PASCENDI
DOMINICI GREGIS
Encyclical of Pope Pius X on the Doctrines
Of the Modernists
Gravity of the Situation
2.
That We make no delay in this matter is rendered necessary especially by the
fact that the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church's
open enemies; they lie hid, a thing to be deeply deplored and feared, in her
very bosom and heart, and are the more mischievous, the less conspicuously they
appear. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic
laity, nay, and this is far more lamentable, to the ranks of the priesthood
itself, who, feigning a love for the Church, lacking the firm protection of
philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous
doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of
modesty, vaunt themselves as reformers of the Church; and, forming more boldly
into line of attack, assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not
sparing even the person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with sacrilegious daring,
they reduce to a simple, mere man.
3.
Though they express astonishment themselves, no one can justly be surprised
that We number such men among the enemies of the Church, if, leaving out of
consideration the internal disposition of soul, of which God alone is the
judge, he is acquainted with their tenets, their manner of speech, their
conduct. Nor indeed will he err in accounting them the most pernicious of all
the adversaries of the Church. For as We have said, they put their designs for
her ruin into operation not from without but from within; hence, the danger is
present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the
more certain, the more intimate is their knowledge of her. Moreover they lay
the axe not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is, to the
faith and its deepest fires. And having struck at this root of immortality,
they proceed to disseminate poison through the whole tree, so that there is no
part of Catholic truth from which they hold their hand, none that they do not
strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skilful, none more astute than they,
in the employment of a thousand noxious arts; for they double the parts of
rationalist and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary
into error; and since audacity is their chief characteristic, there is no conclusion
of any kind from which they shrink or which they do not thrust forward with
pertinacity and assurance. To this must be added the fact, which indeed is well
calculated to deceive souls, that they lead a life of the greatest activity, of
assiduous and ardent application to every branch of learning, and that they
possess, as a rule, a reputation for the strictest morality. Finally, and this
almost destroys all hope of cure, their very doctrines have given such a bent
to their minds, that they disdain all authority and brook no restraint; and
relying upon a false conscience, they attempt to ascribe to a love of truth
that which is in reality the result of pride and obstinacy.
Once
indeed We had hopes of recalling them to a better sense, and to this end we first
of all showed them kindness as Our children, then we treated them with
severity, and at last We have had recourse, though with great reluctance, to
public reproof. But you know, Venerable Brethren, how fruitless has been Our
action. They bowed their head for a moment, but it was soon uplifted more
arrogantly than ever. If it were a matter which concerned them alone, We might
perhaps have overlooked it: but the security of the Catholic name is at stake.
Wherefore, as to maintain it longer would be a crime, We must now break
silence, in order to expose before the whole Church in their true colours those
men who have assumed this bad disguise.
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