QUO GRAVIORA (On the "Pragmatic
Constitution"
Pope
Gregory XVI
Encyclical of
Pope Gregory XVI promulgated on 4 October 1833
To the Bishops of the
Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic
Blessing.
As more serious ills threaten the Catholic
Church from the heinous contrivances of its enemies, the popes who have been
placed in the See of St. Peter should be so much the quicker in taking action
to repel them. The popes have been delegated the supreme power of nourishing
and directing the Church. Our predecessor Pius VIII clearly understood this.
Many daring things were attempted--and not in vain--against the teaching of the
Church and its divine authority in the ecclesiastical province of the
2. These exhortations and encouragements of so
great a pope in such a serious matter should arouse you. This is appropriate
for those who were called to share in the administration and defense of the
Church. Moreover, what Our predecessor never thought of, and what would have
certainly disturbed him very much if he were still alive, was reserved for Us
to mourn. This is in spite of the fact that We have been appointed in his place
with vastly inferior merits and have no desire to hold this position. We cannot
say that a matter so opposed to the wishes of this Holy See had ceased. This
See is thus generally unaware of whatever effort you have made among those
leaders for the welfare of the Catholic religion and whatever result you have
obtained. We still await more accurate reports, which Pius VIII so greatly
commended to you, though three years have elapsed. Nor in truth can We assume
from this that you did not neglect your duty, that some salutary remedy had in
brought at that time to the wounds inflicted on the Catholic Church. On the
contrary, an occasion of sharper sorrow is in store for Us. Those matters are
already ratified and in full force, to the detriment of the Church and against
the agreements entered into between this Holy See and the united leaders. The
Church is thus subjected to an unworthy slavery, having been violently deprived
of the liberty which Christ gave it. What is more, its condition in those
regions worsened because of new causes coming from everywhere, a condition
which We (and you) may not contemplate. From that company of priests some men
arose who say evil things. They shamelessly condemn that deluded (as they call
it) regeneration and restoration of the reformers, thereby rashly enkindling
this Apostolic See. They do this in order to draw followers and to deceive the
unwary. Therefore, in whatever club they gather and hold meetings or
discussions, they never hesitate to treat the Catholic Church, as they say, to reform it.
3. Many of the priests of the city of
4. You know, venerable brothers, on what
erroneous principles the above- mentioned men and their followers depend and
where that desire which moves them to begin effecting
a revolution in the Church has its origin. We do not think it superfluous to
clarify many of those things and to explain them here. A false idea has for a
long time grown stronger and spread widely through these regions. This idea is
spread by an impious and absurd system of indifference toward religious matters
which claims that the Christian religion can become perfect in time. While the
patrons of such a false idea are afraid to adapt the shaky possibility of
perfection to the truths of faith, they establish it in the external administration
and discipline of the Church. Moreover, in order to bring about faith in their
error, they wrongfully and deceitfully usurp the authority of Catholic
theologians. These theologians propound here and there a distinction between
the teaching and the discipline of the Church which underlies this change, that it will always stand firm and never be harmed
by any alteration. Once this is established, they state categorically that
there are many things in the discipline of the Church in the present day, in its
government, and in the form of its external worship which are not suited to the
character of our time. These things, they say, should be changed, as they are
harmful for the growth and prosperity of the Catholic religion, before the
teaching of faith ant morals suffers any harm from it. Therefore, showing a
zeal for religion and showing themselves as an example of piety, they force
reforms, conceive of changes, and pretend to renew the Church.
5. Truly such reformers use these principles.
In addition, they disclose and propose them in many pamphlets, which they
distribute especially in
6. We will now discuss those sections of
discipline which are in effect for the whole Church. Because they are free from
ecclesiastical instruction, they can undergo change, but only by the pope, whom
Christ placed over the entire Church to judge concerning the necessity of
change for various reasons of circumstance. Thus, as St. Gelasius
wrote: "Balance the decrees of the canons and consider the precepts of
your predecessors, so that those things which the demands of the times require
to be relaxed for the rebuilding of the churches may be moderated through
careful consideration." It is tedious to detain you with a long speech,
venerable brothers, about the false principles which the reformers depend on.
They add rashness to error with the usual verbal license of such men, since
they attack this Holy See as if it were too persistent in outdated customs and
did not look deeply inside the character of our time. They accuse this See of
becoming blind amid the light of new knowledge, and of hardly distinguishing
those things which deal with the substance of religion from those which regard
only the external form. They say that it feeds superstition, fosters abuses,
and finally behaves as if it never looks after the interests of the Catholic
Church in changing times. Where does all this lead? Actually, so that the most
Holy See of Peter in which Jesus Christ placed the foundation of His Church is
hastened toward envy. Its divine authority is subjected to the hatred of the
people, and the union of other churches with it is broken. The dissidents give
up hope then that they would obtain what they want at this Apostolic See. They
assert that the Church--one nation, as they call it--should be ruled by its own
laws. From here they continue so as to grant free authority to revoke or
abrogate the laws of the whole Church to each individual pastor, if the
expediency of his diocese demands it. What then? Since they do not perceive any
advantage among you, they try to free those same priests from the submission
due to the bishops. They are not afraid to concede to the priests the right of
administrating the dioceses. It is quite clear that these men, acting against
the truth of faith, have overthrown the ecclesiastical hierarchy which was
established by divine will and defined by the fathers of the Council of Trent.
It is also clear that they want to return to the very errors in the
propositions 6, 7, 8, and 9 proscribed by the aforesaid dogmatic constitution Auctorem fidei.
7. This appears to clearly concern those
priests of
8. They contend that according to the opinion
of the Council of Trent, he who was once a priest cannot again become a layman
by his own authority. He can do this only by the authority of the Church, and
they understand by the word "Church" each bishop to whom they give
the power to reduce priests to the lay state. Then they affirm that the
character which is imprinted in the sacrament of Orders, which the Council said
was indelible makes the sacrament of Orders unable to
be repeated. It does not in the least, they say, forbid a priest to become a
layman in the aforementioned manner. Finally, they hardly shrink from numbering
that same character among the things recently agreed upon by the scholastics.
Moreover, as they contrive such things, what else can they really do unless to
wickedly scoff at and oppose the true meaning of the previously mentioned
decrees of the Council of Trent and the whole Church concerning them, thereby
piling error upon error?
9. They shrink no less from sound doctrine in
the things which they boldly propose concerning the power and use of
indulgences. They propose either openly or through equivocations the idea that
indulgences can hardly be referred to the temporal pains of sin which remain
and which must be expiated, either in this life or in the next. Up to the
eleventh century, they explain there were no penalties other than the canonical
ones which were to be removed by the Church. For the first time, at the time of
the holy wars, the punishments which God imposed on the sinner were subjected
to the power of the keys. Then, they continue, a great distortion of the
Church's discipline emerged. The treasure established by the merits of Jesus
Christ and the satisfactions of the saints, unknown to earlier centuries, was
discovered by Pope Clement V. Finally, to make matters brief, the indulgences
were used to that end only, in order to recall to mind the present penalties by
the Church and the ancient canonical ones, and so to lead sinners to penance.
Where can they go from there, unless to arouse the proscribed propositions 17
and 19 of Luther, 6 of Peter of Osma, 60 of Baius, and finally 40, 41, and 42 of the cited constitution
Auctorem fidei and to
restore shamelessly the hostile errors in them?
10. These men want to utterly reform the holy
institution of sacramental penance. They insolently slander the Church and
falsely accuse it of error, and their shamelessness should be deplored even
more. They claim that the Church, by ordering annual confession, allowing
indulgences as an added condition of fulfilling confession, and permitting
private Eucharist and daily works of piety, has weakened that salutary
tradition and subtracted from its power and efficacy. The Church is the pillar
and foundation of truth--all of which truth is taught by the Holy Spirit.
Should the church be able to order, yield to, or permit those things which tend
toward the destruction of souls and the disgrace and detriment of the sacrament
instituted by Christ? Those proponents of new ideas who are eager to foster
true piety in the people should consider that, with the frequency of the
sacraments diminished or entirely eliminated, religion slowly languishes and finally
perishes.
11. Venerable brothers, it would be too long to
pursue the many erroneous ideas of the reformers concerning the stipend for
Masses, which they conclude should be abolished. They object to the practice of
offering several Masses for the same deceased, which they translate as being
contrary to the Church's teaching on the infinite value of that same sacrifice
of the new law. Nor do We want to discuss their errors concerning the new
ritual written in the vernacular, which they want to have adapted more to the
character of our times. We shall also pass over their ideas on holy societies,
public prayers, and holy pilgrimages, which they disapprove in various ways. It
should be enough to indicate that these ideas do not flow from any other corrupt
source nor come from any other principles than those which were already
solemnly condemned by the Church in the constitution Auctorem
fidei cited several times, especially in propositions
30, 33, 66, and 78.
12. Venerable brothers, We are following a little
more broadly the examples of Our predecessors in similar situations, as the
cause of the apostolic duty seems to require. We resolved to discuss these
things so that, with the errors of those men revealed, it might become known
where the wicked passion for introducing novelties into the Church might lead.
As for the rest, it is enough to suggest that the bitterness of the times in
which Catholicism now finds itself oppresses Us with
many sorrows. We mourn the pure spouse of the immaculate lamb, Jesus Christ,
for it is pillaged by the attack of internal and external enemies and by the
evils which oppress it and reduce it to this disgraceful captivity. We deplore
with unending tears what is done by children shamefully straying from the bosom
of a loving mother and uttering lies about her.
13. May We not fail in spirit! May We not
stifle Our apostolic voice in so serious a Catholic necessity! May We not allow the Lord's flock to be plundered and the sheep
of Christ to be devoured by all the beasts of the field, while We put aside the
strength, judgment, and virtue of the spirit of the Lord like dumb dogs unable
to bark. Know therefore, venerable brothers, that We
are prepared to endure anything which threatens Us. We shall not retreat until
the Catholic Church is restored to the original freedom which totally belongs
to its divine constitution and until the mouth of the slanderers is blocked up.
We cannot do anything more than to arouse your constancy and virtue and to
strongly exhort you to take up the cause of the Spirit of God and of the
Church. You share in a part of the concern whose fulness
is given to Us. It is your duty to protect the holy deposit of faith and sacred
doctrine. It is your duty to drive every profane reform far away from the
Church and to exert yourselves with your whole heart against those who try to
infringe on the rights of this Holy See. Therefore, draw the sword of the
spirit, which is the word of God. Preach as the apostle Paul impresses upon you
in the person of Timothy his disciple. Stand firm in good times and in bad.
Denounce, beseech, rebuke in all patience and teaching. Nothing should deter
you from throwing yourselves into every conflict for the glory of God, for the
protection of the Church, and for the salvation of the souls entrusted to your
care. Meditate on Him who endured a similar opposition from sinners. If you
fear the daring of the wicked, remember that the decision is made concerning
the strength of the episcopacy and the divine power of governing the Church. So
it only remains for you to remember the serious duties of your office and the
difficult judgment which hangs over everyone in authority. The overseers of the
house of
Given at