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Για την ιστορία παραθέτουμε
την εγκύκλιο
15/10/1890
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 freefree 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 attack 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 the wholesome 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 sideside
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 freefree 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 giftgift 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
"freefree," 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 freefree 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 joinjoin 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 freefree; 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 multitude 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 tranquility 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, sodalities 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 labors will by no
means suffice to pluck up these pernicious seeds from the Lord's field, unless
the Heavenly Master of the vineyard shall mercifully helphelp 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 committed to your watchful care, Our apostolic benediction.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the twentieth day of April,
1884, the sixth year of Our pontificate.
LEO XIII
