In Dominico
Agro
Encyclical of Pope Clement XIII
on Instruction in the Faith
To
the Venerable Brothers, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and Bishops. Venerable
Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Benediction.
In the Lord's field,
for the tending of which Divine Providence placed Us as overseer, there is
nothing which demands as much vigilant care and unremitting labor in its
cultivation than guarding the good seed of Catholic teaching which the Apostles
received from Jesus Christ and handed on to Us. If in laziness this is neglected, the enemy of the human race will sow weeds
while the workers sleep. Then weeds will be found
which should be committed to the flames rather than good grain to store in the
barns. However, St. Paul strongly encourages Us to protect
the faith that the saints handed on to Us.(1) He told Timothy to preserve the
sacred trust (2) because dangerous times were coming (3) when evil and
deceitful men would exist in the Church of God.(4) The insidious tempters would
use their work to try to infect unwary minds with errors which are hostile to
evangelical truth.
It often happens that
certain unworthy ideas come forth in the
The
faithful—especially those who are simple or uncultivated—should be kept away
from dangerous and narrow paths upon which they can hardly set foot without
faltering. The sheep should not be led to pasture
through trackless places. Nor should peculiar ideas—even those of Catholic
scholars—be proposed to them. Rather, only those ideas should
be communicated which are definitely marked as Catholic truth by their
universality, ambiguity, and harmony. Besides, since the crowd cannot go up to
the mountain (5) upon which the glory of the Lord came down, and if whoever
crosses the boundaries to see will die, the teachers of the people should
establish boundaries around them so that no word strays beyond that which is
necessary or useful for salvation. The faithful should obey the apostolic
advice not to know more than is necessary, but to know in moderation.(6)
The popes clearly
understood this. They devoted all their efforts not only to cut short with the
sword of anathema the poisonous buds of growing error, but also to cut away
certain developing ideas which either could prevent the Christian people
unnecessarily from bearing a greater fruit of faith or could harm the minds of
the faithful by their proximity to error. So the
Council of Trent condemned those heresies which tried at that time to dim the
light of the Church and which led Catholic truth into a clearer light as if the
cloud of errors had been dispersed. As our predecessors
understood that that holy meeting of the universal Church was so prudent in
judgment and so moderate that it abstained from condemning ideas which
authorities among Church scholars supported, they wanted another work prepared
with the agreement of that holy council which would cover the entire teaching which
the faithful should know and which would be far removed from any error.
They printed and distributed this book under the title of The Roman Catechism.
There are aspects of their action worthy of special praise. In
it they compiled the teaching which is common to the whole Church and which is
far removed from every danger of error, and they proposed to transmit it openly
to the faithful in very eloquent words according to the precept of Christ the
Lord who told the apostles to proclaim in the light what He had said in the
dark and to proclaim from the rooftops what they heard in secret.(7) They have
obeyed His bride, the Church, whose words are, "Show me where you recline
at midday".(8) For where it is not midday and the light is not so bright
that truth can be clearly known, error can easily be mistaken for truth because
of its appearance of truth and can be distinguished from truth only with
difficulty in the darkness. They knew that there were
before and would again be people who attract those who seek food by the promise
of more abundant pastures of wisdom and knowledge and that many people would
come to those pastures because stolen waters are sweeter and hidden bread more
delightful.(9) Therefore, in case the Church should be deceived and wander after
the flocks of the companions who are themselves wanderers and unsettled with no
certainty of truth, who are always learning (10) but never arriving at the
knowledge of truth, they proposed that only what is necessary and very useful
for salvation be clearly and plainly explained in the Roman Catechism and
communicated to the faithful.
But even though this
book, composed with remarkable work and effort, was universally approved and
welcomed with the highest praises, at that time, the love of novelty almost
wrested it from the priests' hands by inspiring the production of more and more
catechisms which could compare in no way with the Roman Catechism. Thus two evils arose. Agreement on a method of teaching was almost destroyed, and the weak members of the faithful
were scandalized at finding that they were no longer united by the same
language and topics. On the other hand, contentions arose from different ways
of transmitting Catholic truth and disunity of spirit and great disagreements
from rivalry while one declared he was a follower of Apollo, another of Cephas, and another of Paul. We think that nothing can be more fatal to God's greater glory than the bitterness of
those disagreements. Nothing can eliminate more disastrously the fruits which the faithful should gain from Christian
discipline. Thus, in order to remove the double evil from the Church, We must
return to that method from which some, setting themselves up in the Church as
wiser, have insolently and imprudently led the
faithful away for some time. We think that the Roman Catechism should be
offered to the priests again so that just as it once strengthened the Catholic
faith and strengthened the minds of the faithful in the Church's teaching which
is the pillar of truth, (12) it may now turn them away from new ideas which
neither antiquity nor unanimity recommend. To make the book more easily
accessible and to correct the errors which have
occurred in course of production, We have ensured that the copy published by
Our predecessor St. Pius V in accordance with the decree of the Council of
Trent is reprinted in
So since Our care and
diligence are providing a very suitable aid to remove the deceptions of wicked
ideas at this very difficult time for the Church and to spread and establish
true and sound teaching, it is your duty to see to it that the faithful accept it.
Because the popes wanted this book set before pastors almost as the norm of
Catholic faith and Christian discipline in order that unanimity might exist
also in the method of transmitting doctrine, We now
strongly recommend it to you, venerable brothers. We strongly encourage you to
order that everybody who has the care of souls should use it in instructing the
faithful in the Catholic truth in order to preserve unity of learning, charity,
and harmony of spirits. For it is your duty to be attentive to everybody's
serenity. Finally, it is the bishop's duty to watch carefully that nobody
breaks the bond of unity and creates schisms by proudly acting in his own
interests.
If those who ought to
present and explain these books to the faithful are unsuitable teachers, they
will prove useless or almost useless. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance
that you choose for the office of communicating Christian teaching to the
faithful not only men endowed with theological knowledge, but more importantly,
men who manifest humility, enthusiasm for sanctifying souls, and charity. The
totality of Christian practice does not consist in abundance of words nor in skill of debating nor in the search from praise and
glory but in true and voluntary humility. There are those whom a greater wisdom
raises up but also separates from the society of other people. The more they
know, the more they dislike the virtue of harmony. Wisdom itself warns them
with the word of God: "Have salt in yourselves and be at peace among us".(13) Thus it is necessary to have the salt of wisdom to
preserve the love of neighbor and to offset weaknesses. If they turn from zeal
for wisdom and from concern for their neighbor to disagreement, they have salt
without peace—not a gift of virtue but a cause for condemnation. The more they
know, the worse they fail. The Apostle James condemns them with these words:
"If you are jealous and have contentions in your hearts, do not boast and
be liars against the truth. This wisdom did not come down from on high. Rather,
it is earthly, animal, diabolical. Inconstancy and
every wicked deed accompany jealousy and contention. The wisdom
which comes from on high is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful,
modest, persuasive, agreeable to good things, full of
mercy and good fruits. It does not judge and is without rivalry".(14)
Therefore,
while We pray to God in affliction of spirit and in humility of heart to bestow
his indulgence and mercy on our efforts to prevent disagreement disturbing the
faithful, and to ensure that in the bond of peace and in charity of spirit, we
all know, praise, and glorify the one God and our Lord Jesus Christ, We greet
you with a holy kiss and We lovingly impart Our apostolic blessing to all of
you and to all the faithful of your churches.
Given at
Endnotes
1. Heb 3.
2. 2 Tm 1.14.
3. Ibid.. 3.1.
4. Ibid., 3.13.
5. Ex 19.12.
6. Rom 12.3.
7. Mt 10.27.
8. Ct 1.7.
9. Prv 9.17.
10. 2 Tm 3.7.
11. Gn 11.1.
12. 1 Tm 3.15.
13. Mk 9.49.
14. Jas 4.