Author Topic: St. Pope Pius X (Read 4925 times)

poche · « **Reply #25 on:** March 18, 2016, 11:53:21 PM »

5. But in those matters with which it is the sacred prerogative of the Church to deal, much more seriously injurious is this mockery of Separation, which, as We have said, reduces the Church to shameful servitude.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/docuмents/hf_p-x_enc_24051911_iamdudum.html

poche · « **Reply #26 on:** March 20, 2016, 12:20:33 AM »

6. First of all the Hierarchy is set aside as if its existence were unknown. And if men in holy orders are mentioned, it is only that they may be prohibited from having anything to do with the ordering of public worship. This work is entirely handed over to associations of laymen already established or to be established as societies of public assistance according to the regulations of the administrative under the power of the Republic and in no way depending on the authority of the Church. And if from the actions of the associations to which this duty is entrusted disputes arise between clerics and lay people or between lay people alone, the decision is to lie not with the Church but with the Republic, which claims all power over these bodies. Indeed, so completely do the rulers of the Portuguese Republic deny any place to the clergy in the organization of divine worship that they have definitely laid it down and provided that those who exercise the ministry of religion may not be coopted as members of the aforesaid parish associations or be allotted any part in their administration or direction. Than such a provision nothing can be imagined more unjust or more intolerable, for it puts the clergy at the beck of other citizens in the very matters upon which they are the rightful directors.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/docuмents/hf_p-x_enc_24051911_iamdudum.html

poche · « **Reply #27 on:** March 24, 2016, 12:32:15 AM »

7. The way in which the Portuguese law binds and fetters the liberty of the Church is scarcely credible, so repugnant is it to the methods of these modern days and to the public proclamation of all liberty. It is decreed under the heaviest penalties that the acts of the Bishops shall on no account be printed and that not even within the walls of the churches shall there be any announcement made to the people except by leave of the Republic. It is, moreover, forbidden to perform any ceremony outside the precincts of the sacred buildings without permission from the Republic, to go round in procession, to wear sacred vestments or even the cassock. Furthermore, it is forbidden to place any sign which savors of the Catholic religion not only on public monuments, but even on private buildings; but there is no prohibition at all against so exposing what is offensive to Catholics. Similarly, it is unlawful to form associations for the fostering of religion and piety; indeed societies of this sort are placed on a level with the criminal associations which are formed for evil purposes. And whilst on the one hand all citizens are allowed to employ their means according to their pleasure, on the other, Catholics are, against all justice and equity, placed under restrictions like these if they wish to bequeath something for prayers for the dead, or the upkeep of divine worship; and such bequests already made are impiously diverted to other purposes in utter violation of the wills and wishes of the testators. In fine, the Republic - and this is harshest and gravest stroke of all - goes so far as to invade the domain of the authority of the Church, and to make provisions on points which, as they concern the constitution of the priesthood, necessarily claim the special care of the Church. We speak of the formation and training of young ecclesiastics. For not only does the Decree compel ecclesiastical students to pursue their scientific and literary studies which precede theology in the public lycees where, by reason of a spirit of hostility to God and the Church, the integrity of their faith plainly is exposed to the greatest peril; but the Republic even interferes in the domestic life and discipline of the Seminaries, and arrogates the right of appointing the professors, of approving of the textbooks and of regulating the sacred studies of the Clerics. Thus are the old decrees of the Regalists revived and enforced; but what was grievous arrogance whilst there was concord between Church and State, is it not now, when the State will have nothing to do with Church, repugnant and full of absurdity? And what is to be said of the fact that this law is positively framed to deprave the morals of the clergy and to provoke them to abandon their superiors? For fixed pensions are assigned to those who have been suspended from their functions by the authority of the Bishops, and benefices are given to those priests who in miserable forgetfulness of their duty shall have dared to contract marriage; and what is still more shameful to record, it extends the same benefits to be shared and enjoyed by any children there may be of such a sacrilegious union.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/docuмents/hf_p-x_enc_24051911_iamdudum.html

poche · « **Reply #28 on:** March 29, 2016, 05:07:06 AM »

8. Lastly, it is not enough for the Republic, after having despoiled her of her property, to impose an almost slavish yoke upon the Church of Portugal; it even, on the one hand, strives as far as it can, to tear her from the bosom of Catholic unity and from the arms of the Roman Church, and on the other to prevent the Apostolic See from exercising its solicitude and its authority in the religious affairs of Portugal. Thus, in virtue of this Decree, it is not even lawful to publish, without permission publicly given, the commands of the Roman Pontiff. Similarly, a priest who has gained his degrees in sacred science in a college constituted by Papal authority, even though he has made his theological course in his own country, is not permitted to exercise his sacred functions. What the Republic in all this wants is plain; it is to prevent young clerics, who are desirous of improving themselves and finishing in the higher studies, from coming for this purpose to this City, the head of the Catholic world, where certainly more than anywhere else it is a fact of experience that minds are more imbued with the incorrupted truth of Christian teaching and by sincere piety and faith to the Apostolic See. These, to omit others which are equally pernicious, are the chief points of this wicked Decree.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/docuмents/hf_p-x_enc_24051911_iamdudum.html

poche · « **Reply #29 on:** March 30, 2016, 04:44:56 AM »

9. Accordingly, under the admonition of the duty of Our Apostolic office that, in the face of such audacity on the part of the enemies of God, We should most vigilantly protect the dignity and honor of religion and preserve the sacred rights of the Catholic Church, We by our Apostolic authority denounce, condemn, and reject the Law for the Separation of Church and State in the Portuguese Republic. This law despises God and repudiates the Catholic faith; it annuls the treaties solemnly made between Portugal and the Apostolic See, and violates the law of nature and of her property; it oppresses the liberty of the Church, and assails her divine Constitution; it injures and insults the majesty of the Roman Pontificate, the order of Bishops, the Portuguese clergy and people, and so the Catholics of the world. And whilst We strenuously complain that such a law should have been made, sanctioned, and published, We utter a solemn protest against those who have had a part in it as authors or helpers, and, at the same time, We proclaim and denounce as null and void, and to be so regarded, all that the law has enacted against the inviolable rights of the Church.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/docuмents/hf_p-x_enc_24051911_iamdudum.html