ‑- no longer allowed to set forth his views in all candor to our common Father concerning the dangers threatening souls without hearing himself called a stumbling block and the cause of ruin?

Is a bishop no longer allowed to openly declare that he loves his country, that he wants it to be a great and glorious nation, happily reconciled with the Holy See, without being suspected of being in league with the enemy?  Is a bishop no longer allowed to entreat Almighty God to grant his Vicar on earth the glory of achieving this most difficult and necessary of goals, the reconciliation of our country, without having someone reproach the bishop for giving the universal Teacher advice or trying to force his hand?

Have they become so arrogant as to condemn actions with which the Supreme Pontiff was pleased?  Have they become so presumptuous as to condemn, even if in veiled terms, what he himself asserts "is in full conformity with his wishes." Great God!  What have we come to?  Where are we heading with these tactics?  We make our own the words of a saintly Father of the Church: Woe to the Church when bishops are forced to keep silent!²⁸

"Let the words of the bishops thunder forth as the Lord inspires them"

There is no bishop on earth who does not want what the Holy Father wants, who does not condemn what he condemns.  There is no bishop who does not bitterly deplore the intolerable situation in which the head of three hundred million Catholics is put, no bishop who does not join the Pope in strongly protesting past and present attacks on him.  There is no bishop who does not declare with the Pope that civil society in Italy cannot flourish without providing for the dignity of the Roman See, for the freedom and independence of the Pope, as common sense requires.

So, let the words of the bishops thunder forth without restraint or fear as the Lord inspires them.  Those who arrogantly criticize their words should remember that "to consider the Church an inorganic mass that needs to be stimulated by an almighty hand, with no one allowed to enlighten her or submit their humble and respectful views to her, is the greatest harm one can do her."²⁹

"The bishops have the right and the duty to enlighten even their superiors"

I have just received the letter you wrote me the day before yesterday.  Thank you for your kind words.  I am taking the liberty to tell you a few things in a big hurry but with an open heart and freedom of spirit.

First of all, I strongly protest against the insinuation that I lent my support to the "bad feelings some people are nursing because of the way the superior of Rho was appointed."  Your Eminence, I am a hierarchical man.  On every occasion I have fought, almost alone, to defend the great principle of authority, on which the future of the Church rests.  I would never go back on this (...).

Since they had not been able to meet with the Archbishop and had gotten only vague and inconclusive expressions from the Vicar General (the style reflects the man and vice versa), the good Fathers came to me for advice.  I told them they could write or even go to Rome.  Rome is always fair, I said, even if it might be caught by surprise in a particular situation.

Yesterday two of those Fathers came to see me and asked me to write letters of introduction for them to Cardinals Verga and Galimberti and to Bishop Della Chiesa.  I wrote the three letters and gave them to the Fathers; and they left.  I performed an act of charity and am ready to do it again today or any other time: it is the Lord who imposes this duty on us.  Did I hurt somebody perhaps?  Don't bishops have to counsel and console those who come to them even if they are not from their own dioceses?  Have the bishops not been called by the Holy Spirit to rule the Church of God?  Don't the bishops, therefore, have the right, indeed the duty, to enlighten even their superiors if necessary?

I respect the Holy Father too much, as well as those assisting him in ruling the Church, to believe they are offended when a bishop frankly and loyally, without ulterior motives, speaks the truth for the noble purpose of averting decisions that might have fatal and disastrous consequences.  In a place where the world's affairs converge, it is quite hard to judge particular situations.  Hence, God has provided for his Church through the divine institution of the episcopate.³⁰

"Bishops may not, must not, be silent"

Holy Father, you must not be surprised if I say that revolution and revolutionary tactics have been introduced into the Church of God.  I have a volume of proofs that I plan to publish to demonstrate this fact, deeply convinced, as I am, that I am not defending and vindicating my own cause but that of a terrorized episcopate, of a violated Church, of a betrayed religion.

If religion were attacked only by unbelievers, we would have little to fear.  But ‑- and I say this with great sorrow ‑- when Catholics and priests raise the banner of rebellion within the Church and, under fine appearances, corrupt the Christian sense of the young priests and the people, the bishops cannot and must not be silent.  I, for one, will not keep quiet.  I have bewailed these evils for years, Holy Father, and I shed bitter tears over them before the Lord.  We can no longer pretend they do not exist.

Holy Father, do not think that I am talking without knowing what I am saying or that I am being driven by personal interests or other motives.  Indeed not.  God, whom I serve and before whom we shall all

soon appear, this God is my witness that I do not play favorites and that I do not take anybody's side.  By God's grace, I am committed to Him alone, to you who are his Vicar, and to his holy Church.

For this very reason, I deeply feel the Church's anguish and, after long and prayerful reflection, have decided to confront the arrogant party that is trying to take over and is the source of so much spiritual devastation.  I foresee that I will have to suffer much, but at least I will find comfort in the thought that I did what I could to avert worse evils.

As you know, Holy Father, one of your great predecessors used to implore God every day to inspire some bishop to openly tell him the truth.  Since this surely is the desire of your noble heart, I know you will pardon me if I desire to tell you the whole truth, bitter as it may be.

Believe me, Holy Father, the destructive and rebellious work of the new liberalism will not stop until some clear public action is taken in support of the authority of the bishops.

I hope you will understand and listen to me.  Yet if God should deprive me of even this consolation, my deep veneration and filial love for you and the Holy See would not, for that reason, be any less intense.  I would always have the consolation of never having failed to speak the truth to everyone, of having fought the good fight and kept the faith, in anticipation of the crown the just Judge will one day bestow on me.

Most Holy Father, I will not close this letter without first declaring that I am and always will be ready to obey not only your commands but also your wishes, so that if you think I should keep quiet, I will keep a calm and peaceful silence out of respect for you, entrusting everything into the hands of God and of you who take his place.³¹