a) THE FUNDAMENTAL REASONS FOR RECONCILIATION

"Reason in harmony with faith, nature with grace"

God wants it! (...). God wants reason to go hand in hand with faith, nature with grace, earth with heaven, the work of creatures with the rights of the Creator.  He wants labor and capital, freedom and authority, equality and order, fraternity and paternity, conservation and progress to echo each other, to reply to each other as in a musical counterpoint.  God wants all the elements of civilization, the sciences, arts and letters, industry, every legitimate interest and aspiration, to find incentive, standards, help, ennoblement, and heavenly approval in religion, in the Church, and in the Papacy.¹

"Religion and country!"

Our earthly homeland and the heavenly homeland!  Oh, yes, let us love the earthly homeland, for it is a gift of God.  To love it, to work for its prosperity and greatness is to observe the sublime precept of charity commanded by the Gospel.  But to truly love this earthly homeland we must join love for it to love for religion, which, in turn, guides us to our eternal homeland.

Religion and country!  These two supreme loves of our forefathers and mothers, these two aspirations of every noble heart must, like daughters of the same father, give each other the kiss of peace, must love and help each other: "What God has united man must not separate."²

"Italy, sincerely reconciled with the Holy See"

Religion and country: these two supreme aspirations of every noble soul are intertwined.  They complement each other in this work of love and redemption, namely, the protection of the defenseless.  They blend into a wonderful harmony.

The odious barriers created by hatred and resentment will disappear; arms will open to a fraternal embrace; hands will shake in a warm sign of love; and lips will open to a smile and a kiss.  When all class and party discrimination will have been eliminated, we will experience in all its Christian splendor the meaning of the aphorism: "homo homini frater" (man is a brother to man) (...).  May Italy, sincerely reconciled with the Holy See, emulate its ancient glories and add another imperishable glory, that of setting her estranged sons and daughters back on the bright path of civilization and progress.³

"Religion and country ‑- two sacred loves

After the terrible way in which our troubled country has been governed by those who have usurped the prerogative of calling themselves its lovers, it really takes a great deal of nerve to call enemies of the country those of us who have stood up to all the injustices, abuses, iniquities, deprivations, and crimes that have led this country to its present state of destitution.  We feel we deserve the title

of good Italians all the more for our not having been involved in the misdeeds of the people who have betrayed and ruined Italy.

Still I say: love of religion and love of country are sacred loves.

These two great, noble ideals blossom together in our hearts with our first breath of life and endure till our dying breath.  But the noble enthusiasm of one should not smother the sublime aspirations of the other.

Justice must not be stifled by patriotism.  The fortunes of a homeland we all must leave behind cannot be more important than the immortal destiny awaiting us.  But this immortal destiny cannot be attained without those necessary means that society ‑- through its observance of the laws God has given humanity for its present and future good ‑- must provide us.⁴

"Faith is rapidly dying out"

There is no consistency of principles, no awareness of the times, no clear and cohesive policy.  What confusion, what sophistry (...).  Meanwhile, faith is rapidly dying out, charity is growing cold, and the hatred of lay people for the clergy is increasing.  The results will be catastrophic.  Who knows how long we will have to endure them?⁵

"A painful fever "

But I have been left with another fever, one that comes from seeing so many people leaving the Church at the hands of those who, instead, should be making every effort to get these people close to the Church.  You know how painful this fever can be (...).  It doesn't make sense!  Catholics must stay out of Parliament and then are urged to foster and promote petitions to present to Parliament!  If this is logic, I don't understand it.⁶

"To set consciences at rest"

Holy Father, I very well understand the difficulty of the matter.  But I beg Almighty God and I implore him to grant you the light and strength you need to make the most of this moment, so that you may not miss this opportunity, a most propitious one, to do what sooner or later must be done.  In this way, the consciences of so many poor workers, farmers, and office employees will be set at rest, that is to say, the consciences of all those who, because of their situation, will be forced, as it were, to disregard the prohibition of the Holy See.  To tell the truth, I do not see how this prohibition could possibly be reinstated in the present state of affairs without endangering the good faith that excuses the great majority of these people before God, with the added risk of running into all kinds of trouble with the Government.  Frankly, humanly speaking, this is the only way left for us to claim, with some hope of success, the sacred rights of the Church and the Holy Apostolic See.⁷

"We desire to see this harmful conflict come to an end, especially for the good of souls"

Holy Father, not content with speaking of peace, you also point out to Italy the means for achieving it.  In fact, you state that the Catholic Church, as a perfect and juridic society, has in itself the power to bring happiness to peoples and nations of all ages and therefore must not be subject to any earthly power but should enjoy absolute liberty.  You rightly conclude that its Supreme Ruler, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the legitimate successor of the Prince of the Apostles, should enjoy the same independence and freedom.

You teach us that, without this independence and freedom, the activity of the Church is hampered, so that she cannot exercise her sublime mission in the world, a mission of holiness, knowledge, and charity.  With sadness you proclaim that in these times you are not your own master but are under the mastery of others: "Truly, we are under

the power of others rather than under our own."

You suffer from all this, Holy Father, and so do your sons and daughters!  Italy, too, suffers, this first-born of nations, which you rightly love with a love of predilection.

As the worthy representative of him who wanted to be known as the Prince of peace, you go forth to meet her and, with a father's love, make every effort to reconcile her to the Roman Pontificate, the marvelous source of all her greatness, her most splendid glory, her preeminent dignity.  This loving design is clearly shown in your Consistorial Address of May 23 of this year and, even more brightly, in your letter of June 15 to your Secretary of State.

We, the Bishops of the Province of Modena, together with those of the Dioceses of Parma, Piacenza, and Borgo S. Donnino, pledge our full support to these two important and admirable documents.  For we have the freedom of the Church and her august Head very much at heart and with you are anxious to see this dreadful conflict come to an end, especially for the good of souls.⁸