ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
Casti Connubii
Issued on December
31, 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 Xlll, 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 Xlll, 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 Xlll, 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 Xlll 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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES
1. Encycl. Arcanum divinae
sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
2. Gen., 1, 27-28; II, 22-23;
Matth., XIX, 3 sqq.; Eph., V, 23 sqq .
3. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV.
4. Cod. iur. can., c. 1081
p 2.
5. Cod. iur. can., c. 1081
p 1.
6. S. Thom Aquin., Summa theol.,
p. III Supplem 9
7. Encycl. Rerum novarum,
15 May 1891.
8. Gen., 1, 28.
9. Encycl. Ad salutem, 20
April 1930
10. St. August., De bono coniug.,
cap. 24, n. 32.
11. St. August., De Gen. ad
litt., lib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
12. Gen., 1, 28.
13. I Tim., V, 14.
14. St. August., De bono coniug.,
cap. 24 n. 32.
15. I Cor., ll, 9
16. Eph., II, 19.
17. John, XVl, 21.
18. Encycl. Divini illius
Magistri, 31 Dec. 1929.
19. St. August., De Gen. ad
litt., lib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
20. Cod. iur. can., c. 1013
p 7.
21. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV.
22. Matth., V, 28.
23. Decr. S. Officii, 2 March
1679, propos. 50.
24. Eph., V, 25; Col., III,
19.
25. Catech. Rom., II, cap.
Vlll q. 24.
26. St Greg the Great, Homii.
XXX in Evang (John XIV,23-31),n.1.
27. Matth., XXII, 40.
28. I Cor., Vll, 3.
29. Eph., V, 22-23.
30. Encycl. Arcanum divinae
sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
31. Matth., XIX, 6.
32. Luke, XVI, 18.
33. St. August., De Gen. ad
litt. Iib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
34. Pius Vl, Rescript. ad
Episc. Agriens., 11 July 1789.
35. Eph., V, 32.
36. St. August., De nupt.
et concup., lib. 1, cap. 10.
37. I Cor., Xlll, 8.
38. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV.
39. Conc. Trid. Sess., XXIV.
40. Cod. iur. can., c. 1012.
41. St. August., De nupt.
et concup., lib. 1, cap. 10.
42. Matth., Xlll, 25.
43. II Tim., IV, 2-5.
44. Eph., V, 3.
45. St. August., De coniug.
adult., lib. II, n. 12, Gen, XXXVlll, 8-10.
46. Matth., XV, 14.
47. Luke, Vl, 38.
48. Conc. Trid., Sess. Vl,
cap. 11.
49. Const. Apost. Cum occasione,
31 May 1653, prop. 1.
50. Exod., XX, 13; cfr. Decr.
S. Offic. 4 May 1897, 24 July 1895; 3I May 1884.
51. St. August., De nupt.
et concupisc., cap. XV.
52. Rom., III, 8.
53. Gen., IV, 10.
54. Summ. theol., 2a 2ae,
q. 108 a 4 ad 2um.
55. Exod., XX, 14.
56. Matth., V, 28.
57. Hebr., Xlll, 8.
58. Matth., V, 18.
59. Matth., Vll. 27.
60. Leo Xlll, Encycl. Arcanum,
10 Febr. 1880.
61. Eph., V, 32: Hebr. Xlll,
4.
62. Cod. iur. can., c. 1060.
63. Modestinus, in Dig. (Lib.
XXIII, II: De ritu nuptiarum), lib. 1, Regularum.
64. Matth., XIX, 6.
65. Luke, XVI, 18.
66. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV,
cap. 5
67. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV,
cap. 7
68. Cod. iur. can., c. 1128
sqq.
69. Leo Xlll, Encycl. Arcanum
divinae sapientiae 10 Febr. 1880.
70. Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr.
1880.
71. Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr.
1880.
72. St. Thom. of Aquin, Summ
theolog., la 2ae, q. 91, a. I-2 .
73. Encycl. Arcanum divinae
sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880. 74. St. August.,
Enarrat. in Ps. 143.
75. Rom. 1, 24, 26.
76. James IV, 6.
77. Rom., Vll, Vlll.
78. Conc. Vat., Sess. III,
cap. 2.
79. Conc. Vat., Sess. III,
cap. 4; Cod. iur. can., c. 1324.
80. Acta, XX, 28.
81. John, Vlll, 32 sqq.; Gal.,
V, 13.
82. Encycl. Arcanum. 10 Febr.
1880.
83. St. Rob. Bellarmin., De
controversiis, tom. III, De Matr., controvers.
II, cap. 6.
84. I Tim.,IV,14.
85. II Tim., 1, 6-7.
86. Gal., Vl. 9.
87. Eph., IV, 13.
88. Encycl. Divini illius
Magistri, 31 Dec. 1929.
89. Eph., Vl, 2-3; Exod.,
XX, 12.
90. Encycl. Rerum novarum,
15 May 1891.
91. Luke, X, 7.
92. Deut. XXIV, 14, 15.
93. Leo Xlll, Encycl. Rerum
novarum, 15 May 1891.
94. Matth., XXV, 34 sqq.
95. I John, III, 17.
96. Encycl. Arcanum divinae
sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
97. Concord., art. 34; Act.
Apost. Sed., XXI (1929), pag. 290.
98. Tit., II, 12-13.
99. Eph., I III, 15.
100. Conc. Trid., Sess. XXIV.
101. Phil., II, 13.
