A QUO DIE (On Unity Among Christians)
Pope
Clement XIII
Encyclical of
Pope Clement XIII promulgated on 13 September 1758.
Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic
Blessing.
Since that day when the unbelievable and
unexpected happened, when God took Our unworthiness and placed it in the Holy
See of St. Peter, the summit of all the churches, We have been troubled by a
bitter and constant concern. A much heavier burden of sorrow has been placed on
Us than We are able to bear. We would certainly have given Ourselves over to
weeping if something had not deterred Us from this excessive sadness -
something similar to what happened to the most holy prophet, the dynamic leader
of
2. In so many and such dangerous battles, the
hope of victory is that much better and that much more certain if we preserve
unity in the close bond of peace.[5] Therefore, Venerable Brothers, may your
love in all its strength remove from the hearts of the faithful the seeds of
any kind of dissension. It is your responsibility that everybody seeks
peace,[6] that everybody searches for the elements of peace.[7] The Lord Jesus,
a short time before He gave himself up to die, said to His apostles,
"Peace I give you; my own peace I give you."[8] He does not leave the
inheritance of peace only to the apostles, but also to us. He says "Not
only for these but for those also who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one, Father, may they be one in us as you are in me and I am in
you."[9] Venerable Brothers, see to it that by eliminating spiritual
dissensions, we constantly and continually preserve so great and so precious an
inheritance which the Lord Jesus transmitted to us. The apostle says that the
Holy Spirit is a pledge of this inheritance. When we place ourselves before Him
and beseech Him to make holy the sacrifice of the Church, we ask nothing more than
that the bond of love be preserved unbroken in the Church by spiritual grace.
It is good for us all to remember that when the Lord asked "who do men say
the Son of Man is" and whom the disciples
believed He was, they answered that there were various opinions about Him. But
St. Peter confessed that He was the son of the living God, not revealed by
flesh and blood but by the Father.[10]
3. From this, you can easily see that there is
a difference between the sons of light and the sons of the world. The latter
disagree among themselves with various and diverse opinions, while the former,
initiated into the mysteries of unity, profess the one faith of all by the
mouth of one, through the head of all. Therefore, concentrate all your
attention on increasing peace among the faithful. Uproars, contentions,
rivalries, animosities, and dissensions should be silenced.[11] In this way
those who go by the name of Catholic can all be perfect in the same sense, in
the same opinion,[12] saying the same thing together,[13] knowing the same
thing and understanding it thoroughly. They should understand that if they want
to be members of Christ, they cannot have concord with the head if they want to
be in disagreement with the members. Nor can those who have not lived in fraternal
love be counted as brothers by the Almighty Father.
4. The apostle shows us remarkable signs of
love and reliable pointers, so that nobody strays in a matter which contains
the salvation of the human race. He says: "Love is patient and kind; it is
never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or
selfish; it does not take offense and is not resentful."[14] From this, we
should clearly understand that where love is absent, there reigns that malice
which we men have brought about from the beginning of the human race. Arrogance
and proud contempt, stubbornness and avarice, intolerance and ambition, envy
and the inordinate desire for glory-these and other depravities of the spirit
flare up from this like the torches of our soul. All of these things are
produced by the corruption of lust in the world.[15]
5. Let swelling of the spirit and stubborn
customs depart from episcopal government. We who say
we dwell in Christ should walk just as He walked.[16]
We should not seek an example anywhere else than from the Lord Jesus, whom we
should imitate. For when the disagreement among the disciples arose about who
should be reckoned the greatest, He said: "Among pagans it is the kings
who lord it over them. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among
you must behave as the least; the leader as if he were the one who serves. Here
I am among you as one who serves."[17] Therefore, just as the Lord Jesus
Christ forbade the apostles to rule, we believe that we have come not to rule
the Church but to serve it. May we concentrate all our thoughts, labors, and
counsels to that purpose, so that we might preserve safe and sound in the
Church those sheep entrusted to us by the Lord. We should desire nothing more
than their welfare.
6. Therefore, elders, We speak to you in the
words of the prince of the apostles: "I am an elder myself and a witness
to the sufferings of Christ, and with you I have a share in the glory that is
to be revealed. Be shepherds of the flock of God."[18] Watch over the
sheep, not like the hired hand who sees the wolf coming, abandons them, and
runs away,[19] but gladly, because God wants it.[20] Be like the shepherd who
gives his life for his sheep,[21] not for sordid money but freely.[22] Do not
lord over the clergy, but become examples for the flock. There is no more
offensive or dangerous poison than the desire to rule. If a bishop is corrupted
by this, it is inevitable that the church entrusted to him will be shaken, if
not destroyed. Therefore, a bishop should not want to be powerful, but rather
to be useful. Having made himself an example for the flock, he should like a
torch radiate blameless conduct, moral integrity, piety, and religion. When the
people see this, they will walk happily and quickly in the way of the Lord, for
they will see that they have been given a leader and not a master.
7. It is especially characteristic of love to
be lifted up with joy when someone in the
8. We cannot be silent concerning the useless
desire for glory which a certain bishop correctly called hidden destruction.
Once it has shown itself, there is perhaps nothing more hostile to love.
Servility creeps up on whatever bishop this deadly plague gets hold of and
infects; it attacks his most noble part, the soul. It captures him with its
poisonous flatteries and constantly besieges him. It drives the wretch to the
point that he no longer seeks the glory of God but only his own, increasing
enormously that distorted and excessive self-esteem by which each of us is
greatly deceived. Even the Lord Jesus denied that He sought this.[27]
Detraction and lying follow flattery as destructive attendants and ministers,
so that nothing is left safe and sound for the eminent and virtuous men in the
company of the bishop. For this reason, Solomon in his wisdom warns that it is
better to be seized by wisdom than deceived by the flattery of fools.[25] He also says: "Turn your back on the mouth that
misleads; keep your distance from lips that deceive."[29] Bishops should
always keep this in mind: "When a ruler listens to false reports, all his
ministers will be scoundrels."[30] We must stop being envious of glory.[31] Thus, glory will be the downfall of those who think
earthly things are important.[32] Let us look higher-let us look upon that
heavenly home of eternal glory. Let us not think that our true, solid, and
serious glory comes from the lips of men.[33] We have
all sinned, and we all need the glory of God. Having died to our sins,[34] we should not glory in ourselves. The Father should be
glorified in the Son,[35] so that we might be filled with the fruit of justice
through Jesus Christ for the glory of God,[36] to whom alone belong all glory,
majesty, authority, and power.[37]
9. Among the fruits of justice, mercy to the
poor should certainly be considered the most important. That justice which
comes from faith belongs to Jesus Christ.[38] It is
true that "if one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of
clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, 'I
wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty' without giving them these
bare necessities of life, then what good is that?"[39] Thus, the apostle
James questions all Christians. Every faithful person, especially everyone who
is a little more wealthy than the others, should out
of mercy come to the assistance of the poor. They require our generosity as
their principal right, for we hold the goods of the Church, which are the
prayers of the faithful, the price of sins, and the inheritance of the poor,
not as our own but as if in trust. It is not justifiable to use it for
ourselves in such a way that nothing remains for those who could rightfully cry
out, "What you spend is ours!" Where does such a great abundance of
things come to us from, if not from the gifts of the Church? Like a bride, we
should be content[40] with the good things we receive,
that is, food and shelter,[41] considering piety with sufficiency as a great
profit. It is certainly a special gift when it replenishes more abundantly
those things which we need to protect, nourish, and embellish the bride. It is
certainly everybody's great gain, because we obtain grace from God by
almsgiving. Our blind mind is illuminated by it and we who are broken and
fallen with a natural weakness are raised up and supported. When we pour forth
our souls in desire and replenish our afflicted spirit, our light will rise in
the darkness and our shadows will become like noon, for the Lord will fill our
souls with his splendors.[42]
10. Actually to obtain light for the mind from
God and to obtain the grace and devotion without which the episcopal
duties would languish, almsgiving has great power. But it is no more efficacious
than prayer and the most holy sacrifice of the
11. As We are in a certain manner
intermediaries between God and mankind, We offer to God the prayers of the
people, and in the same way We communicate the will of God to them. This is the
will of God: Our sanctification.[50] Thus it is Our
duty to proclaim and reveal the mystery of Christ,[51] just as it is fitting
for Us to speak. It is necessary, first of all to teach this to the people: The
body of Christ was similar to ours, with the exception of sin. It is not only
but also sanctifying, capable of suffering, exposed to death, and able to stand
in the stead of all of us. Christ offered his body, and us at the same time, to
satisfy divine justice.[52] He handed himself--and us
at the same time--to all the torments which our crimes merited. He was
condemned to the sorrows of death and suffered the curse given to sinners by
the law: death under the harshest tortures. He satisfied the law, for the death
and burial of Jesus Christ abolished all sin. The Lord Jesus rose from the
grave with the same flesh but it was stripped of its mortality and adorned with
glory of eternity. In order that they may be justified, it is necessary for
sinners to die with Christ, who died in their place and in their name. Then
they must enter the grave with Christ, in order to leave behind the flesh
defiled by sin. They must hand over the old man to the wrath of God and to the
death of the sinner, so that by baptism a new man might return to life in us
and live again with Christ in immortality and eternal glory. Therefore all
Christians should think about that eternal life and not this brief one. They
should remove from their hearts the desire for pleasures and riches which are
the instruments of pleasure. Cast off pride, in which all harmful desires are
contained. The world is passing away, as well as what it craves for; however,
he who keeps the will of God will endure forever.[53]
12. You can easily see, Venerable Brothers, how
important it is for you yourselves to teach the people these and all other
things which pertain to God's mysteries. Therefore, you should carefully
consider that those whom you choose to exercise the priestly ministry and to
teach the people the fundamentals of Christianity should possess great purity
of life, moral integrity, chastity, justice, piety, and devotion. How serious
it would be if something bad, if something vicious, if something perverse were
to infect their character with bad habits. Cautiously and prudently remove this
danger from the pastors. Help and instruct each of your neighbors with salutary
advice. Give the soul of the faithful wings with which to fly from the earth to
contemplate heavenly matters; once it is snatched away from the world, give
that soul to God and recall the divine image in it to its original purity. On
the other hand, it should not be said that pastors who ask to give an account
of their lives cannot themselves bear this scrutiny. Nor should they reproach
the character of another, so that they themselves must be contradicted. The
learning which is perceived as worthy of a clergyman should attain pure and
holy habits. They should have a knowledge of the
Scriptures: "All Scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used
for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them
to be holy that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work."[54] They should go to both testaments of the Bible, to the
traditions of the Church, and to the writings of the holy fathers, as if they
were going to springs from which pours forth a pure and undefiled teaching of
faith and character. They should read often and reflect upon the Roman Catechism,
the summation of Catholic teaching, which provides holy sermons to give to the
faithful.
13. In considering someone's suitability for
the ministry, do not rely only on individual enthusiasm or on someone's
recommendation. You should consider as best suited to be a faithful minister
and to receive a part of the Lord's flock the man whose timid virtue shirks the
ministry. "Do not be too quick to lay hands on any man"[55] which
happens if we do not consider and test the men over and over again. Lest we pay
the price to God for imprudent rashness and share in another's sin,[56] let him be tested carefully and accurately and judged
severely. It should not weary you if We dwell a little longer on this matter
which requires great attention. In whatever manner the priests behave, the
majority of the people will behave in the same way. Everyone looks upon
them--especially if they are parish priests--as if in a mirror. For this
reason, nobody deserves anything more destructive from the Church than evil
priests, who infect the people with their vices and so corrupt the Church that
they seem to harm it more by their example than by their sin.
14. Associate with distinguished men in the
sacred ministry, not because we consider ourselves inadequate in the duty of
preaching the gospel, but rather so that we might seem to leave in the hands of
others the nets which the Lord gave to us to become fishers of men.[57] The principal duty of the bishop is to preach the word
of God, for the apostle cried: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.
It is a duty which has been laid on me."[58] The Lord Jesus Christ did not
send him primarily to baptize- -even though this is a holy action--but
especially to preach the gospel.[59] We know that the
ministry of the word held first place in the minds of the apostles and that
these holy men did not neglect this duty.[60] For this reason they thought it
fitting to entrust to deacons the rest of the charitable works toward their
neighbors.
15. Because the bishop cannot manage the Church
and supervise his flock if he is away, you should not be absent from your
churches for any length of time. This was solemnly ratified by natural law and
by the holy canons, especially by the decrees of the Council of Trent. The
bishop should visit all the places in his diocese to protect the power of their
laws when they begin to fail, either through the laziness of the ministers or
through the stubbornness of the faithful. If there is a serious and necessary
reason for you to leave your diocese and if it is necessary to be absent for
any length of time, We ask you not to allow the Church to be weakened by the
desire of her pastor. Whenever you are absent, this danger is present.
16. In addition, example should accompany
words. We should show ourselves in all things as an example of good works[62] so that our opponents will respect us and not have
anything bad to say about us.[63] Deeds should not be silent without words, nor
should the lack of deeds shame the words. In addition, we believe in our heart
that the perfect leader of the Church has been furnished with the perfect goods
of the greatest virtue, so that his life might be adorned by what he says and
his teaching by what he lives. The home of modesty should be our own, as well
as the teacher of modesty. The ecclesiastical discipline which we follow should
be full of dignity and harmony. If we are not committed to anybody's will and
pleasure, we will not indulge in the softness and weakness of our spirit and we
will not single out anyone for special treatment. This often creates great
turmoil in the administration of the Church and gives serious offense,
providing contempt and envy for the bishop.
17. As for what concerns Us, We have already
taken care[64] that We establish as bishops in the
various countries those who bring to the episcopacy a sound doctrine, a life
beyond reproach, and a mind prepared for all things for the sake of Jesus
Christ. We believe that the responsibility should go to him who presides over
it; let him not swell up with the greatness of the honor but diminish in
humility. In scrutinizing and testing men whom We want to place over such a
great responsibility, We shall use you as witnesses and authorities, trusting
in the holy devotion of your testimony and in your faith. We do not doubt in
the least that you will not use any human rationale, but only thoughts for Him
who has called you to the work of the ministry for building up the body of
Christ.[65]
18. It remains, Venerable Brothers, that We
advise you concerning the fortitude and strength of spirit needed to oppose
those things which are against the orthodox faith, which harm piety or which
damage the integrity of moral living. Let us be strong in the spirit of the Lord,
in good judgment, and in courage.[66] We should not be
like dumb watchdogs unable to bark,[67] allowing our flocks to fall prey to
looting and our sheep to be devoured by every wild animal in the field.[68] Nor
should anything deter us from throwing ourselves into battle for the glory of
God and for the salvation of souls: "Think of the way he endured such
opposition from sinners."[69] If we are afraid of the audacity of
worthless men, it affects the strength of the episcopacy and its sublime and
divine power to govern the Church. Nor can we Christians endure or exist any
longer-if it has come to that-if we become overly frightened by the snares or
threats of the damned. Therefore, trusting not in ourselves but in the God who
raises the dead to life,[70] we despise human affairs and cry out to the Lord:
You are my hope in the day of disaster.[71] Let us never be exhausted in body
or in spirit, for we are fellow workers with God.[72] The Lord Jesus is with us
always even to the end of time.[73] Therefore let us not be weakened by scandal
or persecution, lest we seem ungrateful for God's favor, since his assistance
is as strong as His promises are true.
19. In the Last Judgment We shall be called to
give account on behalf of everybody and before everybody who is reckoned in the
name of Christ. Therefore We beseech you that if some
scandal or disagreement arises which you are unable to put down, to refer it to
this See of the blessed Prince of the apostles. As from the head and apex of
the episcopacy, that very episcopacy and every authority which bears the same
name comes from here. All waters flow from here as if
from their very source, and they flow uncorrupted from a pure head through the
various regions of the whole world. From here all the churches take what the
water worthy of clean bodies avoids teaching and the people whom, as though
fouled in unpurged filth, the water avoids washing.
We trust first of all in the strength of God, then in
the protection of St. Peter, whose care holds all present. We shall help you
with advice, resources, and authority, for We are ready to be very near you,[74] to keep the churches and the brothers safe and sound.
As for the rest, We trust in God under the weight of this burden we have
received;[75] since He is the originator of this
burden, He will also help us. In order that human weakness does not falter
under the greatness of His grace, He who gave the dignity will also give the
strength. Meanwhile in humble entreaty, beseech God in His merciful goodness to
subdue now those who fight against Us, to strengthen your faith, and to
increase devotion and peace. May He produce in Us, His humble servant, whom He
wanted to oversee the government of His Church and to show the riches of His
grace, enough strength in such a labor. May He make Us
useful for your protection, and may He strive to extend to Our Papacy what was
given to the age, for the profit of devotion. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you; We bless you and We greet you with
a holy kiss. We lovingly impart to all of you, brother priests, and to all the
faithful of your churches Our apostolic blessing. Given in
ENDNOTES
1. Nm 11.11,14.
2. Rom 1.12.
3. 2 Pt 3.11.
4. Ez 13.5.
5. Eph 4.3.
6. 1 Pt 3.11.
7. Rom 14.19.
8. Jn 14.27.
9. Jn 17.20, 21.
10. Mt 16.14f.
11. 2 Cor 12.20.
12. 1 Cor 1.10.
13. 2 Cor 13.11.
14. I Cor 13.4, 5.
15. 2 Pt 1.4.
16. 1 Jn 2.6.
17. Lk 22.25.
18. 1 Pt 5.1-2.
19. Jn 10.12.
20. 1 Pt 5.1-2.
21. Jn 10.11.
22. 1 Pt 5.1-2.
23. Eccl. 4.4.
24. Nm 11.27.
25. Nm 11.29.
26. 2 Thes 3.15.
27. Jn 8.50.
28.
29. 29. Prv 4.24.
30. Prov 29.12.
31. Gal 5.26.
32. Phil 3.19.
33. Rom 3.23.
34. I Pt 2.24.
35. Jn 14.13.
36. Phil 1.11.
37. Jude 1.25.
38. Phil 3.9.
39. Jas 2.15.
40. 1 Tm 6.6.
41. 1 Tm 6.8.
42. Is 58.10,11.
43. 1 Thes 5.17-18.
44. Rom 8. 26.
45. Jas 1.5.
46. Heb 11.27.
47. Ps 70.6.
48. Lk 18.1
49. Hab 2.3.
50. 1 Thes 4.3.
51.
52. 1 Pt 3.18.
53. 1 Jn 2.17.
54. 2 Tm 3.16-17.
55. 1 Tm 5.22.
56. 1 Tm 5.22.
57. Mt 4.19.
58. 1 Cor 9.16.
59. 1 Cor 1.17.
60. Acts 6.2,4.
61. 1 Tm 4.13.
62. Ti 2.7.
63. Ti 2.8.
64. Ps 76.5.
65. Ept 4.12.
66. Mi 3.8.
67. Is 56.10.
68. Ez 34.8.
69. Heb 12.3.
70. 2 Cor 1.9.
71. Jer 17.17.
72. 1 Cor 3.9.
73. Mt 28.20.
74. 2 Cor 12.15.
75. 1 Thes 2.2.