ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Issued on December
31, 1929
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops
and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with
the Apostolic See and to all the Faithful of the
Catholic World.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, Health
and Apostolic Benediction.
1. Representative on earth of
that divine Master who while embracing in the
immensity of His love all mankind, even unworthy
sinners, showed nevertheless a special tenderness
and affection for children, and expressed Himself
in those singularly touching words: "Suffer
the little children to come unto Me,"[1]
We also on every occasion have endeavored to show
the predilection wholly paternal which We bear
towards them, particularly by our assiduous care
and timely instructions with reference to the
Christian education of youth.
2. And so, in the spirit of
the Divine Master, We have directed a helpful
word, now of admonition, now of exhortation,
now of direction, to youths and to their educators,
to fathers and mothers, on various points of
Christian education, with that solicitude which
becomes the common Father of all the Faithful,
with an insistence in season and out of season,
demanded by our pastoral office and inculcated
by the Apostle: "Be instant in season,
out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all
patience and doctrine."[2] Such insistence
is called for in these our times, when, alas,
there is so great and deplorable an absence
of clear and sound principles, even regarding
problems the most fundamental.
3. Now this same general condition
of the times, this ceaseless agitation in various
ways of the problem of educational rights and
systems in different countries, the desire expressed
to Us with filial confidence by not a few of
yourselves, Venerable Brethren, and by members
of your flocks, as well as Our deep affection
towards youth above referred to, move Us to
turn more directly to this subject, if not to
treat it in all its well-nigh inexhaustible
range of theory and practice, at least to summarize
its main principles, throw full light on its
important conclusions, and point out its practical
applications.
4. Let this be the record
of Our Sacerdotal Jubilee which, with altogether
special affection, We wish to dedicate to our
beloved youth, and to commend to all those whose
office and duty is the work of education.
5. Indeed never has there
been so much discussion about education as nowadays;
never have exponents of new pedagogical theories
been so numerous, or so many methods and means
devised, proposed and debated, not merely to
facilitate education, but to create a new system
infallibly efficacious, and capable of preparing
the present generations for that earthly happiness
which they so ardently desire.
6. The reason is that men,
created by God to His image and likeness and
destined for Him Who is infinite perfection
realize today more than ever amid the most exuberant
material progress, the insufficiency of earthly
goods to produce true happiness either for the
individual or for the nations. And hence they
feel more keenly in themselves the impulse towards
a perfection that is higher, which impulse is
implanted in their rational nature by the Creator
Himself. This perfection they seek to acquire
by means of education. But many of them with,
it would seem, too great insistence on the etymological
meaning of the word, pretend to draw education
out of human nature itself and evolve it by
its own unaided powers. Such easily fall into
error, because, instead of fixing their gaze
on God, first principle and last end of the
whole universe, they fall back upon themselves,
becoming attached exclusively to passing things
of earth; and thus their restlessness will never
cease till they direct their attention and their
efforts to God, the goal of all perfection,
according to the profound saying of Saint Augustine:
"Thou didst create us, O Lord, for Thyself,
and our heart is restless till it rest in Thee."[3]
7. It is therefore as important
to make no mistake in education, as it is to
make no mistake in the pursuit of the last end,
with which the whole work of education is intimately
and necessarily connected. In fact, since education
consists essentially in preparing man for what
he must be and for what he must do here below,
in order to attain the sublime end for which
he was created, it is clear that there can be
no true education which is not wholly directed
to man's last end, and that in the present order
of Providence, since God has revealed Himself
to us in the Person of His Only Begotten Son,
who alone is "the way, the truth and the
life," there can be no ideally perfect
education which is not Christian education.
8. From this we see the supreme
importance of Christian education, not merely
for each individual, but for families and for
the whole of human society, whose perfection
comes from the perfection of the elements that
compose it. From these same principles, the
excellence, we may well call it the unsurpassed
excellence, of the work of Christian education
becomes manifest and clear; for after all it
aims at securing the Supreme Good, that is,
God, for the souls of those who are being educated,
and the maximum of well-being possible here
below for human society. And this it does as
efficaciously as man is capable of doing it,
namely by co-operating with God in the perfecting
of individuals and of society, in as much as
education makes upon the soul the first, the
most powerful and lasting impression for life
according to the well-known saying of the Wise
Man, "A young man according to his way,
even when he is old, he will not depart from
it."[4] With good reason therefore did
St. John Chrysostom say, "What greater
work is there than training the mind and forming
the habits of the young?"[5]
9. But nothing discloses to
us the supernatural beauty and excellence of
the work of Christian education better than
the sublime expression of love of our Blessed
Lord, identifying Himself with children, "Whosoever
shall receive one such child as this in my name,
receiveth me."[6]
10. Now in order that no mistake
be made in this work of utmost importance, and
in order to conduct it in the best manner possible
with the help of God's grace, it is necessary
to have a clear and definite idea of Christian
education in its essential aspects, viz., who
has the mission to educate, who are the subjects
to be educated, what are the necessary accompanying
circumstances, what is the end and object proper
to Christian education according to God's established
order in the economy of His Divine Providence.
11. Education is essentially
a social and not a mere individual activity.
Now there are three necessary societies, distinct
from one another and yet harmoniously combined
by God, into which man is born: two, namely
the family and civil society, belong to the
natural order; the third, the Church, to the
supernatural order.
12. In the first place comes
the family, instituted directly by God for its
peculiar purpose, the generation and formation
of offspring; for this reason it has priority
of nature and therefore of rights over civil
society. Nevertheless, the family is an imperfect
society, since it has not in itself all the
means for its own complete development; whereas
civil society is a perfect society, having in
itself all the means for its peculiar end, which
is the temporal well-being of the community;
and so, in this respect, that is, in view of
the common good, it has pre-eminence over the
family, which finds its own suitable temporal
perfection precisely in civil society.
13. The third society, into
which man is born when through Baptism he reaches
the divine life of grace, is the Church; a society
of the supernatural order and of universal extent;
a perfect society, because it has in itself
all the means required for its own end, which
is the eternal salvation of mankind; hence it
is supreme in its own domain.
14. Consequently, education
which is concerned with man as a whole, individually
and socially, in the order of nature and in
the order of grace, necessarily belongs to all
these three societies, in due proportion, corresponding,
according to the disposition of Divine Providence,
to the co-ordination of their respecting ends.
15. And first of all education
belongs preeminently to the Church, by reason
of a double title in the supernatural order,
conferred exclusively upon her by God Himself;
absolutely superior therefore to any other title
in the natural order.
16. The first title is founded
upon the express mission and supreme authority
to teach, given her by her divine Founder: "All
power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
Going therefore teach ye all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you,
and behold I am with you all days, even to the
consummation of the world."[7] Upon this
magisterial office Christ conferred infallibility,
together with the command to teach His doctrine.
Hence the Church "was set by her divine
Author as the pillar and ground of truth, in
order to teach the divine Faith to men, and
keep whole and inviolate the deposit confided
to her; to direct and fashion men, in all their
actions individually and socially, to purity
of morals and integrity of life, in accordance
with revealed doctrine."[8]
17. The second title is the
supernatural motherhood, in virtue of which
the Church, spotless spouse of Christ, generates,
nurtures and educates souls in the divine life
of grace, with her Sacraments and her doctrine.
With good reason then does St. Augustine maintain:
"He has not God for father who refuses
to have the Church as mother."[9]
18. Hence it is that in this
proper object of her mission, that is, "in
faith and morals, God Himself has made the Church
sharer in the divine magisterium and, by a special
privilege, granted her immunity from error;
hence she is the mistress of men, supreme and
absolutely sure, and she has inherent in herself
an inviolable right to freedom in teaching.'[10]
By necessary consequence the Church is independent
of any sort of earthly power as well in the
origin as in the exercise of her mission as
educator, not merely in regard to her proper
end and object, but also in regard to the means
necessary and suitable to attain that end. Hence
with regard to every other kind of human learning
and instruction, which is the common patrimony
of individuals and society, the Church has an
independent right to make use of it, and above
all to decide what may help or harm Christian
education. And this must be so, because the
Church as a perfect society has an independent
right to the means conducive to its end, and
because every form of instruction, no less than
every human action, has a necessary connection
with man's last end, and therefore cannot be
withdrawn from the dictates of the divine law,
of which the Church is guardian, interpreter
and infallible mistress.
19. This truth is clearly
set forth by Pius X of saintly memory:
Whatever a Christian does even in the order
of things of earth, he may not overlook the
supernatural; indeed he must, according to the
teaching of Christian wisdom, direct all things
towards the supreme good as to his last end;
all his actions, besides, in so far as good
or evil in the order of morality, that is, in
keeping or not with natural and divine law,
fall under the judgment and jurisdiction of
the Church.[11]
20. It is worthy of note how
a layman, an excellent writer and at the same
time a profound and conscientious thinker, has
been able to understand well and express exactly
this fundamental Catholic doctrine:
The Church does not say that morality belongs
purely, in the sense of exclusively, to her;
but that it belongs wholly to her. She has never
maintained that outside her fold and apart from
her teaching, man cannot arrive at any moral
truth; she has on the contrary more than once
condemned this opinion because it has appeared
under more forms than one. She does however
say, has said, and will ever say, that because
of her institution by Jesus Christ, because
of the Holy Ghost sent her in His name by the
Father, she alone possesses what she has had
immediately from God and can never lose, the
whole of moral truth, omnem veritatem, in which
all individual moral truths are included, as
well those which man may learn by the help of
reason, as those which form part of revelation
or which may be deduced from it.[12]
21. Therefore with full right
the Church promotes letters, science, art in
so far as necessary or helpful to Christian
education, in addition to her work for the salvation
of souls: founding and maintaining schools and
institutions adapted to every branch of learning
and degree of culture.[13] Nor may even physical
culture, as it is called, be considered outside
the range of her maternal supervision, for the
reason that it also is a means which may help
or harm Christian education.
22. And this work of the Church
in every branch of culture is of immense benefit
to families and nations which without Christ
are lost, as St. Hilary points out correctly:
"What can be more fraught with danger for
the world than the rejection of Christ?"[14]
Nor does it interfere in the least with the
regulations of the State, because the Church
in her motherly prudence is not unwilling that
her schools and institutions for the education
of the laity be in keeping with the legitimate
dispositions of civil authority; she is in every
way ready to co-operate with this authority
and to make provision for a mutual understanding,
should difficulties arise.
23. Again it is the inalienable
right as well as the indispensable duty of the
Church, to watch over the entire education of
her children, in all institutions, public or
private, not merely in regard to the religious
instruction there given, but in regard to every
other branch of learning and every regulation
in so far as religion and morality are concerned.[15]
24. Nor should the exercise
of this right be considered undue interference,
but rather maternal care on the part of the
Church in protecting her children from the grave
danger of all kinds of doctrinal and moral evil.
Moreover this watchfulness of the Church not
merely can create no real inconvenience, but
must on the contrary confer valuable assistance
in the right ordering and well-being of families
and of civil society; for it keeps far away
from youth the moral poison which at that inexperienced
and changeable age more easily penetrates the
mind and more rapidly spreads its baneful effects.
For it is true, as Leo XIII has wisely pointed
out, that without proper religious and moral
instruction "every form of intellectual
culture will be injurious; for young people
not accustomed to respect God, will be unable
to bear the restraint of a virtuous life, and
never having learned to deny themselves anything.
they will easily be incited to disturb the public
order."[16]
25. The extent of the Church's
mission in the field of education is such as
to embrace every nation, without exception,
according to the command of Christ: "Teach
ye all nations;"[17] and there is no power
on earth that may lawfully oppose her or stand
in her way. In the first place, it extends over
all the Faithful, of whom she has anxious care
as a tender mother. For these she has throughout
the centuries created and conducted an immense
number of schools and institutions in every
branch of learning. As We said on a recent occasion:
Right back in the far-off middle ages when
there were so many (some have even said too
many) monasteries, convents, churches, collegiate
churches, cathedral chapters, etc., there was
attached to each a home of study, of teaching,
of Christian education. To these we must add
all the universities, spread over every country
and always by the initiative an under the protection
of the Holy See and the Church. That grand spectacle,
which today we see better, as it is nearer to
us and more imposing because of the conditions
of the age, was the spectacle of all times;
and they who study and compare historical events
remain astounded at what the Church has been
able to do in this matter, and marvel at the
manner in which she had succeeded in fulfilling
her God-given mission to educate generations
of men to a Christian life, producing everywhere
a magnificent harvest of fruitful results. But
if we wonder that the Church in all times has
been able to gather about her and educate hundreds,
thousands, millions of students, no less wonderful
is it to bear in mind what she has done not
only in the field of education, but in that
also of true and genuine erudition. For, if
so many treasures of culture, civilization and
literature have escaped destruction, this is
due to the action by which the Church, even
in times long past and uncivilized, has shed
so bright a light in the domain of letters,
of philosophy, of art and in a special manner
of architecture.[18]
26. All this the Church has
been able to do because her mission to educate
extends equally to those outside the Fold, seeing
that all men are called to enter the kingdom
of God and reach eternal salvation. Just as
today when her missions scatter schools by the
thousand in districts and countries not yet
Christian, from the banks of the Ganges to the
Yellow river and the great islands and archipelagos
of the Pacific ocean, from the Dark Continent
to the Land of Fire and to frozen Alaska, so
in every age the Church by her missionaries
has educated to Christian life and to civilization
the various peoples which now constitute the
Christian nations of the civilized world.
27. Hence it is evident that
both by right and in fact the mission to educate
belongs preeminently to the Church, and that
no one free from prejudice can have a reasonable
motive for opposing or impeding the Church in
this her work, of which the world today enjoys
the precious advantages.
28. This is the more true
because the rights of the family and of the
State, even the rights of individuals regarding
a just liberty in the pursuit of science, of
methods of science and all sorts of profane
culture, not only are not opposed to this pre-eminence
of the Church, but are in complete harmony with
it. The fundamental reason for this harmony
is that the supernatural order, to which the
Church owes her rights, not only does not in
the least destroy the natural order, to which
pertain the other rights mentioned, but elevates
the natural and perfects it, each affording
mutual aid to the other, and completing it in
a manner proportioned to its respective nature
and dignity. The reason is because both come
from God, who cannot contradict Himself: "The
works of God are perfect and all His ways are
judgments."[19]
29. This becomes clearer when
we consider more closely and in detail the mission
of education proper to the family and to the
State.
30. In the first place the Church's mission
of education is in wonderful agreement with
that of the family, for both proceed from God,
and in a remarkably similar manner. God directly
communicates to the family, in the natural order,
fecundity, which is the principle of life, and
hence also the principle of education to life,
together with authority, the principle of order.
31. The Angelic Doctor with
his wonted clearness of thought and precision
of style, says: "The father according to
the flesh has in a particular way a share in
that principle which in a manner universal is
found in God.... The father is the principle
of generation, of education and discipline and
of everything that bears upon the perfecting
of human life."[20]
32. The family therefore holds
directly from the Creator the mission and hence
the right to educate the offspring, a right
inalienable because inseparably joined to the
strict obligation, a right anterior to any right
whatever of civil society and of the State,
and therefore inviolable on the part of any
power on earth.
33. That this right is inviolable
St. Thomas proves as follows:
The child is naturally something of the father
. . . so by natural right the child, before
reaching the use of reason, is under the father's
care. Hence it would be contrary to natural
justice if the child, before the use of reason,
were removed from the care of its parents, or
if any disposition were made concerning him
against the will of the parents.[21] And as
this duty on the part of the parents continues
up to the time when the child is in a position
to provide for itself, this same inviolable
parental right of education also endures. "Nature
intends not merely the generation of the offspring,
but also its development and advance to the
perfection of man considered as man, that is,
to the state of virtue"[22] says the same
St. Thomas.
34. The wisdom of the Church
in this matter is expressed with precision and
clearness in the Codex of Canon Law, can. 1113:
"Parents are under a grave obligation to
see to the religious and moral education of
their children, as well as to their physical
and civic training, as far as they can, and
moreover to provide for their temporal well-being."[23]
35. On this point the common
sense of mankind is in such complete accord,
that they would be in open contradiction with
it who dared maintain that the children belong
to the State before they belong to the family,
and that the State has an absolute right over
their education. Untenable is the reason they
adduce, namely that man is born a citizen and
hence belongs primarily to the State, not bearing
in mind that before being a citizen man must
exist; and existence does not come from the
State, but from the parents, as Leo XIII wisely
declared: "The children are something of
the father, and as it were an extension of the
person of the father; and, to be perfectly accurate,
they enter into and become part of civil society,
not directly by themselves, but through the
family in which they were born."[24] "And
therefore," says the same Leo Xlll, "the
father's power is of such a nature that it cannot
be destroyed or absorbed by the State; for it
has the same origin as human life itself."[25]
It does not however follow from this that the
parents' right to educate their children is
absolute and despotic; for it is necessarily
subordinated to the last end and to natural
and divine law, as Leo Xlll declares in another
memorable encyclical, where He thus sums up
the rights and duties of parents: "By nature
parents have a right to the training of their
children, but with this added duty that the
education and instruction of the child be in
accord with the end for which by God's blessing
it was begotten. Therefore it is the duty of
parents to make every effort to prevent any
invasion of their rights in this matter, and
to make absolutely sure that the education of
their children remain under their own control
in keeping with their Christian duty, and above
all to refuse to send them to those schools
in which there is danger of imbibing the deadly
poison of impiety."[26]
36. It must be borne in mind
also that the obligation of the family to bring
up children, includes not only religious and
moral education, but physical and civic education
as well,[27] principally in so far as it touches
upon religion and morality
37. This incontestable right
of the family has at various times been recognized
by nations anxious to respect the natural law
in their civil enactments. Thus, to give one
recent example, the Supreme Court of the United
States of America, in a decision on an important
controversy, declared that it is not in the
competence of the State to fix any uniform standard
of education by forcing children to receive
instruction exclusively in public schools, and
it bases its decision on the natural law: the
child is not the mere creature of the State;
those who nurture him and direct his destiny
have the right coupled with the high duty, to
educate him and prepare him for the fulfillment
of his obligations.[28]
38. History bears witness
how, particularly in modern times, the State
has violated and does violate rights conferred
by God on the family. At the same time it shows
magnificently how the Church has ever protected
and defended these rights, a fact proved by
the special confidence which parents have in
Catholic schools. As We pointed out recently
in Our letter to the Cardinal Secretary of State:
The family has instinctively understood this
to be so, and from the earliest days of Christianity
down to our own times, fathers and mothers,
even those of little or no faith, have been
sending or bringing their children in millions
to places of education under the direction of
the Church.[29]
39. It is paternal instinct,
given by God, that thus turns with confidence
to the Church, certain of finding in her the
protection of family rights, thereby illustrating
that harmony with which God has ordered all
things. The Church is indeed conscious of her
divine mission to all mankind, and of the obligation
which all men have to practice the one true
religion; and therefore she never tires of defending
her right, and of reminding parents of their
duty, to have all Catholic-born children baptized
and brought up as Christians. On the other hand
so jealous is she of the family's inviolable
natural right to educate the children, that
she never consents, save under peculiar circumstances
and with special cautions, to baptize the children
of infidels, or provide for their education
against the will of the parents, till such time
as the children can choose for themselves and
freely embrace the Faith.[30]
40. We have therefore two
facts of supreme importance. As We said in Our
discourse cited above: The Church placing at
the disposal of families her office of mistress
and educator, and the families eager to profit
by the offer, and entrusting their children
to the Church in hundreds and thousands. These
two facts recall and proclaim a striking truth
of the greatest significance in the moral and
social order. They declare that the mission
of education regards before all, above all,
primarily the Church and the family, and this
by natural and divine law, and that therefore
it cannot be slighted, cannot be evaded, cannot
be supplanted.[31]
41. From such priority of
rights on the part of the Church and of the
family in the field of education, most important
advantages, as we have seen, accrue to the whole
of society. Moreover in accordance with the
divinely established order of things, no damage
can follow from it to the true and just rights
of the State in regard to the education of its
citizens.
42. These rights have been
conferred upon civil society by the Author of
nature Himself, not by title of fatherhood,
as in the case of the Church and of the family,
but in virtue of the authority which it possesses
to promote the common temporal welfare, which
is precisely the purpose of its existence. Consequently
education cannot pertain to civil society in
the same way in which it pertains to the Church
and to the family, but in a different way corresponding
to its own particular end and object.
43. Now this end and object,
the common welfare in the temporal order, consists
in that peace and security in which families
and individual citizens have the free exercise
of their rights, and at the same time enjoy
the greatest spiritual and temporal prosperity
possible in this life, by the mutual union and
co-ordination of the work of all. The function
therefore of the civil authority residing in
the State is twofold, to protect and to foster,
but by no means to absorb the family and the
individual, or to substitute itself for them.
44. Accordingly in the matter
of education, it is the right, or to speak more
correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect
in its legislation, the prior rights, already
described, of the family as regards the Christian
education of its offspring, and consequently
also to respect the supernatural rights of the
Church in this same realm of Christian education.
45. It also belongs to the
State to protect the rights of the child itself
when the parents are found wanting either physically
or morally in this respect, whether by default,
incapacity or misconduct, since, as has been
shown, their right to educate is not an absolute
and despotic one, but dependent on the natural
and divine law, and therefore subject alike
to the authority and jurisdiction of the Church,
and to the vigilance and administrative care
of the State in view of the common good. Besides,
the family is not a perfect society, that is,
it has not in itself all the means necessary
for its full development. In such cases, exceptional
no doubt, the State does not put itself in the
place of the family, but merely supplies deficiencies,
and provides suitable means, always in conformity
with the natural rights of the child and the
supernatural rights of the Church.
46. In general then it is
the right and duty of the State to protect,
according to the rules of right reason and faith,
the moral and religious education of youth,
by removing public impediments that stand in
the way. In the first place it pertains to the
State, in view of the common good, to promote
in various ways the education and instruction
of youth. It should begin by encouraging and
assisting, of its own accord, the initiative
and activity of the Church and the family, whose
successes in this field have been clearly demonstrated
by history and experience. It should moreover
supplement their work whenever this falls short
of what is necessary, even by means of its own
schools and institutions. For the State more
than any other society is provided with the
means put at its disposal for the needs of all,
and it is only right that it use these means
to the advantage of those who have contributed
them.[32]
47. Over and above this, the
State can exact and take measures to secure
that all its citizens have the necessary knowledge
of their civic and political duties, and a certain
degree of physical, intellectual and moral culture,
which, considering the conditions of our times,
is really necessary for the common good.
48. However it is clear that
in all these ways of promoting education and
instruction, both public and private, the State
should respect the inherent rights of the Church
and of the family concerning Christian education,
and moreover have regard for distributive justice.
Accordingly, unjust and unlawful is any monopoly,
educational or scholastic, which, physically
or morally, forces families to make use of government
schools, contrary to the dictates of their Christian
conscience, or contrary even to their legitimate
preferences.
49. This does not prevent
the State from making due provision for the
right administration of public affairs and for
the protection of its peace, within or without
the realm. These are things which directly concern
the public good and call for special aptitudes
and special preparation. The State may therefore
reserve to itself the establishment and direction
of schools intended to prepare for certain civic
duties and especially for military service,
provided it be careful not to injure the rights
of the Church or of the family in what pertains
to them. It is well to repeat this warning here;
for in these days there is spreading a spirit
of nationalism which is false and exaggerated,
as well as dangerous to true peace and prosperity.
Under its influence various excesses are committed
in giving a military turn to the so-called physical
training of boys (sometimes even of girls, contrary
to the very instincts of human nature); or again
in usurping unreasonably on Sunday, the time
which should be devoted to religious duties
and to family life at home. It is not our intention
however to condemn what is good in the spirit
of discipline and legitimate bravery promoted
by these methods; We condemn only what is excessive,
as for example violence, which must not be confounded
with courage nor with the noble sentiment of
military valor in defense of country and public
order; or again exaltation of athleticism which
even in classic pagan times marked the decline
and downfall of genuine physical training.
50. In general also it belongs
to civil society and the State to provide what
may be called civic education, not only for
its youth, but for all ages and classes. This
consists in the practice of presenting publicly
to groups of individuals information having
an intellectual, imaginative and emotional appeal,
calculated to draw their wills to what is upright
and honest, and to urge its practice by a sort
of moral compulsion, positively by disseminating
such knowledge, and negatively by suppressing
what is opposed to it.[33] This civic education,
so wide and varied in itself as to include almost
every activity of the State intended for the
public good, ought also to be regulated by the
norms of rectitude, and therefore cannot conflict
with the doctrines of the Church, which is the
divinely appointed teacher of these norms.
51. All that we have said
so far regarding the activity of the State in
educational matters, rests on the solid and
immovable foundation of the Catholic doctrine
of The Christian Constitution of States set
forth in such masterly fashion by Our Predecessor
Leo Xlll, notably in the Encyclicals lmmortale
Dei and Sapientiae Christianae. He writes as
follows:
God has divided the government of the human
race between two authorities, ecclesiastical
and civil, establishing one over things divine,
the other over things human. Both are supreme,
each in its own domain; each has its own fixed
boundaries which limit its activities. These
boundaries are determined by the peculiar nature
and the proximate end of each, and describe
as it were a sphere within which, with exclusive
right, each may develop its influence. As however
the same subjects are under the two authorities,
it may happen that the same matter, though from
a different point of view, may come under the
competence and jurisdiction of each of them.
If follows that divine Providence, whence both
authorities have their origin, must have traced
with due order the proper line of action for
each. The powers that are, are ordained of God.[34]
52. Now the education of youth
is precisely one of those matters that belong
both to the Church and to the State, "though
in different ways," as explained above.
Therefore, continues Leo Xlll, between the
two powers there must reign a well-ordered harmony.
Not without reason may this mutual agreement
be compared to the union of body and soul in
man. Its nature and extent can only be determined
by considering, as we have said, the nature
of each of the two powers, and in particular
the excellence and nobility of the respective
ends. To one is committed directly and specifically
the charge of what is helpful in worldly matters;
while the other is to concern itself with the
things that pertain to heaven and eternity.
Everything therefore in human affairs that is
in any way sacred, or has reference to the salvation
of souls and the worship of God, whether by
its nature or by its end, is subject to the
jurisdiction and discipline of the Church. Whatever
else is comprised in the civil and political
order, rightly comes under the authority of
the State; for Christ commanded us to give to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's.[35]
53. Whoever refuses to admit
these principles, and hence to apply them to
education, must necessarily deny that Christ
has founded His Church for the eternal salvation
of mankind, and maintain instead that civil
society and the State are not subject to God
and to His law, natural and divine. Such a doctrine
is manifestly impious, contrary to right reason,
and, especially in this matter of education,
extremely harmful to the proper training of
youth, and disastrous as well for civil society
as for the well-being of all mankind. On the
other hand from the application of these principles,
there inevitably result immense advantages for
the right formation of citizens. This is abundantly
proved by the history of every age. Tertullian
in his Apologeticus could throw down a challenge
to the enemies of the Church in the early days
of Christianity, just as St. Augustine did in
his; and we today can repeat with him:
Let those who declare the teaching of Christ
to be opposed to the welfare of the State, furnish
us with an army of soldiers such as Christ says
soldiers ought to be; let them give us subjects,
husbands, wives, parents, children, masters,
servants, kings, judges, taxpayers and tax gatherers
who live up to the teachings of Christ; and
then let them dare assert that Christian doctrine
is harmful to the State. Rather let them not
hesitate one moment to acclaim that doctrine,
rightly observed, the greatest safeguard of
the State.[36]
54. While treating of education,
it is not out of place to show here how an ecclesiastical
writer, who flourished in more recent times,
during the Renaissance, the holy and learned
Cardinal Silvio Antoniano, to whom the cause
of Christian education is greatly indebted,
has set forth most clearly this well established
point of Catholic doctrine. He had been a disciple
of that wonderful educator of youth, St. Philip
Neri; he was teacher and Latin secretary to
St. Charles Borromeo, and it was at the latter's
suggestion and under his inspiration that he
wrote his splendid treatise on The Christian
Education of Youth. In it he argues as follows:
The more closely the temporal power of a nation
aligns itself with the spiritual, and the more
it fosters and promotes the latter, by so much
the more it contributes to the conservation
of the commonwealth. For it is the aim of the
ecclesiastical authority by the use of spiritual
means, to form good Christians in accordance
with its own particular end and object; and
in doing this it helps at the same time to form
good citizens, and prepares them to meet their
obligations as members of a civil society. This
follows of necessity because in the City of
God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good
citizen and an upright man are absolutely one
and the same thing. How grave therefore is the
error of those who separate things so closely
united, and who think that they can produce
good citizens by ways and methods other than
those which make for the formation of good Christians.
For, let human prudence say what it likes and
reason as it pleases, it is impossible to produce
true temporal peace and tranquillity by things
repugnant or opposed to the peace and happiness
of eternity.[37]
55. What is true of the State,
is true also of science, scientific methods
and scientific research; they have nothing to
fear from the full and perfect mandate which
the Church holds in the field of education.
Our Catholic institutions, whatever their grade
in the educational and scientific world, have
no need of apology. The esteem they enjoy, the
praise they receive, the learned works which
they promote and produce in such abundance,
and above all, the men, fully and splendidly
equipped, whom they provide for the magistracy,
for the professions, for the teaching career,
in fact for every walk of life, more than sufficiently
testify in their favour.[38]
56. These facts moreover present
a most striking confirmation of the Catholic
doctrine defined by the Vatican Council:
Not only is it impossible for faith and reason
to be at variance with each other, they are
on the contrary of mutual help. For while right
reason establishes the foundations of Faith,
and, by the help of its light, develops a knowledge
of the things of God, Faith on the other hand
frees and preserves reason from error and enriches
it with varied knowledge. The Church therefore,
far from hindering the pursuit of the arts and
sciences, fosters and promotes them in many
ways. For she is neither ignorant nor unappreciative
of the many advantages which flow from them
to mankind. On the contrary she admits that
just as they come from God, Lord of all knowledge,
so too if rightly used, with the help of His
grace they lead to God. Nor does she prevent
the sciences, each in its own sphere, from making
use of principles and methods of their own.
Only while acknowledging the freedom due to
them, she takes every precaution to prevent
them from falling into error by opposition to
divine doctrine, or from overstepping their
proper limits, and thus invading and disturbing
the domain of Faith.[39]
57. This norm of a just freedom
in things scientific, serves also as an inviolable
norm of a just freedom in things didactic, or
for rightly understood liberty in teaching;
it should be observed therefore in whatever
instruction is imparted to others. Its obligation
is all the more binding in justice when there
is question of instructing youth. For in this
work the teacher, whether public or private,
has no absolute right of his own, but only such
as has been communicated to him by others. Besides
every Christian child or youth has a strict
right to instruction in harmony with the teaching
of the Church, the pillar and ground of truth.
And whoever disturbs the pupil's Faith in any
way, does him grave wrong, inasmuch as he abuses
the trust which children place in their teachers,
and takes unfair advantage of their inexperience
and of their natural craving for unrestrained
liberty, at once illusory and false.
58. In fact it must never
be forgotten that the subject of Christian education
is man whole and entire, soul united to body
in unity of nature, with all his faculties natural
and supernatural, such as right reason and revelation
show him to be; man, therefore, fallen from
his original estate, but redeemed by Christ
and restored to the supernatural condition of
adopted son of God, though without the preternatural
privileges of bodily immortality or perfect
control of appetite. There remain therefore,
in human nature the effects of original sin,
the chief of which are weakness of will and
disorderly inclinations.
59. "Folly is bound up
in the heart of a child and the rod of correction
shall drive it away."[40] Disorderly inclinations
then must be corrected, good tendencies encouraged
and regulated from tender childhood, and above
all the mind must be enlightened and the will
strengthened by supernatural truth and by the
means of grace, without which it is impossible
to control evil impulses, impossible to attain
to the full and complete perfection of education
intended by the Church, which Christ has endowed
so richly with divine doctrine and with the
Sacraments, the efficacious means of grace.
60. Hence every form of pedagogic
naturalism which in any way excludes or weakens
supernatural Christian formation in the teaching
of youth, is false. Every method of education
founded, wholly or in part, on the denial or
forgetfulness of original sin and of grace,
and relying on the sole powers of human nature,
is unsound. Such, generally speaking, are those
modern systems bearing various names which appeal
to a pretended self-government and unrestrained
freedom on the part of the child, and which
diminish or even suppress the teacher's authority
and action, attributing to the child an exclusive
primacy of initiative, and an activity independent
of any higher law, natural or divine, in the
work of his education.
61. If any of these terms
are used, less properly, to denote the necessity
of a gradually more active cooperation on the
part of the pupil in his own education; if the
intention is to banish from education despotism
and violence, which, by the way, just punishment
is not, this would be correct, but in no way
new. It would mean only what has been taught
and reduced to practice by the Church in traditional
Christian education, in imitation of the method
employed by God Himself towards His creatures,
of whom He demands active cooperation according
to the nature of each; for His Wisdom "reacheth
from end to end mightily and ordereth all things
sweetly."[41]
62. But alas! it is clear
from the obvious meaning of the words and from
experience, that what is intended by not a few,
is the withdrawal of education from every sort
of dependence on the divine law. So today we
see, strange sight indeed, educators and philosophers
who spend their lives in searching for a universal
moral code of education, as if there existed
no decalogue, no gospel law, no law even of
nature stamped by God on the heart of man, promulgated
by right reason, and codified in positive revelation
by God Himself in the ten commandments. These
innovators are wont to refer contemptuously
to Christian education as "heteronomous,"
"passive, 'obsolete," because founded
upon the authority of God and His holy law.
63. Such men are miserably
deluded in their claim to emancipate, as they
say, the child, while in reality they are making
him the slave of his own blind pride and of
his disorderly affections, which, as a logical
consequence of this false system, come to be
justified as legitimate demands of a so-called
autonomous nature.
64. But what is worse is the
claim, not only vain but false, irreverent and
dangerous, to submit to research, experiment
and conclusions of a purely natural and profane
order, those matters of education which belong
to the supernatural order; as for example questions
of priestly or religious vocation, and in general
the secret workings of grace which indeed elevate
the natural powers, but are infinitely superior
to them, and may nowise be subjected to physical
laws, for "the Spirit breatheth where He
will."[42]
65. Another very grave danger
is that naturalism which nowadays invades the
field of education in that most delicate matter
of purity of morals. Far too common is the error
of those who with dangerous assurance and under
an ugly term propagate a so-called sex-education,
falsely imagining they can forearm youths against
the dangers of sensuality by means purely natural,
such as a foolhardy initiation and precautionary
instruction for all indiscriminately, even in
public; and, worse still, by exposing them at
an early age to the occasions, in order to accustom
them, so it is argued, and as it were to harden
them against such dangers.
66. Such persons grievously
err in refusing to recognize the inborn weakness
of human nature, and the law of which the Apostle
speaks, fighting against the law of the mind;[43]
and also in ignoring the experience of facts,
from which it is clear that, particularly in
young people, evil practices are the effect
not so much of ignorance of intellect as of
weakness of a will exposed to dangerous occasions,
and unsupported by the means of grace.
67. In this extremely delicate
matter, if, all things considered, some private
instruction is found necessary and opportune,
from those who hold from God the commission
to teach and who have the grace of state, every
precaution must be taken. Such precautions are
well known in traditional Christian education,
and are adequately described by Antoniano cited
above, when he says:
Such is our misery and inclination to sin,
that often in the very things considered to
be remedies against sin, we find occasions for
and inducements to sin itself. Hence it is of
the highest importance that a good father, while
discussing with his son a matter so delicate,
should be well on his guard and not descend
to details, nor refer to the various ways in
which this infernal hydra destroys with its
poison so large a portion of the world; otherwise
it may happen that instead of extinguishing
this fire, he unwittingly stirs or kindles it
in the simple and tender heart of the child.
Speaking generally, during the period of childhood
it suffices to employ those remedies which produce
the double effect of opening the door to the
virtue of purity and closing the door upon vice.[44]
68. False also and harmful
to Christian education is the so-called method
of "coeducation." This too, by many
of its supporters, is founded upon naturalism
and the denial of original sin; but by all,
upon a deplorable confusion of ideas that mistakes
a leveling promiscuity and equality, for the
legitimate association of the sexes. The Creator
has ordained and disposed perfect union of the
sexes only in matrimony, and, with varying degrees
of contact, in the family and in society. Besides
there is not in nature itself, which fashions
the two quite different in organism, in temperament,
in abilities, anything to suggest that there
can be or ought to be promiscuity, and much
less equality, in the training of the two sexes.
These, in keeping with the wonderful designs
of the Creator, are destined to complement each
other in the family and in society, precisely
because of their differences, which therefore
ought to be maintained and encouraged during
their years of formation, with the necessary
distinction and corresponding separation, according
to age and circumstances. These principles,
with due regard to time and place, must, in
accordance with Christian prudence, be applied
to all schools, particularly in the most delicate
and decisive period of formation, that, namely,
of adolescence; and in gymnastic exercises and
deportment, special care must be had of Christian
modesty in young women and girls, which is so
gravely impaired by any kind of exhibition in
public.
69. Recalling the terrible
words of the Divine Master: "Woe to the
world because of scandals!"[45] We most
earnestly appeal to your solicitude and your
watchfulness, Venerable Brethren, against these
pernicious errors, which, to the immense harm
of youth, are spreading far and wide among Christian
peoples.
70. In order to obtain perfect
education, it is of the utmost importance to
see that all those conditions which surround
the child during the period of his formation,
in other words that the combination of circumstances
which we call environment, correspond exactly
to the end proposed.
71. The first natural and
necessary element in this environment, as regards
education, is the family, and this precisely
because so ordained by the Creator Himself.
Accordingly that education, as a rule, will
be more effective and lasting which is received
in a well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian
family; and more efficacious in proportion to
the clear and constant good example set, first
by the parents, and then by the other members
of the household.
72. It is not our intention
to treat formally the question of domestic education,
nor even to touch upon its principal points.
The subject is too vast. Besides there are not
lacking special treatises on this topic by authors,
both ancient and modern, well known for their
solid Catholic doctrine. One which seems deserving
of special mention is the golden treatise already
referred to, of Antoniano, On the Christian
Education of Youth, which St. Charles Borromeo
ordered to be read in public to parents assembled
in their churches.
73. Nevertheless, Venerable
Brethren and beloved children, We wish to call
your attention in a special manner to the present-day
lamentable decline in family education. The
offices and professions of a transitory and
earthly life, which are certainly of far less
importance, are prepared for by long and careful
study; whereas for the fundamental duty and
obligation of educating their children, many
parents have little or no preparation, immersed
as they are in temporal cares. The declining
influence of domestic environment is further
weakened by another tendency, prevalent almost
everywhere today, which, under one pretext or
another, for economic reasons, or for reasons
of industry, trade or politics, causes children
to be more and more frequently sent away from
home even in their tenderest years. And there
is a country where the children are actually
being torn from the bosom of the family, to
be formed (or, to speak more accurately, to
be deformed and depraved) in godless schools
and associations, to irreligion and hatred,
according to the theories of advanced socialism;
and thus is renewed in a real and more terrible
manner the slaughter of the Innocents.
74. For the love of Our Savior
.Jesus Christ, therefore, we implore pastors
of souls, by every means in their power, by
instructions and catechisms, by word of mouth
and written articles widely distributed, to
warn Christian parents of their grave obligations.
And this should be done not in a merely theoretical
and general way, but with practical and specific
application to the various responsibilities
of parents touching the religious, moral and
civil training of their children, and with indication
of the methods best adapted to make their training
effective, supposing always the influence of
their own exemplary lives. The Apostle of the
Gentiles did not hesitate to descend to such
details of practical instruction in his epistles,
especially in the Epistle to the Ephesians,
where among other things he gives this advice:
"And you, fathers, provoke not your children
to anger."[46] This fault is the result
not so much of excessive severity, as of impatience
and of ignorance of means best calculated to
effect a desired correction; it is also due
to the all too common relaxation of parental
discipline which fails to check the growth of
evil passions in the hearts of the younger generation.
Parents therefore, and all who take their place
in the work of education, should be careful
to make right use of the authority given them
by God, whose vicars in a true sense they are.
This authority is not given for their own advantage,
but for the proper up-bringing of their children
in a holy and filial "fear of God, the
beginning of wisdom," on which foundation
alone all respect for authority can rest securely;
and without which, order, tranquillity and prosperity,
whether in the family or in society, will be
impossible.
75. To meet the weakness of
man's fallen nature, God in His Goodness has
provided the abundant helps of His grace and
the countless means with which He has endowed
the Church, the great family of Christ. The
Church therefore is the educational environment
most intimately and harmoniously associated
with the Christian family.
76. This educational environment
of the Church embraces the Sacraments, divinely
efficacious means of grace, the sacred ritual,
so wonderfully instructive, and the material
fabric of her churches, whose liturgy and art
have an immense educational value; but it also
includes the great number and variety of schools,
associations and institutions of all kinds,
established for the training of youth in Christian
piety, together with literature and the sciences,
not omitting recreation and physical culture.
And in this inexhaustible fecundity of educational
works, how marvelous, how incomparable is the
Church's maternal providence! So admirable too
is the harmony which she maintains with the
Christian family, that the Church and the family
may be said to constitute together one and the
same temple of Christian education.
77. Since however the younger
generations must be trained in the arts and
sciences for the advantage and prosperity of
civil society, and since the family of itself
is unequal to this task, it was necessary to
create that social institution, the school.
But let it be borne in mind that this institution
owes its existence to the initiative of the
family and of the Church, long before it was
undertaken by the State. Hence considered in
its historical origin, the school is by its
very nature an institution subsidiary and complementary
to the family and to the Church. It follows
logically and necessarily that it must not be
in opposition to, but in positive accord with
those other two elements, and form with them
a perfect moral union, constituting one sanctuary
of education, as it were, with the family and
the Church. Otherwise it is doomed to fail of
its purpose, and to become instead an agent
of destruction.
78. This principle we find
recognized by a layman, famous for his pedagogical
writings, though these because of their liberalism
cannot be unreservedly praised. "The school,"
he writes, "if not a temple, is a den."
And again: "When literary, social, domestic
and religious education do not go hand in hand,
man is unhappy and helpless."[47]
79. From this it follows that
the so-called "neutral" or "lay"
school, from which religion is excluded, is
contrary to the fundamental principles of education.
Such a school moreover cannot exist in practice;
it is bound to become irreligious. There is
no need to repeat what Our Predecessors have
declared on this point, especially Pius IX and
Leo Xlll, at times when laicism was beginning
in a special manner to infest the public school.
We renew and confirm their declarations,[48]
as well as the Sacred Canons in which the frequenting
of non-Catholic schools, whether neutral or
mixed, those namely which are open t
