ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Issued on December
31, 1929
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops,
Bishops and other Ordinaries in Peace
and Communion with the Apostolic See and
to all the Faithful of the Catholic World.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1. Representative on
earth of that divine Master who while
embracing in the immensity of His love
all mankind, even unworthy sinners, showed
nevertheless a special tenderness and
affection for children, and expressed
Himself in those singularly touching words:
"Suffer the little children to come
unto Me,"[1] We also on every occasion
have endeavored to show the predilection
wholly paternal which We bear towards
them, particularly by our assiduous care
and timely instructions with reference
to the Christian education of youth.
2. And so, in the
spirit of the Divine Master, We have
directed a helpful word, now of admonition,
now of exhortation, now of direction,
to youths and to their educators, to
fathers and mothers, on various points
of Christian education, with that solicitude
which becomes the common Father of all
the Faithful, with an insistence in
season and out of season, demanded by
our pastoral office and inculcated by
the Apostle: "Be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke
in all patience and doctrine."[2]
Such insistence is called for in these
our times, when, alas, there is so great
and deplorable an absence of clear and
sound principles, even regarding problems
the most fundamental.
3. Now this same general
condition of the times, this ceaseless
agitation in various ways of the problem
of educational rights and systems in
different countries, the desire expressed
to Us with filial confidence by not
a few of yourselves, Venerable Brethren,
and by members of your flocks, as well
as Our deep affection towards youth
above referred to, move Us to turn more
directly to this subject, if not to
treat it in all its well-nigh inexhaustible
range of theory and practice, at least
to summarize its main principles, throw
full light on its important conclusions,
and point out its practical applications.
4. Let this be the
record of Our Sacerdotal Jubilee which,
with altogether special affection, We
wish to dedicate to our beloved youth,
and to commend to all those whose office
and duty is the work of education.
5. Indeed never has
there been so much discussion about
education as nowadays; never have exponents
of new pedagogical theories been so
numerous, or so many methods and means
devised, proposed and debated, not merely
to facilitate education, but to create
a new system infallibly efficacious,
and capable of preparing the present
generations for that earthly happiness
which they so ardently desire.
6. The reason is that
men, created by God to His image and
likeness and destined for Him Who is
infinite perfection realize today more
than ever amid the most exuberant material
progress, the insufficiency of earthly
goods to produce true happiness either
for the individual or for the nations.
And hence they feel more keenly in themselves
the impulse towards a perfection that
is higher, which impulse is implanted
in their rational nature by the Creator
Himself. This perfection they seek to
acquire by means of education. But many
of them with, it would seem, too great
insistence on the etymological meaning
of the word, pretend to draw education
out of human nature itself and evolve
it by its own unaided powers. Such easily
fall into error, because, instead of
fixing their gaze on God, first principle
and last end of the whole universe,
they fall back upon themselves, becoming
attached exclusively to passing things
of earth; and thus their restlessness
will never cease till they direct their
attention and their efforts to God,
the goal of all perfection, according
to the profound saying of Saint Augustine:
"Thou didst create us, O Lord,
for Thyself, and our heart is restless
till it rest in Thee."[3]
7. It is therefore
as important to make no mistake in education,
as it is to make no mistake in the pursuit
of the last end, with which the whole
work of education is intimately and
necessarily connected. In fact, since
education consists essentially in preparing
man for what he must be and for what
he must do here below, in order to attain
the sublime end for which he was created,
it is clear that there can be no true
education which is not wholly directed
to man's last end, and that in the present
order of Providence, since God has revealed
Himself to us in the Person of His Only
Begotten Son, who alone is "the
way, the truth and the life," there
can be no ideally perfect education
which is not Christian education.
8. From this we see
the supreme importance of Christian
education, not merely for each individual,
but for families and for the whole of
human society, whose perfection comes
from the perfection of the elements
that compose it. From these same principles,
the excellence, we may well call it
the unsurpassed excellence, of the work
of Christian education becomes manifest
and clear; for after all it aims at
securing the Supreme Good, that is,
God, for the souls of those who are
being educated, and the maximum of well-being
possible here below for human society.
And this it does as efficaciously as
man is capable of doing it, namely by
co-operating with God in the perfecting
of individuals and of society, in as
much as education makes upon the soul
the first, the most powerful and lasting
impression for life according to the
well-known saying of the Wise Man, "A
young man according to his way, even
when he is old, he will not depart from
it."[4] With good reason therefore
did St. John Chrysostom say, "What
greater work is there than training
the mind and forming the habits of the
young?"[5]
9. But nothing discloses
to us the supernatural beauty and excellence
of the work of Christian education better
than the sublime expression of love
of our Blessed Lord, identifying Himself
with children, "Whosoever shall
receive one such child as this in my
name, receiveth me."[6]
10. Now in order that
no mistake be made in this work of utmost
importance, and in order to conduct
it in the best manner possible with
the help of God's grace, it is necessary
to have a clear and definite idea of
Christian education in its essential
aspects, viz., who has the mission to
educate, who are the subjects to be
educated, what are the necessary accompanying
circumstances, what is the end and object
proper to Christian education according
to God's established order in the economy
of His Divine Providence.
11. Education is essentially
a social and not a mere individual activity.
Now there are three necessary societies,
distinct from one another and yet harmoniously
combined by God, into which man is born:
two, namely the family and civil society,
belong to the natural order; the third,
the Church, to the supernatural order.
12. In the first place
comes the family, instituted directly
by God for its peculiar purpose, the
generation and formation of offspring;
for this reason it has priority of nature
and therefore of rights over civil society.
Nevertheless, the family is an imperfect
society, since it has not in itself
all the means for its own complete development;
whereas civil society is a perfect society,
having in itself all the means for its
peculiar end, which is the temporal
well-being of the community; and so,
in this respect, that is, in view of
the common good, it has pre-eminence
over the family, which finds its own
suitable temporal perfection precisely
in civil society.
13. The third society,
into which man is born when through
Baptism he reaches the divine life of
grace, is the Church; a society of the
supernatural order and of universal
extent; a perfect society, because it
has in itself all the means required
for its own end, which is the eternal
salvation of mankind; hence it is supreme
in its own domain.
14. Consequently,
education which is concerned with man
as a whole, individually and socially,
in the order of nature and in the order
of grace, necessarily belongs to all
these three societies, in due proportion,
corresponding, according to the disposition
of Divine Providence, to the co-ordination
of their respecting ends.
15. And first of all
education belongs preeminently to the
Church, by reason of a double title
in the supernatural order, conferred
exclusively upon her by God Himself;
absolutely superior therefore to any
other title in the natural order.
16. The first title
is founded upon the express mission
and supreme authority to teach, given
her by her divine Founder: "All
power is given to me in heaven and in
earth. Going therefore teach ye all
nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded
you, and behold I am with you all days,
even to the consummation of the world."[7]
Upon this magisterial office Christ
conferred infallibility, together with
the command to teach His doctrine. Hence
the Church "was set by her divine
Author as the pillar and ground of truth,
in order to teach the divine Faith to
men, and keep whole and inviolate the
deposit confided to her; to direct and
fashion men, in all their actions individually
and socially, to purity of morals and
integrity of life, in accordance with
revealed doctrine."[8]
17. The second title
is the supernatural motherhood, in virtue
of which the Church, spotless spouse
of Christ, generates, nurtures and educates
souls in the divine life of grace, with
her Sacraments and her doctrine. With
good reason then does St. Augustine
maintain: "He has not God for father
who refuses to have the Church as mother."[9]
18. Hence it is that
in this proper object of her mission,
that is, "in faith and morals,
God Himself has made the Church sharer
in the divine magisterium and, by a
special privilege, granted her immunity
from error; hence she is the mistress
of men, supreme and absolutely sure,
and she has inherent in herself an inviolable
right to freedom in teaching.'[10] By
necessary consequence the Church is
independent of any sort of earthly power
as well in the origin as in the exercise
of her mission as educator, not merely
in regard to her proper end and object,
but also in regard to the means necessary
and suitable to attain that end. Hence
with regard to every other kind of human
learning and instruction, which is the
common patrimony of individuals and
society, the Church has an independent
right to make use of it, and above all
to decide what may help or harm Christian
education. And this must be so, because
the Church as a perfect society has
an independent right to the means conducive
to its end, and because every form of
instruction, no less than every human
action, has a necessary connection with
man's last end, and therefore cannot
be withdrawn from the dictates of the
divine law, of which the Church is guardian,
interpreter and infallible mistress.
19. This truth is
clearly set forth by Pius X of saintly
memory:
Whatever a Christian does even in the
order of things of earth, he may not
overlook the supernatural; indeed he
must, according to the teaching of Christian
wisdom, direct all things towards the
supreme good as to his last end; all
his actions, besides, in so far as good
or evil in the order of morality, that
is, in keeping or not with natural and
divine law, fall under the judgment
and jurisdiction of the Church.[11]
20. It is worthy of
note how a layman, an excellent writer
and at the same time a profound and
conscientious thinker, has been able
to understand well and express exactly
this fundamental Catholic doctrine:
The Church does not say that morality
belongs purely, in the sense of exclusively,
to her; but that it belongs wholly to
her. She has never maintained that outside
her fold and apart from her teaching,
man cannot arrive at any moral truth;
she has on the contrary more than once
condemned this opinion because it has
appeared under more forms than one.
She does however say, has said, and
will ever say, that because of her institution
by Jesus Christ, because of the Holy
Ghost sent her in His name by the Father,
she alone possesses what she has had
immediately from God and can never lose,
the whole of moral truth, omnem veritatem,
in which all individual moral truths
are included, as well those which man
may learn by the help of reason, as
those which form part of revelation
or which may be deduced from it.[12]
21. Therefore with
full right the Church promotes letters,
science, art in so far as necessary
or helpful to Christian education, in
addition to her work for the salvation
of souls: founding and maintaining schools
and institutions adapted to every branch
of learning and degree of culture.[13]
Nor may even physical culture, as it
is called, be considered outside the
range of her maternal supervision, for
the reason that it also is a means which
may help or harm Christian education.
22. And this work
of the Church in every branch of culture
is of immense benefit to families and
nations which without Christ are lost,
as St. Hilary points out correctly:
"What can be more fraught with
danger for the world than the rejection
of Christ?"[14] Nor does it interfere
in the least with the regulations of
the State, because the Church in her
motherly prudence is not unwilling that
her schools and institutions for the
education of the laity be in keeping
with the legitimate dispositions of
civil authority; she is in every way
ready to co-operate with this authority
and to make provision for a mutual understanding,
should difficulties arise.
23. Again it is the
inalienable right as well as the indispensable
duty of the Church, to watch over the
entire education of her children, in
all institutions, public or private,
not merely in regard to the religious
instruction there given, but in regard
to every other branch of learning and
every regulation in so far as religion
and morality are concerned.[15]
24. Nor should the
exercise of this right be considered
undue interference, but rather maternal
care on the part of the Church in protecting
her children from the grave danger of
all kinds of doctrinal and moral evil.
Moreover this watchfulness of the Church
not merely can create no real inconvenience,
but must on the contrary confer valuable
assistance in the right ordering and
well-being of families and of civil
society; for it keeps far away from
youth the moral poison which at that
inexperienced and changeable age more
easily penetrates the mind and more
rapidly spreads its baneful effects.
For it is true, as Leo XIII has wisely
pointed out, that without proper religious
and moral instruction "every form
of intellectual culture will be injurious;
for young people not accustomed to respect
God, will be unable to bear the restraint
of a virtuous life, and never having
learned to deny themselves anything.
they will easily be incited to disturb
the public order."[16]
25. The extent of
the Church's mission in the field of
education is such as to embrace every
nation, without exception, according
to the command of Christ: "Teach
ye all nations;"[17] and there
is no power on earth that may lawfully
oppose her or stand in her way. In the
first place, it extends over all the
Faithful, of whom she has anxious care
as a tender mother. For these she has
throughout the centuries created and
conducted an immense number of schools
and institutions in every branch of
learning. As We said on a recent occasion:
Right back in the far-off middle ages
when there were so many (some have even
said too many) monasteries, convents,
churches, collegiate churches, cathedral
chapters, etc., there was attached to
each a home of study, of teaching, of
Christian education. To these we must
add all the universities, spread over
every country and always by the initiative
an under the protection of the Holy
See and the Church. That grand spectacle,
which today we see better, as it is
nearer to us and more imposing because
of the conditions of the age, was the
spectacle of all times; and they who
study and compare historical events
remain astounded at what the Church
has been able to do in this matter,
and marvel at the manner in which she
had succeeded in fulfilling her God-given
mission to educate generations of men
to a Christian life, producing everywhere
a magnificent harvest of fruitful results.
But if we wonder that the Church in
all times has been able to gather about
her and educate hundreds, thousands,
millions of students, no less wonderful
is it to bear in mind what she has done
not only in the field of education,
but in that also of true and genuine
erudition. For, if so many treasures
of culture, civilization and literature
have escaped destruction, this is due
to the action by which the Church, even
in times long past and uncivilized,
has shed so bright a light in the domain
of letters, of philosophy, of art and
in a special manner of architecture.[18]
26. All this the Church
has been able to do because her mission
to educate extends equally to those
outside the Fold, seeing that all men
are called to enter the kingdom of God
and reach eternal salvation. Just as
today when her missions scatter schools
by the thousand in districts and countries
not yet Christian, from the banks of
the Ganges to the Yellow river and the
great islands and archipelagos of the
Pacific ocean, from the Dark Continent
to the Land of Fire and to frozen Alaska,
so in every age the Church by her missionaries
has educated to Christian life and to
civilization the various peoples which
now constitute the Christian nations
of the civilized world.
27. Hence it is evident
that both by right and in fact the mission
to educate belongs preeminently to the
Church, and that no one free from prejudice
can have a reasonable motive for opposing
or impeding the Church in this her work,
of which the world today enjoys the
precious advantages.
28. This is the more
true because the rights of the family
and of the State, even the rights of
individuals regarding a just liberty
in the pursuit of science, of methods
of science and all sorts of profane
culture, not only are not opposed to
this pre-eminence of the Church, but
are in complete harmony with it. The
fundamental reason for this harmony
is that the supernatural order, to which
the Church owes her rights, not only
does not in the least destroy the natural
order, to which pertain the other rights
mentioned, but elevates the natural
and perfects it, each affording mutual
aid to the other, and completing it
in a manner proportioned to its respective
nature and dignity. The reason is because
both come from God, who cannot contradict
Himself: "The works of God are
perfect and all His ways are judgments."[19]
29. This becomes clearer
when we consider more closely and in
detail the mission of education proper
to the family and to the State.
30. In the first place the Church's
mission of education is in wonderful
agreement with that of the family, for
both proceed from God, and in a remarkably
similar manner. God directly communicates
to the family, in the natural order,
fecundity, which is the principle of
life, and hence also the principle of
education to life, together with authority,
the principle of order.
31. The Angelic Doctor
with his wonted clearness of thought
and precision of style, says: "The
father according to the flesh has in
a particular way a share in that principle
which in a manner universal is found
in God.... The father is the principle
of generation, of education and discipline
and of everything that bears upon the
perfecting of human life."[20]
32. The family therefore
holds directly from the Creator the
mission and hence the right to educate
the offspring, a right inalienable because
inseparably joined to the strict obligation,
a right anterior to any right whatever
of civil society and of the State, and
therefore inviolable on the part of
any power on earth.
33. That this right
is inviolable St. Thomas proves as follows:
The child is naturally something of
the father . . . so by natural right
the child, before reaching the use of
reason, is under the father's care.
Hence it would be contrary to natural
justice if the child, before the use
of reason, were removed from the care
of its parents, or if any disposition
were made concerning him against the
will of the parents.[21] And as this
duty on the part of the parents continues
up to the time when the child is in
a position to provide for itself, this
same inviolable parental right of education
also endures. "Nature intends not
merely the generation of the offspring,
but also its development and advance
to the perfection of man considered
as man, that is, to the state of virtue"[22]
says the same St. Thomas.
34. The wisdom of
the Church in this matter is expressed
with precision and clearness in the
Codex of Canon Law, can. 1113: "Parents
are under a grave obligation to see
to the religious and moral education
of their children, as well as to their
physical and civic training, as far
as they can, and moreover to provide
for their temporal well-being."[23]
35. On this point
the common sense of mankind is in such
complete accord, that they would be
in open contradiction with it who dared
maintain that the children belong to
the State before they belong to the
family, and that the State has an absolute
right over their education. Untenable
is the reason they adduce, namely that
man is born a citizen and hence belongs
primarily to the State, not bearing
in mind that before being a citizen
man must exist; and existence does not
come from the State, but from the parents,
as Leo XIII wisely declared: "The
children are something of the father,
and as it were an extension of the person
of the father; and, to be perfectly
accurate, they enter into and become
part of civil society, not directly
by themselves, but through the family
in which they were born."[24] "And
therefore," says the same Leo Xlll,
"the father's power is of such
a nature that it cannot be destroyed
or absorbed by the State; for it has
the same origin as human life itself."[25]
It does not however follow from this
that the parents' right to educate their
children is absolute and despotic; for
it is necessarily subordinated to the
last end and to natural and divine law,
as Leo Xlll declares in another memorable
encyclical, where He thus sums up the
rights and duties of parents: "By
nature parents have a right to the training
of their children, but with this added
duty that the education and instruction
of the child be in accord with the end
for which by God's blessing it was begotten.
Therefore it is the duty of parents
to make every effort to prevent any
invasion of their rights in this matter,
and to make absolutely sure that the
education of their children remain under
their own control in keeping with their
Christian duty, and above all to refuse
to send them to those schools in which
there is danger of imbibing the deadly
poison of impiety."[26]
36. It must be borne
in mind also that the obligation of
the family to bring up children, includes
not only religious and moral education,
but physical and civic education as
well,[27] principally in so far as it
touches upon religion and morality
37. This incontestable
right of the family has at various times
been recognized by nations anxious to
respect the natural law in their civil
enactments. Thus, to give one recent
example, the Supreme Court of the United
States of America, in a decision on
an important controversy, declared that
it is not in the competence of the State
to fix any uniform standard of education
by forcing children to receive instruction
exclusively in public schools, and it
bases its decision on the natural law:
the child is not the mere creature of
the State; those who nurture him and
direct his destiny have the right coupled
with the high duty, to educate him and
prepare him for the fulfillment of his
obligations.[28]
38. History bears
witness how, particularly in modern
times, the State has violated and does
violate rights conferred by God on the
family. At the same time it shows magnificently
how the Church has ever protected and
defended these rights, a fact proved
by the special confidence which parents
have in Catholic schools. As We pointed
out recently in Our letter to the Cardinal
Secretary of State:
The family has instinctively understood
this to be so, and from the earliest
days of Christianity down to our own
times, fathers and mothers, even those
of little or no faith, have been sending
or bringing their children in millions
to places of education under the direction
of the Church.[29]
39. It is paternal
instinct, given by God, that thus turns
with confidence to the Church, certain
of finding in her the protection of
family rights, thereby illustrating
that harmony with which God has ordered
all things. The Church is indeed conscious
of her divine mission to all mankind,
and of the obligation which all men
have to practice the one true religion;
and therefore she never tires of defending
her right, and of reminding parents
of their duty, to have all Catholic-born
children baptized and brought up as
Christians. On the other hand so jealous
is she of the family's inviolable natural
right to educate the children, that
she never consents, save under peculiar
circumstances and with special cautions,
to baptize the children of infidels,
or provide for their education against
the will of the parents, till such time
as the children can choose for themselves
and freely embrace the Faith.[30]
40. We have therefore
two facts of supreme importance. As
We said in Our discourse cited above:
The Church placing at the disposal of
families her office of mistress and
educator, and the families eager to
profit by the offer, and entrusting
their children to the Church in hundreds
and thousands. These two facts recall
and proclaim a striking truth of the
greatest significance in the moral and
social order. They declare that the
mission of education regards before
all, above all, primarily the Church
and the family, and this by natural
and divine law, and that therefore it
cannot be slighted, cannot be evaded,
cannot be supplanted.[31]
41. From such priority
of rights on the part of the Church
and of the family in the field of education,
most important advantages, as we have
seen, accrue to the whole of society.
Moreover in accordance with the divinely
established order of things, no damage
can follow from it to the true and just
rights of the State in regard to the
education of its citizens.
42. These rights have
been conferred upon civil society by
the Author of nature Himself, not by
title of fatherhood, as in the case
of the Church and of the family, but
in virtue of the authority which it
possesses to promote the common temporal
welfare, which is precisely the purpose
of its existence. Consequently education
cannot pertain to civil society in the
same way in which it pertains to the
Church and to the family, but in a different
way corresponding to its own particular
end and object.
43. Now this end and
object, the common welfare in the temporal
order, consists in that peace and security
in which families and individual citizens
have the free exercise of their rights,
and at the same time enjoy the greatest
spiritual and temporal prosperity possible
in this life, by the mutual union and
co-ordination of the work of all. The
function therefore of the civil authority
residing in the State is twofold, to
protect and to foster, but by no means
to absorb the family and the individual,
or to substitute itself for them.
44. Accordingly in
the matter of education, it is the right,
or to speak more correctly, it is the
duty of the State to protect in its
legislation, the prior rights, already
described, of the family as regards
the Christian education of its offspring,
and consequently also to respect the
supernatural rights of the Church in
this same realm of Christian education.
45. It also belongs
to the State to protect the rights of
the child itself when the parents are
found wanting either physically or morally
in this respect, whether by default,
incapacity or misconduct, since, as
has been shown, their right to educate
is not an absolute and despotic one,
but dependent on the natural and divine
law, and therefore subject alike to
the authority and jurisdiction of the
Church, and to the vigilance and administrative
care of the State in view of the common
good. Besides, the family is not a perfect
society, that is, it has not in itself
all the means necessary for its full
development. In such cases, exceptional
no doubt, the State does not put itself
in the place of the family, but merely
supplies deficiencies, and provides
suitable means, always in conformity
with the natural rights of the child
and the supernatural rights of the Church.
46. In general then
it is the right and duty of the State
to protect, according to the rules of
right reason and faith, the moral and
religious education of youth, by removing
public impediments that stand in the
way. In the first place it pertains
to the State, in view of the common
good, to promote in various ways the
education and instruction of youth.
It should begin by encouraging and assisting,
of its own accord, the initiative and
activity of the Church and the family,
whose successes in this field have been
clearly demonstrated by history and
experience. It should moreover supplement
their work whenever this falls short
of what is necessary, even by means
of its own schools and institutions.
For the State more than any other society
is provided with the means put at its
disposal for the needs of all, and it
is only right that it use these means
to the advantage of those who have contributed
them.[32]
47. Over and above
this, the State can exact and take measures
to secure that all its citizens have
the necessary knowledge of their civic
and political duties, and a certain
degree of physical, intellectual and
moral culture, which, considering the
conditions of our times, is really necessary
for the common good.
48. However it is
clear that in all these ways of promoting
education and instruction, both public
and private, the State should respect
the inherent rights of the Church and
of the family concerning Christian education,
and moreover have regard for distributive
justice. Accordingly, unjust and unlawful
is any monopoly, educational or scholastic,
which, physically or morally, forces
families to make use of government schools,
contrary to the dictates of their Christian
conscience, or contrary even to their
legitimate preferences.
49. This does not
prevent the State from making due provision
for the right administration of public
affairs and for the protection of its
peace, within or without the realm.
These are things which directly concern
the public good and call for special
aptitudes and special preparation. The
State may therefore reserve to itself
the establishment and direction of schools
intended to prepare for certain civic
duties and especially for military service,
provided it be careful not to injure
the rights of the Church or of the family
in what pertains to them. It is well
to repeat this warning here; for in
these days there is spreading a spirit
of nationalism which is false and exaggerated,
as well as dangerous to true peace and
prosperity. Under its influence various
excesses are committed in giving a military
turn to the so-called physical training
of boys (sometimes even of girls, contrary
to the very instincts of human nature);
or again in usurping unreasonably on
Sunday, the time which should be devoted
to religious duties and to family life
at home. It is not our intention however
to condemn what is good in the spirit
of discipline and legitimate bravery
promoted by these methods; We condemn
only what is excessive, as for example
violence, which must not be confounded
with courage nor with the noble sentiment
of military valor in defense of country
and public order; or again exaltation
of athleticism which even in classic
pagan times marked the decline and downfall
of genuine physical training.
50. In general also
it belongs to civil society and the
State to provide what may be called
civic education, not only for its youth,
but for all ages and classes. This consists
in the practice of presenting publicly
to groups of individuals information
having an intellectual, imaginative
and emotional appeal, calculated to
draw their wills to what is upright
and honest, and to urge its practice
by a sort of moral compulsion, positively
by disseminating such knowledge, and
negatively by suppressing what is opposed
to it.[33] This civic education, so
wide and varied in itself as to include
almost every activity of the State intended
for the public good, ought also to be
regulated by the norms of rectitude,
and therefore cannot conflict with the
doctrines of the Church, which is the
divinely appointed teacher of these
norms.
51. All that we have
said so far regarding the activity of
the State in educational matters, rests
on the solid and immovable foundation
of the Catholic doctrine of The Christian
Constitution of States set forth in
such masterly fashion by Our Predecessor
Leo Xlll, notably in the Encyclicals
lmmortale Dei and Sapientiae Christianae.
He writes as follows:
God has divided the government of the
human race between two authorities,
ecclesiastical and civil, establishing
one over things divine, the other over
things human. Both are supreme, each
in its own domain; each has its own
fixed boundaries which limit its activities.
These boundaries are determined by the
peculiar nature and the proximate end
of each, and describe as it were a sphere
within which, with exclusive right,
each may develop its influence. As however
the same subjects are under the two
authorities, it may happen that the
same matter, though from a different
point of view, may come under the competence
and jurisdiction of each of them. If
follows that divine Providence, whence
both authorities have their origin,
must have traced with due order the
proper line of action for each. The
powers that are, are ordained of God.[34]
52. Now the education
of youth is precisely one of those matters
that belong both to the Church and to
the State, "though in different
ways," as explained above.
Therefore, continues Leo Xlll, between
the two powers there must reign a well-ordered
harmony. Not without reason may this
mutual agreement be compared to the
union of body and soul in man. Its nature
and extent can only be determined by
considering, as we have said, the nature
of each of the two powers, and in particular
the excellence and nobility of the respective
ends. To one is committed directly and
specifically the charge of what is helpful
in worldly matters; while the other
is to concern itself with the things
that pertain to heaven and eternity.
Everything therefore in human affairs
that is in any way sacred, or has reference
to the salvation of souls and the worship
of God, whether by its nature or by
its end, is subject to the jurisdiction
and discipline of the Church. Whatever
else is comprised in the civil and political
order, rightly comes under the authority
of the State; for Christ commanded us
to give to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that
are God's.[35]
53. Whoever refuses
to admit these principles, and hence
to apply them to education, must necessarily
deny that Christ has founded His Church
for the eternal salvation of mankind,
and maintain instead that civil society
and the State are not subject to God
and to His law, natural and divine.
Such a doctrine is manifestly impious,
contrary to right reason, and, especially
in this matter of education, extremely
harmful to the proper training of youth,
and disastrous as well for civil society
as for the well-being of all mankind.
On the other hand from the application
of these principles, there inevitably
result immense advantages for the right
formation of citizens. This is abundantly
proved by the history of every age.
Tertullian in his Apologeticus could
throw down a challenge to the enemies
of the Church in the early days of Christianity,
just as St. Augustine did in his; and
we today can repeat with him:
Let those who declare the teaching
of Christ to be opposed to the welfare
of the State, furnish us with an army
of soldiers such as Christ says soldiers
ought to be; let them give us subjects,
husbands, wives, parents, children,
masters, servants, kings, judges, taxpayers
and tax gatherers who live up to the
teachings of Christ; and then let them
dare assert that Christian doctrine
is harmful to the State. Rather let
them not hesitate one moment to acclaim
that doctrine, rightly observed, the
greatest safeguard of the State.[36]
54. While treating
of education, it is not out of place
to show here how an ecclesiastical writer,
who flourished in more recent times,
during the Renaissance, the holy and
learned Cardinal Silvio Antoniano, to
whom the cause of Christian education
is greatly indebted, has set forth most
clearly this well established point
of Catholic doctrine. He had been a
disciple of that wonderful educator
of youth, St. Philip Neri; he was teacher
and Latin secretary to St. Charles Borromeo,
and it was at the latter's suggestion
and under his inspiration that he wrote
his splendid treatise on The Christian
Education of Youth. In it he argues
as follows:
The more closely the temporal power
of a nation aligns itself with the spiritual,
and the more it fosters and promotes
the latter, by so much the more it contributes
to the conservation of the commonwealth.
For it is the aim of the ecclesiastical
authority by the use of spiritual means,
to form good Christians in accordance
with its own particular end and object;
and in doing this it helps at the same
time to form good citizens, and prepares
them to meet their obligations as members
of a civil society. This follows of
necessity because in the City of God,
the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good
citizen and an upright man are absolutely
one and the same thing. How grave therefore
is the error of those who separate things
so closely united, and who think that
they can produce good citizens by ways
and methods other than those which make
for the formation of good Christians.
For, let human prudence say what it
likes and reason as it pleases, it is
impossible to produce true temporal
peace and tranquillity by things repugnant
or opposed to the peace and happiness
of eternity.[37]
55. What is true of
the State, is true also of science,
scientific methods and scientific research;
they have nothing to fear from the full
and perfect mandate which the Church
holds in the field of education. Our
Catholic institutions, whatever their
grade in the educational and scientific
world, have no need of apology. The
esteem they enjoy, the praise they receive,
the learned works which they promote
and produce in such abundance, and above
all, the men, fully and splendidly equipped,
whom they provide for the magistracy,
for the professions, for the teaching
career, in fact for every walk of life,
more than sufficiently testify in their
favour.[38]
56. These facts moreover
present a most striking confirmation
of the Catholic doctrine defined by
the Vatican Council:
Not only is it impossible for faith
and reason to be at variance with each
other, they are on the contrary of mutual
help. For while right reason establishes
the foundations of Faith, and, by the
help of its light, develops a knowledge
of the things of God, Faith on the other
hand frees and preserves reason from
error and enriches it with varied knowledge.
The Church therefore, far from hindering
the pursuit of the arts and sciences,
fosters and promotes them in many ways.
For she is neither ignorant nor unappreciative
of the many advantages which flow from
them to mankind. On the contrary she
admits that just as they come from God,
Lord of all knowledge, so too if rightly
used, with the help of His grace they
lead to God. Nor does she prevent the
sciences, each in its own sphere, from
making use of principles and methods
of their own. Only while acknowledging
the freedom due to them, she takes every
precaution to prevent them from falling
into error by opposition to divine doctrine,
or from overstepping their proper limits,
and thus invading and disturbing the
domain of Faith.[39]
57. This norm of a
just freedom in things scientific, serves
also as an inviolable norm of a just
freedom in things didactic, or for rightly
understood liberty in teaching; it should
be observed therefore in whatever instruction
is imparted to others. Its obligation
is all the more binding in justice when
there is question of instructing youth.
For in this work the teacher, whether
public or private, has no absolute right
of his own, but only such as has been
communicated to him by others. Besides
every Christian child or youth has a
strict right to instruction in harmony
with the teaching of the Church, the
pillar and ground of truth. And whoever
disturbs the pupil's Faith in any way,
does him grave wrong, inasmuch as he
abuses the trust which children place
in their teachers, and takes unfair
advantage of their inexperience and
of their natural craving for unrestrained
liberty, at once illusory and false.
58. In fact it must
never be forgotten that the subject
of Christian education is man whole
and entire, soul united to body in unity
of nature, with all his faculties natural
and supernatural, such as right reason
and revelation show him to be; man,
therefore, fallen from his original
estate, but redeemed by Christ and restored
to the supernatural condition of adopted
son of God, though without the preternatural
privileges of bodily immortality or
perfect control of appetite. There remain
therefore, in human nature the effects
of original sin, the chief of which
are weakness of will and disorderly
inclinations.
59. "Folly is
bound up in the heart of a child and
the rod of correction shall drive it
away."[40] Disorderly inclinations
then must be corrected, good tendencies
encouraged and regulated from tender
childhood, and above all the mind must
be enlightened and the will strengthened
by supernatural truth and by the means
of grace, without which it is impossible
to control evil impulses, impossible
to attain to the full and complete perfection
of education intended by the Church,
which Christ has endowed so richly with
divine doctrine and with the Sacraments,
the efficacious means of grace.
60. Hence every form
of pedagogic naturalism which in any
way excludes or weakens supernatural
Christian formation in the teaching
of youth, is false. Every method of
education founded, wholly or in part,
on the denial or forgetfulness of original
sin and of grace, and relying on the
sole powers of human nature, is unsound.
Such, generally speaking, are those
modern systems bearing various names
which appeal to a pretended self-government
and unrestrained freedom on the part
of the child, and which diminish or
even suppress the teacher's authority
and action, attributing to the child
an exclusive primacy of initiative,
and an activity independent of any higher
law, natural or divine, in the work
of his education.
61. If any of these
terms are used, less properly, to denote
the necessity of a gradually more active
cooperation on the part of the pupil
in his own education; if the intention
is to banish from education despotism
and violence, which, by the way, just
punishment is not, this would be correct,
but in no way new. It would mean only
what has been taught and reduced to
practice by the Church in traditional
Christian education, in imitation of
the method employed by God Himself towards
His creatures, of whom He demands active
cooperation according to the nature
of each; for His Wisdom "reacheth
from end to end mightily and ordereth
all things sweetly."[41]
62. But alas! it is
clear from the obvious meaning of the
words and from experience, that what
is intended by not a few, is the withdrawal
of education from every sort of dependence
on the divine law. So today we see,
strange sight indeed, educators and
philosophers who spend their lives in
searching for a universal moral code
of education, as if there existed no
decalogue, no gospel law, no law even
of nature stamped by God on the heart
of man, promulgated by right reason,
and codified in positive revelation
by God Himself in the ten commandments.
These innovators are wont to refer contemptuously
to Christian education as "heteronomous,"
"passive, 'obsolete," because
founded upon the authority of God and
His holy law.
63. Such men are miserably
deluded in their claim to emancipate,
as they say, the child, while in reality
they are making him the slave of his
own blind pride and of his disorderly
affections, which, as a logical consequence
of this false system, come to be justified
as legitimate demands of a so-called
autonomous nature.
64. But what is worse
is the claim, not only vain but false,
irreverent and dangerous, to submit
to research, experiment and conclusions
of a purely natural and profane order,
those matters of education which belong
to the supernatural order; as for example
questions of priestly or religious vocation,
and in general the secret workings of
grace which indeed elevate the natural
powers, but are infinitely superior
to them, and may nowise be subjected
to physical laws, for "the Spirit
breatheth where He will."[42]
65. Another very grave
danger is that naturalism which nowadays
invades the field of education in that
most delicate matter of purity of morals.
Far too common is the error of those
who with dangerous assurance and under
an ugly term propagate a so-called sex-education,
falsely imagining they can forearm youths
against the dangers of sensuality by
means purely natural, such as a foolhardy
initiation and precautionary instruction
for all indiscriminately, even in public;
and, worse still, by exposing them at
an early age to the occasions, in order
to accustom them, so it is argued, and
as it were to harden them against such
dangers.
66. Such persons grievously
err in refusing to recognize the inborn
weakness of human nature, and the law
of which the Apostle speaks, fighting
against the law of the mind;[43] and
also in ignoring the experience of facts,
from which it is clear that, particularly
in young people, evil practices are
the effect not so much of ignorance
of intellect as of weakness of a will
exposed to dangerous occasions, and
unsupported by the means of grace.
67. In this extremely
delicate matter, if, all things considered,
some private instruction is found necessary
and opportune, from those who hold from
God the commission to teach and who
have the grace of state, every precaution
must be taken. Such precautions are
well known in traditional Christian
education, and are adequately described
by Antoniano cited above, when he says:
Such is our misery and inclination
to sin, that often in the very things
considered to be remedies against sin,
we find occasions for and inducements
to sin itself. Hence it is of the highest
importance that a good father, while
discussing with his son a matter so
delicate, should be well on his guard
and not descend to details, nor refer
to the various ways in which this infernal
hydra destroys with its poison so large
a portion of the world; otherwise it
may happen that instead of extinguishing
this fire, he unwittingly stirs or kindles
it in the simple and tender heart of
the child. Speaking generally, during
the period of childhood it suffices
to employ those remedies which produce
the double effect of opening the door
to the virtue of purity and closing
the door upon vice.[44]
68. False also and
harmful to Christian education is the
so-called method of "coeducation."
This too, by many of its supporters,
is founded upon naturalism and the denial
of original sin; but by all, upon a
deplorable confusion of ideas that mistakes
a leveling promiscuity and equality,
for the legitimate association of the
sexes. The Creator has ordained and
disposed perfect union of the sexes
only in matrimony, and, with varying
degrees of contact, in the family and
in society. Besides there is not in
nature itself, which fashions the two
quite different in organism, in temperament,
in abilities, anything to suggest that
there can be or ought to be promiscuity,
and much less equality, in the training
of the two sexes. These, in keeping
with the wonderful designs of the Creator,
are destined to complement each other
in the family and in society, precisely
because of their differences, which
therefore ought to be maintained and
encouraged during their years of formation,
with the necessary distinction and corresponding
separation, according to age and circumstances.
These principles, with due regard to
time and place, must, in accordance
with Christian prudence, be applied
to all schools, particularly in the
most delicate and decisive period of
formation, that, namely, of adolescence;
and in gymnastic exercises and deportment,
special care must be had of Christian
modesty in young women and girls, which
is so gravely impaired by any kind of
exhibition in public.
69. Recalling the
terrible words of the Divine Master:
"Woe to the world because of scandals!"[45]
We most earnestly appeal to your solicitude
and your watchfulness, Venerable Brethren,
against these pernicious errors, which,
to the immense harm of youth, are spreading
far and wide among Christian peoples.
70. In order to obtain
perfect education, it is of the utmost
importance to see that all those conditions
which surround the child during the
period of his formation, in other words
that the combination of circumstances
which we call environment, correspond
exactly to the end proposed.
71. The first natural
and necessary element in this environment,
as regards education, is the family,
and this precisely because so ordained
by the Creator Himself. Accordingly
that education, as a rule, will be more
effective and lasting which is received
in a well-ordered and well-disciplined
Christian family; and more efficacious
in proportion to the clear and constant
good example set, first by the parents,
and then by the other members of the
household.
72. It is not our
intention to treat formally the question
of domestic education, nor even to touch
upon its principal points. The subject
is too vast. Besides there are not lacking
special treatises on this topic by authors,
both ancient and modern, well known
for their solid Catholic doctrine. One
which seems deserving of special mention
is the golden treatise already referred
to, of Antoniano, On the Christian Education
of Youth, which St. Charles Borromeo
ordered to be read in public to parents
assembled in their churches.
73. Nevertheless,
Venerable Brethren and beloved children,
We wish to call your attention in a
special manner to the present-day lamentable
decline in family education. The offices
and professions of a transitory and
earthly life, which are certainly of
far less importance, are prepared for
by long and careful study; whereas for
the fundamental duty and obligation
of educating their children, many parents
have little or no preparation, immersed
as they are in temporal cares. The declining
influence of domestic environment is
further weakened by another tendency,
prevalent almost everywhere today, which,
under one pretext or another, for economic
reasons, or for reasons of industry,
trade or politics, causes children to
be more and more frequently sent away
from home even in their tenderest years.
And there is a country where the children
are actually being torn from the bosom
of the family, to be formed (or, to
speak more accurately, to be deformed
and depraved) in godless schools and
associations, to irreligion and hatred,
according to the theories of advanced
socialism; and thus is renewed in a
real and more terrible manner the slaughter
of the Innocents.
74. For the love of
Our Savior .Jesus Christ, therefore,
we implore pastors of souls, by every
means in their power, by instructions
and catechisms, by word of mouth and
written articles widely distributed,
to warn Christian parents of their grave
obligations. And this should be done
not in a merely theoretical and general
way, but with practical and specific
application to the various responsibilities
of parents touching the religious, moral
and civil training of their children,
and with indication of the methods best
adapted to make their training effective,
supposing always the influence of their
own exemplary lives. The Apostle of
the Gentiles did not hesitate to descend
to such details of practical instruction
in his epistles, especially in the Epistle
to the Ephesians, where among other
things he gives this advice: "And
you, fathers, provoke not your children
to anger."[46] This fault is the
result not so much of excessive severity,
as of impatience and of ignorance of
means best calculated to effect a desired
correction; it is also due to the all
too common relaxation of parental discipline
which fails to check the growth of evil
passions in the hearts of the younger
generation. Parents therefore, and all
who take their place in the work of
education, should be careful to make
right use of the authority given them
by God, whose vicars in a true sense
they are. This authority is not given
for their own advantage, but for the
proper up-bringing of their children
in a holy and filial "fear of God,
the beginning of wisdom," on which
foundation alone all respect for authority
can rest securely; and without which,
order, tranquillity and prosperity,
whether in the family or in society,
will be impossible.
75. To meet the weakness
of man's fallen nature, God in His Goodness
has provided the abundant helps of His
grace and the countless means with which
He has endowed the Church, the great
family of Christ. The Church therefore
is the educational environment most
intimately and harmoniously associated
with the Christian family.
76. This educational
environment of the Church embraces the
Sacraments, divinely efficacious means
of grace, the sacred ritual, so wonderfully
instructive, and the material fabric
of her churches, whose liturgy and art
have an immense educational value; but
it also includes the great number and
variety of schools, associations and
institutions of all kinds, established
for the training of youth in Christian
piety, together with literature and
the sciences, not omitting recreation
and physical culture. And in this inexhaustible
fecundity of educational works, how
marvelous, how incomparable is the Church's
maternal providence! So admirable too
is the harmony which she maintains with
the Christian family, that the Church
and the family may be said to constitute
together one and the same temple of
Christian education.
77. Since however
the younger generations must be trained
in the arts and sciences for the advantage
and prosperity of civil society, and
since the family of itself is unequal
to this task, it was necessary to create
that social institution, the school.
But let it be borne in mind that this
institution owes its existence to the
initiative of the family and of the
Church, long before it was undertaken
by the State. Hence considered in its
historical origin, the school is by
its very nature an institution subsidiary
and complementary to the family and
to the Church. It follows logically
and necessarily that it must not be
in opposition to, but in positive accord
with those other two elements, and form
with them a perfect moral union, constituting
one sanctuary of education, as it were,
with the family and the Church. Otherwise
it is doomed to fail of its purpose,
and to become instead an agent of destruction.
78. This principle
we find recognized by a layman, famous
for his pedagogical writings, though
these because of their liberalism cannot
be unreservedly praised. "The school,"
he writes, "if not a temple, is
a den." And again: "When literary,
social, domestic and religious education
do not go hand in hand, man is unhappy
and helpless."[47]
79. From this it follows
that the so-called "neutral"
or "lay" school, from which
religion is excluded, is contrary to
the fundamental principles of education.
Such a school moreover cannot exist
in practice; it is bound to become irreligious.
There is no need to repeat what Our
Predecessors have declared on this point,
especially Pius IX and Leo Xlll, at
times when laicism was beginning in
a special manner to infest the public
school. We renew and confirm their declarations,[48]
as well as the Sacred Canons in which
the frequenting of non-Catholic schools,
whether neutral or mixed, those namely
which are open to Catholics and non-Catholics
alike, is forbidden for Catholic children,
and can be at most tolerated, on the
approval of the Ordinary alone, under
determined circumstances of place and
time, and with special precautions.[49]
Neither can Catholics admit that other
type of mixed school, (least of all
the so-called "ecole unique,"
obligatory on all), in which the students
are provided with separate religious
instruction, but receive other lessons
in common with non-Catholic pupils from
non-Catholic teachers.
80. For the mere fact
that a school gives some religious instruction
(often extremely stinted), does not
bring it into accord with the rights
of the Church and of the Christian family,
or make it a fit place for Catholic
students. To be this, it is necessary
that all the teaching and the whole
organization of the school, and its
teachers, syllabus and text-books in
every branch, be regulated by the Christian
spirit, under the direction and maternal
supervision of the Church; so that Religion
may be in very truth the foundation
and crown of the youth's entire training;
and this in every grade of school, not
only the elementary, but the intermediate
and the higher institutions of learning
as well. To use the words of Leo Xlll:
It is necessary not only that religious
instruction be given to the young at
certain fixed times, but also that every
other subject taught, be permeated with
Christian piety. If this is wanting,
if this sacred atmosphere does not pervade
and warm the hearts of masters and scholars
alike, little good can be expected from
any kind of learning, and considerable
harm will often be the consequence.[50]
81. And let no one
say that in a nation where there are
different religious beliefs, it is impossible
to provide for public instruction otherwise
than by neutral or mixed schools. In
such a case it becomes the duty of the
State, indeed it is the easier and more
reasonable method of procedure, to leave
free scope to the initiative of the
Church and the family, while giving
them such assistance as justice demands.
That this can be done to the full satisfaction
of families, and to the advantage of
education and of public peace and tranquillity,
is clear from the actual experience
of some countries comprising different
religious denominations. There the school
legislation respects the rights of the
family, and Catholics are free to follow
their own system of teaching in schools
that are entirely Catholic. Nor is distributive
justice lost sight of, as is evidenced
by the financial aid granted by the
State to the several schools demanded
by the families.
82. In other countries
of mixed creeds, things are otherwise,
and a heavy burden weighs upon Catholics,
who under the guidance of their Bishops
and with the indefatigable cooperation
of the clergy, secular and regular,
support Catholic schools for their children
entirely at their own expense; to this
they feel obliged in conscience, and
with a generosity and constancy worthy
of all praise, they are firmly determined
to make adequate provision for what
they openly profess as their motto:
"Catholic education in Catholic
schools for all the Catholic youth."
If such education is not aided from
public funds, as distributive justice
requires, certainly it may not be opposed
by any civil authority ready to recognize
the rights of the family, and the irreducible
claims of legitimate liberty.
83. Where this fundamental
liberty is thwarted or interfered with,
Catholics will never feel, whatever
may have been the sacrifices already
made, that they have done enough, for
the support and defense of their schools
and for the securing of laws that will
do them justice.
84. For whatever Catholics
do in promoting and defending the Catholic
school for their children, is a genuinely
religious work and therefore an important
task of "Catholic Action."
For this reason the associations which
in various countries are so zealously
engaged in this work of prime necessity,
are especially dear to Our paternal
heart and are deserving of every commendation
.
85. Let it be loudly
proclaimed and well understood and recognized
by all, that Catholics, no matter what
their nationality, in agitating for
Catholic schools for their children,
are not mixing in party politics, but
are engaged in a religious enterprise
demanded by conscience. They do not
intend to separate their children either
from the body of the nation or its spirit,
but to educate them in a perfect manner,
most conducive to the prosperity of
the nation. Indeed a good Catholic,
precisely because of his Catholic principles,
makes the better citizen, attached to
his country, and loyally submissive
to constituted civil authority in every
legitimate form of government.
86. In such a school,
in harmony with the Church and the Christian
family, the various branches of secular
learning will not enter into conflict
with religious instruction to the manifest
detriment of education. And if, when
occasion arises, it be deemed necessary
to have the students read authors propounding
false doctrine, for the purpose of refuting
it, this will be done after due preparation
and with such an antidote of sound doctrine,
that it will not only do no harm, but
will an aid to the Christian formation
of youth.
87. In such a school
moreover, the study of the vernacular
and of classical literature will do
no damage to moral virtue. There the
Christian teacher will imitate the bee,
which takes the choicest part of the
flower and leaves the rest, as St. Basil
teaches in his discourse to youths on
the study of the classics.[51] Nor will
this necessary caution, suggested also
by the pagan Quintilian,[52] in any
way hinder the Christian teacher from
gathering and turning to profit, whatever
there is of real worth in the systems
and methods of our modern times, mindful
of the Apostle's advice: "Prove
all things: hold fast that which is
good."[53] Hence in accepting the
new, he will not hastily abandon the
old, which the experience of centuries
has found expedient and profitable.
This is particularly true in the teaching
of Latin, which in our days is falling
more and more into disuse, because of
the unreasonable rejection of methods
so successfully used by that sane humanism,
whose highest development was reached
in the schools of the Church. These
noble traditions of the past require
that the youth committed to Catholic
schools be fully instructed in the letters
and sciences in accordance with the
exigencies of the times. They also demand
that the doctrine imparted be deep and
solid, especially in sound philosophy,
avoiding the muddled superficiality
of those "who perhaps would have
found the necessary, had they not gone
in search of the superfluous."[54]
In this connection Christian teachers
should keep in mind what Leo Xlll says
in a pithy sentence:
Greater stress must be laid on the
employment of apt and solid methods
of teaching, and, what is still more
important, on bringing into full conformity
with the Catholic faith, what is taught
in literature, in the sciences, and
above all in philosophy, on which depends
in great part the right orientation
of the other branches of knowledge.[55]
88. Perfect schools
are the result not so much of good methods
as of good teachers, teachers who are
thoroughly prepared and well-grounded
in the matter they have to teach; who
possess the intellectual and moral qualifications
required by their important office;
who cherish a pure and holy love for
the youths confided to them, because
they love Jesus Christ and His Church,
of which these are the children of predilection;
and who have therefore sincerely at
heart the true good of family and country.
Indeed it fills Our soul with consolation
and gratitude towards the divine Goodness
to see, side by side with religious
men and women engaged in teaching, such
a large number of excellent lay teachers,
who, for their greater spiritual advancement,
are often grouped in special sodalities
and associations, which are worthy of
praise and encouragement as most excellent
and powerful auxiliaries of "Catholic
Action." All these labor unselfishly
with zeal and perseverance in what St.
Gregory Nazianzen calls "the art
of arts and the science of sciences,"[56]
the direction and formation of youth.
Of them also it may be said in the words
of the divine Master: "The harvest
indeed is great, but the laborers few."[57]
Let us then pray the Lord of the harvest
to send more such workers into the field
of Christian education; and let their
formation be one of the principal concerns
of the pastors of souls and of the superiors
of Religious Orders.
89. It is no less
necessary to direct and watch the education
of the adolescent, "soft as wax
to be moulded into vice,"[58] in
whatever other environment he may happen
to be, removing occasions of evil and
providing occasions for good in his
recreations and social intercourse;
for "evil communications corrupt
good manners."[59]
90. More than ever
nowadays an extended and careful vigilance
is necessary, inasmuch as the dangers
of moral and religious shipwreck are
greater for inexperienced youth. Especially
is this true of impious and immoral
books, often diabolically circulated
at low prices; of the cinema, which
multiplies every kind of exhibition;
and now also of the radio, which facilitates
every kind of communications. These
most powerful means of publicity, which
can be of great utility for instruction
and education when directed by sound
principles, are only too often used
as an incentive to evil passions and
greed for gain. St. Augustine deplored
the passion for the shows of the circus
which possessed even some Christians
of his time, and he dramatically narrates
the infatuation for them, fortunately
only temporary, of his disciple and
friend Alipius.[60] How often today
must parents and educators bewail the
corruption of youth brought about by
the modern theater and the vile book!
91. Worthy of all
praise and encouragement therefore are
those educational associations which
have for their object to point out to
parents and educators, by means of suitable
books and periodicals, the dangers to
morals and religion that are often cunningly
disguised in books and theatrical representations.
In their spirit of zeal for the souls
of the young, they endeavor at the same
time to circulate good literature and
to promote plays that are really instructive,
going so far as to put up at the cost
of great sacrifices, theaters and cinemas,
in which virtue will have nothing to
suffer and much to gain.
92. This necessary
vigilance does not demand that young
people be removed from the society in
which they must live and save their
souls; but that today more than ever
they should be forewarned and forearmed
as Christians against the seductions
and the errors of the world, which,
as Holy Writ admonishes us, is all "concupiscence
of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes
and pride of life."[61] Let them
be what Tertullian wrote of the first
Christians, and what Christians of all
times ought to be, "sharers in
the possession of the world, not of
its error."[62]
93. This saying of
Tertullian brings us to the topic which
we propose to treat in the last place,
and which is of the greatest importance,
that is, the true nature of Christian
education, as deduced from its proper
end. Its consideration reveals with
noonday clearness the pre-eminent educational
mission of the Church.
94. The proper and
immediate end of Christian education
is to cooperate with divine grace in
forming the true and perfect Christian,
that is, to form Christ Himself in those
regenerated by Baptism, according to
the emphatic expression of the Apostle:
"My little children, of whom I
am in labor again, until Christ be formed
in you."[63] For the true Christian
must live a supernatural life in Christ:
"Christ who is your life,"[64]
and display it in all his actions: "That
the life also of Jesus may be made manifest
in our mortal flesh."[65]
95. For precisely
this reason, Christian education takes
in the whole aggregate of human life,
physical and spiritual, intellectual
and moral, individual, domestic and
social, not with a view of reducing
it in any way, but in order to elevate,
regulate and perfect it, in accordance
with the example and teaching of Christ.
96. Hence the true
Christian, product of Christian education,
is the supernatural man who thinks,
judges and acts constantly and consistently
in accordance with right reason illumined
by the supernatural light of the example
and teaching of Christ; in other words,
to use the current term, the true and
finished man of character. For, it is
not every kind of consistency and firmness
of conduct based on subjective principles
that makes true character, but only
constancy in following the eternal principles
of justice, as is admitted even by the
pagan poet when he praises as one and
the same "the man who is just and
firm of purpose."[66] And on the
other hand, there cannot be full justice
except in giving to God what is due
to God, as the true Christian does.
97. The scope and
aim of Christian education as here described,
appears to the worldly as an abstraction,
or rather as something that cannot be
attained without the suppression or
dwarfing of the natural faculties, and
without a renunciation of the activities
of the present life, and hence inimical
to social life and temporal prosperity,
and contrary to all progress in letters,
arts and sciences, and all the other
elements of civilization. To a like
objection raised by the ignorance and
the prejudice of even cultured pagans
of a former day, and repeated with greater
frequency and insistence in modern times,
Tertullian has replied as follows:
We are not strangers to life. We are
fully aware of the gratitude we owe
to God, our Lord and Creator. We reject
none of the fruits of His handiwork;
we only abstain from their immoderate
or unlawful use. We are living in the
world with you; we do not shun your
forum, your markets, your baths, your
shops, your factories, your stables,
your places of business and traffic.
We take shop with you and we serve in
your armies; we are farmers and merchants
with you; we interchange skilled labor
and display our works in public for
your service. How we can seem unprofitable
to you with whom we live and of whom
we are, I know not.[67]
98. The true Christian
does not renounce the activities of
this life, he does not stunt his natural
faculties; but he develops and perfects
them, by coordinating them with the
supernatural. He thus ennobles what
is merely natural in life and secures
for it new strength in the material
and temporal order, no less then in
the spiritual and eternal.
99. This fact is proved
by the whole history of Christianity
and its institutions, which is nothing
else but the history of true civilization
and progress up to the present day.
It stands out conspicuously in the lives
of the numerous Saints, whom the Church,
and she alone, produces, in whom is
perfectly realized the purpose of Christian
education, and who have in every way
ennobled and benefited human society.
Indeed, the Saints have ever been, are,
and ever will be the greatest benefactors
of society, and perfect models for every
class and profession, for every state
and condition of life, from the simple
and uncultured peasant to the master
of sciences and letters, from the humble
artisan to the commander of armies,
from the father of a family to the ruler
of peoples and nations, from simple
maidens and matrons of the domestic
hearth to queens and empresses. What
shall we say of the immense work which
has been accomplished even for the temporal
well-being of men by missionaries of
the Gospel, who have brought and still
bring to barbarous tribes the benefits
of civilization together with the light
of the Faith? What of the founders of
so many social and charitable institutions,
of the vast numbers of saintly educators,
men and women, who have perpetuated
and multiplied their life work, by leaving
after them prolific institutions of
Christian education, in aid of families
and for the inestimable advantage of
nations?
100. Such are the
fruits of Christian education. Their
price and value is derived from the
supernatural virtue and life in Christ
which Christian education forms and
develops in man. Of this life and virtue
Christ our Lord and Master is the source
and dispenser. By His example He is
at the same time the universal model
accessible to all, especially to the
young in the period of His hidden life,
a life of labor and obedience, adorned
with all virtues, personal, domestic
and social, before God and men.
101. Now all this
array of priceless educational treasures
which We have barely touched upon, is
so truly a property of the Church as
to form her very substance, since she
is the mystical body of Christ, the
immaculate spouse of Christ, and consequently
a most admirable mother and an incomparable
and perfect teacher. This thought inspired
St. Augustine, the great genius of whose
blessed death we are about to celebrate
the fifteenth centenary, with accents
of tenderest love for so glorious a
mother:
O Catholic Church, true Mother of Christians!
Not only doest thou preach to us, as
is meet, how purely and chastely we
are to worship God Himself, Whom to
possess is life most blessed; thou does
moreover so cherish neighborly love
and charity, that all the infirmities
to which sinful souls are subject, find
their most potent remedy in thee. Childlike
thou are in molding the child, strong
with the young man, gentle with the
aged, dealing with each according to
his needs of mind of body. Thou does
subject child to parent in a sort of
free servitude, and settest parent over
child in a jurisdiction of love. Thou
bindest brethren to brethren by the
bond of religion, stronger and closer
then the bond of blood .... Thou unitest
citizen to citizen, nation to nation,
yea, all men, in a union not of companionship
only, but of brotherhood, reminding
them of their common origin. Thou teachest
kings to care for their people, and
biddest people to be subject to their
kings. Thou teachest assiduously to
whom honor is due, to whom love, to
whom reverence, to whom fear, to whom
comfort, to whom rebuke, to whom punishment;
showing us that whilst not all things
nor the same things are due to all,
charity is due to all and offense to
none.[68]
102. Let us then,
Venerable Brethren, raise our hands
and our hearts in supplication to heaven,
"to the Shepherd and Bishop of
our Souls,"[69] to the divine King
"who gives laws to rulers,"
that in His almighty power He may cause
these splendid fruits of Christian education
to be gathered in ever greater abundance
"in the whole world," for
the lasting benefit of individuals and
of nations.
As a pledge of these heavenly favors,
with paternal affection We impart to
you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy
and your people, the Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, the
thirty-first day of December, in the
year 1929, the eighth of Our Pontificate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES
1. Marc., X, 14: Sinite
parvulos venir ad me.
2. II Tim., IV, 2:
Insta opportune importune: argue, obsecra
increpa in omni patientia et doctrina.
3. Confess., I, I:
Fecisti nos, Domine, ad Te. et inquietum
est cor nostrum donec requiescat in
Te.
4. Prov. XXII, 6:
Adolescens iuxta viam suam etiam cum
senuerit non recedet ab ea.
5. Hom. 60, in c.
18 Matth.: Ouid maius quam animis moderari,
quam adolescentulorum fingere mores?
6. Marc., IX, 36:
Quisquis unum ex huiusmodi pueris receperit
in nomine meo, me recipit.
7. Matth., XXVIII,
18-20: Data est mihi omnis potestas
in caelo et in terra. Euntes ergo docete
omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine
Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti:
docentes eos servare omnia quaecumque
mandavi vobis. Et ecce ego vobiscum
sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem
saeculi.
8. Pius IX, Ep. Quum
non sine, 14 lul, 1864: Columna et firmamentum
viritatis a Divino suo Auctore fuit
constituta, ut omnes homines divinam
edoceat fidem, eiusque depositum sibi
traditum integrum inviolatumque custodiat,
ac homines eotumque consortia et actiones
ad morum honestatem vitaeque integritatem,
iuxta revelatae doctrinae normam, dirigat
et fingat.
9. De Symbolo ad catech.,
Xlll: Non habebit Deum patrem, qui Ecclesiam
noluerit habere matrem.
10. Ep. enc. Libertas,
20 Iun. 1888: in fide atque in institutione
morum, divini magisterii Ecclesiam fecit
Deus ipse participem, eamdemque divino
eius beneficio falli nesciam: quare
magistra mortalium est maxima ac tutissima,
in eaque inest non violabile ius ad
magisterii libertatem.
11. Ep. enc. Singulari
quadam. 24 Sept. 1912: Quidquid homo
christianus agat, etiam in ordine rerum
terrenarum, non ei licet bona negligere
quae sunt supra naturam, immo oportet
ad summum bonum, tamquam ad ultimum
finem, ex christianae sapientiae praescriptis
omnia dirigat: omnes autem actiones
eius, quatenus bonae aut malae sunt
in genere morum, id est cum iure naturali
et divino congruunt aut discrepant,
indicio et iurisdictioni Ecclesiae subsunt.
12. A. Manzoni, Osservazioni
sulla Morale Cattolica, c. III.
13. Codex luris Canonici,
c. 1375.
14. Commentar. in
Matth., cap. 18: Quid mundo tam periculosum
quam non recepisse Christum?
15. Cod. I.C., cc.
1381, 1382.
16. Ep. enc. Nobilissima
Gallorum Gens, 8 Febr. 1884: male sana
omnis futura est animarum cultura: insueti
ad verecundiam Dei adolescentes nullam
ferre poterunt honeste vivendi disciplinam,
suisque cupiditatibus nihil unquam negare
ausi, facile ad miscendas civitates
pertrahentur.
17. Matth., XXVIII,
19: docete omnes gentes.
18. Discourse to the
students of Mondragone College, May
14,1929.
19. Deut., XXXII,
4: Dei perfecta sunt opera, et omnes
viae eius indicia.
20. S. Th., 2-2, Q.
Cll, a. 1: Carnalis pater particulariter
participat rationem principii quae universaliter
invenitur in Deo. . . . Pater est principium
et generationis et educatonis et disciplinae,
et omnium quae ad perfectionem humanae
vitae pertinent.
21. S. Th., 2-2, Q.
X, a. 12: Filius enim naturaliter est
aliquid patris . . .; ita de iure naturali
est quod filius, antequam habeat usum
rationis, sit sub cura patris. Unde
contra iustitiam naturalem esset, si
puer, antequam habeat usum rationis,
a cura parentum subtrahatur, vel de
eo aliquid ordinetur invitis parentibus.
22. Suppl. S. Th.
3; p. Q. 41, a. 1: Non enim intendit
natura solum generationem prolis, sed
etiam traductionem et promotionem usque
ad perfectum statum hominis in quantum
homo est, qui est virtutis status.
23. Cod. 1. C. , c.
1113: Parentes gravissima obligatione
tenentur prolis educationem tum religiosam
et moralem, tum physicam et civilem
pro viribus curandi, et etiam temporali
eorum bono providendi.
24. Ep. enc. Rerum
novarum, 15 Maii 1891: Filii sunt aliquid
patris, et velut paternae amplificatio
quaedam personae proprieque loqui si
volumus, non ipsi per se, sed per communitatem
domesticam, in qua generati sunt, civilem
ineunt ac participant societatem.
25. Ep. enc. Rerum
novarum, 15 Maii 1891: Patria potestas
est eiusmodi, ut nec extingui, neque
absorberi a republica possit, quia idem
et commune habet cum ipsa hominum vita
principium .
26. Ep. enc. Sapientiae
christianae, 10 lan. 1890: Natura parentes
habent ius suum instituendi, quos procrearint,
hoc adiuncto officio, ut cum fine, cuius
gratia sobolem Dei beneficio susceperunt,
ipsa educatio conveniat et doctrina
puerilis. Igitur parentibus est necessanum
eniti et contendere, ut omnem in hoc
genere propulsent iniuriam, omninoque
pervincant ut sua in potestate sit educere
liberos, uti par est, more christiano,
maximeque prohibere scholis iis, a quibus
periculum est ne malum venenum imbibant
impietatis.
27. Cod.l. C.,c.1113.
28. "The fundamental
theory of liberty upon which all governments
in this Union repose excludes any general
power of the State to standardize its
children by forcing them to accept instruction
from public teachers only. The child
is not the mere creature of the State;
those who nurture him and direct his
destiny have the right coupled with
the high duty, to recognize, and prepare
him for additional duties." U.S.
Supreme Court Decision in the Oregon
School Case, June 1, 1925.
29. Letter to the
Cardinal Secretary of State, May 30,
1929.
30. Cod. 1. C., c.
750, 2. S. Th., 2, 2. Q. X., a. 12.
31. Discourse to the
students of Mondragone College, May
14,1929.
32. Discourse to the
students of Mondragone College, May
14,1929.
33. P. L. Taparelli,
Saggio teor. di Diritto Naturale, n.
922; a work never sufficiently praised
and recommended to university students
(Cfr. Our Discourse of Dec. 18, 1927).
34. Ep. enc. Immortale
Dei, I Nov. 1885: Deus humani generis
procurationem inter duos potestates
partitus est, scilicet eccesiasticam
et civilem, alteram quidem divinis,
alteram humanis rebus praepositam. Utraque
est in suo genere maxima: habet utraque
certos, quibus contineatur, terminos,
eosque sua cuiusque natura causaque
proxime definitos; unde aliquis velut
orbis circumscribitur, in quo sua cuiusque
actio iure proprio versetur. Sed quia
utriusque imperium est in eosdem, cum
usuvenire possit, ut res una atque eadem
quamquam aliter atque aliter, sed tamen
eadem res, ad utriusque ius iudiciumque
pertineat, debet providentissimus Deus,
a quo sunt ambae constitutae, utriusque
itinera recte atque ordine composiusse.
Quae autem sunt, a Deo ordinatae sunt
(Rom., Xlll, 1).
35. Ep. enc. Immortale
Dei, 1 Nov. 1885: Itaque inter utramque
potestatem quaedam intercedat necesse
est ordinata colligatio: quae quidem
coniunctioni non immerito comparatur,
per quam anima et corpus in homine copulantur.
Qualis autem et quanta ea sit, aliter
iudicari non potest, nisi respiciendo,
uti diximus, ad utriusque naturam, habendaque
ratione excellentiae et nobilitatis
causarum; cum alteri proxime maximeque
propositum sit rerum mortalium curare
commoda, alteri caelestia ac sempiterna
bona comparare. Quidquid igitur est
in rebus humanis quoquo modo sacrum,
quidquid ad salutem animorum cultumve
Dei pertinet, sive tale illud sit natura
sua, sive rursus tale intelligatur propter
caussam ad quam refertur, id est omne
in potestate arbitrioque Ecclesiae:
cetera vero, quae civile et politicum
genus complectitur, rectum est civili
auctoritati esse subiecta, cum lesus
Christus iusserit, quae Caesaris sint,
reddi Caesari, quae Dei, Deo.
36. Ep. 138: Proinde
qui doctrinam Christi adversam dicunt
esse reipublicae, dent exercitum talem,
quales doctrinas Christi esse milites
iussit; dent tales provinciales, tales
maritos, tales coniuges, tales parentes,
tales filios, tales dominos, tales servos,
tales reges, tales iudices, tales denique
debitorum ipsius fisci redditores et
exactores, quales esse praecipit doctrina
christiana, et audeant eam dicere adversam
esse reipublicae, ima vero non dubitent
eam confiteri magnam, si obtemperetur,
salutem esse reiublicae.
37. Dell 'educaz.
crist., lib. 1, c. 43.
38. Letter to the
Cardinal Secretary of State, May 30,
1929.
39. Conc. Vat., Sess.
3, cap. 4. Neque solum fides et ratio
inter se dissidere nunquam possunt,
sed opem quoque sibi mutuam ferunt,
cum recta ratio fidei fundamenta demonstret
eiusque lumine illustrata rerum divinarum
scientiam excolat, fides vero rationem
ab erroribus liberet ac tueatur eamque
multiplici cognitione instruat. Quapropter
tantum abest. ut Ecclesia humanarum
artium et disciplinarium culturae obsistat,
ut hanc multis modis invet atque promoveat.
Non enim commoda ab iis ad hominum vitam
dimanantia aut ignorat aut dispicit;
fatetur immo, eas, quemadmodum a Deo
scientiarum Domino profectae sunt, ita,
si rite pertractentur, ad Deum iuvante
eius gratia perducere. Nec sane ipsa
vetat, ne huiusmodi disciplinae in suo
quaeque ambitu propriis utantur principiis
et propria methodo; sed iustam hanc
libertatem agnoscens, id sedulo cavet,
ne divinae doctrinae repugnando errores
in se suscipiant, aut fines proprios
transgressae ea, quae sunt fidei, occupent
et perturbent.
40. Prov., XXII, 15:
Stultitia colligata est in corde pueri:
et virga disciplinae fugabit eam.
41. Sap., Vlll, 1:
attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter,
et disponit omnia suaviter.
42. Io., III, 8: Spiritus
ubi vult spirat.
43. Rom., Vll, 23.
44. Silvio Antonio,
Dell 'educazione cristiana dei figliuoli,
lib. II, e. 88.
45. Matth., XVIII,
7: Vae mundo a scandalis!
46. Eph., Vl, 4: Patres,
nolite ad iracundiam provocare filios
vestros.
47. Nic. Tommaseo,
Pensieri sull 'educazione, Parte 1,
3, 6.
48. Pius IX, Ep. Quum
non sine, 14 Jul. 1864.--Syllabus, Prop.
48.--Leo Xlll, alloc. Summi Pontificatus,
20 Aug. 1880, Ep. enc. Nobilissima,
8 Febr. 1884, Ep. enc. Quod multum,
22 Aug. 1886, Ep. Officio sanctissimo,
22 Dec. 1887, Ep. enc. Caritatis, 19
Mart. 1894, etc. (cfr. Cod. I.C. cum.
Fontium Annot., c. 1374).
49. Cod. I.C., c.
1374.
50. Ep. enc. Militantis
Ecclesiae, I Aug. 1897: Necesse est
non modo certis horis doceri iuvenes
religionem, sed reliquam institutionem
omnem christianae pietatis sensus redolere.
Id si desit, si sacer hic halitus non
doctorum animos ac discentum pervadat
foveatque, exiguae capientur ex qualibet
doctrina utilitates; damna saepe consequentur
haud exigua.
51. P.G., t. 31, 570.
52. Inst. Or., 1,
8.
53. I Thess., V, 21:
omnia probate; quod bonum est tenete.
54. Seneca, Epist.
45: invenissent forsitan necessaria
nisi et superflua quaesiissent.
55. Leo Xll, Ep. enc.,
Insrutabli 21 Apr. 1878: . . .alacrius
adnitendum est, ut non solum apta ac
solida institutionis methodus, sed maxime
institutio ipsa catholicae fidei omnino
confommis in litteris et disciplinis
vigeat, praesertim autem in philosophia,
ex qua recta aliarum scientiarum ratio
magna ex parte dependet.
56. Oratio 11, P.G.,
t. 35, 426: ars artium et scientia scientiarvum.
57. Matth., IX, 37:
Messis quidem multa, operarii autem
pauci.
58. Horat., Art. poet.,
v. 163: cereus in vitium flecti.
59. I Cor. XV, 33:
corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia mala.
60. Conf., Vl, 8.
61. I lo., II, 16:
concupiscentia carnis, concupiscentia
oculorum et superbia vitae.
62. De Idololatria,
14: compossessores mundi, non erroris.
63. Gal., IV, 19:
Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec
formetur Christus in vobis.
64. Col., III, 4:
Christus, vita vestra.
65. II Cor., IV, II:
ut et vita lesu manifestetur in carne
nostra mortali.
66. Horat., Od., 1,III,
od. 3, v. 1: lustum et tenacem propositi
virum.
67. Apol., 42: Non
sumus exules vitae. Meminimus gratiam
nos debere Deo Domino Creatori; nullum
fructum operum eius repudiamus; plane
temperamus, ne ultra modum aut perperam
utamur. Itaque non sine foro, non sine
macello, non sine balneis, tabernis,
officinis, stabulis, nundinis vestris,
caeterisque commerciis cohabitamus in
hoc saeculo. Navigamus et nos vobiscum
et militamus et rusticamur, et mercamur,
proinde miscemus artes, operas nostras
publicamus usui vestro. Quomodo infructuosi
videamur negotiis vestris, cum quibus
et de quibus vivimus, non scio.
68. De moribus Eccleslae
catholicae, lib. 1, c. 30: Merito Ecclesia
catholica Mater christianorum verissima,
non solum ipsum Deum, cuius adeptio
Vita est beatissima, purissime atque
castissime colendum praedicas; sed etiam
proximi dilectionem atque charitatem
ita complecteris, ut variorum morborum,
quibus pro peccatis suis animae aegrotant,
omnis apud te medicina praepolleat.
Tu pueriliter, pueros, fortiter iuvenes,
quiete senes prout cuiusque non corporis
tantum, sed et animi aetas est, exerces
ac doces. Tu parentibus filios libera
quadam servitute subiungis, parentes
filiis pia dominatione praeponis. Tu
fratribus fratres religionis vinculo
firmiore atque arctiore quam sanguinis
nectis . . . Tu cives civibus, gentes
gentibus, et prorsus homines primorum
parentum recordatione, non societate
tantum, sed quadam etiam fraternitate
coniungis. Doces Reges prospicere populis;
mones populos se subdere Regibus. Quibus
honor debeatur, quibus affectus, quibus
reverentia, quibus timor, quibus consolatio,
quibus admonitio, quibus cohortatio,
quibus disciplina, quibus obiurgatio,
quibus supplicium, sedulo doces; ostendens
quemadmodum et non omnibus omnia, et
omnibus charitas, et nulli debeatur
iniuria.
69. Cfr. I Petr.,
II, 25: ad Pastorem et Episcopum animarum
vrotrarum.
