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Encyclical
promulgated on 31 December 1930
To the Venerable
Brethren, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local
Ordinaries enjoying Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable
Brethren and Beloved Children, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1. How great is
the dignity of chaste wedlock, Venerable Brethren, may be judged
best from this that Christ Our Lord, Son of the Eternal Father,
having assumed the nature of fallen man, not only, with His loving
desire of compassing the redemption of our race, ordained it in an
especial manner as the principle and foundation of domestic society
and therefore of all human intercourse, but also raised it to the
rank of a truly and great sacrament of the New Law, restored it to
the original purity of its divine institution, and accordingly
entrusted all its discipline and care to His spouse the Church.
2. In order,
however, that amongst men of every nation and every age the desired
fruits may be obtained from this renewal of matrimony, it is
necessary, first of all, that men's minds be illuminated with the
true doctrine of Christ regarding it; and secondly, that Christian
spouses, the weakness of their wills strengthened by the internal
grace of God, shape all their ways of thinking and of acting in
conformity with that pure law of Christ so as to obtain true peace
and happiness for themselves and for their families.
3. Yet not only
do We, looking with paternal eye on the universal world from this
Apostolic See as from a watch-tower, but you, also, Venerable
Brethren, see, and seeing deeply grieve with Us that a great number
of men, forgetful of that divine work of redemption, either entirely
ignore or shamelessly deny the great sanctity of Christian wedlock,
or relying on the false principles of a new and utterly perverse
morality, too often trample it under foot. And since these most
pernicious errors and depraved morals have begun to spread even
amongst the faithful and are gradually gaining ground, in Our office
as Christ's Vicar upon earth and Supreme Shepherd and Teacher We
consider it Our duty to raise Our voice to keep the flock committed
to Our care from poisoned pastures and, as far as in Us lies, to
preserve it from harm.
4. We have
decided therefore to speak to you, Venerable Brethren, and through
you to the whole Church of Christ and indeed to the whole human
race, on the nature and dignity of Christian marriage, on the
advantages and benefits which accrue from it to the family and to
human society itself, on the errors contrary to this most important
point of the Gospel teaching, on the vices opposed to conjugal
union, and lastly on the principal remedies to be applied. In so
doing We follow the footsteps of Our predecessor, Leo XIII, of happy
memory, whose Encyclical Arcanum,[1] published fifty years
ago, We hereby confirm and make Our own, and while We wish to
expound more fully certain points called for by the circumstances of
our times, nevertheless We declare that, far from being obsolete, it
retains its full force at the present day.
5. And to begin
with that same Encyclical, which is wholly concerned in vindicating
the divine institution of matrimony, its sacramental dignity, and
its perpetual stability, let it be repeated as an immutable and
inviolable fundamental doctrine that matrimony was not instituted or
restored by man but by God; not by man were the laws made to
strengthen and confirm and elevate it but by God, the Author of
nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed, and
hence these laws cannot be subject to any human decrees or to any
contrary pact even of the spouses themselves. This is the doctrine
of Holy Scripture;[2] this is the constant tradition of the
Universal Church; this the solemn definition of the sacred Council
of Trent, which declares and establishes from the words of Holy Writ
itself that God is the Author of the perpetual stability of the
marriage bond, its unity and its firmness.[3]
6. Yet although
matrimony is of its very nature of divine institution, the human
will, too, enters into it and performs a most noble part. For each
individual marriage, inasmuch as it is a conjugal union of a
particular man and woman, arises only from the free consent of each
of the spouses; and this free act of the will, by which each party
hands over and accepts those rights proper to the state of
marriage,[4] is so necessary to constitute true marriage that it
cannot be supplied by any human power.[5] This freedom, however,
regards only the question whether the contracting parties really
wish to enter upon matrimony or to marry this particular person; but
the nature of matrimony is entirely independent of the free will of
man, so that if one has once contracted matrimony he is thereby
subject to its divinely made laws and its essential properties. For
the Angelic Doctor, writing on conjugal honor and on the offspring
which is the fruit of marriage, says: "These things are so contained
in matrimony by the marriage pact itself that, if anything to the
contrary were expressed in the consent which makes the marriage, it
would not be a true marriage."[6]
7. By matrimony,
therefore, the souls of the contracting parties are joined and knit
together more directly and more intimately than are their bodies,
and that not by any passing affection of sense of spirit, but by a
deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union of souls by
God's decree, a sacred and inviolable bond arises. Hence the nature
of this contract, which is proper and peculiar to it alone, makes it
entirely different both from the union of animals entered into by
the blind instinct of nature alone in which neither reason nor free
will plays a part, and also from the haphazard unions of men, which
are far removed from all true and honorable unions of will and enjoy
none of the rights of family life.
8. From this it
is clear that legitimately constituted authority has the right and
therefore the duty to restrict, to prevent, and to punish those base
unions which are opposed to reason and to nature; but since it is a
matter which flows from human nature itself, no less certain is the
teaching of Our predecessor, Leo XIII of happy memory:[7] "In
choosing a state of life there is no doubt but that it is in the
power and discretion of each one to prefer one or the other: either
to embrace the counsel of virginity given by Jesus Christ, or to
bind himself in the bonds of matrimony. To take away from man the
natural and primeval right of marriage, to circumscribe in any way
the principal ends of marriage laid down in the beginning by God
Himself in the words 'Increase and multiply,'[8] is beyond the power
of any human law."
9. Therefore the
sacred partnership of true marriage is constituted both by the will
of God and the will of man. From God comes the very institution of
marriage, the ends for which it was instituted, the laws that govern
it, the blessings that flow from it; while man, through generous
surrender of his own person made to another for the whole span of
life, becomes, with the help and cooperation of God, the author of
each particular marriage, with the duties and blessings annexed
thereto from divine institution.
10. Now when We
come to explain, Venerable Brethren, what are the blessings that God
has attached to true matrimony, and how great they are, there occur
to Us the words of that illustrious Doctor of the Church whom We
commemorated recently in Our Encyclical Ad salutem on the
occasion of the fifteenth centenary of his death:[9] "These," says
St. Augustine, "are all the blessings of matrimony on account of
which matrimony itself is a blessing; offspring, conjugal faith and
the sacrament."[10] And how under these three heads is contained a
splendid summary of the whole doctrine of Christian marriage, the
holy Doctor himself expressly declares when he said: "By conjugal
faith it is provided that there should be no carnal intercourse
outside the marriage bond with another man or woman; with regard to
offspring, that children should be begotten of love, tenderly cared
for and educated in a religious atmosphere; finally, in its
sacramental aspect that the marriage bond should not be broken and
that a husband or wife, if separated, should not be joined to
another even for the sake of offspring. This we regard as the law of
marriage by which the fruitfulness of nature is adorned and the evil
of incontinence is restrained."[11]
11. Thus amongst
the blessings of marriage, the child holds the first place. And
indeed the Creator of the human race Himself, Who in His goodness
wishes to use men as His helpers in the propagation of life, taught
this when, instituting marriage in Paradise, He said to our first
parents, and through them to all future spouses: "Increase and
multiply, and fill the earth."[12] As St. Augustine admirably
deduces from the words of the holy Apostle Saint Paul to Timothy[13]
when he says: "The Apostle himself is therefore a witness that
marriage is for the sake of generation: 'I wish,' he says, 'young
girls to marry.' And, as if someone said to him, 'Why?,' he
immediately adds: 'To bear children, to be mothers of
families'."[14]
12. How great a
boon of God this is, and how great a blessing of matrimony is clear
from a consideration of man's dignity and of his sublime end. For
man surpasses all other visible creatures by the superiority of his
rational nature alone. Besides, God wishes men to be born not only
that they should live and fill the earth, but much more that they
may be worshippers of God, that they may know Him and love Him and
finally enjoy Him for ever in heaven; and this end, since man is
raised by God in a marvelous way to the supernatural order,
surpasses all that eye hath seen, and ear heard, and all that hath
entered into the heart of man.[15] From which it is easily seen how
great a gift of divine goodness and how remarkable a fruit of
marriage are children born by the omnipotent power of God through
the cooperation of those bound in wedlock.
13. But Christian
parents must also understand that they are destined not only to
propagate and preserve the human race on earth, indeed not only to
educate any kind of worshippers of the true God, but children who
are to become members of the Church of Christ, to raise up
fellow-citizens of the Saints, and members of God's household,[16]
that the worshippers of God and Our Savior may daily increase.
14. For although
Christian spouses even if sanctified themselves cannot transmit
sanctification to their progeny, nay, although the very natural
process of generating life has become the way of death by which
original sin is passed on to posterity, nevertheless, they share to
some extent in the blessings of that primeval marriage of Paradise,
since it is theirs to offer their offspring to the Church in order
that by this most fruitful Mother of the children of God they may be
regenerated through the laver of Baptism unto supernatural justice
and finally be made living members of Christ, partakers of immortal
life, and heirs of that eternal glory to which we all aspire from
our inmost heart.
15. If a true
Christian mother weigh well these things, she will indeed understand
with a sense of deep consolation that of her the words of Our Savior
were spoken: "A woman . . . when she hath brought forth the child
remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the
world";[17] and proving herself superior to all the pains and cares
and solicitudes of her maternal office with a more just and holy joy
than that of the Roman matron, the mother of the Gracchi, she will
rejoice in the Lord crowned as it were with the glory of her
offspring. Both husband and wife, however, receiving these children
with joy and gratitude from the hand of God, will regard them as a
talent committed to their charge by God, not only to be employed for
their own advantage or for that of an earthly commonwealth, but to
be restored to God with interest on the day of reckoning.
16. The blessing
of offspring, however, is not completed by the mere begetting of
them, but something else must be added, namely the proper education
of the offspring. For the most wise God would have failed to make
sufficient provision for children that had been born, and so for the
whole human race, if He had not given to those to whom He had
entrusted the power and right to beget them, the power also and the
right to educate them. For no one can fail to see that children are
incapable of providing wholly for themselves, even in matters
pertaining to their natural life, and much less in those pertaining
to the supernatural, but require for many years to be helped,
instructed, and educated by others. Now it is certain that both by
the law of nature and of God this right and duty of educating their
offspring belongs in the first place to those who began the work of
nature by giving them birth, and they are indeed forbidden to leave
unfinished this work and so expose it to certain ruin. But in
matrimony provision has been made in the best possible way for this
education of children that is so necessary, for, since the parents
are bound together by an indissoluble bond, the care and mutual help
of each is always at hand.
17. Since,
however, We have spoken fully elsewhere on the Christian education
of youth,[18] let Us sum it all up by quoting once more the words of
St. Augustine: "As regards the offspring it is provided that they
should be begotten lovingly and educated religiously,"[19]—and this
is also expressed succinctly in the Code of Canon Law—"The primary
end of marriage is the procreation and the education of
children."[20]
18. Nor must We
omit to remark, in fine, that since the duty entrusted to parents
for the good of their children is of such high dignity and of such
great importance, every use of the faculty given by God for the
procreation of new life is the right and the privilege of the
married state alone, by the law of God and of nature, and must be
confined absolutely within the sacred limits of that state.
19. The second
blessing of matrimony which We said was mentioned by St. Augustine,
is the blessing of conjugal honor which consists in the mutual
fidelity of the spouses in fulfilling the marriage contract, so that
what belongs to one of the parties by reason of this contract
sanctioned by divine law, may not be denied to him or permitted to
any third person; nor may there be conceded to one of the parties
anything which, being contrary to the rights and laws of God and
entirely opposed to matrimonial faith, can never be conceded.
20. Wherefore,
conjugal faith, or honor, demands in the first place the complete
unity of matrimony which the Creator Himself laid down in the
beginning when He wished it to be not otherwise than between one man
and one woman. And although afterwards this primeval law was relaxed
to some extent by God, the Supreme Legislator, there is no doubt
that the law of the Gospel fully restored that original and perfect
unity, and abrogated all dispensations as the words of Christ and
the constant teaching and action of the Church show plainly. With
reason, therefore, does the Sacred Council of Trent solemnly
declare: "Christ Our Lord very clearly taught that in this bond two
persons only are to be united and joined together when He said:
'Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh'."[21]
21. Nor did
Christ Our Lord wish only to condemn any form of polygamy or
polyandry, as they are called, whether successive or simultaneous,
and every other external dishonorable act, but, in order that the
sacred bonds of marriage may be guarded absolutely inviolate, He
forbade also even willful thoughts and desires of such like things:
"But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust
after her hath already committed adultery with her in his
heart."[22] Which words of Christ Our Lord cannot be annulled even
by the consent of one of the partners of marriage for they express a
law of God and of nature which no will of man can break or bend.[23]
22. Nay, that
mutual familiar intercourse between the spouses themselves, if the
blessing of conjugal faith is to shine with becoming splendor, must
be distinguished by chastity so that husband and wife bear
themselves in all things with the law of God and of nature, and
endeavor always to follow the will of their most wise and holy
Creator with the greatest reverence toward the work of God.
23. This conjugal
faith, however, which is most aptly called by St. Augustine the
"faith of chastity" blooms more freely, more beautifully and more
nobly, when it is rooted in that more excellent soil, the love of
husband and wife which pervades all the duties of married life and
holds pride of place in Christian marriage. For matrimonial faith
demands that husband and wife be joined in an especially holy and
pure love, not as adulterers love each other, but as Christ loved
the Church. This precept the Apostle laid down when he said:
"Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church,"[24]
that Church which of a truth He embraced with a boundless love not
for the sake of His own advantage, but seeking only the good of His
Spouse.[25] The love, then, of which We are speaking is not that
based on the passing lust of the moment nor does it consist in
pleasing words only, but in the deep attachment of the heart which
is expressed in action, since love is proved by deeds.[26] This
outward expression of love in the home demands not only mutual help
but must go further; must have as its primary purpose that man and
wife help each other day by day in forming and perfecting themselves
in the interior life, so that through their partnership in life they
may advance ever more and more in virtue, and above all that they
may grow in true love toward God and their neighbor, on which indeed
"dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets."[27] For all men of every
condition, in whatever honorable walk of life they may be, can and
ought to imitate that most perfect example of holiness placed before
man by God, namely Christ Our Lord, and by God's grace to arrive at
the summit of perfection, as is proved by the example set us of many
saints.
24. This mutual
molding of husband and wife, this determined effort to perfect each
other, can in a very real sense, as the Roman Catechism teaches, be
said to be the chief reason and purpose of matrimony, provided
matrimony be looked at not in the restricted sense as instituted for
the proper conception and education of the child, but more widely as
the blending of life as a whole and the mutual interchange and
sharing thereof.
25. By this same
love it is necessary that all the other rights and duties of the
marriage state be regulated as the words of the Apostle: "Let the
husband render the debt to the wife, and the wife also in like
manner to the husband,"[28] express not only a law of justice but of
charity.
26. Domestic
society being confirmed, therefore, by this bond of love, there
should flourish in it that "order of love," as St. Augustine calls
it. This order includes both the primacy of the husband with regard
to the wife and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her
willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these words: "Let
women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, because the
husband is the head of the wife, and Christ is the head of the
Church."[29]
27. This
subjection, however, does not deny or take away the liberty which
fully belongs to the woman both in view of her dignity as a human
person, and in view of her most noble office as wife and mother and
companion; nor does it bid her obey her husband's every request if
not in harmony with right reason or with the dignity due to wife;
nor, in fine, does it imply that the wife should be put on a level
with those persons who in law are called minors, to whom it is
customary to allow free exercise of their rights on account of their
lack of mature judgment, or of their ignorance of human affairs. But
it forbids that exaggerated liberty which cares not for the good of
the family; it forbids that in this body which is the family, the
heart be separated from the head to the great detriment of the whole
body and the proximate danger of ruin. For if the man is the head,
the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in
ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place in
love.
28. Again, this
subjection of wife to husband in its degree and manner may vary
according to the different conditions of persons, place and time. In
fact, if the husband neglect his duty, it falls to the wife to take
his place in directing the family. But the structure of the family
and its fundamental law, established and confirmed by God, must
always and everywhere be maintained intact .
29. With great
wisdom Our predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory, in the Encyclical
on Christian marriage which We have already mentioned, speaking of
this order to be maintained between man and wife, teaches: "The man
is the ruler of the family, and the head of the woman; but because
she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, let her be subject
and obedient to the man, not as a servant but as a companion, so
that nothing be lacking of honor or of dignity in the obedience
which she pays. Let divine charity be the constant guide of their
mutual relations, both in him who rules and in her who obeys, since
each bears the image, the one of Christ, the other of the
Church."[30]
30. These, then,
are the elements which compose the blessing of conjugal faith:
unity, chastity, charity, honorable noble obedience, which are at
the same time an enumeration of the benefits which are bestowed on
husband and wife in their married state, benefits by which the
peace, the dignity and the happiness of matrimony are securely
preserved and fostered. Wherefore it is not surprising that this
conjugal faith has always been counted amongst the most priceless
and special blessings of matrimony.
31. But this
accumulation of benefits is completed and, as it were, crowned by
that blessing of Christian marriage which in the words of St.
Augustine we have called the sacrament, by which is denoted both the
indissolubility of the bond and the raising and hallowing of the
contract by Christ Himself, whereby He made it an efficacious sign
of grace.
32. In the first
place Christ Himself lays stress on the indissolubility and firmness
of the marriage bond when He says: "What God hath joined together
let no man put asunder,"[31] and: "Everyone that putteth away his
wife and marrieth another committeth adultery, and he that marrieth
her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."[32]
33. And St.
Augustine clearly places what he calls the blessing of matrimony in
this indissolubility when he says: "In the sacrament it is provided
that the marriage bond should not be broken, and that a husband or
wife, if separated, should not be joined to another even for the
sake of offspring."[33]
34. And this
inviolable stability, although not in the same perfect measure in
every case, belongs to every true marriage, for the word of the
Lord: "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder," must
of necessity include all true marriages without exception, since it
was spoken of the marriage of our first parents, the prototype of
every future marriage. Therefore although before Christ the
sublimeness and the severity of the primeval law was so tempered
that Moses permitted to the chosen people of God on account of the
hardness of their hearts that a bill of divorce might be given in
certain circumstances, nevertheless, Christ, by virtue of His
supreme legislative power, recalled this concession of greater
liberty and restored the primeval law in its integrity by those
words which must never be forgotten, "What God hath joined together
let no man put asunder." Wherefore, Our predecessor Pius VI of happy
memory, writing to the Bishop of Agria, most wisely said: "Hence it
is clear that marriage even in the state of nature, and certainly
long before it was raised to the dignity of a sacrament, was
divinely instituted in such a way that it should carry with it a
perpetual and indissoluble bond which cannot therefore be dissolved
by any civil law. Therefore although the sacramental element may be
absent from a marriage as is the case among unbelievers, still in
such a marriage, inasmuch as it is a true marriage there must remain
and indeed there does remain that perpetual bond which by divine
right is so bound up with matrimony from its first institution that
it is not subject to any civil power. And so, whatever marriage is
said to be contracted, either it is so contracted that it is really
a true marriage, in which case it carries with it that enduring bond
which by divine right is inherent in every true marriage; or it is
thought to be contracted without that perpetual bond, and in that
case there is no marriage, but an illicit union opposed of its very
nature to the divine law, which therefore cannot be entered into or
maintained."[34]
35. And if this
stability seems to be open to exception, however rare the exception
may be, as in the case of certain natural marriages between
unbelievers, or amongst Christians in the case of those marriages
which though valid have not been consummated, that exception does
not depend on the will of men nor on that of any merely human power,
but on divine law, of which the only guardian and interpreter is the
Church of Christ. However, not even this power can ever affect for
any cause whatsoever a Christian marriage which is valid and has
been consummated, for as it is plain that here the marriage contract
has its full completion, so, by the will of God, there is also the
greatest firmness and indissolubility which may not be destroyed by
any human authority.
36. If we wish
with all reverence to inquire into the intimate reason of this
divine decree, Venerable Brethren, we shall easily see it in the
mystical signification of Christian marriage which is fully and
perfectly verified in consummated marriage between Christians. For,
as the Apostle says in his Epistle to the Ephesians,[35] the
marriage of Christians recalls that most perfect union which exists
between Christ and the Church: "Sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego
autem dico, in Christo et in ecclesia;" which union, as long as
Christ shall live and the Church through Him, can never be dissolved
by any separation. And this St. Augustine clearly declares in these
words: "This is safeguarded in Christ and the Church, which, living
with Christ who lives for ever may never be divorced from Him. The
observance of this sacrament is such in the City of God . . . that
is, in the Church of Christ, that when for the sake of begetting
children, women marry or are taken to wife, it is wrong to leave a
wife that is sterile in order to take another by whom children may
be hand. Anyone doing this is guilty of adultery, just as if he
married another, guilty not by the law of the day, according to
which when one's partner is put away another may be taken, which the
Lord allowed in the law of Moses because of the hardness of the
hearts of the people of Israel; but by the law of the Gospel."[36]
37. Indeed, how
many and how important are the benefits which flow from the
indissolubility of matrimony cannot escape anyone who gives even a
brief consideration either to the good of the married parties and
the offspring or to the welfare of human society. First of all, both
husband and wife possess a positive guarantee of the endurance of
this stability which that generous yielding of their persons and the
intimate fellowship of their hearts by their nature strongly
require, since true love never falls away.[37] Besides, a strong
bulwark is set up in defense of a loyal chastity against incitements
to infidelity, should any be encountered either from within or from
without; any anxious fear lest in adversity or old age the other
spouse would prove unfaithful is precluded and in its place there
reigns a calm sense of security. Moreover, the dignity of both man
and wife is maintained and mutual aid is most satisfactorily
assured, while through the indissoluble bond, always enduring, the
spouses are warned continuously that not for the sake of perishable
things nor that they may serve their passions, but that they may
procure one for the other high and lasting good have they entered
into the nuptial partnership, to be dissolved only by death. In the
training and education of children, which must extend over a period
of many years, it plays a great part, since the grave and long
enduring burdens of this office are best borne by the united efforts
of the parents. Nor do lesser benefits accrue to human society as a
whole. For experience has taught that unassailable stability in
matrimony is a fruitful source of virtuous life and of habits of
integrity. Where this order of things obtains, the happiness and
well being of the nation is safely guarded; what the families and
individuals are, so also is the State, for a body is determined by
its parts. Wherefore, both for the private good of husband, wife and
children, as likewise for the public good of human society, they
indeed deserve well who strenuously defend the inviolable stability
of matrimony.
38. But
considering the benefits of the Sacrament, besides the firmness and
indissolubility, there are also much higher emoluments as the word
"sacrament" itself very aptly indicates; for to Christians this is
not a meaningless and empty name. Christ the Lord, the Institutor
and "Perfecter" of the holy sacraments,[38] by raising the matrimony
of His faithful to the dignity of a true sacrament of the New Law,
made it a sign and source of that peculiar internal grace by which
"it perfects natural love, it confirms an indissoluble union, and
sanctifies both man and wife."[39]
39. And since the
valid matrimonial consent among the faithful was constituted by
Christ as a sign of grace, the sacramental nature is so intimately
bound up with Christian wedlock that there can be no true marriage
between baptized persons "without it being by that very fact a
sacrament."[40]
40. By the very
fact, therefore, that the faithful with sincere mind give such
consent, they open up for themselves a treasure of sacramental grace
from which they draw supernatural power for the fulfilling of their
rights and duties faithfully, holily, perseveringly even unto death.
Hence this sacrament not only increases sanctifying grace, the
permanent principle of the supernatural life, in those who, as the
expression is, place no obstacle (obex) in its way, but also adds
particular gifts, dispositions, seeds of grace, by elevating and
perfecting the natural powers. By these gifts the parties are
assisted not only in understanding, but in knowing intimately, in
adhering to firmly, in willing effectively, and in successfully
putting into practice, those things which pertain to the marriage
state, its aims and duties, giving them in fine right to the actual
assistance of grace, whensoever they need it for fulfilling the
duties of their state.
41. Nevertheless,
since it is a law of divine Providence in the supernatural order
that men do not reap the full fruit of the Sacraments which they
receive after acquiring the use of reason unless they cooperate with
grace, the grace of matrimony will remain for the most part an
unused talent hidden in the field unless the parties exercise these
supernatural powers and cultivate and develop the seeds of grace
they have received. If, however, doing all that lies with their
power, they cooperate diligently, they will be able with ease to
bear the burdens of their state and to fulfill their duties. By such
a sacrament they will be strengthened, sanctified and in a manner
consecrated. For, as St. Augustine teaches, just as by Baptism and
Holy Orders a man is set aside and assisted either for the duties of
Christian life or for the priestly office and is never deprived of
their sacramental aid, almost in the same way (although not by a
sacramental character), the faithful once joined by marriage ties
can never be deprived of the help and the binding force of the
sacrament. Indeed, as the Holy Doctor adds, even those who commit
adultery carry with them that sacred yoke, although in this case not
as a title to the glory of grace but for the ignominy of their
guilty action, "as the soul by apostasy, withdrawing as it were from
marriage with Christ, even though it may have lost its faith, does
not lose the sacrament of Faith which it received at the laver of
regeneration."[41]
42. These
parties, let it be noted, not fettered but adorned by the golden
bond of the sacrament, not hampered but assisted, should strive with
all their might to the end that their wedlock, not only through the
power and symbolism of the sacrament, but also through their spirit
and manner of life, may be and remain always the living image of
that most fruitful union of Christ with the Church, which is to
venerated as the sacred token of most perfect love.
43. All of these
things, Venerable Brethren, you must consider carefully and ponder
over with a lively faith if you would see in their true light the
extraordinary benefits on matrimony—offspring, conjugal faith, and
the sacrament. No one can fail to admire the divine Wisdom, Holiness
and Goodness which, while respecting the dignity and happiness of
husband and wife, has provided so bountifully for the conservation
and propagation of the human race by a single chaste and sacred
fellowship of nuptial union.
44. When we
consider the great excellence of chaste wedlock, Venerable Brethren,
it appears all the more regrettable that particularly in our day we
should witness this divine institution often scorned and on every
side degraded.
45. For now,
alas, not secretly nor under cover, but openly, with all sense of
shame put aside, now by word again by writings, by theatrical
productions of every kind, by romantic fiction, by amorous and
frivolous novels, by cinematographs portraying in vivid scene, in
addresses broadcast by radio telephony, in short by all the
inventions of modern science, the sanctity of marriage is trampled
upon and derided; divorce, adultery, all the basest vices either are
extolled or at least are depicted in such colors as to appear to be
free of all reproach and infamy. Books are not lacking which dare to
pronounce themselves as scientific but which in truth are merely
coated with a veneer of science in order that they may the more
easily insinuate their ideas. The doctrines defended in these are
offered for sale as the productions of modern genius, of that genius
namely, which, anxious only for truth, is considered to have
emancipated itself from all those old-fashioned and immature
opinions of the ancients; and to the number of these antiquated
opinions they relegate the traditional doctrine of Christian
marriage.
46. These
thoughts are instilled into men of every class, rich and poor,
masters and workers, lettered and unlettered, married and single,
the godly and godless, old and young, but for these last, as easiest
prey, the worst snares are laid.
47. Not all the
sponsors of these new doctrines are carried to the extremes of
unbridled lust; there are those who, striving as it were to ride a
middle course, believe nevertheless that something should be
conceded in our times as regards certain precepts of the divine and
natural law. But these likewise, more or less wittingly, are
emissaries of the great enemy who is ever seeking to sow cockle
among the wheat.[42]
We, therefore,
whom the Father has appointed over His field, We who are bound by
Our most holy office to take care lest the good seed be choked by
the weeds, believe it fitting to apply to Ourselves the most grave
words of the Holy Ghost with which the Apostle Paul exhorted his
beloved Timothy: "Be thou vigilant . . . Fulfill thy ministry . . .
Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove,
entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine."[43]
48. And since, in
order that the deceits of the enemy may be avoided, it is necessary
first of all that they be laid bare; since much is to be gained by
denouncing these fallacies for the sake of the unwary, even though
We prefer not to name these iniquities "as becometh saints,"[44] yet
for the welfare of souls We cannot remain altogether silent.
49. To begin at
the very source of these evils, their basic principle lies in this,
that matrimony is repeatedly declared to be not instituted by the
Author of nature nor raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a
true sacrament, but invented by man. Some confidently assert that
they have found no evidence of the existence of matrimony in nature
or in her laws, but regard it merely as the means of producing life
and of gratifying in one way or another a vehement impulse; on the
other hand, others recognize that certain beginnings or, as it were,
seeds of true wedlock are found in the nature of man since, unless
men were bound together by some form of permanent tie, the dignity
of husband and wife or the natural end of propagating and rearing
the offspring would not receive satisfactory provision. At the same
time they maintain that in all beyond this germinal idea matrimony,
through various concurrent causes, is invented solely by the mind of
man, established solely by his will.
50. How
grievously all these err and how shamelessly they leave the ways of
honesty is already evident from what we have set forth here
regarding the origin and nature of wedlock, its purposes and the
good inherent in it. The evil of this teaching is plainly seen from
the consequences which its advocates deduce from it, namely, that
the laws, institutions and customs by which wedlock is governed,
since they take their origin solely from the will of man, are
subject entirely to him, hence can and must be founded, changed and
abrogated according to human caprice and the shifting circumstances
of human affairs; that the generative power which is grounded in
nature itself is more sacred and has wider range than
matrimony—hence it may be exercised both outside as well as within
the confines of wedlock, and though the purpose of matrimony be set
aside, as though to suggest that the license of a base fornicating
woman should enjoy the same rights as the chaste motherhood of a
lawfully wedded wife.
51. Armed with
these principles, some men go so far as to concoct new species of
unions, suited, as they say, to the present temper of men and the
times, which various new forms of matrimony they presume to label
"temporary," "experimental," and "companionate." These offer all the
indulgence of matrimony and its rights without, however, the
indissoluble bond, and without offspring, unless later the parties
alter their cohabitation into a matrimony in the full sense of the
law.
52. Indeed there
are some who desire and insist that these practices be legitimatized
by the law or, at least, excused by their general acceptance among
the people. They do not seem even to suspect that these proposals
partake of nothing of the modern "culture" in which they glory so
much, but are simply hateful abominations which beyond all question
reduce our truly cultured nations to the barbarous standards of
savage peoples.
53. And now,
Venerable Brethren, we shall explain in detail the evils opposed to
each of the benefits of matrimony. First consideration is due to the
offspring, which many have the boldness to call the disagreeable
burden of matrimony and which they say is to be carefully avoided by
married people not through virtuous continence (which Christian law
permits in matrimony when both parties consent) but by frustrating
the marriage act. Some justify this criminal abuse on the ground
that they are weary of children and wish to gratify their desires
without their consequent burden. Others say that they cannot on the
one hand remain continent nor on the other can they have children
because of the difficulties whether on the part of the mother or on
the part of family circumstances .
54. But no
reason, however grave, may be put forward by which anything
intrinsically against nature may become conformable to nature and
morally good. Since, therefore, the conjugal act is destined
primarily by nature for the begetting of children, those who in
exercising it deliberately frustrate its natural power and purpose
sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and
intrinsically vicious.
55. Small wonder,
therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness that the Divine Majesty
regards with greatest detestation this horrible crime and at times
has punished it with death. As St. Augustine notes, "Intercourse
even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the
conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda, did
this and the Lord killed him for it."[45]
56. Since,
therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian
tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare
another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to
whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of
morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin which
surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the chastity of the
nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her
voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through Our mouth
proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a
way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to
generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature,
and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave
sin.
57. We admonish,
therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care
of souls, in virtue of Our supreme authority and in Our solicitude
for the salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to
them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much more, that
they keep themselves immune from such false opinions, in no way
conniving in them. If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may
God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or
should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let
him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to
God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust, and
let him take to himself the words of Christ: "They are blind and
leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both fall
into the pit.[46]
58. As regards
the evil use of matrimony, to pass over the arguments which are
shameful, not infrequently others that are false and exaggerated are
put forward. Holy Mother Church very well understands and clearly
appreciates all that is said regarding the health of the mother and
the danger to her life. And who would not grieve to think of these
things? Who is not filled with the greatest admiration when he sees
a mother risking her life with heroic fortitude, that she may
preserve the life of the offspring which she has conceived? God
alone, all bountiful and all merciful as He is, can reward her for
the fulfillment of the office allotted to her by nature, and will
assuredly repay her in a measure full to overflowing.[47]
59. Holy Church
knows well that not infrequently one of the parties is sinned
against rather than sinning, when for a grave cause he or she
reluctantly allows the perversion of the right order. In such a
case, there is no sin, provided that, mindful of the law of charity,
he or she does not neglect to seek to dissuade and to deter the
partner from sin. Nor are those considered as acting against nature
who in the married state use their right in the proper manner
although on account of natural reasons either of time or of certain
defects, new life cannot be brought forth. For in matrimony as well
as in the use of the matrimonial rights there are also secondary
ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivating of mutual love, and the
quieting of concupiscence which husband and wife are not forbidden
to consider so long as they are subordinated to the primary end and
so long as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.
60. We are deeply
touched by the sufferings of those parents who, in extreme want,
experience great difficulty in rearing their children.
61. However, they
should take care lest the calamitous state of their external affairs
should be the occasion for a much more calamitous error. No
difficulty can arise that justifies the putting aside of the law of
God which forbids all acts intrinsically evil. There is no possible
circumstance in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened by the
grace of God, fulfill faithfully their duties and preserve in
wedlock their chastity unspotted. This truth of Christian Faith is
expressed by the teaching of the Council of Trent. "Let no one be so
rash as to assert that which the Fathers of the Council have placed
under anathema, namely, that there are precepts of God impossible
for the just to observe. God does not ask the impossible, but by His
commands, instructs you to do what you are able, to pray for what
you are not able that He may help you."[48]
62. This same
doctrine was again solemnly repeated and confirmed by the Church in
the condemnation of the Jansenist heresy which dared to utter this
blasphemy against the goodness of God: "Some precepts of God are,
when one considers the powers which man possesses, impossible of
fulfillment even to the just who wish to keep the law and strive to
do so; grace is lacking whereby these laws could be fulfilled."[49]
63. But another
very grave crime is to be noted, Venerable Brethren, which regards
the taking of the life of the offspring hidden in the mother's womb.
Some wish it to be allowed and left to the will of the father or the
mother; others say it is unlawful unless there are weighty reasons
which they call by the name of medical, social, or eugenic
"indication." Because this matter falls under the penal laws of the
state by which the destruction of the offspring begotten but unborn
is forbidden, these people demand that the "indication," which in
one form or another they defend, be recognized as such by the public
law and in no way penalized. There are those, moreover, who ask that
the public authorities provide aid for these death-dealing
operations, a thing, which, sad to say, everyone knows is of very
frequent occurrence in some places.
64. As to the
"medical and therapeutic indication" to which, using their own
words, we have made reference, Venerable Brethren, however much we
may pity the mother whose health and even life is gravely imperiled
in the performance of the duty allotted to her by nature,
nevertheless what could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in
any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we
are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the
child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: "Thou
shalt not kill:"[50] The life of each is equally sacred, and no one
has the power, not even the public authority, to destroy it. It is
of no use to appeal to the right of taking away life for here it is
a question of the innocent, whereas that right has regard only to
the guilty; nor is there here question of defense by bloodshed
against an unjust aggressor (for who would call an innocent child an
unjust aggressor?); again there is not question here of what is
called the "law of extreme necessity" which could even extend to the
direct killing of the innocent. Upright and skillful doctors strive
most praiseworthily to guard and preserve the lives of both mother
and child; on the contrary, those show themselves most unworthy of
the noble medical profession who encompass the death of one or the
other, through a pretense at practicing medicine or through motives
of misguided pity.
65. All of which
agrees with the stern words of the Bishop of Hippo in denouncing
those wicked parents who seek to remain childless, and failing in
this, are not ashamed to put their offspring to death: "Sometimes
this lustful cruelty or cruel lust goes so far as to seek to procure
a baneful sterility, and if this fails the fetus conceived in the
womb is in one way or another smothered or evacuated, in the desire
to destroy the offspring before it has life, or if it already lives
in the womb, to kill it before it is born. If both man and woman are
party to such practices they are not spouses at all; and if from the
first they have carried on thus they have come together not for
honest wedlock, but for impure gratification; if both are not party
to these deeds, I make bold to say that either the one makes herself
a mistress of the husband, or the other simply the paramour of his
wife."[51]
66. What is
asserted in favor of the social and eugenic "indication" may and
must be accepted, provided lawful and upright methods are employed
within the proper limits; but to wish to put forward reasons based
upon them for the killing of the innocent is unthinkable and
contrary to the divine precept promulgated in the words of the
Apostle: Evil is not to be done that good may come of it.[52]
67. Those who
hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty
of public authority by appropriate laws and sanctions to defend the
lives of the innocent, and this all the more so since those whose
lives are endangered and assailed cannot defend themselves. Among
whom we must mention in the first place infants hidden in the
mother's womb. And if the public magistrates not only do not defend
them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the
hands of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is the
Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cried from earth to
Heaven.[53]
68. Finally, that
pernicious practice must be condemned which closely touches upon the
natural right of man to enter matrimony but affects also in a real
way the welfare of the offspring. For there are some who over
solicitous for the cause of eugenics, not only give salutary counsel
for more certainly procuring the strength and health of the future
child—which, indeed, is not contrary to right reason—but put
eugenics before aims of a higher order, and by public authority wish
to prevent from marrying all those whom, even though naturally fit
for marriage, they consider, according to the norms and conjectures
of their investigations, would, through hereditary transmission,
bring forth defective offspring. And more, they wish to legislate to
deprive these of that natural faculty by medical action despite
their unwillingness; and this they do not propose as an infliction
of grave punishment under the authority of the state for a crime
committed, not to prevent future crimes by guilty persons, but
against every right and good they wish the civil authority to
arrogate to itself a power over a faculty which it never had and can
never legitimately possess.
69. Those who act
in this way are at fault in losing sight of the fact that the family
is more sacred than the State and that men are begotten not for the
earth and for time, but for Heaven and eternity. Although often
these individuals are to be dissuaded from entering into matrimony,
certainly it is wrong to brand men with the stigma of crime because
they contract marriage, on the ground that, despite the fact that
they are in every respect capable of matrimony, they will give birth
only to defective children, even though they use all care and
diligence.
70. Public
magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects;
therefore, where no crime has taken place and there is no cause
present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm, or
tamper with the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of
eugenics or for any other reason. St. Thomas teaches this when
inquiring whether human judges for the sake of preventing future
evils can inflict punishment, he admits that the power indeed exists
as regards certain other forms of evil, but justly and properly
denies it as regards the maiming of the body. "No one who is
guiltless may be punished by a human tribunal either by flogging to
death, or mutilation, or by beating."[54]
71. Furthermore,
Christian doctrine establishes, and the light of human reason makes
it most clear, that private individuals have no other power over the
members of their bodies than that which pertains to their natural
ends; and they are not free to destroy or mutilate their members, or
in any other way render themselves unfit for their natural
functions, except when no other provision can be made for the good
of the whole body.
72. We may now
consider another class of errors concerning conjugal faith. Every
sin committed as regards the offspring becomes in some way a sin
against conjugal faith, since both these blessings are essentially
connected. However, we must mention briefly the sources of error and
vice corresponding to those virtues which are demanded by conjugal
faith, namely the chaste honor existing between man and wife, the
due subjection of wife to husband, and the true love which binds
both parties together.
73. It follows
therefore that they are destroying mutual fidelity, who think that
the ideas and morality of our present time concerning a certain
harmful and false friendship with a third party can be countenanced,
and who teach that a greater freedom of feeling and action in such
external relations should be allowed to man and wife, particularly
as many (so they consider) are possessed of an inborn sexual
tendency which cannot be satisfied within the narrow limits of
monogamous marriage. That rigid attitude which condemns all sensual
affections and actions with a third party they imagine to be a
narrowing of mind and heart, something obsolete, or an abject form
of jealousy, and as a result they look upon whatever penal laws are
passed by the State for the preserving of conjugal faith as void or
to be abolished. Such unworthy and idle opinions are condemned by
that noble instinct which is found in every chaste husband and wife,
and even by the light of the testimony of nature alone,—a testimony
that is sanctioned and confirmed by the command of God: "Thou shalt
not commit adultry,"[55] and the words of Christ: "Whosoever shall
look on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery
with her in his heart."[56] The force of this divine precept can
never be weakened by any merely human custom, bad example or pretext
of human progress, for just as it is the one and the same "Jesus
Christ, yesterday and to-day and the same for ever,"[57] so it is
the one and the same doctrine of Christ that abides and of which no
one jot or tittle shall pass away till all is fulfilled.[58]
74. The same
false teachers who try to dim the luster of conjugal faith and
purity do not scruple to do away with the honorable and trusting
obedience which the woman owes to the man. Many of them even go
further and assert that such a subjection of one party to the other
is unworthy of human dignity, that the rights of husband and wife
are equal; wherefore, they boldly proclaim the emancipation of women
has been or ought to be effected. This emancipation in their ideas
must be threefold, in the ruling of the domestic society, in the
administration of family affairs and in the rearing of the children.
It must be social, economic, physiological:—physiological, that is
to say, the woman is to be freed at her own good pleasure from the
burdensome duties properly belonging to a wife as companion and
mother (We have already said that this is not an emancipation but a
crime); social, inasmuch as the wife being freed from the cares of
children and family, should, to the neglect of these, be able to
follow her own bent and devote herself to business and even public
affairs; finally economic, whereby the woman even without the
knowledge and against the wish of her husband may be at liberty to
conduct and administer her own affairs, giving her attention chiefly
to these rather than to children, husband and family.
75. This,
however, is not the true emancipation of woman, nor that rational
and exalted liberty which belongs to the noble office of a Christian
woman and wife; it is rather the debasing of the womanly character
and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole family, as a
result of which the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the
children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an
ever watchful guardian. More than this, this false liberty and
unnatural equality with the husband is to the detriment of the woman
herself, for if the woman descends from her truly regal throne to
which she has been raised within the walls of the home by means of
the Gospel, she will soon be reduced to the old state of slavery (if
not in appearance, certainly in reality) and become as amongst the
pagans the mere instrument of man.
76. This equality
of rights which is so much exaggerated and distorted, must indeed be
recognized in those rights which belong to the dignity of the human
soul and which are proper to the marriage contract and inseparably
bound up with wedlock. In such things undoubtedly both parties enjoy
the same rights and are bound by the same obligations; in other
things there must be a certain inequality and due accommodation,
which is demanded by the good of the family and the right ordering
and unity and stability of home life.
77. As, however,
the social and economic conditions of the married woman must in some
way be altered on account of the changes in social intercourse, it
is part of the office of the public authority to adapt the civil
rights of the wife to modern needs and requirements, keeping in view
what the natural disposition and temperament of the female sex, good
morality, and the welfare of the family demands, and provided always
that the essential order of the domestic society remain intact,
founded as it is on something higher than human authority and
wisdom, namely on the authority and wisdom of God, and so not
changeable by public laws or at the pleasure of private individuals.
78. These enemies
of marriage go further, however, when they substitute for that true
and solid love, which is the basis of conjugal happiness, a certain
vague compatibility of temperament. This they call sympathy and
assert that, since it is the only bond by which husband and wife are
linked together, when it ceases the marriage is completely
dissolved. What else is this than to build a house upon sand?—a
house that in the words of Christ would forthwith be shaken and
collapse, as soon as it was exposed to the waves of adversity "and
the winds blew and they beat upon that house. And it fell: and great
was the fall thereof."[59] On the other hand, the house built upon a
rock, that is to say on mutual conjugal chastity and strengthened by
a deliberate and constant union of spirit, will not only never fall
away but will never be shaken by adversity.
79. We have so
far, Venerable Brethren, shown the excellency of the first two
blessings of Christian wedlock which the modern subverters of
society are attacking. And now considering that the third blessing,
which is that of the sacrament, far surpasses the other two, we
should not be surprised to find that this, because of its
outstanding excellence, is much more sharply attacked by the same
people. They put forward in the first place that matrimony belongs
entirely to the profane and purely civil sphere, that it is not to
be committed to the religious society, the Church of Christ, but to
civil society alone. They then add that the marriage contract is to
be freed from any indissoluble bond, and that separation and divorce
are not only to be tolerated but sanctioned by the law; from which
it follows finally that, robbed of all its holiness, matrimony
should be enumerated amongst the secular and civil institutions. The
first point is contained in their contention that the civil act
itself should stand for the marriage contract (civil matrimony, as
it is called), while the religious act is to be considered a mere
addition, or at most a concession to a too superstitious people.
Moreover they want it to be no cause for reproach that marriages be
contracted by Catholics with non-Catholics without any reference to
religion or recourse to the ecclesiastical authorities. The second
point which is but a consequence of the first is to be found in
their excuse for complete divorce and in their praise and
encouragement of those civil laws which favor the loosening of the
bond itself. As the salient features of the religious character of
all marriage and particularly of the sacramental marriage of
Christians have been treated at length and supported by weighty
arguments in the encyclical letters of Leo XIII, letters which We
have frequently recalled to mind and expressly made our own, We
refer you to them, repeating here only a few points.
80. Even by the
light of reason alone and particularly if the ancient records of
history are investigated, if the unwavering popular conscience is
interrogated and the manners and institutions of all races examined,
it is sufficiently obvious that there is a certain sacredness and
religious character attaching even to the purely natural union of
man and woman, "not something added by chance but innate, not
imposed by men but involved in the nature of things," since it has
"God for its author and has been even from the beginning a
foreshadowing of the Incarnation of the Word of God."[60] This
sacredness of marriage which is intimately connected with religion
and all that is holy, arises from the divine origin we have just
mentioned, from its purpose which is the begetting and education of
children for God, and the binding of man and wife to God through
Christian love and mutual support; and finally it arises from the
very nature of wedlock, whose institution is to be sought for in the
farseeing Providence of God, whereby it is the means of transmitting
life, thus making the parents the ministers, as it were, of the
Divine Omnipotence. To this must be added that new element of
dignity which comes from the sacrament, by which the Christian
marriage is so ennobled and raised to such a level, that it appeared
to the Apostle as a great sacrament, honorable in every way.[61]
81. This
religious character of marriage, its sublime signification of grace
and the union between Christ and the Church, evidently requires that
those about to marry should show a holy reverence towards it, and
zealously endeavor to make their marriage approach as nearly as
possible to the archetype of Christ and the Church.
82. They,
therefore, who rashly and heedlessly contract mixed marriages, from
which the maternal love and providence of the Church dissuades her
children for very sound reasons, fail conspicuously in this respect,
sometimes with danger to their eternal salvation. This attitude of
the Church to mixed marriages appears in many of her documents, all
of which are summed up in the Code of Canon Law: "Everywhere and
with the greatest strictness the Church forbids marriages between
baptized persons, one of whom is a Catholic and the other a member
of a schismatical or heretical sect; and if there is, add to this,
the danger of the falling away of the Catholic party and the
perversion of the children, such a marriage is forbidden also by the
divine law."[62] If the Church occasionally on account of
circumstances does not refuse to grant a dispensation from these
strict laws (provided that the divine law remains intact and the
dangers above mentioned are provided against by suitable
safeguards), it is unlikely that the Catholic party will not suffer
some detriment from such a marriage.
83. Whence it
comes about not unfrequently, as experience shows, that deplorable
defections from religion occur among the offspring, or at least a
headlong descent into that religious indifference which is closely
allied to impiety. There is this also to be considered that in these
mixed marriages it becomes much more difficult to imitate by a
lively conformity of spirit the mystery of which We have spoken,
namely that close union between Christ and His Church.
84. Assuredly,
also, will there be wanting that close union of spirit which as it
is the sign and mark of the Church of Christ, so also should be the
sign of Christian wedlock, its glory and adornment. For, where there
exists diversity of mind, truth and feeling, the bond of union of
mind and heart is wont to be broken, or at least weakened. From this
comes the danger lest the love of man and wife grow cold and the
peace and happiness of family life, resting as it does on the union
of hearts, be destroyed. Many centuries ago indeed, the old Roman
law had proclaimed: "Marriages are the union of male and female, a
sharing of life and the communication of divine and human
rights."[63] But especially, as We have pointed out, Venerable
Brethren, the daily increasing facility of divorce is an obstacle to
the restoration of marriage to that state of perfection which the
divine Redeemer willed it should possess.
85. The advocates
of the neo-paganism of today have learned nothing from the sad state
of affairs, but instead, day by day, more and more vehemently, they
continue by legislation to attack the indissolubility of the
marriage bond, proclaiming that the lawfulness of divorce must be
recognized, and that the antiquated laws should give place to a new
and more humane legislation. Many and varied are the grounds put
forward for divorce, some arising from the wickedness and the guilt
of the persons concerned, others arising from the circumstances of
the case; the former they describe as subjective, the latter as
objective; in a word, whatever might make married life hard or
unpleasant. They strive to prove their contentions regarding these
grounds for the divorce legislation they would bring about, by
various arguments. Thus, in the first place, they maintain that it
is for the good of either party that the one who is innocent should
have the right to separate from the guilty, or that the guilty
should be withdrawn from a union which is unpleasing to him and
against his will. In the second place, they argue, the good of the
child demands this, for either it will be deprived of a proper
education or the natural fruits of it, and will too easily be
affected by the discords and shortcomings of the parents, and drawn
from the path of virtue. And thirdly the common good of society
requires that these marriages should be completely dissolved, which
are now incapable of producing their natural results, and that legal
reparations should be allowed when crimes are to be feared as the
result of the common habitation and intercourse of the parties. This
last, they say must be admitted to avoid the crimes being committed
purposely with a view to obtaining the desired sentence of divorce
for which the judge can legally loose the marriage bond, as also to
prevent people from coming before the courts when it is obvious from
the state of the case that they are lying and perjuring
themselves,—all of which brings the court and the lawful authority
into contempt. Hence the civil laws, in their opinion, have to be
reformed to meet these new requirements, to suit the changes of the
times and the changes in men's opinions, civil institutions and
customs. Each of these reasons is considered by them as conclusive,
so that all taken together offer a clear proof of the necessity of
granting divorce in certain cases.
86. Others,
taking a step further, simply state that marriage, being a private
contract, is, like other private contracts, to be left to the
consent and good pleasure of both parties, and so can be dissolved
for any reason whatsoever.
87. Opposed to
all these reckless opinions, Venerable Brethren, stands the
unalterable law of God, fully confirmed by Christ, a law that can
never be deprived of its force by the decrees of men, the ideas of a
people or the will of any legislator: "What God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder."[64] And if any man, acting
contrary to this law, shall have put asunder, his action is null and
void, and the consequence remains, as Christ Himself has explicitly
confirmed: "Everyone that putteth away his wife and marrieth
another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put
away from her husband committeth adultery."[65] Moreover, these
words refer to every kind of marriage, even that which is natural
and legitimate only; for, as has already been observed, that
indissolubility by which the loosening of the bond is once and for
all removed from the whim of the parties and from every secular
power, is a property of every true marriage.
88. Let that
solemn pronouncement of the Council of Trent be recalled to mind in
which, under the stigma of anathema, it condemned these errors: "If
anyone should say that on account of heresy or the hardships of
cohabitation or a deliberate abuse of one party by the other the
marriage tie may be loosened, let him be anathema;"[66] and again:
"If anyone should say that the Church errs in having taught or in
teaching that, according to the teaching of the Gospel and the
Apostles, the bond of marriage cannot be loosed because of the sin
of adultery of either party; or that neither party, even though he
be innocent, having given no cause for the sin of adultery, can
contract another marriage during the lifetime of the other; and that
he commits adultery who marries another after putting away his
adulterous wife, and likewise that she commits adultery who puts
away her husband and marries another: let him be anathemae."[67]
89. If therefore
the Church has not erred and does not err in teaching this, and
consequently it is certain that the bond of marriage cannot be
loosed even on account of the sin of adultery, it is evident that
all the other weaker excuses that can be, and are usually brought
forward, are of no value whatsoever. And the objections brought
against the firmness of the marriage bond are easily answered. For,
in certain circumstances, imperfect separation of the parties is
allowed, the bond not being severed. This separation, which the
Church herself permits, and expressly mentions in her Canon Law in
those canons which deal with the separation of the parties as to
marital relationship and co-habitation, removes all the alleged
inconveniences and dangers.[68] It will be for the sacred law and,
to some extent, also the civil law, in so far as civil matters are
affected, to lay down the grounds, the conditions, the method and
precautions to be taken in a case of this kind in order to safeguard
the education of the children and the well-being of the family, and
to remove all those evils which threaten the married persons, the
children and the State. Now all those arguments that are brought
forward to prove the indissolubility of the marriage tie, arguments
which have already been touched upon, can equally be applied to
excluding not only the necessity of divorce, but even the power to
grant it; while for all the advantages that can be put forward for
the former, there can be adduced as many disadvantages and evils
which are a formidable menace to the whole of human society.
90. To revert
again to the expression of Our predecessor, it is hardly necessary
to point out what an amount of good is involved in the absolute
indissolubility of wedlock and what a train of evils follows upon
divorce. Whenever the marriage bond remains intact, then we find
marriages contracted with a sense of safety and security, while,
when separations are considered and the dangers of divorce are
present, the marriage contract itself becomes insecure, or at least
gives ground for anxiety and surprises. On the one hand we see a
wonderful strengthening of goodwill and cooperation in the daily
life of husband and wife, while, on the other, both of these are
miserably weakened by the presence of a facility for divorce. Here
we have at a very opportune moment a source of help by which both
parties are enabled to preserve their purity and loyalty; there we
find harmful inducements to unfaithfulness. On this side we find the
birth of children and their tuition and upbringing effectively
promoted, many avenues of discord closed amongst families and
relations, and the beginnings of rivalry and jealousy easily
suppressed; on that, very great obstacles to the birth and rearing
of children and their education, and many occasions of quarrels, and
seeds of jealousy sown everywhere. Finally, but especially, the
dignity and position of women in civil and domestic society is
reinstated by the former; while by the latter it is shamefully
lowered and the danger is incurred "of their being considered
outcasts, slaves of the lust of men."[69]
91. To conclude
with the important words of Leo XIII, since the destruction of
family life "and the loss of national wealth is brought about more
by the corruption of morals than by anything else, it is easily seen
that divorce, which is born of the perverted morals of a people, and
leads, as experiment shows, to vicious habits in public and private
life, is particularly opposed to the well-being of the family and of
the State. The serious nature of these evils will be the more
clearly recognized, when we remember that, once divorce has been
allowed, there will be no sufficient means of keeping it in check
within any definite bounds. Great is the force of example, greater
still that of lust; and with such incitements it cannot but happen
that divorce and its consequent setting loose of the passions should
spread daily and attack the souls of many like a contagious disease
or a river bursting its banks and flooding the land."[70]
92. Thus, as we
read in the same letter, "unless things change, the human family and
State have every reason to fear lest they should suffer absolute
ruin."[71] All this was written fifty years ago, yet it is confirmed
by the daily increasing corruption of morals and the unheard of
degradation of the family in those lands where Communism reigns
unchecked.
93. Thus far,
Venerable Brethren, We have admired with due reverence what the all
wise Creator and Redeemer of the human race has ordained with regard
to human marriage; at the same time we have expressed Our grief that
such a pious ordinance of the divine Goodness should to-day, and on
every side, be frustrated and trampled upon by the passions, errors
and vices of men.
94. It is then
fitting that, with all fatherly solicitude, We should turn Our mind
to seek out suitable remedies whereby those most detestable abuses
which We have mentioned, may be removed, and everywhere marriage may
again be revealed. To this end, it behooves Us, above all else, to
call to mind that firmly established principle, esteemed alike in
sound philosophy and sacred theology: namely, that whatever things
have deviated from their right order, cannot he brought back to that
original state which is in harmony with their nature except by a
return to the divine plan which, as the Angelic Doctor teaches,[72]
is the exemplar of all right order.
95. Wherefore,
Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, attacked the doctrine of
the naturalists in these words: "It is a divinely appointed law that
whatsoever things are constituted by God, the Author of nature,
these we find the more useful and salutary, the more they remain in
their natural state, unimpaired and unchanged; inasmuch as God, the
Creator of all things, intimately knows what is suited to the
constitution and the preservation of each, and by his will and mind
has so ordained all this that each may duly achieve its purpose. But
if the boldness and wickedness of men change and disturb this order
of things, so providentially disposed, then, indeed, things so
wonderfully ordained, will begin to be injurious, or will cease to
be beneficial, either because, in the change, they have lost their
power to benefit, or because God Himself is thus pleased to draw
down chastisement on the pride and presumption of men."[73]
96. In order,
therefore, to restore due order in this matter of marriage, it is
necessary that all should bear in mind what is the divine plan and
strive to conform to it.
97. Wherefore,
since the chief obstacle to this study is the power of unbridled
lust, which indeed is the most potent cause of sinning against the
sacred laws of matrimony, and since man cannot hold in check his
passions, unless he first subject himself to God, this must be his
primary endeavor, in accordance with the plan divinely ordained. For
it is a sacred ordinance that whoever shall have first subjected
himself to God will, by the aid of divine grace, be glad to subject
to himself his own passions and concupiscence; while he who is a
rebel against God will, to his sorrow, experience within himself the
violent rebellion of his worst passions.
98. And how
wisely this has been decreed St. Augustine thus shows: "This indeed
is fitting, that the lower be subject to the higher, so that he who
would have subject to himself whatever is below him, should himself
submit to whatever is above him. Acknowledge order, seek peace. Be
thou subject to God, and thy flesh subject to thee. What more
fitting! What more fair! Thou art subject to the higher and the
lower is subject to thee. Do thou serve Him who made thee, so that
that which was made for thee may serve thee. For we do not commend
this order, namely, 'The flesh to thee and thou to God,' but 'Thou
to God, and the flesh to thee.' If, however, thou despisest the
subjection of thyself to God, thou shalt never bring about the
subjection of the flesh to thyself. If thou dost not obey the Lord,
thou shalt be tormented by thy servant."[74] This right ordering on
the part of God's wisdom is mentioned by the holy Doctor of the
Gentiles, inspired by the Holy Ghost, for in speaking of those
ancient philosophers who refused to adore and reverence Him whom
they knew to be the Creator of the universe, he says: "Wherefore God
gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to
dishonor their own bodies among themselves;" and again: "For this
same God delivered them up to shameful affections."[75] And St.
James says: "God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the
humble,"[76] without which grace, as the same Doctor of the Gentiles
reminds us, man cannot subdue the rebellion of his flesh.[77]
99. Consequently,
as the onslaughts of these uncontrolled passions cannot in any way
be lessened, unless the spirit first shows a humble compliance of
duty and reverence towards its Maker, it is above all and before all
needful that those who are joined in the bond of sacred wedlock
should be wholly imbued with a profound and genuine sense of duty
towards God, which will shape their whole lives, and fill their
minds and wills with a very deep reverence for the majesty of God.
100. Quite
fittingly, therefore, and quite in accordance with the defined norm
of Christian sentiment, do those pastors of souls act who, to
prevent married people from failing in the observance of God's law,
urge them to perform their duty and exercise their religion so that
they should give themselves to God, continually ask for His divine
assistance, frequent the sacraments, and always nourish and preserve
a loyal and thoroughly sincere devotion to God.
101. They are
greatly deceived who having underestimated or neglected these means
which rise above nature, think that they can induce men by the use
and discovery of the natural sciences, such as those of biology, the
science of heredity, and the like, to curb their carnal desires. We
do not say this in order to belittle those natural means which are
not dishonest; for God is the Author of nature as well as of grace,
and He has disposed the good things of both orders for the
beneficial use of men. The faithful, therefore, can and ought to be
assisted also by natural means. But they are mistaken who think that
these means are able to establish chastity in the nuptial union, or
that they are more effective than supernatural grace.
102. This
conformity of wedlock and moral conduct with the divine laws
respective of marriage, without which its effective restoration
cannot be brought about, supposes, however, that all can discern
readily, with real certainty, and without any accompanying error,
what those laws are. But everyone can see to how many fallacies an
avenue would be opened up and how many errors would become mixed
with the truth, if it were left solely to the light of reason of
each to find it out, or if it were to be discovered by the private
interpretation of the truth which is revealed. And if this is
applicable to many other truths of the moral order, we must all the
more pay attention to those things, which appertain to marriage
where the inordinate desire for pleasure can attack frail human
nature and easily deceive it and lead it astray; this is all the
more true of the observance of the divine law, which demands
sometimes hard and repeated sacrifices, for which, as experience
points out, a weak man can find so many excuses for avoiding the
fulfillment of the divine law.
103. On this
account, in order that no falsification or corruption of the divine
law but a true genuine knowledge of it may enlighten the minds of
men and guide their conduct, it is necessary that a filial and
humble obedience towards the Church should be combined with
devotedness to God and the desire of submitting to Him. For Christ
Himself made the Church the teacher of truth in those things also
which concern the right regulation of moral conduct, even though
some knowledge of the same is not beyond human reason. For just as
God, in the case of the natural truths of religion and morals, added
revelation to the light of reason so that what is right and true,
"in the present state also of the human race may be known readily
with real certainty without any admixture of error,"[78] so for the
same purpose he has constituted the Church the guardian and the
teacher of the whole of the truth concerning religion and moral
conduct; to her therefore should the faithful show obedience and
subject their minds and hearts so as to be kept unharmed and free
from error and moral corruption, and so that they shall not deprive
themselves of that assistance given by God with such liberal bounty,
they ought to show this due obedience not only when the Church
defines something with solemn judgment, but also, in proper
proportion, when by the constitutions and decrees of the Holy See,
opinions are prescribed and condemned as dangerous or distorted.[79]
104. Wherefore,
let the faithful also be on their guard against the overrated
independence of private judgment and that false autonomy of human
reason. For it is quite foreign to everyone bearing the name of a
Christian to trust his own mental powers with such pride as to agree
only with those things which he can examine from their inner nature,
and to imagine that the Church, sent by God to teach and guide all
nations, is not conversant with present affairs and circumstances;
or even that they must obey only in those matters which she has
decreed by solemn definition as though her other decisions might be
presumed to be false or putting forward insufficient motive for
truth and honesty. Quite to the contrary, a characteristic of all
true followers of Christ, lettered or unlettered, is to suffer
themselves to be guided and led in all things that touch upon faith
or morals by the Holy Church of God through its Supreme Pastor the
Roman Pontiff, who is himself guided by Jesus Christ Our Lord.
105.
Consequently, since everything must be referred to the law and mind
of God, in order to bring about the universal and permanent
restoration of marriage, it is indeed of the utmost importance that
the faithful should be well instructed concerning matrimony; both by
word of mouth and by the written word, not cursorily but often and
fully, by means of plain and weighty arguments, so that these truths
will strike the intellect and will be deeply engraved on their
hearts. Let them realize and diligently reflect upon the great
wisdom, kindness and bounty God has shown towards the human race,
not only by the institution of marriage, but also, and quite as
much, by upholding it with sacred laws; still more, in wonderfully
raising it to the dignity of a Sacrament by which such an abundant
fountain of graces has been opened to those joined in Christian
wedlock, that these may be able to serve the noble purposes of
wedlock for their own welfare and for that of their children, of the
community and also for that of human relationship.
106. Certainly,
if the latter day subverters of marriage are entirely devoted to
misleading the minds of men and corrupting their hearts, to making a
mockery of matrimonial purity and extolling the filthiest of vices
by means of books and pamphlets and other innumerable methods, much
more ought you, Venerable Brethren, whom "the Holy Ghost has placed
as bishops, to rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with
His own blood,"[80] to give yourselves wholly to this, that through
yourselves and through the priests subject to you, and, moreover,
through the laity welded together by Catholic Action, so much
desired and recommended by Us. into a power of hierarchical
apostolate, you may, by every fitting means, oppose error by truth,
vice by the excellent dignity of chastity, the slavery of
covetousness by the liberty of the sons of God,[81] that disastrous
ease in obtaining divorce by an enduring love in the bond of
marriage and by the inviolate pledge of fidelity given even to
death.
107. Thus will it
come to pass that the faithful will wholeheartedly thank God that
they are bound together by His command and led by gentle compulsion
to fly as far as possible from every kind of idolatry of the flesh
and from the base slavery of the passions. They will, in a great
measure, turn and be turned away from these abominable opinions
which to the dishonor of man's dignity are now spread about in
speech and in writing and collected under the title of "perfect
marriage" and which indeed would make that perfect marriage nothing
better than "depraved marriage," as it has been rightly and truly
called.
108. Such
wholesome instruction and religious training in regard to Christian
marriage will be quite different from that exaggerated physiological
education by means of which, in these times of ours, some reformers
of married life make pretense of helping those joined in wedlock,
laying much stress on these physiological matters, in which is
learned rather the art of sinning in a subtle way than the virtue of
living chastely.
109. So,
Venerable Brethren, we make entirely Our own the words which Our
predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, in his encyclical letter on
Christian marriage addressed to the bishops of the whole world:
"Take care not to spare your efforts and authority in bringing about
that among the people committed to your guidance that doctrine may
be preserved whole and unadulterated which Christ the Lord and the
apostles, the interpreters of the divine will, have handed down, and
which the Catholic Church herself has religiously preserved, and
commanded to be observed by the faithful of every age."[82]
110. Even the
very best instruction given by the Church, however, will not alone
suffice to bring about once more conformity of marriage to the law
of God; something more is needed in addition to the education of the
mind, namely a steadfast determination of the will, on the part of
husband and wife, to observe the sacred laws of God and of nature in
regard to marriage. In fine, in spite of what others may wish to
assert and spread abroad by word of mouth or in writing, let husband
and wife resolve: to stand fast to the commandments of God in all
things that matrimony demands; always to render to each other the
assistance of mutual love; to preserve the honor of chastity; not to
lay profane hands on the stable nature of the bond; to use the
rights given them by marriage in a way that will be always Christian
and sacred, more especially in the first years of wedlock, so that
should there be need of continency afterwards, custom will have made
it easier for each to preserve it. In order that they may make this
firm resolution, keep it and put it into practice, an oft-repeated
consideration of their state of life, and a diligent reflection on
the sacrament they have received, will be of great assistance to
them. Let them constantly keep in mind, that they have been
sanctified and strengthened for the duties and for the dignity of
their state by a special sacrament, the efficacious power of which,
although it does not impress a character, is undying. To this
purpose we may ponder over the words full of real comfort of holy
Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who with other well-known theologians
with devout conviction thus expresses himself: "The sacrament of
matrimony can be regarded in two ways: first, in the making, and
then in its permanent state. For it is a sacrament like to that of
the Eucharist, which not only when it is being conferred, but also
whilst it remains, is a sacrament; for as long as the married
parties are alive, so long is their union a sacrament of Christ and
the Church."[83]
111. Yet in order
that the grace of this sacrament may produce its full fruit, there
is need, as we have already pointed out, of the cooperation of the
married parties; which consists in their striving to fulfill their
duties to the best of their ability and with unwearied effort. For
just as in the natural order men must apply the powers given them by
God with their own toil and diligence that these may exercise their
full vigor, failing which, no profit is gained, so also men must
diligently and unceasingly use the powers given them by the grace
which is laid up in the soul by this sacrament. Let not, then, those
who are joined in matrimony neglect the grace of the sacrament which
is in them;[84] for, in applying themselves to the careful
observance, however laborious, of their duties they will find the
power of that grace becoming more effectual as time goes on. And if
ever they should feel themselves to be overburdened by the hardships
of their condition of life, let them not lose courage, but rather
let them regard in some measure as addressed to them that which St.
Paul the Apostle wrote to his beloved disciple Timothy regarding the
sacrament of holy Orders when the disciple was dejected through
hardship and insults: "I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace
which is in thee by the imposition of my hands. For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of
sobriety."[85]
112. All these
things, however, Venerable Brethren, depend in large measure on the
due preparation remote and proximate, of the parties for marriage.
For it cannot be denied that the basis of a happy wedlock, and the
ruin of an unhappy one, is prepared and set in the souls of boys and
girls during the period of childhood and adolescence. There is
danger that those who before marriage sought in all things what is
theirs, who indulged even their impure desires, will be in the
married state what they were before, that they will reap that which
they have sown;[86] indeed, within the home there will be sadness,
lamentation, mutual contempt, strifes, estrangements, weariness of
common life, and, worst of all, such parties will find themselves
left alone with their own unconquered passions.
113. Let then,
those who are about to enter on married life, approach that state
well disposed and well prepared, so that they will be able, as far
as they can, to help each other in sustaining the vicissitudes of
life, and yet more in attending to their eternal salvation and in
forming the inner man unto the fullness of the age of Christ.[87] It
will also help them, if they behave towards their cherished
offspring as God wills: that is, that the father be truly a father,
and the mother truly a mother; through their devout love and
unwearying care, the home, though it suffer the want and hardship of
this valley of tears, may become for the children in its own way a
foretaste of that paradise of delight in which the Creator placed
the first men of the human race. Thus will they be able to bring up
their children as perfect men and perfect Christians; they will
instill into them a sound understanding of the Catholic Church, and
will give them such a disposition and love for their fatherland as
duty and gratitude demand.
114.
Consequently, both those who are now thinking of entering upon this
sacred married state, as well as those who have the charge of
educating Christian youth, should, with due regard to the future,
prepare that which is good, obviate that which is bad, and recall
those points about which We have already spoken in Our encyclical
letter concerning education: "The inclinations of the will, if they
are bad, must be repressed from childhood, but such as are good must
be fostered, and the mind, particularly of children, should be
imbued with doctrines which begin with God, while the heart should
be strengthened with the aids of divine grace, in the absence of
which, no one can curb evil desires, nor can his discipline and
formation be brought to complete perfection by the Church. For
Christ has provided her with heavenly doctrines and divine
sacraments, that He might make her an effectual teacher of men."[88]
115. To the
proximate preparation of a good married life belongs very specially
the care in choosing a partner; on that depends a great deal whether
the forthcoming marriage will be happy or not, since one may be to
the other either a great help in leading a Christian life, or, a
great danger and hindrance. And so that they may not deplore for the
rest of their lives the sorrows arising from an indiscreet marriage,
those about to enter into wedlock should carefully deliberate in
choosing the person with whom henceforward they must live
continually: they should, in so deliberating, keep before their
minds the thought first of God and of the true religion of Christ,
then of themselves, of their partner, of the children to come, as
also of human and civil society, for which wedlock is a fountain
head. Let them diligently pray for divine help, so that they make
their choice in accordance with Christian prudence, not indeed led
by the blind and unrestrained impulse of lust, nor by any desire of
riches or other base influence, but by a true and noble love and by
a sincere affection for the future partner; and then let them strive
in their married life for those ends for which the State was
constituted by God. Lastly, let them not omit to ask the prudent
advice of their parents with regard to the partner, and let them
regard this advice in no light manner, in order that by their mature
knowledge and experience of human affairs, they may guard against a
disastrous choice, and, on the threshold of matrimony, may receive
more abundantly the divine blessing of the fourth commandment:
"Honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first commandment
with a promise) that it may be well with thee and thou mayest be
long-lived upon the earth."[89]
116. Now since it
is no rare thing to find that the perfect observance of God's
commands and conjugal integrity encounter difficulties by reason of
the fact that the man and wife are in straitened circumstances,
their necessities must be relieved as far as possible.
117. And so, in
the first place, every effort must be made to bring about that which
Our predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory, has already insisted
upon,[90] namely, that in the State such economic and social methods
should be adopted as will enable every head of a family to earn as
much as, according to his station in life, is necessary for himself,
his wife, and for the rearing of his children, for "the laborer is
worthy of his hire."[91] To deny this, or to make light of what is
equitable, is a grave injustice and is placed among the greatest
sins by Holy Writ;[92] nor is it lawful to fix such a scanty wage as
will be insufficient for the upkeep of the family in the
circumstances in which it is placed.
118. Care,
however, must be taken that the parties themselves, for a
considerable time before entering upon married life, should strive
to dispose of, or at least to diminish, the material obstacles in
their way. The manner in which this may be done effectively and
honestly must be pointed out by those who are experienced. Provision
must be made also, in the case of those who are not self-supporting,
for joint aid by private or public guilds.[93]
119. When these
means which We have pointed out do not fulfill the needs,
particularly of a larger or poorer family, Christian charity towards
our neighbor absolutely demands that those things which are lacking
to the needy should be provided; hence it is incumbent on the rich
to help the poor, so that, having an abundance of this world's
goods, they may not expend them fruitlessly or completely squander
them, but employ them for the support and well-being of those who
lack the necessities of life. They who give of their substance to
Christ in the person of His poor will receive from the Lord a most
bountiful reward when He shall come to judge the world; they who act
to the contrary will pay the penalty.[94] Not in vain does the
Apostle warn us: "He that hath the substance of this world and shall
see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how
doth the charity of God abide in him?"[95]
120. If, however,
for this purpose, private resources do not suffice, it is the duty
of the public authority to supply for the insufficient forces of
individual effort, particularly in a matter which is of such
importance to the common weal, touching as it does the maintenance
of the family and married people. If families, particularly those in
which there are many children, have not suitable dwellings; if the
husband cannot find employment and means of livelihood; if the
necessities of life cannot be purchased except at exorbitant prices;
if even the mother of the family to the great harm of the home, is
compelled to go forth and seek a living by her own labor; if she,
too, in the ordinary or even extraordinary labors of childbirth, is
deprived of proper food, medicine, and the assistance of a skilled
physician, it is patent to all to what an extent married people may
lose heart, and how home life and the observance of God's commands
are rendered difficult for them; indeed it is obvious how great a
peril can arise to the public security and to the welfare and very
life of civil society itself when such men are reduced to that
condition of desperation that, having nothing which they fear to
lose, they are emboldened to hope for chance advantage from the
upheaval of the state and of established order.
121. Wherefore,
those who have the care of the State and of the public good cannot
neglect the needs of married people and their families, without
bringing great harm upon the State and on the common welfare. Hence,
in making the laws and in disposing of public funds they must do
their utmost to relieve the needs of the poor, considering such a
task as one of the most important of their administrative duties.
122. We are sorry
to note that not infrequently nowadays it happens that through a
certain inversion of the true order of things, ready and bountiful
assistance is provided for the unmarried mother and her illegitimate
offspring (who, of course must be helped in order to avoid a greater
evil) which is denied to legitimate mothers or given sparingly or
almost grudgingly.
123. But not only
in regard to temporal goods, Venerable Brethren, is it the concern
of the public authority to make proper provision for matrimony and
the family, but also in other things which concern the good of
souls. just laws must be made for the protection of chastity, for
reciprocal conjugal aid, and for similar purposes, and these must be
faithfully enforced, because, as history testifies, the prosperity
of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot
remain safe and sound where the foundation on which they are
established, which is the moral order, is weakened and where the
very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely,
wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.
124. For the
preservation of the moral order neither the laws and sanctions of
the temporal power are sufficient, nor is the beauty of virtue and
the expounding of its necessity. Religious authority must enter in
to enlighten the mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen human
frailty by the assistance of divine grace. Such an authority is
found nowhere save in the Church instituted by Christ the Lord.
Hence We earnestly exhort in the Lord all those who hold the reins
of power that they establish and maintain firmly harmony and
friendship with this Church of Christ so that through the united
activity and energy of both powers the tremendous evils, fruits of
those wanton liberties which assail both marriage and the family and
are a menace to both Church and State, may be effectively
frustrated.
125. Governments
can assist the Church greatly in the execution of its important
office, if, in laying down their ordinances, they take account of
what is prescribed by divine and ecclesiastical law, and if
penalties are fixed for offenders. For as it is, there are those who
think that whatever is permitted by the laws of the State, or at
least is not punished by them, is allowed also in the moral order,
and, because they neither fear God nor see any reason to fear the
laws of man, they act even against their conscience, thus often
bringing ruin upon themselves and upon many others. There will be no
peril to or lessening of the rights and integrity of the State from
its association with the Church. Such suspicion and fear is empty
and groundless, as Leo XIII has already so clearly set forth: "It is
generally agreed," he says, "that the Founder of the Church, Jesus
Christ, wished the spiritual power to be distinct from the civil,
and each to be free and unhampered in doing its own work, not
forgetting, however, that it is expedient to both, and in the
interest of everybody, that there be a harmonious relationship. . .
If the civil power combines in a friendly manner with the spiritual
power of the Church, it necessarily follows that both parties will
greatly benefit. The dignity of the State will be enhanced, and with
religion as its guide, there will never be a rule that is not just;
while for the Church there will be at hand a safeguard and defense
which will operate to the public good of the faithful."[96]
126. To bring
forward a recent and clear example of what is meant, it has happened
quite in consonance with right order and entirely according to the
law of Christ, that in the solemn Convention happily entered into
between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, also in matrimonial
affairs a peaceful settlement and friendly cooperation has been
obtained, such as befitted the glorious history of the Italian
people and its ancient and sacred traditions. These decrees, are to
be found in the Lateran Pact: "The Italian State, desirous of
restoring to the institution of matrimony, which is the basis of the
family, that dignity conformable to the traditions of its people,
assigns as civil effects of the sacrament of matrimony all that is
attributed to it in Canon Law."[97] To this fundamental norm are
added further clauses in the common pact.
127. This might
well be a striking example to all of how, even in this our own day
(in which, sad to say, the absolute separation of the civil power
from the Church, and indeed from every religion, is so often
taught), the one supreme authority can be united and associated with
the other without detriment to the rights and supreme power of
either thus protecting Christian parents from pernicious evils and
menacing ruin.
128. All these
things which, Venerable Brethren, prompted by Our past solicitude We
put before you, We wish according to the norm of Christian prudence
to be promulgated widely among all Our beloved children committed to
your care as members of the great family of Christ, that all may be
thoroughly acquainted with sound teaching concerning marriage, so
that they may be ever on their guard against the dangers advocated
by the teachers of error, and most of all, that "denying ungodliness
and worldly desires, they may live soberly and justly, and godly in
this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of
the great God and Our Savior Jesus Christ."[98]
129. May the
Father, "of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named,"[99]
Who strengthens the weak and gives courage to the pusillanimous and
fainthearted; and Christ Our Lord and Redeemer, "the Institutor and
Perfecter of the holy sacraments,"[100] Who desired marriage to be
and made it the mystical image of His own ineffable union with the
Church; and the Holy Ghost, Love of God, the Light of hearts and the
Strength of the mind, grant that all will perceive, will admit with
a ready will, and by the grace of God will put into practice, what
We by this letter have expounded concerning the holy Sacrament of
Matrimony, the wonderful law and will of God respecting it, the
errors and impending dangers, and the remedies with which they can
be counteracted, so that that fruitfulness dedicated to God will
flourish again vigorously in Christian wedlock.
130. We most
humbly pour forth Our earnest prayer at the Throne of His Grace,
that God, the Author of all graces, the inspirer of all good desires
and deeds,[101] may bring this about, and deign to give it
bountifully according to the greatness of His liberality and
omnipotence, and as a token of the abundant blessing of the same
Omnipotent God, We most lovingly grant to you, Venerable Brethren,
and to the clergy and people committed to your watchful care, the
Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Rome, in
Saint Peter's, this 31st day of December, of the year 1930, the
ninth of Our Pontificate.
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1.
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2. Gen.,
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3. Conc.
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4. Cod.
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9.
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22.
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23.
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38.
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39.
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46.
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47.
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48.
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50.
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52.
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53.
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54.
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55.
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56.
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57.
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58.
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59.
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60. Leo
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61.
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62. Cod.
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63.
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64.
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65.
Luke, XVI, 18.
66.
Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV, cap. 5
67.
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73.
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74. St.
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75. Rom.
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76.
James IV, 6.
77.
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78.
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79.
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80.
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81.
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82.
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85. II
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86.
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87.
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88.
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90.
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91.
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92.
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93. Leo
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94.
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95. I
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96.
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97.
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98.
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99.
Eph., I III, 15.
100.
Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV.
101.
Phil., II, 13. |
