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Given by His
Holiness Pope Leo XIII
April 20, 1884
To the
Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World in
Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the
Giver of heavenly gifts, "through the envy of the devil," separated
into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly
contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are
contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on
earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire
from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of
necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and
with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose
possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of
their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the
divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt
of God, and many aims also against God.
2. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described
after the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because striving
for contrary objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed the
efficient cause of each in these words: "Two loves formed two cities:
the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city;
and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one."(1)
At every period of time each has been in conflict with the other, with
a variety and multiplicity of weapons and of warfare, although not
always with equal ardour and assault. At this period, however, the
partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling
with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized
and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any
secret of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God
Himself. They are planning the destruction of holy Church publicly and
openly, and this with the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations
of Christendom, if it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Lamenting these evils, We are
constrained by the charity which urges Our heart to cry out often to
God: "For lo, Thy enemies have made a noise; and they that hate Thee
have lifted up the head. They have taken a malicious counsel against
Thy people, and they have consulted against Thy saints. They have said,
`come, and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation.' (2)
3. At so urgent a crisis, when so fierce and so pressing an onslaught
is made upon the Christian name, it is Our office to point out the
danger, to mark who are the adversaries, and to the best of Our power
to make head against their plans and devices, that those may not perish
whose salvation is committed to Us, and that the kingdom of Jesus
Christ entrusted to Our charge may not stand and remain whole, but may
be enlarged by an ever-increasing growth throughout the world.
4. The Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors, in their incessant watchfulness
over the safety of the Christian people, were prompt in detecting the
presence and the purpose of this capital enemy immediately it sprang
into the light instead of hiding as a dark conspiracy; and , moreover,
they took occasion with true foresight to give, as it were on their
guard, and not allow themselves to be caught by the devices and snares
laid out to deceive them.
5. The first warning of the danger was given by Clement XII in the year
1738,(3) and his constitution was confirmed and renewed by Benedict
XIV.(4) Pius VII followed the same path;(5) and Leo XII, by his
apostolic constitution, Quo Graviora,(6) put together the acts and
decrees of former Pontiffs on this subject, and ratified and confirmed
them forever. In the same sense spoke Pius VIII,(7) Gregory XVI,(8)
and, many times over, Pius IX.(9)
6. For as soon as the constitution and the spirit of the masonic sect
were clearly discovered by manifest signs of its actions, by the
investigation of its causes, by publication of its laws, and of its
rites and commentaries, with the addition often of the personal
testimony of those who were in the secret, this apostolic see denounced
the sect of the Freemasons, and publicly declared its constitution, as
contrary to law and right, to be pernicious no Less to Christiandom
than to the State; and it forbade any one to enter the society, under
the penalties which the Church is wont to inflict upon exceptionally
guilty persons. The sectaries, indignant at this, thinking to elude or
to weaken the force of these decrees, partly by contempt of them, and
partly by calumny, accused the sovereign Pontiffs who had passed them
either of exceeding the bounds of moderation in their decrees or of
decreeing what was not just. This was the manner in which they
endeavoured to elude the authority and the weight of the apostolic
constitutions of Clement XII and Benedict XIV, as well as of Pius VII
and Pius IX.(10) Yet, in the very society itself, there were to be
found men who unwillingly acknowledged that the Roman Pontiffs had
acted within their right, according to the Catholic doctrine and
discipline. The Pontiffs received the same assent, and in strong terms,
from many princes and heads of governments, who made it their business
either to delate the masonic society to the apostolic see, or of their
own accord by special enactments to brand it as pernicious, as, for
example, in Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Bavaria, Savoy, and
other parts of Italy.
7. But, what is of highest importance, the course of events has
demonstrated the prudence of Our predecessors. For their provident and
paternal solicitude had not always and every where the result desired;
and this, either because of the simulation and cunning of some who were
active agents in the mischief, or else of the thoughtless levity of the
rest who ought, in their own interest, to have given to the matter
their diligent attention. In consequence, the sect of Freemasons grew
with a rapidity beyond conception in the course of a century and a
half, until it came to be able, by means of fraud or of audacity, to
gain such entrance into every rank of the State as to seem to be almost
its ruling power. This swift and formidable advance has brought upon
the Church, upon the power of princes, upon the public well-being,
precisely that grievous harm which Our predecessors had long before
foreseen. Such a condition has been reached that henceforth there will
be grave reason to fear, not indeed for the Church-for her foundation
is much too firm to be overturned by the effort of men-but for those
States in which prevails the power, either of the sect of which we are
speaking or of other sects not dissimilar which lend themselves to it
as disciples and subordinates.
8. For these reasons We no sooner came to the helm of the Church than
We clearly saw and felt it to be Our duty to use Our authority to the
very utmost against so vast an evil. We have several times already, as
occasion served, attacked certain chief points of teaching which showed
in a special manner the perverse influence of Masonic opinions. Thus,
in Our encyclical letter, Quod Apostolici Muneris, We endeavoured to
refute the monstrous doctrines of the socialists and communists;
afterwards, in another beginning "Arcanum," We took pains to defend and
explain the true and genuine idea of domestic life, of which marriage
is the spring and origin; and again, in that which begins
'`Diuturnum,"(11) We described the ideal of political government
conformed to the principles of Christian wisdom, which is marvellously
in harmony, on the one hand, with the natural order of things, and, in
the other, with the well-being of both sovereign princes and of
nations. It is now Our intention, following the example of Our
predecessors, directly to treat of the masonic society itself, of its
whole teaching, of its aims, and of its manner of thinking and acting,
in order to bring more and more into the light its power for evil, and
to do what We can to arrest the contagion of this fatal plague.
9. There are several organized bodies which, though differing in name,
in ceremonial, in form and origin, are nevertheless so bound together
by community of purpose and by the similarity of their main opinions,
as to make in fact one thing with the sect of the Freemasons, which is
a kind of center whence they all go forth, and whither they all return.
Now, these no longer show a desire to remain concealed; for they hold
their meetings in the daylight and before the public eye, and publish
their own newspaper organs; and yet, when thoroughly understood, they
are found still to retain the nature and the habits of secret
societies. There are many things like mysteries which it is the fixed
rule to hide with extreme care, not only from strangers, but from very
many members, also; such as their secret and final designs, the names
of the chief leaders, and certain secret and inner meetings, as well as
their decisions, and the ways and means of carrying them out. This is,
no doubt, the object of the manifold difference among the members as to
right, office, and privilege, of the received distinction of orders and
grades, and of that severe discipline which is maintained. Candidates
are generally commanded to promise-nay, with a special oath, to
swear-that they will never, to any person, at any time or in any way,
make known the members, the passes, or the subjects discussed. Thus,
with a fraudulent external appearance, and with a style of simulation
which is always the same, the Freemasons, like the Manichees of old,
strive, as far as possible, to conceal themselves, and to admit no
witnesses but their own members. As a convenient manner of concealment,
they assume the character of literary men and scholars associated for
purposes of learning. They speak of their zeal for a more cultured
refinement, and of their love for the poor; and they declare their one
wish to be the amelioration of the condition of the masses, and to
share with the largest possible number all the benefits of civil life.
Were these purposes aimed at in real truth, they are by no means the
whole of their object. Moreover, to be enrolled, it is necessary that
the candidates promise and undertake to be thenceforward strictly
obedient to their leaders and masters with the utmost submission and
fidelity, and to be in readiness to do their bidding upon the slightest
expression of their will; or, if disobedient, to submit to the direst
penalties and death itself. As a fact, if any are judged to have
betrayed the doings of the sect or to have resisted commands given,
punishment is inflicted on them not infrequently, and with so much
audacity and dexterity that the assassin very often escapes the
detection and penalty of his crime.
10. But to simulate and wish to lie hid; to bind men like slaves in the
very tightest bonds, and without giving any sufficient reason; to make
use of men enslaved to the will of another for any arbitrary act ; to
arm men's right hands for bloodshed after securing impunity for the
crime-all this is an enormity from which nature recoils. Wherefore,
reason and truth itself make it plain that the society of which we are
speaking is in antagonism with justice and natural uprightness. And
this becomes still plainer, inasmuch as other arguments, also, and
those very manifest, prove that it is essentially opposed to natural
virtue. For, no matter how great may be men's cleverness in concealing
and their experience in lying, it is impossible to prevent the effects
of any cause from showing, in some way, the intrinsic nature of the
cause whence they come. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a
bad tree produce good fruit."(12) Now, the masonic sect produces fruits
that are pernicious and of the bitterest savour. For, from what We have
above most clearly shown, that which is their ultimate purpose forces
itself into view-namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious
and political order of the world which the Christian teaching has
produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance
with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from
mere naturalism.
11. What We have said, and are about to say, must be understood of the
sect of the Freemasons taken generically, and in so far as it comprises
the associations kindred to it and confederated with it, but not of the
individual members of them. There may be persons amongst these, and not
a few who, although not free from the guilt of having entangled
themselves in such associations, yet are neither themselves partners in
their criminal acts nor aware of the ultimate object which they are
endeavoring to attain. In the same way, some of the affiliated
societies, perhaps, by no means approve of the extreme conclusions
which they would, if consistent, embrace as necessarily following from
their common principles, did not their very foulness strike them with
horror. Some of these, again, are led by circumstances of times and
places either to aim at smaller things than the others usually attempt
or than they themselves would wish to attempt. They are not, however,
for this reason, to be reckoned as alien to the masonic federation; for
the masonic federation is to be judged not so much by the things which
it has done, or brought to completion, as by the sum of its pronounced
opinions.
12. Now, the fundamental doctrine of the naturalists, which they
sufficiently make known by their very name, is that human nature and
human reason ought in all things to be mistress and guide. Laying this
down, they care little for duties to God, or pervert them by erroneous
and vague opinions. For they deny that anything has been taught by God;
they allow no dogma of religion or truth which cannot be understood by
the human intelligence, nor any teacher who ought to be believed by
reason of his authority. And since it is the special and exclusive duty
of the Catholic Church fully to set forth in words truths divinely
received, to teach, besides other divine helps to salvation, the
authority of its office, and to defend the same with perfect purity, it
is against the Church that the rage and atack of the enemies are
principally directed.
13. In those matters which regard religion let it be seen how the sect
of the Freemasons acts, especially where it is more free to act without
restraint, and then let any one judge whether in fact it does not wish
to carry out the policy of the naturalists. By a long and persevering
labor, they endeavor to bring about this result-namely, that the
teaching office and authority of the Church may become of no account in
the civil State; and for this same reason they declare to the people
and contend that Church and State ought to be altogether disunited. By
this means they reject from the laws and from the commonwealth
thewholesome influence of the Catholic religion; and they consequently
imagine that States ought to be constituted without any regard for the
laws and precepts of the Church.
14. Nor do they think it enough to disregard the Church-the best of
guides-unless they also injure it by their hostility. Indeed, with them
it is lawful to attack with impunity the very foundations of the
Catholic religion, in speech, in writing, and in teaching; and even the
rights of the Church are not spared, and the offices with which it is
divinely invested are not safe. The least possible liberty to manage
affairs is left to the Church; and this is done by laws not apparently
very hostile, but in reality framed and fitted to hinder freedom of
action. Moreover, We see exceptional and onerous laws imposed upon the
clergy, to the end that they may be continually diminished in number
and in necessary means. We see also the remnants of the possessions of
the Church fettered by the strictest conditions, and subjected to the
power and arbitrary will of the administrators of the State, and the
religious orders rooted up and scattered.
15. But against the apostolic see and the Roman Pontiff the contention
of these enemies has been for a long time directed. The Pontiff was
first, for specious reasons, thrust out from the bulwark of his liberty
and of his right, the civil princedom; soon, he was unjustly driven
into a condition which was unbearable because of the difficulties
raised on all sides; and now the time has come when the partisans of
the sects openly declare, what in secret among themselves they have for
a long time plotted, that the sacred power of the Pontiffs must be
abolished, and that the papacy itself, founded by divine right, must be
utterly destroyed. If other proofs were wanting, this fact would be
sufficiently disclosed by the testimony of men well informed, of whom
some at other times, and others again recently, have declared it to be
true of the Freemasons that they especially desire to assail the Church
with irreconcilable hostility, and that they will never rest until they
have destroyed whatever the supreme Pontiffs have established for the
sake of religion.
16. If those who are admitted as members are not commanded to abjure by
any form of words the Catholic doctrines, this omission, so far from
being adverse to the designs of the Freemasons, is more useful for
their purposes. First, in this way they easily deceive the
simple-minded and the heedless, and can induce a far greater number to
become members. Again, as all who offer themselves are received
whatever may be their form of religion, they thereby teach the great
error of this age-that a regard for religion should be held as an
indifferent matter, and that all religions are alike. This manner of
reasoning is calculated to bring about the ruin of all forms of
religion, and especially of the Catholic religion, which, as it is the
only one that is true, cannot, without great injustice, be regarded as
merely equal to other religions.
17. But the naturalists go much further; for, having, in the highest
things, entered upon a wholly erroneous course, they are carried
headlong to extremes, either by reason of the weakness of human nature,
or because God inflicts upon them the just punishment of their pride.
Hence it happens that they no longer consider as certain and permanent
those things which are fully understood by the natural light of reason,
such as certainly are-the existence of God, the immaterial nature of
the human soul, and its immortality. The sect of the Freemasons, by a
similar course of error, is exposed to these same dangers; for,
although in a general way they may profess the existence of God, they
themselves are witnesses that they do not all maintain this truth with
the full assent of the mind or with a firm conviction. Neither do they
conceal that this question about God is the greatest source and cause
of discords among them; in fact, it is certain that a considerable
contention about this same subject has existed among them very lately.
But, indeed, the sect allows great liberty to its votaries, so that to
each side is given the right to defend its own opinion, either that
there is a God, or that there is none; and those who obstinately
contend that there is no God are as easily initiated as those who
contend that God exists, though, like the pantheists, they have false
notions concerning Him: all which is nothing else than taking away the
reality, while retaining some absurd representation of the divine
nature.
18. When this greatest fundamental truth has been overturned or
weakened, it follows that those truths, also, which are known by the
teaching of nature must begin to fall-namely, that all things were made
by the free will of God the Creator; that the world is governed by
Providence; that souls do not die; that to this life of men upon the
earth there will succeed another and an everlasting life.
19. When these truths are done away with, which are as the principles
of nature and important for knowledge and for practical use, it is easy
to see what will become of both public and private morality. We say
nothing of those more heavenly virtues, which no one can exercise or
even acquire without a special gift and grace of God; of which
necessarily no trace can be found in those who reject as unknown the
redemption of mankind, the grace of God, the sacraments, and the
happiness to be obtained in heaven. We speak now of the duties which
have their origin in natural probity. That God is the Creator of the
world and its provident Ruler; that the eternal law commands the
natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; that
the last end of men is a destiny far above human things and beyond this
sojourning upon the earth: these are the sources and these the
principles of all justice and morality. If these be taken away, as the
naturalists and Freemasons desire, there will immediately be no
knowledge as to what constitutes justice and injustice, or upon what
principle morality is founded. And, in truth, the teaching of morality
which alone finds favor with the sect of Freemasons, and in which they
contend that youth should be instructed, is that which they call
"civil," and "independent," and "free," namely, that which does not
contain any religious belief. But, how insufficient such teaching is,
how wanting in soundness, and how easily moved by every impulse of
passion, is sufficiently proved by its sad fruits, which have already
begun to appear. For, wherever, by removing Christian education, this
teaching has begun more completely to rule, there goodness and
integrity of morals have begun quickly to perish, monstrous and
shameful opinions have grown up, and the audacity of evil deeds has
risen to a high degree. All this is commonly complained of and
deplored; and not a few of those who by no means wish to do so are
compelled by abundant evidence to give not infrequently the same
testimony.
20. Moreover, human nature was stained by original sin, and is
therefore more disposed to vice than to virtue. For a virtuous life it
is absolutely necessary to restrain the disorderly movements of the
soul, and to make the passions obedient to reason. In this conflict
human things must very often be despised, and the greatest labors and
hardships must be undergone, in order that reason may always hold its
sway. But the naturalists and Freemasons, having no faith in those
things which we have learned by the revelation of God, deny that our
first parents sinned, and consequently think that free will is not at
all weakened and inclined to evil.(13) On the contrary, exaggerating
rather the power and the excellence of nature, and placing therein
alone the principle and rule of justice, they cannot even imagine that
there is any need at all of a constant struggle and a perfect
steadfastness to overcome the violence and rule of our passions.
Wherefore we see that men are publicly tempted by the many allurements
of pleasure; that there are journals and pamphlets with neither
moderation nor shame; that stage-plays are remarkable for license; that
designs for works of art are shamelessly sought in the laws of a so
called verism; that the contrivances of a soft and delicate life are
most carefully devised; and that all the blandishments of pleasure are
diligently sought out by which virtue may be lulled to sleep. Wickedly,
also, but at the same time quite consistently, do those act who do away
with the expectation of the joys of heaven, and bring down all
happiness to the level of mortality, and, as it were, sink it in the
earth. Of what We have said the following fact, astonishing not so much
in itself as in its open expression, may serve as a confirmation. For,
since generally no one is accustomed to obey crafty and clever men so
submissively as those whose soul is weakened and broken down by the
domination of the passions, there have been in the sect of the
Freemasons some who have plainly determined and proposed that, artfully
and of set purpose, the multitude should be satiated with a boundless
license of vice, as, when this had been done, it would easily come
under their power and authority for any acts of daring.
21. What refers to domestic life in the teaching of the naturalists is
almost all contained in the following declarations: that marriage
belongs to the genus of commercial contracts, which can rightly be
revoked by the will of those who made them, and that the civil rulers
of the State have power over the matrimonial bond; that in the
education of youth nothing is to be taught in the matter of religion as
of certain and fixed opinion; and each one must be left at liberty to
follow, when he comes of age, whatever he may prefer. To these things
the Freemasons fully assent; and not only assent, but have long
endeavoured to make them into a law and institution. For in many
countries, and those nominally Catholic, it is enacted that no
marriages shall be considered lawful except those contracted by the
civil rite; in other places the law permits divorce; and in others
every effort is used to make it lawful as soon as may be. Thus, the
time is quickly coming when marriages will be turned into another kind
of contract-that is into changeable and uncertain unions which fancy
may join together, and which the same when changed may disunite. With
the greatest unanimity the sect of the Freemasons also endeavours to
take to itself the education of youth. They think that they can easily
mold to their opinions that soft and pliant age, and bend it whither
they will; and that nothing can be more fitted than this to enable them
to bring up the youth of the State after their own plan. Therefore, in
the education and instruction of children they allow no share, either
of teaching or of discipline, to the ministers of the Church; and in
many places they have procured that the education of youth shall be
exclusively in the hands of laymen, and that nothing which treats of
the most important and most holy duties of men to God shall be
introduced into the instructions on morals.
22. Then come their doctrines of politics, in which the naturalists lay
down that all men have the same right, and are in every respect of
equal and like condition; that each one is naturally free; that no one
has the right to command another; that it is an act of violence to
require men to obey any authority other than that which is obtained
from themselves. According to this, therefore, all things belong to the
free people; power is held by the command or permission of the people,
so that, when the popular will changes, rulers may lawfully be deposed
and the source of all rights and civil duties is either in the
multitude or in the governing authority when this is constituted
according to the latest doctrines. It is held also that the State
should be without God; that in the various forms of religion there is
no reason why one should have precedence of another; and that they are
all to occupy the same place.
23. That these doctrines are equally acceptable to the Freemasons, and
that they would wish to constitute States according to this example and
model, is too well known to require proof. For some time past they have
openly endeavoured to bring this about with all their strength and
resources; and in this they prepare the way for not a few bolder men
who are hurrying on even to worse things, in their endeavor to obtain
equality and community of all goods by the destruction of every
distinction of rank and property.
24. What, therefore, sect of the Freemasons is, and what course it
pursues, appears sufficiently from the summary We have briefly given.
Their chief dogmas are so greatly and manifestly at variance with
reason that nothing can be more perverse. To wish to destroy the
religion and the Church which God Himself has established, and whose
perpetuity He insures by His protection, and to bring back after a
lapse of eighteen centuries the manners and customs of the pagans, is
signal folly and audacious impiety. Neither is it less horrible nor
more tolerable that they should repudiate the benefits which Jesus
Christ so mercifully obtained, not only for individuals, but also for
the family and for civil society, benefits which, even according to the
judgment and testimony of enemies of Christianity, are very great. In
this insane and wicked endeavor we may almost see the implacable hatred
and spirit of revenge with which Satan himself is inflamed against
Jesus Christ.-So also the studious endeavour of the Freemasons to
destroy the chief foundations of justice and honesty, and to co-operate
with those who would wish, as if they were mere animals, to do what
they please, tends only to the ignominious and disgraceful ruin of the
human race. The evil, too, is increased by the dangers which threaten
both domestic and civil society. As We have elsewhere shown,(14) in
marriage, according to the belief of almost every nation, there is
something sacred and religious; and the law of God has determined that
marriages shall not be dissolved. If they are deprived of their sacred
character, and made dissoluble, trouble and confusion in the family
will be the result, the wife being deprived of her dignity and the
children left without protection as to their interests and well
being.-To have in public matters no care for religion, and in the
arrangement and administration of civil affairs to have no more regard
for God than if He did not exist, is a rashness unknown to the very
pagans; for in their heart and soul the notion of a divinity and the
need of public religion were so firmly fixed that they would have
thought it easier to have city without foundation than a city without
God. Human society, indeed for which by nature we are formed, has been
constituted by God the Author of nature; and from Him, as from their
principle and source, flow in all their strength and permanence the
countless benefits with which society abounds. As we are each of us
admonished by the very voice of nature to worship God in piety and
holiness, as the Giver unto us of life and of all that is good therein,
so also and for the same reason, nations and States are bound to
worship Him; and therefore it is clear that those who would absolve
society from all religious duty act not only unjustly but also with
ignorance and folly.
25. As men are by the will of God born for civil union and society, and
as the power to rule is so necessary a bond of society that, if it be
taken away, society must at once be broken up, it follows that from Him
who is the Author of society has come also the authority to rule; so
that whosoever rules, he is the minister of God. Wherefore, as the end
and nature of human society so requires, it is right to obey the just
commands of lawful authority, as it is right to obey God who ruleth all
things; and it is most untrue that the people have it in their power to
cast aside their obedience whensoever they please.
26. In like manner, no one doubts that all men are equal one to
another, so far as regards their common origin and nature, or the last
end which each one has to attain, or the rights and duties which are
thence derived. But, as the abilities of all are not equal, as one
differs from another in the powers of mind or body, and as there are
very many dissimilarities of manner, disposition, and character, it is
most repugnant to reason to endeavor to confine all within the same
measure, and to extend complete equality to the institutions of civic
life. Just as a perfect condition of the body results from the
conjunction and composition of its various members, which, though
differing in form and purpose, make, by their union and the
distribution of each one to its proper place, a combination beautiful
to behole, firm in strength, and necessary for use; so, in the
commonwealth, there is an almost infinite dissimilarity of men, as
parts of the whole. If they are to be all equal, and each is to follow
his own will, the State will appear most deformed; but if, with a
distinction of degrees of dignity, of pursuits and employments, all
aptly conspire for the common good, they will present the image of a
State both well constituted and conformable to nature.
27. Now, from the disturbing errors which We have described the
greatest dangers to States are to be feared. For, the fear of God and
reverence for divine laws being taken away, the authority of rulers
despised, sedition permitted and approved, and the popular passions
urged on to lawlessness, with no restraint save that of punishment, a
change and overthrow of all things will necessarily follow. Yea, this
change and overthrow is deliberately planned and put forward by many
associations of communists and socialists; and to their undertakings
the sect of Freemasons is not hostile, but greatly favours their
designs, and holds in common with them their chief opinions. And if
these men do not at once and everywhere endeavour to carry out their
extreme views, it is not to be attributed to their teaching and their
will, but to the virtue of that divine religion which cannot be
destroyed; and also because the sounder part of men, refusing to be
enslaved to secret societies, vigorously resist their insane attempts.
28. Would that all men would judge of the tree by its fruit, and would
acknowledge the seed and origin of the evils which press upon us, and
of the dangers that are impending! We have to deal with a deceitful and
crafty enemy, who, gratifying the ears of people and of princes, has
ensnared them by smooth speeches and by adulation. Ingratiating
themselves with rulers under a pretense of friendship, the Freemasons
have endeavoured to make them their allies and powerful helpers for the
destruction of the Christian name; and that they might more strongly
urge them on, they have, with determined calumny, accused the Church of
invidiously contending with rulers in matters that affect their
authority and sovereign power. Having, by these artifices, insured
their own safety and audacity, they have begun to exercise great weight
in the government of States; but nevertheless they are prepared to
shake the foundations of empires, to harass the rulers of the State, to
accuse, and to cast them out, as often as they appear to govern
otherwise than they themselves could have wished. In like manner, they
have by flattery deluded the people. Proclaiming with a loud voice
liberty and public prosperity, and saying that it was owing to the
Church and to sovereigns that the mutitude were not drawn out of their
unjust servitude and poverty, they have imposed upon the people, and,
exciting them by a thirst for novelty, they have urged them to assail
both the Church and the civil power. Nevertheless, the expectation of
the benefits which was hoped for is greater than the reality; indeed,
the common people, more oppressed than they were before, are deprived
in their misery of that solace which, if things had been arranged in a
Christian manner, they would have had with ease and in abundance. But,
whoever strive against the order which Divine Providence has
constituted pay usually the penalty of their pride, and meet with
affliction and misery where they rashly hoped to find all things
prosperous and in conformity with their desires.
29. The Church, if she directs men to render obedience chiefly and
above all to God the sovereign Lord, is wrongly and falsely believed
either to be envious of the civil power or to arrogate to herself
something of the rights of sovereigns. On the contrary, she teaches
that what is rightly due to the civil power must be rendered to it with
a conviction and consciousness of duty. In teaching that from God
Himself comes the right of ruling, she adds a great dignity to civil
authority, and on small help towards obtaining the obedience and good
will of the citizens. The friend of peace and sustainer of concord, she
embraces all with maternal love, and, intent only upon giving help to
mortal man, she teaches that to justice must be joined clemency, equity
to authority, and moderation to lawgiving; that no one's right must be
violated; that order and public tranquillity are to be maintained; and
that the poverty of those are in need is, as far as possible, to be
relieved by public and private charity. "But for this reason," to use
the words of St. Augustine, "men think, or would have it believed, that
Christian teaching is not suited to the good of the State; for they
wish the State to be founded not on solid virtue, but on the impunity
of vice."(15) Knowing these things, both princes and people would act
with political wisdom,(16) and according to the needs of general
safety, if, instead of joining with Freemasons to destroy the Church,
they joined with the Church in repelling their attacks.
30 .Whatever the future may be, in this grave and widespread evil it is
Our duty, venerable brethren, to endeavour to find a remedy. And
because We know that Our best and firmest hope of a remedy is in the
power of that divine religion which the Freemasons hate in proportion
to their fear of it, We think it to be of chief importance to call that
most saving power to Our aid against the common enemy. Therefore,
whatsoever the Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors have decreed for the
purpose of opposing the undertakings and endeavours of the masonic
sect, and whatsoever they have enacted to enter or withdraw men from
societies of this kind, We ratify and confirm it all by our apostolic
authority: and trusting greatly to the good will of Christians, We pray
and beseech each one, for the sake of his eternal salvation, to be most
conscientiously careful not in the least to depart from what the
apostolic see has commanded in this matter.
31. We pray and beseech you, venerable brethren, to join your efforts
with Ours, and earnestly to strive for the extirpation of this foul
plague, which is creeping through the veins of the body politic. You
have to defend the glory of God and the salvation of your neighbour;
and with the object of your strife before you, neither courage nor
strength will be wanting. It will be for your prudence to judge by what
means you can best overcome the difficulties and obstacles you meet
with. But, as it befits the authority of Our office that We Ourselves
should point out some suitable way of proceeding, We wish it to be your
rule first of all to tear away the mask from Freemasonry, and to let it
be seen as it really is; and by sermons and pastoral letters to
instruct the people as to the artifices used by societies of this kind
in seducing men and enticing them into their ranks, and as to the
depravity of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts. As Our
predecessors have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for
any reason whatsoever join the masonic sect, if he values his Catholic
name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them. Let no one be
deceived by a pretense of honesty. It may seem to some that Freemasons
demand nothing that is openly contrary to religion and morality; but,
as the whole principle and object of the sect lies in what is vicious
and criminal, to join with these men or in any way to help them cannot
be lawful.
32. Further, by assiduous teaching and exhortation, the multitude must
be drawn to learn diligently the precepts of religion; for which
purpose we earnestly advise that by opportune writings and sermons they
be taught the elements of those sacred truths in which Christian
philosophy is contained. The result of this will be that the minds of
men will be made sound by instruction, and will be protected against
many forms of error and inducements to wickedness, especially in the
present unbounded freedom of writing and insatiable eagerness for
learning.
33. Great, indeed, is the work; but in it the clergy will share your
labours, if, through your care, they are fitted for it by learning and
a well-turned life. This good and great work requires to be helped also
by the industry of those amongst the laity in whom a love of religion
and of country is joined to learning and goodness of life. By uniting
the efforts of both clergy and laity, strive, venerable brethren, to
make men thoroughly know and love the Church; for, the greater their
knowledge and love of the Church, the more will they be turned away
from clandestine societies.
34. Wherefore, not without cause do We use this occasion to state again
what We have stated elsewhere, namely, that the Third Order of St.
Francis, whose discipline We a little while ago prudently
mitigated,(16) should be studiously promoted and sustained; for the
whole object of this Order, as constituted by its founder, is to invite
men to an imitation of Jesus Christ, to a love of the Church, and to
the observance of all Christian virtues; and therefore it ought to be
of great influence in suppressing the contagion of wicked societies.
Let, therefore, this holy sodality be strengthened by a daily increase.
Amongst the many benefits to be expected from it will be the great
benefit of drawing the minds of men to liberty, fraternity, and
equality of right; not such as the Freemasons absurdly imagine, but
such as Jesus Christ obtained for the human race and St. Francis
aspired to: the liberty, We mean, of sons of God, through which we may
be free from slavery to Satan or to our passions, both of them most
wicked masters; the fraternity whose origin is in God, the common
Creator and Father of all; the equality which, founded on justice and
charity, does not take away all distinctions among men, but, out of the
varieties of life, of duties, and of pursuits, forms that union and
that harmony which naturally tend to the benefit and dignity of
society.
35. In the third place, there is a matter wisely instituted by our
forefathers, but in course of time laid aside, which may now be used as
a pattern and form of something similar. We mean the associations of
guilds of workmen, for the protection, under the guidance of religion,
both of their temporal interests and of their morality. If our
ancestors, by long use and experience, felt the benefit of these
guilds, our age perhaps will feel it the more by reason of the
opportunity which they will give of crushing the power of the sects.
Those who support themselves by the labour of their hands, besides
being, by their very condition, most worthy above all others of charity
and consolation, are also especially exposed to the allurements of men
whose ways lie in fraud and deceit. Therefore, they ought to be helped
with the greatest possible kindness, and to be invited to join
associations that are good, lest they be drawn away to others that are
evil. For this reason, We greatly wish, for the salvation of the
people, that, under the auspices and patronage of the bishops, and at
convenient times, these gilds may be generally restored. To Our great
delight, sodialities of this kind and also associations of masters have
in many places already been established, having, each class of them,
for their object to help the honest workman, to protect and guard his
children and family, and to promote in them piety, Christian knowledge,
and a moral life. And in this matter We cannot omit mentioning that
exemplary society, named after its founder, St. Vincent, which has
deserved so well of the lower classes. Its acts and its aims are well
known. Its whole object is to give relief to the poor and miserable.
This it does with singular prudence and modesty; and the less it wishes
to be seen, the better is it fitted for the exercise of Christian
charity, and for the relief of suffering.
36. In the fourth place, in order more easily to attain what We wish,
to your fidelity and watchfulness We commend in a special manner the
young, as being the hope of human society. Devote the greatest part of
your care to their instruction; and do not think that any precaution
can be great enough in keeping them from masters and schools whence the
pestilent breath of the sects is to be feared. Under your guidance, let
parents, religious instructors, and priests having the cure of souls
use every opportunity, in their Christian teaching, of warning their
children and pupils of the infamous nature of these societies, so that
they may learn in good time to beware of the various and fraudulent
artifices by which their promoters are accustomed to ensnare people.
And those who instruct the young in religious knowledge will act wisely
if they induce all of them to resolve and to undertake never to bind
themselves to any society without the knowledge of their parents, or
the advice of their parish priest or director.
37. We well know, however, that our united labours will by no means
suffice to pluck up these pernicious seeds from the Lord's Eield,
unless the Heavenly Master of the vineyard shall mercifully help us in
our endeavours. We must, therefore, with great and anxious care,
implore of Him the help which the greatness of the danger and of the
need requires. The sect of the Freemasons shows itself insolent and
proud of its success, and seems as if it would put no bounds to its
pertinacity. Its followers, joined together by a wicked compact and by
secret counsels, give help one to another, and excite one another to an
audacity for evil things. So vehement an attack demands an equal
defence-namely, that all good men should form the widest possible
association of action and of prayer. We beseech them, therefore, with
united hearts, to stand together and unmoved against the advancing
force of the sects; and in mourning and supplication to stretch out
their hands to God, praying that the Christian name may flourish and
prosper, that the Church may enjoy its needed liberty, that those who
have gone astray may return to a right mind, that error at length may
give place to truth, and vice to virtue. Let us take our helper and
intercessor the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, so that she, who from the
moment of her conception overcame Satan may show her power over these
evil sects, in which is revived the contumacious spirit of the demon,
together with his unsubdued perfidy and deceit. Let us beseech Michael,
the prince of the heavenly angels, who drove out the infernal foe; and
Joseph, the spouse of the most holy Virgin, and heavenly patron of the
Catholic Church; and the great Apostles, Peter and Paul, the fathers
and victorious champions of the Christian faith. By their patronage,
and by perseverance in united prayer, we hope that God will mercifully
and opportunely succor the human race, which is encompassed by so many
dangers.
38. As a pledge of heavenly gifts and of Our benevolence, We lovingly
grant in the Lord, to you, venerable brethren, and to the clergy and
all the people commited to your watchful care, Our apostolic
benediction.
REFERENCES:
1. De civ. Dei, 14, 28 (PL 41, 436).
2. Ps.81:24.
3. Const. In Eminenti, April 24, 1738.
4. Const. Providas, May 18, 1751.
5. Const. Ecclesiam a Jesu Chrisro, Sept. 13, 1821.
6. Const. given March 13, 1825.
7. Encyc. Traditi, May 21, 1829.
8. Encyc. Mirari, Augusr 15, 1832.
9. Encyc. Qtsi Pluribus, Nov. 9, 1846; address Multiplices inter, Sept.
25, 1865, etc.
10. Clement XII (1730-40); Benedict XIV (1740-58); Pius VII (1800-23);
Pius IX (1846-78).
11. See nos. 79, 81, 84.
12. Matt. 7:18.
13. Trid., sess. vi, De justif., c. 1. Text of the Council of Trent:
"tamecsi in eis (sc. ]udaeis) liberum arbitrium and all minime
extinctum esset, viribus licet attenuatum et inclinatum".
14. See Arcanum, no. 81.
15. Epistola 137, ad Volusianum, c. v, n. 20 (PL 33 525).
16. The text here refers to the encyclical letter Auspicato Concessum
(Sept. 17, 1882), in which Pope Leo XIII had recently glorified St.
Francis of Assisi on the occasion of the seventh centenary of his
birch. In this encyclical, the Pope had presented the Third Order of
St. Francis as a Christian answer to the social problems of the times.
The constitution Misericors Dei Filius (June 23, 1883) expressly
recalled that the neglect in which Christian virtues are held is the
main cause of the evils that threaten societies. In confirming the rule
of the Third Order and adapting it to the needs of modern times, Pope
Leo XIII had intended to bring back the largest possible number of
souls to the practice of these virtues.
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