UBI ARCANO DEI
CONSILIO (On the Peace of Christ in
the Kingdom of Christ)
Pope Pius XI
Encyclical promulgated
on 23 December 1922
To our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and
other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion
with the Apostolic See.
1. From the very hour when in
the inscrutable designs of God, We though
unworthy, were elevated to this Chair
of Truth and Love, We earnestly desired
to address a heartfelt message to you,
Venerable Brothers, and to all Our beloved
children who are under your immediate
direction and care. This Our desire
found its inspiration in the solemn
benediction—Urbi et Orbi—which
We gave to an immense multitude from
the balcony of the Vatican Basilica
following Our election to the Supreme
Pontificate. This blessing of Ours was
received with every manifestation of
joy and gratitude by you, by people
from every part of the world, and by
the Sacred College of Cardinals. This
fact was for Us a most comforting assurance,
added to that other which comes from
Our trust in the divine assistance,
in preparing Us to take up the tremendous
office which quite unexpectedly We have
been called upon to assume.
2. We, therefore, write to you
now, "our mouth is open to you"
(II Cor. vi, 11) as the birthday of
Our Lord Jesus Christ and the New Year
approach, and wish this letter to be
not only a message of glad greetings
but a Christmas gift as well from a
father to his loving children.
3. Many reasons prevented Us
up to this time from fulfilling Our
wish to write. In the first place, there
was what one might call a contest of
filial devotion by reason of which there
came to us in letters without number
the good wishes of Our brothers and
children from every quarter of the globe,
messages which bespoke a welcome to
the newly elected Successor of St. Peter
and offered him the well-wishes born
of a devoted homage.
4. Following close upon these
messages We were called upon to experience
personally and for the first time what
St. Paul has called "my daily instance,
the solicitude for all the churches."
(II Cor. xi, 28) To Our everyday duties
there were added many extraordinary
ones, as for example, those most important
affairs already well advanced towards
a solution before Our election and which
We had to rush to completion, which
had to do with the Holy Places, which
affected the welfare of Christianity
itself, or the status of dioceses numbered
among the most important of the Catholic
world. Then there were to be considered
international meetings and treaties
which deeply influenced the future of
whole peoples and of nations. Faithful
to the ministry of peace and reconciliation
which has been confided to Our care
by God, We strove to make known far
and wide the law of justice, tempered
always by charity, and to obtain merited
consideration for those values and interests
which, because they are spiritual, are
none the less grave and important. As
a matter of fact, they are much more
serious and important than any merely
material thing whatsoever. We were occupied,
too, with the almost unbelievable sufferings
of those peoples, living in districts
far remote from Us, who had been stricken
with famine and every kind of calamity.
We hastened to send them all the help
which Our own straitened circumstances
permitted, and did not fail to call
upon the whole world to assist Us in
this task. Finally, there did not escape
Us those uprisings accompanied by acts
of violence which had broken out in
the very midst of Our own beloved people,
here where We were born, here where
the hand of Divine Providence has set
down the Chair of St. Peter. For a time
these troubles seemed to threaten the
very future of Our country, nor could
We rest until We had done everything
within Our power to quiet such serious
disorders.
There were, on the other hand, certain
extraordinary events which filled Our
soul with joy. Such were, for example,
the Twenty-Sixth International Eucharistic
Congress and the Three Hundredth Anniversary
of the establishment of the Sacred Congregation
of the Propagation of the Faith. These
celebrations brought to Us such inexpressible
consolation and such great spiritual
joy that We never imagined such a thing
possible at the very outset of Our Pontificate.
We also saw at that time practically
all the members of the hundreds of bishops
who had come to Rome from every part
of the world. Under normal circumstances
it would have taken several years to
interview a like number of bishops.
We gave audience also to many thousands
of the faithful and blessed with Our
fatherly blessing large and dignified
representations of that immense family
"from every tribe, tongue, people,
and nation" as we read in the Book
of the Apocalypse, (v, 9) which God
has confided to Us. Together with them
We were privileged to assist at spectacles
which were little short of divine, for
We witnessed Our Blessed Redeemer reassume
His rightful place as King of all men,
of all states, and of all nations when,
though hidden behind the veils of the
Eucharistic species, He was carried
in a magnificent and truly royal triumph
of faith through the streets of Our
own city, Rome, accompanied by an immense
concourse of people representing every
nation on earth. We beheld, too, the
Holy Spirit, as it were, descend into
the hearts of both priests and faithful
as He did on the first Pentecost Sunday,
to rekindle in them the spirit of prayer
and of the apostolate. We were overjoyed
to behold the fervent faith of the inhabitants
of Rome proclaimed once again to the
world, to the great glory of God and
to the edification of souls.
5. The Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God and Our own dear Mother,
who had most lovingly looked down on
us at the Sanctuaries of Czestochowa
and of Ostrabrama as well as at the
miraculous grotto of Lourdes and from
the lofty spires of Our own city of
Milan, to say nothing of that most holy
Sanctuary of the Rho, deigned to accept
the homage of Our love on the occasion
when We gave back to the Venerable Basilica
of Loreto, which had been restored after
the serious damage caused to it by fire,
her beautiful statue which had been
not only done over at Our behest but
had been blessed and crowned as well
by Our own hands. That occasion was
without question a veritable triumph
for Mary. During the passage of her
statue from Rome to Loreto, the faithful
of each town rivaled one another in
acclaiming her by a spontaneous and
continuous outburst of profoundly religious
sentiment, which showed forth a most
tender affection for Our Blessed Lady,
as well as a devoted attachment to the
Vicar of Jesus Christ.
6. These different events, some
sad and some joyful, the history of
which We wish to record for the edification
of posterity, spoke most eloquently
to Us, making more and more clear to
Our mind those objectives which seem
to claim the foremost place in Our Apostolic
Ministry and of which it behooves Us
to speak now in as solemn a manner as
possible in this, Our very first message
to you.
7. One thing is certain today.
Since the close of the Great War individuals,
the different classes of society, the
nations of the earth have not as yet
found true peace. They do not enjoy,
therefore, that active and fruitful
tranquillity which is the aspiration
and the need of mankind. This is a sad
truth which forces itself upon us from
every side. For anyone who, as We do,
desires profoundly to study and successfully
to apply the means necessary to overcome
such evils, it is all-important that
he recognize both the fact and the gravity
of this state of affairs and attempt
beforehand to discover its causes. This
duty is imposed upon Us in commanding
fashion by the very consciousness which
We have of Our Apostolic Office. We
cannot but resolve to fulfill that which
is so clearly Our duty. This We shall
do now by this Our first encyclical,
and afterward with all solicitude in
the course of Our sacred ministry.
8. Since the selfsame sad conditions
continue to exist in the world today
which were the object of constant and
almost heartbreaking preoccupation on
the part of Our respected Predecessor,
Benedict XV, during the whole period
of his pontificate, naturally We have
come to make his thoughts and his solutions
of these problems Our own. May they
become, too, the thoughts and ideals
of everyone, as they are Our thoughts,
and if this should happen we would certainly
see, with the help of God and the co-operation
of all men of good will, the most wonderful
effects come to pass by a true and lasting
reconciliation of men one with another.
9. The inspired words of the
Prophets seem to have been written expressly
for our own times: "We looked for
peace and no good came: for a time of
healing, and behold fear," (Jer.
viii, 15) "for the time of healing,
and behold trouble." (Jer. xiv,
19) "We looked for light, and behold
darkness . . . we have looked for judgment,
and there is none: for salvation, and
it is far from us." (Isaias lix,
9, 11)
10. The belligerents of yesterday
have laid down their arms but on the
heels of this act we encounter new horrors
and new threats of war in the Near East.
The conditions in many sections of these
devastated regions have been greatly
aggravated by famine, epidemics, and
the laying waste of the land, all of
which have not failed to take their
toll of victims without number, especially
among the aged, women and innocent children.
In what has been so justly called the
immense theater of the World War, the
old rivalries between nations have not
ceased to exert their influence, rivalries
at times hidden under the manipulations
of politics or concealed beneath the
fluctuations of finance, but openly
appearing in the press, in reviews and
magazines of every type, and even penetrating
into institutions devoted to the cultivation
of the arts and sciences, spots where
otherwise the atmosphere of quiet and
peace would reign supreme.
11. Public life is so enveloped,
even at the present hour, by the dense
fog of mutual hatreds and grievances
that it is almost impossible for the
common people so much as freely to breathe
therein. If the defeated nations continue
to suffer most terribly, no less serious
are the evils which afflict their conquerors.
Small nations complain that they are
being oppressed and exploited by great
nations. The great powers, on their
side, contend that they are being judged
wrongly and circumvented by the smaller.
All nations, great and small, suffer
acutely from the sad effects of the
late War. Neither can those nations
which were neutral contend that they
have escaped altogether the tremendous
sufferings of the War or failed to experience
its evil results almost equally with
the actual belligerents. These evil
results grow in volume from day to day
because of the utter impossibility of
finding anything like a safe remedy
to cure the ills of society, and this
in spite of all the efforts of politicians
and statesmen whose work has come to
naught if it has not unfortunately tended
to aggravate the very evils they tried
to overcome. Conditions have become
increasingly worse because the fears
of the people are being constantly played
upon by the ever-present menace of new
wars, likely to be more frightful and
destructive than any which have preceded
them. Whence it is that the nations
of today live in a state of armed peace
which is scarcely better than war itself,
a condition which tends to exhaust national
finances, to waste the flower of youth,
to muddy and poison the very fountainheads
of life, physical, intellectual, religious,
and moral.
12. A much more serious and
lamentable evil than these threats of
external aggression is the internal
discord which menaces the welfare not
only of nations but of human society
itself. In the first place, we must
take cognizance of the war between the
classes, a chronic and mortal disease
of present-day society, which like a
cancer is eating away the vital forces
of the social fabric, labor, industry,
the arts, commerce, agriculture—everything
in fact which contributes to public
and private welfare and to national
prosperity. This conflict seems to resist
every solution and grows worse because
those who are never satisfied with the
amount of their wealth contend with
those who hold on most tenaciously to
the riches which they have already acquired,
while to both classes there is common
the desire to rule the other and to
assume control of the other's possessions.
From this class war there result frequent
interruptions of work, the causes for
which most often can be laid to mutual
provocations. There result, too, revolutions,
riots, and forcible repression of one
side or other by the government, all
of which cannot but end in general discontent
and in grave damage to the common welfare.
To these evils we must add the contests
between political parties, many of which
struggles do not originate in a real
difference of opinion concerning the
public good or in a laudable and disinterested
search for what would best promote the
common welfare, but in the desire for
power and for the protection of some
private interest which inevitably result
in injury to the citizens as a whole.
From this course there often arise robberies
of what belongs rightly to the people,
and even conspiracies against and attacks
on the supreme authority of the state,
as well as on its representatives. These
political struggles also beget threats
of popular action and, at times, eventuate
in open rebellion and other disorders
which are all the more deplorable and
harmful since they come from a public
to whom it has been given, in our modern
democratic states, to participate in
very large measure in public life and
in the affairs of government. Now, these
different forms of government are not
of themselves contrary to the principles
of the Catholic Faith, which can easily
be reconciled with any reasonable and
just system of government. Such governments,
however, are the most exposed to the
danger of being overthrown by one faction
or another.
13. It is most sad to see how
this revolutionary spirit has penetrated
into that sanctuary of peace and love,
the family, the original nucleus of
human society. In the family these evil
seeds of dissension, which were sown
long ago, have recently been spread
about more and more by the fact of the
absence of fathers and sons from the
family fireside during the War and by
the greatly increased freedom in matters
of morality which followed on it as
one of its effects. Frequently we behold
sons alienated from their fathers, brothers
quarreling with brothers, masters with
servants, servants with masters. Too
often likewise have we seen both the
sanctity of the marriage tie and the
duties to God and to humankind, which
this tie imposes upon men, forgotten.
14. Just as the smallest part
of the body feels the effect of an illness
which is ravaging the whole body or
one of its vital organs, so the evils
now besetting society and the family
afflict even individuals. In particular,
We cannot but lament the morbid restlessness
which has spread among people of every
age and condition in life, the general
spirit of insubordination and the refusal
to live up to one's obligations which
has become so widespread as almost to
appear the customary mode of living.
We lament, too, the destruction of purity
among women and young girls as is evidenced
by the increasing immodesty of their
dress and conversation and by their
participation in shameful dances, which
sins are made the more heinous by the
vaunting in the faces of people less
fortunate than themselves their luxurious
mode of life. Finally, We cannot but
grieve over the great increase in the
number of what might be called social
misfits who almost inevitably end by
joining the ranks of those malcontents
who continually agitate against all
order, be it public or private.
15. It is surprising, then,
that we should no longer possess that
security of life in which we can place
our trust and that there remains only
the most terrible uncertainty, and from
hour to hour added fears for the future?
Instead of regular daily work there
is idleness and unemployment. That blessed
tranquillity which is the effect of
an orderly existence and in which the
essence of peace is to be found no longer
exists, and, in its place, the restless
spirit of revolt reigns. As a consequence
industry suffers, commerce is crippled,
the cultivation of literature and the
arts becomes more and more difficult,
and what is worse than all, Christian
civilization itself is irreparably damaged
thereby. In the face of our much praised
progress, we behold with sorrow society
lapsing back slowly but surely into
a state of barbarism.
16. We wish to record, in addition
to the evils already mentioned, other
evils which beset society and which
occupy a place of prime importance but
whose very existence escapes the ordinary
observer, the sensual man—he who,
as the Apostle says, does not perceive
"the things that are of the Spirit
of God" (I Cor. ii, 14), yet which
cannot but be judged the greatest and
most destructive scourges of the social
order of today. We refer specifically
to those evils which transcend the material
or natural sphere and lie within the
supernatural and religious order properly
so-called; in other words, those evils
which affect the spiritual life of souls.
These evils are all the more to be deplored
since they injure souls whose value
is infinitely greater than that of any
merely material object.
17. Over and above the laxity
in the performance of Christian duties
which is so widespread, We cannot but
sorrow with you, Venerable Brothers,
over the fact that very many churches,
which during the War had been turned
to profane uses, have not yet been restored
to their original purpose as temples
of prayer and of divine worship; moreover,
that many seminaries whose existence
is vital for the preparation and formation
of worthy leaders and teachers of the
religious life have not yet been reopened;
that the ranks of the clergy in almost
every country have been decimated, either
because so many priests have died on
the battlefield in the exercise of their
sacred ministry or have been lost to
the Church because they proved faithless
to their holy vocation, due to the unfavorable
conditions under which they were compelled
to live for so long; and, finally, that
in many places even the preaching of
the Word of God, so necessary and so
fruitful for "the edifying of the
body of Christ" (Ephesians iv,
12) has been silenced.
18. The evil results of the
Great War, as they affect the spiritual
life, have been felt all over the world,
even in out-of-the-way and lonely sections
of far-off continents. Missionaries
have been forced to abandon the field
of their apostolic labors, and many
have been unable to return to their
work, thus causing interruptions to
and even abandonment of those glorious
conquests of the Faith which have done
so much to raise the level of civilization,
moral, material, and religious. It is
quite true that there have been some
worthwhile compensations for these great
spiritual misfortunes. Among these compensations
is one which stands out in bold relief
and gives the lie to many ancient calumnies,
namely, that a pure love of country
and a generous devotion to duty burn
brightly in the souls of those consecrated
to God, and that through their sacred
ministry the consolations of religion
were brought to thousands dying on the
fields of battle wet with human blood.
Thus, many, in spite of their prejudices,
were led to honor again the priesthood
and the Church by reason of the wonderful
examples of sacrifice of self, with
which they had become acquainted. For
these happy results we are indebted
solely to the infinite goodness and
wisdom of God, Who draws good from evil.
19. Our letter so far has been
devoted to a recital of the evils which
afflict present-day society. We must
now search out, with all possible care,
the causes of these disorders, some
of which have already been referred
to. At this point, Venerable Brothers,
there seems to come to Us the voice
of the Divine Consoler and Physician
Who, speaking of these human infirmities
says: "All these evil things come
from within." (Mark vii, 23.)
20. Peace indeed was signed
in solemn conclave between the belligerents
of the late War. This peace, however,
was only written into treaties. It was
not received into the hearts of men,
who still cherish the desire to fight
one another and to continue to menace
in a most serious manner the quiet and
stability of civil society. Unfortunately
the law of violence held sway so long
that it has weakened and almost obliterated
all traces of those natural feelings
of love and mercy which the law of Christian
charity has done so much to encourage.
Nor has this illusory peace, written
only on paper, served as yet to reawaken
similar noble sentiments in the souls
of men. On the contrary, there has been
born a spirit of violence and of hatred
which, because it has been indulged
in for so long, has become almost second
nature in many men. There has followed
the blind rule of the inferior parts
of the soul over the superior, that
rule of the lower elements "fighting
against the law of the mind," which
St. Paul grieved over. (Rom. vii, 23)
21. Men today do not act as
Christians, as brothers, but as strangers,
and even enemies. The sense of man's
personal dignity and of the value of
human life has been lost in the brutal
domination begotten of might and mere
superiority in numbers. Many are intent
on exploiting their neighbors solely
for the purpose of enjoying more fully
and on a larger scale the goods of this
world. But they err grievously who have
turned to the acquisition of material
and temporal possessions and are forgetful
of eternal and spiritual things, to
the possession of which Jesus, Our Redeemer,
by means of the Church, His living interpreter,
calls mankind.
22. It is in the very nature
of material objects that an inordinate
desire for them becomes the root of
every evil, of every discord, and in
particular, of a lowering of the moral
sense. On the one hand, things which
are naturally base and vile can never
give rise to noble aspirations in the
human heart which was created by and
for God alone and is restless until
it finds repose in Him. On the other
hand, material goods (and in this they
differ greatly from those of the spirit
which the more of them we possess the
more remain to be acquired) the more
they are divided among men the less
each one has and, by consequence, what
one man has another cannot possibly
possess unless it be forcibly taken
away from the first. Such being the
case, worldly possessions can never
satisfy all in equal manner nor give
rise to a spirit of universal contentment,
but must become perforce a source of
division among men and of vexation of
spirit, as even the Wise Man Solomon
experienced: "Vanity of vanities,
and vexation of spirit." (Ecclesiastes
i, 2, 14)
23. The same effects which result
from these evils among individuals may
likewise be expected among nations.
"From whence are wars and contentions
among you?" asks the Apostle St.
James. "Are they not hence from
your concupiscences, which war in your
members?" (James iv, 1, 2)
24. The inordinate desire for
pleasure, concupiscence of the flesh,
sows the fatal seeds of division not
only among families but likewise among
states; the inordinate desire for possessions,
concupiscence of the eyes, inevitably
turns into class warfare and into social
egotism; the inordinate desire to rule
or to domineer over others, pride of
life, soon becomes mere party or factional
rivalries, manifesting itself in constant
displays of conflicting ambitions and
ending in open rebellion, in the crime
of lese majeste, and even in national
parricide.
25. These unsuppressed desires,
this inordinate love of the things of
the world, are precisely the source
of all international misunderstandings
and rivalries, despite the fact that
oftentimes men dare to maintain that
acts prompted by such motives are excusable
and even justifiable because, forsooth,
they were performed for reasons of state
or of the public good, or out of love
for country. Patriotism—the stimulus
of so many virtues and of so many noble
acts of heroism when kept within the
bounds of the law of Christ—becomes
merely an occasion, an added incentive
to grave injustice when true love of
country is debased to the condition
of an extreme nationalism, when we forget
that all men are our brothers and members
of the same great human family, that
other nations have an equal right with
us both to life and to prosperity, that
it is never lawful nor even wise, to
dissociate morality from the affairs
of practical life, that, in the last
analysis, it is "justice which
exalteth a nation: but sin maketh nations
miserable." (Proverbs xiv, 34)
26. Perhaps the advantages to
one's family, city, or nation obtained
in some such way as this may well appear
to be a wonderful and great victory
(this thought has been already expressed
by St. Augustine), but in the end it
turns out to be a very shallow thing,
something rather to inspire us with
the most fearful apprehensions of approaching
ruin. "It is a happiness which
appears beautiful but is brittle as
glass. We must ever be on guard lest
with horror we see it broken into a
thousand pieces at the first touch."
(St. Augustine de Civitate Dei, Book
iv, Chap. 3)
27. There is over and above
the absence of peace and the evils attendant
on this absence, another deeper and
more profound cause for present-day
conditions. This cause was even beginning
to show its head before the War and
the terrible calamities consequent on
that cataclysm should have proven a
remedy for them if mankind had only
taken the trouble to understand the
real meaning of those terrible events.
In the Holy Scriptures we read: "They
that have forsaken the Lord, shall be
consumed." (Isaias i, 28) No less
well known are the words of the Divine
Teacher, Jesus Christ, Who said: "Without
me you can do nothing" (John xv,
5) and again, "He that gathereth
not with me, scattereth." (Luke
xi, 23)
28. These words of the Holy
Bible have been fulfilled and are now
at this very moment being fulfilled
before our very eyes. Because men have
forsaken God and Jesus Christ, they
have sunk to the depths of evil. They
waste their energies and consume their
time and efforts in vain sterile attempts
to find a remedy for these ills, but
without even being successful in saving
what little remains from the existing
ruin. It was a quite general desire
that both our laws and our governments
should exist without recognizing God
or Jesus Christ, on the theory that
all authority comes from men, not from
God. Because of such an assumption,
these theorists fell very short of being
able to bestow upon law not only those
sanctions which it must possess but
also that secure basis for the supreme
criterion of justice which even a pagan
philosopher like Cicero saw clearly
could not be derived except from the
divine law.
Authority itself lost its hold upon
mankind, for it had lost that sound
and unquestionable justification for
its right to command on the one hand
and to be obeyed on the other. Society,
quite logically and inevitably, was
shaken to its very depths and even threatened
with destruction, since there was left
to it no longer a stable foundation,
everything having been reduced to a
series of conflicts, to the domination
of the majority, or to the supremacy
of special interests.
29. Again, legislation was passed
which did not recognize that either
God or Jesus Christ had any rights over
marriage—an erroneous view which
debased matrimony to the level of a
mere civil contract, despite the fact
that Jesus Himself had called it a "great
sacrament" (Ephesians v, 32) and
had made it the holy and sanctifying
symbol of that indissoluble union which
binds Him to His Church. The high ideals
and pure sentiments with which the Church
has always surrounded the idea of the
family, the germ of all social life,
these were lowered, were unappreciated,
or became confused in the minds of many.
As a consequence, the correct ideals
of family government, and with them
those of family peace, were destroyed;
the stability and unity of the family
itself were menaced and undermined,
and, worst of all, the very sanctuary
of the home was more and more frequently
profaned by acts of sinful lust and
soul-destroying egotism—all of
which could not but result in poisoning
and drying up the very sources of domestic
and social life.
30. Added to all this, God and
Jesus Christ, as well as His doctrines,
were banished from the school. As a
sad but inevitable consequence, the
school became not only secular and non-religious
but openly atheistical and anti-religious.
In such circumstances it was easy to
persuade poor ignorant children that
neither God nor religion are of any
importance as far as their daily lives
are concerned. God's name, moreover,
was scarcely ever mentioned in such
schools unless it were perchance to
blaspheme Him or to ridicule His Church.
Thus, the school forcibly deprived of
the right to teach anything about God
or His law could not but fail in its
efforts to really educate, that is,
to lead children to the practice of
virtue, for the school lacked the fundamental
principles which underlie the possession
of a knowledge of God and the means
necessary to strengthen the will in
its efforts toward good and in its avoidance
of sin. Gone, too, was all possibility
of ever laying a solid groundwork for
peace, order, and prosperity, either
in the family or in social relations.
Thus the principles based on the spiritualistic
philosophy of Christianity having been
obscured or destroyed in the minds of
many, a triumphant materialism served
to prepare mankind for the propaganda
of anarchy and of social hatred which
was let loose on such a great scale.
31. Is it to be wondered at
then that, with the widespread refusal
to accept the principles of true Christian
wisdom, the seeds of discord sown everywhere
should find a kindly soil in which to
grow and should come to fruit in that
most tremendous struggle, the Great
War, which unfortunately did not serve
to lessen but increased, by its acts
of violence and of bloodshed, the international
and social animosities which already
existed?
32. Up to this We have analyzed
briefly the causes of the ills which
afflict present-day society, the recital
of which however, Venerable Brothers,
should not cause us to lose hope of
finding their appropriate remedy, since
the evils themselves seem to suggest
a way out of these difficulties.
33. First, and most important
of all, for mankind is the need of spiritual
peace. We do not need a peace that will
consist merely in acts of external or
formal courtesy, but a peace which will
penetrate the souls of men and which
will unite, heal, and reopen their hearts
to that mutual affection which is born
of brotherly love. The peace of Christ
is the only peace answering this description:
"let the peace of Christ rejoice
in your hearts." (Colossians iii,
15) Nor is there any other peace possible
than that which Christ gave to His disciples
(John xiv, 27) for since He is God,
He "beholdeth the heart" (I
Kings xvi, 7) and in our hearts His
kingdom is set up. Again, Jesus Christ
is perfectly justified when He calls
this peace of soul His own for He was
the first Who said to men, "all
you are brethren." (Matt. xxiii,
8) He gave likewise to us, sealing it
with His own life's blood, the law of
brotherly love, of mutual forbearance—"This
is my commandment, that you love one
another, as I have loved you."
(John xv, 12) "Bear ye one another's
burdens; and so you shall fulfill the
law of Christ." (Galatians vi,
2)
34. From this it follows, as
an immediate consequence, that the peace
of Christ can only be a peace of justice
according to the words of the prophet
"the work of justice shall be peace"
(Isaias xxxii, 17) for he is God "who
judgest justice." (Psalms ix, 5)
But peace does not consist merely in
a hard inflexible justice. It must be
made acceptable and easy by being compounded
almost equally of charity and a sincere
desire for reconciliation. Such peace
was acquired for us and the whole world
by Jesus Christ, a peace which the Apostle
in a most expressive manner incarnates
in the very person of Christ Himself
when he addresses Him, "He is our
peace," for it was He Who satisfied
completely divine justice by his death
on the cross, destroying thus in His
own flesh all enmities toward others
and making peace and reconciliation
with God possible for mankind. (Ephesians
ii, 14) Therefore, the Apostle beholds
in the work of Redemption, which is
a work of justice at one and the same
time, a divine work of reconciliation
and of love. "God indeed was in
Christ, reconciling the world to himself."
(II Corinthians v, 19) "God so
loved the world, as to give his only
begotten Son." (John iii, 16)
35. Thomas Aquinas, the Angel
of the Schools, also discovered in this
fact the very formula and essence of
our belief, for he writes that a true
and lasting peace is more a matter of
love than of justice. The reason for
his statement is that it is the function
of justice merely to do away with obstacles
to peace, as for example, the injury
done or the damage caused. Peace itself,
however, is an act and results only
from love. (Summa Theologica, II-II,
Q. 29 Art. 3, Ad. III)
36. Of this peace of Christ,
which dwells in our hearts and is, in
effect, the love of God, We can repeat
what the Apostle has said of the kingdom
of God which also rules by love—"the
kingdom of Christ is not meat and drink."
(Romans xiv, 17) In other words, the
peace of Christ is not nourished on
the things of earth, but on those of
heaven. Nor could it well be otherwise,
since it is Jesus Christ Who has revealed
to the world the existence of spiritual
values and has obtained for them their
due appreciation. He has said, "For
what doth it profit a man, if he gain
the whole world, and suffer the loss
of his own soul?" (Matt. xvi, 26)
He also taught us a divine lesson of
courage and constancy when He said,
"Fear ye not them that kill the
body, and are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him that can destroy
both soul and body in hell." (Matt.
x, 28; Luke xii, 14)
37. This does not mean that
the peace of Christ, which is the only
true peace, exacts of us that we give
up all worldly possessions. On the contrary,
every earthly good is promised in so
many words by Christ to those who seek
His peace: "Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and his justice, and all these
things shall be added unto you."
(Matt. vi, 33; Luke xii, 31)
38. This peace of Christ, however,
surpasses all human understanding—"the
peace of God which surpasseth all understanding"
(Philippians iv, 7), and for this very
reason dominates our sinful passions
and renders such evils as division,
strife, and discord, which result solely
from the unrestrained desire for earthly
possessions, impossible. If the desire
for worldly possessions were kept within
bounds and the place of honor in our
affections given to the things of the
spirit, which place undoubtedly they
deserve, the peace of Christ would follow
immediately, to which would be joined
in a natural and happy union, as it
were, a higher regard for the value
and dignity of human life. Human personality,
too, would be raised to a higher level,
for man has been ennobled by the Blood
of Christ and made kin to God Himself
by means of holiness and the bond of
brotherly love which unites us closely
with Christ, by prayer and by the reception
of the Sacraments, means infallibly
certain to produce this elevation to
and participation in the life of God,
by the desire to attain everlasting
possession of the glory and happiness
of heaven which is held out to all by
God as our goal and final reward.
39. We have already seen and
come to the conclusion that the principal
cause of the confusion, restlessness,
and dangers which are so prominent a
characteristic of false peace is the
weakening of the binding force of law
and lack of respect for authority, effects
which logically follow upon denial of
the truth that authority comes from
God, the Creator and Universal Law-giver.
40. The only remedy for such
state of affairs is the peace of Christ
since the peace of Christ is the peace
of God, which could not exist if it
did not enjoin respect for law, order,
and the rights of authority. In the
Holy Scriptures We read: "My children,
keep discipline in peace." (Ecclesiasticus
xli, 17) "Much peace have they
that love the law, O Lord." (Psalms
cxviii, 165) "He that feareth the
commandment, shall dwell in peace."
(Proverbs xiii, 13) Jesus Christ very
expressly states: "Render to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's."
(Matt. xxii, 21) He even recognized
that Pilate possessed authority from
on High (John xiv, 11) as he acknowledged
that the scribes and Pharisees who though
unworthy sat in the chair of Moses (Matt.
xxiii, 2) were not without a like authority.
In Joseph and Mary, Jesus respected
the natural authority of parents and
was subject to them for the greater
part of His life. (Luke ii, 51) He also
taught, by the voice of His Apostle,
the same important doctrine: "Let
every soul be subject to higher powers:
for there is no power but from God."
(Romans xiii, 1; cf. also 1 Peter ii,
13, 18)
41. If we stop to reflect for
a moment that these ideals and doctrines
of Jesus Christ, for example, his teachings
on the necessity and value of the spiritual
life, on the dignity and sanctity of
human life, on the duty of obedience,
on the divine basis of human government,
on the sacramental character of matrimony
and by consequence the sanctity of family
life—if we stop to reflect, let
Us repeat, that these ideals and doctrines
of Christ (which are in fact but a portion
of the treasury of truth which He left
to mankind) were confided by Him to
His Church and to her alone for safekeeping,
and that He has promised that His aid
will never fail her at any time for
she is the infallible teacher of His
doctrines in every century and before
all nations, there is no one who cannot
clearly see what a singularly important
role the Catholic Church is able to
play, and is even called upon to assume,
in providing a remedy for the ills which
afflict the world today and in leading
mankind toward a universal peace.
42. Because the Church is by
divine institution the sole depository
and interpreter of the ideals and teachings
of Christ, she alone possesses in any
complete and true sense the power effectively
to combat that materialistic philosophy
which has already done and, still threatens,
such tremendous harm to the home and
to the state. The Church alone can introduce
into society and maintain therein the
prestige of a true, sound spiritualism,
the spiritualism of Christianity which
both from the point of view of truth
and of its practical value is quite
superior to any exclusively philosophical
theory. The Church is the teacher and
an example of world good-will, for she
is able to inculcate and develop in
mankind the "true spirit of brotherly
love" (St. Augustine, De Moribus
Ecclesiae Catholicae, i, 30) and by
raising the public estimation of the
value and dignity of the individual's
soul help thereby to lift us even unto
God.
43. Finally, the Church is able
to set both public and private life
on the road to righteousness by demanding
that everything and all men become obedient
to God "Who beholdeth the heart,"
to His commands, to His laws, to His
sanctions. If the teachings of the Church
could only penetrate in some such manner
as We have described the inner recesses
of the consciences of mankind, be they
rulers or be they subjects, all eventually
would be so apprised of their personal
and civic duties and their mutual responsibilities
that in a short time "Christ would
be all, and in all." (Colossians
iii, 11)
44. Since the Church is the
safe and sure guide to conscience, for
to her safe-keeping alone there has
been confided the doctrines and the
promise of the assistance of Christ,
she is able not only to bring about
at the present hour a peace that is
truly the peace of Christ, but can,
better than any other agency which We
know of, contribute greatly to the securing
of the same peace for the future, to
the making impossible of war in the
future. For the Church teaches (she
alone has been given by God the mandate
and the right to teach with authority)
that not only our acts as individuals
but also as groups and as nations must
conform to the eternal law of God. In
fact, it is much more important that
the acts of a nation follow God's law,
since on the nation rests a much greater
responsibility for the consequences
of its acts than on the individual.
45. When, therefore, governments
and nations follow in all their activities,
whether they be national or international,
the dictates of conscience grounded
in the teachings, precepts, and example
of Jesus Christ, and which are binding
on each and every individual, then only
can we have faith in one another's word
and trust in the peaceful solution of
the difficulties and controversies which
may grow out of differences in point
of view or from clash of interests.
An attempt in this direction has already
and is now being made; its results,
however, are almost negligible and,
especially so, as far as they can be
said to affect those major questions
which divide seriously and serve to
arouse nations one against the other.
No merely human institution of today
can be as successful in devising a set
of international laws which will be
in harmony with world conditions as
the Middle Ages were in the possession
of that true League of Nations, Christianity.
It cannot be denied that in the Middle
Ages this law was often violated; still
it always existed as an ideal, according
to which one might judge the acts of
nations, and a beacon light calling
those who had lost their way back to
the safe road.
46. There exists an institution
able to safeguard the sanctity of the
law of nations. This institution is
a part of every nation; at the same
time it is above all nations. She enjoys,
too, the highest authority, the fullness
of the teaching power of the Apostles.
Such an institution is the Church of
Christ. She alone is adapted to do this
great work, for she is not only divinely
commissioned to lead mankind, but moreover,
because of her very make-up and the
constitution which she possesses, by
reason of her age-old traditions and
her great prestige, which has not been
lessened but has been greatly increased
since the close of the War, cannot but
succeed in such a venture where others
assuredly will fail.
47. It is apparent from these
considerations that true peace, the
peace of Christ, is impossible unless
we are willing and ready to accept the
fundamental principles of Christianity,
unless we are willing to observe the
teachings and obey the law of Christ,
both in public and private life. If
this were done, then society being placed
at last on a sound foundation, the Church
would be able, in the exercise of its
divinely given ministry and by means
of the teaching authority which results
therefrom, to protect all the rights
of God over men and nations.
48. It is possible to sum up
all We have said in one word, "the
Kingdom of Christ." For Jesus Christ
reigns over the minds of individuals
by His teachings, in their hearts by
His love, in each one's life by the
living according to His law and the
imitating of His example. Jesus reigns
over the family when it, modeled after
the holy ideals of the sacrament of
matrimony instituted by Christ, maintains
unspotted its true character of sanctuary.
In such a sanctuary of love, parental
authority is fashioned after the authority
of God, the Father, from Whom, as a
matter of fact, it originates and after
which even it is named. (Ephesians iii,
15) The obedience of the children imitates
that of the Divine Child of Nazareth,
and the whole family life is inspired
by the sacred ideals of the Holy Family.
Finally, Jesus Christ reigns over society
when men recognize and reverence the
sovereignty of Christ, when they accept
the divine origin and control over all
social forces, a recognition which is
the basis of the right to command for
those in authority and of the duty to
obey for those who are subjects, a duty
which cannot but ennoble all who live
up to its demands. Christ reigns where
the position in society which He Himself
has assigned to His Church is recognized,
for He bestowed on the Church the status
and the constitution of a society which,
by reason of the perfect ends which
it is called upon to attain, must be
held to be supreme in its own sphere;
He also made her the depository and
interpreter of His divine teachings,
and, by consequence, the teacher and
guide of every other society whatsoever,
not of course in the sense that she
should abstract in the least from their
authority, each in its own sphere supreme,
but that she should really perfect their
authority, just as divine grace perfects
human nature, and should give to them
the assistance necessary for men to
attain their true final end, eternal
happiness, and by that very fact make
them the more deserving and certain
promoters of their happiness here below.
49. It is, therefore, a fact
which cannot be questioned that the
true peace of Christ can only exist
in the Kingdom of Christ—"the
peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ."
It is no less unquestionable that, in
doing all we can to bring about the
re-establishment of Christ's kingdom,
we will be working most effectively
toward a lasting world peace.
Pius X in taking as his motto "To
restore all things in Christ" was
inspired from on High to lay the foundations
of that "work of peace" which
became the program and principal task
of Benedict XV. These two programs of
Our Predecessors We desire to unite
in one—the re-establishment of
the Kingdom of Christ by peace in Christ—"the
peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ."
With might and main We shall ever strive
to bring about this peace, putting Our
trust in God, Who when He called Us
to the Chair of Peter, promised that
the divine assistance would never fail
Us. We ask that all assist and co-operate
with Us in this Our mission. Particularly
We ask you to aid us, Venerable Brothers,
you, His sheep, whom Our leader and
Lord, Jesus Christ, has called to feed
and to watch over as the most precious
portion of His flock, which comprises
all mankind. For, it is you whom the
"Holy Ghost hath placed to rule
the Church of God" (Acts xx, 28),
you to whom above all, and principally,
God "hath given the ministry of
reconciliation, and who for Christ therefore
are ambassadors." (II Cor. v, 18,
20) You participate in His teaching
power and are "the dispensers of
the mysteries of God." (I Cor.
iv, 1) You have been called by Him "the
salt of the earth," "the light
of the world" (Matt. v, 13, 14),
fathers and teachers of Christian peoples,
"a pattern of the flock from the
heart" (I Peter v, 3), and "you
shall be called great in the kingdom
of heaven." (Matt. v, 19) In fine,
you are the links of gold, as it were,
by which "the whole body of Christ,
which is the Church, is held compacted
and fitly joined together" (Ephesians
iv, 15, 16), built as it is on the solid
rock of Peter.
50. Of your praiseworthy industry,
We have had a quite recent proof on
the occasion of the International Eucharistic
Congress held in Rome and of the celebration
of the Centenary of the Sacred Congregation
of the Propagation of the Faith, when
several hundred bishops from all sections
of the globe were reunited with Us before
the tomb of the Holy Apostles. That
brotherly reunion, so solemn, because
of the great number and high dignity
of the bishops who were present, carried
our thoughts to the possibility of another
similar meeting of the whole episcopate
here in the center of Catholic unity,
and of the many effective results which
might follow such a meeting toward the
re-establishment of the social order
after the terrible disorders through
which we have just passed. The very
proximity of the Holy Year fills Us
with the solemn hope that this Our desire
may be fully realized.
51. We scarcely dare to include,
in so many words, in the program of
Our Pontificate the reassembling of
the Ecumenical Council which Pius IX,
the Pontiff of Our youth, had called
but had failed to see through except
to the completion of a part, albeit
most important, of its work. We as the
leader of the chosen people must wait
and pray for an unmistakable sign from
the God of mercy and of love of His
holy will in this regard. (Judges vi,
17)
52. In the meantime, though
We are quite conscious that it is not
necessary for Us to exhort you to greater
and more zealous efforts but rather
to bestow on you the praise which you
so richly deserve, yet the very consciousness
of Our Apostolic Office, of the fact
that We are the Common Father of all,
constrains Us to beseech you to exhibit
at all times a very special and tender
love toward that large family of spiritual
children which is, in a very special
way, committed to your immediate supervision.
From the reports received from you by
Us and by public fame, which is amply
confirmed in the press and in many other
ways, We know only too well what thanks
we should, in union with you, render
to the Good God for the great work which,
as the occasion permitted, He has done
through you and through your predecessors,
both for your clergy and for your faithful
people, a work which has come to maturity
in our own times and which We see being
multiplied on all sides in a most fruitful
manner.
53. In particular, We refer
to the numberless and diverse activities
initiated for the education and development,
