Pius XII…

…judges Francis’ idea on ‘diversified unity’

• Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria warns us, “although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ” (Epis. 61). (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientalis ecclesiae, April 9, 1944)

• If error has clouded the minds of men, they must return to that truth which indicates the right path to heaven

Let all remember that the flood of evil and disaster that has over-taken the world in past years was due chiefly to the fact that the divine religion of Jesus Christ, that provider of mutual charity among citizens, peoples and nations, did not govern, as it should, private, domestic and public life. If things have gone wrong on account of the desertion from Christ, public and private life must return to Him as soon as possible: if error has clouded the minds of men, they must return to that truth which, revealed from on high, indicates the right way to heaven: if hatred has brought them fatal results, they must return to Christian love which alone can heal their many wounds, and carry them over the crisis so filled with danger. (Pius XII. Encyclical Optatissima pax, no. 8, December 18, 1947)

• The highest and most needed message: the call to be sons of God

The Church has the mission to announce to the World, which is looking for better and more perfect forms of democracy, the highest and most needed message: the dignity of man, the call to be sons of God. It is the powerful cry, which resounds from the manger of Bethlehem to the furthest confines of the earth at a time when that dignity is tragically low. (Pius XII. Radio message Benignitas et humanitas, no. 82, December 24, 1944)

• The great and urgent duty to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the men of our time

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the “Ensign of the King” before those who have followed and still follow a false standard, and to win back to the victorious banner of the Cross those who have abandoned it? What heart is not inflamed, is not swept forward to help at the sight of so many brothers and sisters who, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God and have lost contact with the joyful and life-giving message of Christ? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 5, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on union in the Catholic Church

• Harmony and agreement among Christ’s faithful ones is based upon truths revealed

The only successful method will be that which bases harmony and agreement among Christ’s faithful ones upon all the truths, and the whole of the truths, which God has revealed. (Pius XII. Enyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, no. 16, April 9, 1944)

• Pious practices wean from the seductions of the world and lead to the path of perfection

But when devotional exercises, and pious practices in general, not strictly connected with the sacred liturgy, confine themselves to merely human acts, with the express purpose of directing these latter to the Father in heaven, of rousing people to repentance and holy fear of God, of weaning them from the seductions of the world and its vice, and leading them back to the difficult path of perfection, then certainly such practices are not only highly praiseworthy but absolutely indispensable, because they expose the dangers threatening the spiritual life; because they promote the acquisition of virtue; and because they increase the fervor and generosity with which we are bound to dedicate all that we are and all that we have to the service of Jesus Christ. Genuine and real piety, which the Angelic Doctor calls “devotion,“ and which is the principal act of the virtue of religion — that act which correctly relates and fitly directs men to God; and by which they freely and spontaneously give themselves to the worship of God in its fullest sense – piety of this authentic sort needs meditation on the supernatural realities and spiritual exercises, if it is to be nurtured, stimulated and sustained, and if it is to prompt us to lead a more perfect life. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 45-46, December 20, 1947)

• Various acts of mortification aid the faithful to join forces with their Captain, Christ the Lord

This explains why the Church in a brief and significant phrase calls the various acts of mortification, especially those practiced during the season of Lent, “the Christian army’s defenses” (Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday). They represent, in fact, the personal effort and activity of members who desire, as grace urges and aids them, to join forces with their Captain – “that we may discover . . . in our Captain,” to borrow St. Augustine’s words, “the fountain of grace itself” (De praedestinatione sanctorum, 31). But observe that these members are alive, endowed and equipped with an intelligence and will of their own. It follows that they are strictly required to put their own lips to the fountain, imbibe and absorb for themselves the life-giving water, and rid themselves personally of anything that might hinder its nutritive effect in their souls. Emphatically, therefore, the work of redemption, which in itself is independent of our will, requires a serious interior effort on our part if we are to achieve eternal salvation. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 44, November 20, 1947)

• Many Christians are not conscious that they are led astray by those who portray fidelity to Christ as slavery, excluding Him from modern life

The Holy Gospel narrates that when Jesus was crucified “here was darkness over the whole earth” (Mt 27:45); a terrifying symbol of what happened and what still happens spiritually wherever incredulity, blind and proud of itself, has succeeded in excluding Christ from modern life, especially from public life, and has undermined faith in God as well as faith in Christ. The consequence is that the moral values by which in other times public and private conduct was gauged have fallen into disuse; […] Many perhaps, while abandoning the teaching of Christ, were not fully conscious of being led astray by a mirage of glittering phrases, which proclaimed such estrangement as an escape from the slavery in which they were before held; nor did they then foresee the bitter consequences of bartering the truth that sets free, for error which enslaves. They did not realize that, in renouncing the infinitely wise and paternal laws of God, and the unifying and elevating doctrines of Christ’s love, they were resigning themselves to the whim of a poor, fickle human wisdom; […] They did not perceive the inability of all human effort to replace the law of Christ by anything equal to it; “they became vain in their thoughts” (Rom 1:21). With the weakening of faith in God and in Jesus Christ, and the darkening in men’s minds of the light of moral principles, there disappeared the indispensable foundation of the stability and quiet of that internal and external, private and public order, which alone can support and safeguard the prosperity of States. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 30.31–32, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on this being the wonderful moments of the Church

• Amid grave christological controversy, the primacy of the Roman pontiff shone forth clearly

From the consideration of this event and its attendant circumstances, two points arise and stand out, and these we wish, as far as possible, to make yet more clear. They are: the primacy of the Roman pontiff which shone forth clearly in this very grave christological controversy and, secondly, the great importance and weight of the dogmatic definition of Chalcedon. Let those who, through the evils of the time, are separated from the bosom and unity of the Church, especially those who dwell in Eastern lands, not delay to follow the example and the customs of their ancestors in paying due respect to the Roman primacy. And let those who are involved in the errors of Nestorius or Eutyches penetrate with clearer insight into the mystery of Christ and at last accept this definition in its completeness. Those, also, who are led by an excessive desire for new things and, in their investigation of the mystery of our redemption boldly dare to go beyond the sacred and inviolable limits [of true doctrine], should ponder this definition more truly and more deeply. Finally, let all those who bear the Catholic name draw from it strong encouragement; let them hold fast this evangelical pearl of great price; let them profess and hold it with unadulterated faith; let them render it due honor inwardly and outwardly; and – what is still more important – let them pay it the tribute of lives in which, through God’s mercy, they shun whatever is unworthy, incongruous or blameable, and in which they shine with the beauty of virtue, so that they may become sharers of this divinity, who deigned to be a partaker of our humanity. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sempiternus Rex Christus, September 8, 1951)

• The divine promise has strengthened the Church unto her victory over the gates of hell

Our Most Merciful Redeemer, after He had wrought salvation for mankind on the tree of the Cross and before He ascended from out this world to the Father, said to his Apostles and Disciples, to console them in their anxiety, ‘Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world’ (Mt 28:20). These words, which are indeed most pleasing, are a cause of all hope and security, and they bring us, Venerable Brethren, ready succor, whenever we look round from this watch-tower raised on high and see all human society laboring amid so many evils and miseries, and the Church herself beset without ceasing by attacks and machinations. For as in the beginning this Divine promise lifted up the despondent spirit of the Apostles and enkindled and inflamed them so that they might cast the seeds of the Gospel teaching throughout the whole world; so ever since it has strengthened the Church unto her victory over the gates of hell. In sooth, Our Lord Jesus Christ has been with his Church in every age, but He has been with her with more present aid and protection whenever she has been assailed by graver perils and difficulties. For the remedies adapted to the condition of time and circumstances, are always supplied by Divine Wisdom, who reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly (Wis 8:1). (Pius XII. Encyclical Miserentissimus redemptor, no. 1, May 8, 1928)

…judges Francis’ idea on the role of the Church

• We must make every effort to lead back to Christian principles those brethren who have strayed

Consider the immense need of our time. We must make every effort to lead back to Christian principles those brethren who have strayed through error or been blinded by passions, to enlighten nations with the light of Christian doctrine, to guide them according to Christian norms and to form in them more Christian consciences, and lastly to urge them to struggle for the triumph of truth and justice. (Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ defense of the Jovinian heresy

• Some so exalt marriage as to rank it ahead of virginity and thus depreciate chastity consecrated to God and clerical celibacy

However, since there are some who, straying from the right path in this matter, so exalt marriage as to rank it ahead of virginity and thus depreciate chastity consecrated to God and clerical celibacy, Our apostolic duty demands that We now in a particular manner declare and uphold the Church’s teaching on the sublime state of virginity, and so defend Catholic truth against these errors. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 8, March 25, 1954)

• Holy virginity surpasses marriage in excellence

It is first and foremost for the foregoing reasons that, according to the teaching of the Church, holy virginity surpasses marriage in excellence. Our Divine Redeemer had already given it to His disciples as a counsel for a more perfect life. (Mt 19:10-11) St. Paul, after having said that the father who gives his daughter in marriage ‘does well,’ adds immediately ‘and he that gives her not, does better.’ (1 Cor 7:38) (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 24, March 25, 1954)

• It must be clearly stated that virginity should be esteemed as something more perfect than marriage

In the first place, it must be clearly stated that because virginity should be esteemed as something more perfect than marriage, it does not follow that it is necessary for Christian perfection. Holiness of life can really be attained, even without a chastity that is consecrated to God. Witness to this are the many holy men and women, who are publicly honored by the Church, and who were faithful spouses and stood out as an example of excellent fathers and mothers; indeed it is not rare to find married people who are very earnest in their efforts for Christian perfection. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 45-46, March 25, 1954)

• A dangerous error: Those who maintain that the grace of the sacrament of marriage is so holy as to be a fitter instrument than virginity for uniting souls with God

We have recently with sorrow censured the opinion of those who contend that marriage is the only means of assuring the natural development and perfection of the human personality (cf. Allocutio ad Moderatrices supremas Ordinum et Institutorum Religiosarum, 15 septem. 1952; AAS 44, p. 824) For there are those who maintain that the grace of the sacrament, conferred ex opere operato, renders the use of marriage so holy as to be a fitter instrument than virginity for uniting souls with God; for marriage is a sacrament, but not virginity. We denounce this doctrine as a dangerous error. Certainly, the sacrament grants the married couple the grace to accomplish holily the duties of their married state, and it strengthens the bonds of mutual affection that unite them; but the purpose of its institution was not to make the employment of marriage the means, most suitable in itself, for uniting the souls of the husband and wife with God by the bonds of charity (cf. Decretum S. Officii, De matrimonii finibus, AAS 36, p. 103) Or rather does not the Apostle Paul admit that they have the right of abstaining for a time from the use of marriage, so that they may be more free for prayer (cf. 1 Cor 7:5), precisely because such abstinence gives greater freedom to the soul which wishes to give itself over to spiritual thoughts and prayer to God? […] Holiness of life can really be attained, even without a chastity that is consecrated to God. Witness to this are the many holy men and women, who are publicly honored by the Church, and who were faithful spouses and stood out as an example of excellent fathers and mothers; indeed it is not rare to find married people who are very earnest in their efforts for Christian perfection. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 37-38.46, March 25, 1954)

• Christian virgins gave their lives forever to the service of Jesus Christ and to his Church

Is it not marvelous, how every time that the Christian Virgins, ‘the most glorious portion of the flock of Christ’, following the impulses of love, reject the solicitations of the world, as foreign to it, and surpassing the division of the heart, which is so comfortable and full of dangers, not only consecrated themselves totally to Christ as the true Spouse of souls, but also they gave their lives forever, adorned with the jewels of the Christian virtues, to the service of Jesus Christ and to his Church. (Pius XII. Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi, no. 2, November 21, 1950)

• Holy virginity consecrated to the service of God is among the most precious treasures left in heritage by the Founder of the Church

Holy virginity and that perfect chastity which is consecrated to the service of God is without doubt among the most precious treasures which the Founder of the Church has left in heritage to the society which He established. This assuredly was the reason why the Fathers of the Church confidently asserted that perpetual virginity is a very noble gift which the Christian religion has bestowed on the world. They rightly noted that the pagans of antiquity imposed this way of life on the Vestals only for a certain time (cf. S. Ambrose, De virginibus., lib. I, c. 4, n. 15; De virginitate, c. 3, n. 13) and that, although in the Old Testament virginity is ordered to be kept and preserved, it is only a previous requisite for marriage (cf. Ex. 22: 16-17; Deut 22: 23-29; Eccli 42: 9) and furthermore, as Ambrose writes (De virginibus, lib. I, c. 3, n. 12) “We read that also in the temple of Jerusalem there were virgins. But what does the Apostle say? ‘Now all these things happened to them in figure’, (1 Cor 10:11) that this might be a foreshadowing of what was to come “ (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 1-2, March 25, 1954)

• The Fathers of the Church, the Doctors and others, have sung the praises of virginity

Further, the Fathers of the Church, such as Cyprian, Athanasius, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, and many others, have sung the praises of virginity. And this doctrine of the Fathers, augmented through the course of centuries by the Doctors of the Church and the masters of asceticism, helps greatly either to inspire in the faithful of both sexes the firm resolution of dedicating themselves to God by the practice of perfect chastity and of persevering thus till death. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 4, March 25, 1954)

• May what the Fathers of the Church have preached about the glory and merit of virginity be an invitation to persevere with constancy

Innumerable is the multitude of those who from the beginning of the Church until our time have offered their chastity to God. Some have preserved their virginity unspoiled, others after the death of their spouse, have consecrated to God their remaining years in the unmarried state, and still others, after repenting their sins, have chosen to lead a life of perfect chastity; all of them at one in this common oblation, that is, for love of God to abstain for the rest of their lives from sexual pleasure. May then what the Fathers of the Church preached about the glory and merit of virginity be an invitation, a help, and a source of strength to those who have made the sacrifice to persevere with constancy, and not take back or claim for themselves even the smallest part of the holocaust they have laid on the altar of God. (Pius XII. Encyclical Sacra virginitas, no. 4, March 25, 1954)

• The Church has established the law of celibacy making it ever more manifest to all peoples that the priest is a minister of God and the father of souls

The priest has as the proper field of his activity everything that pertains to the supernatural life, since it is he who promotes the increase of this supernatural life and communicates it to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Consequently, it is necessary that he renounce ‘the things of the world,’ in order to have care only for ‘the things of the Lord’ (1 Cor 7:32-33). And it is precisely because he should be free from preoccupation with worldly things to dedicate himself entirely to the divine service, that the Church has established the law of celibacy, thus making it ever more manifest to all peoples that the priest is a minister of God and the father of souls. By his law of -celibacy, the priest, so far from losing the gift and duties of fatherhood, rather increases them immeasurably, for, although he does not beget progeny for this passing life of earth, he begets children for that life which is heavenly and eternal. The more resplendent priestly chastity is, so much the more does the sacred minister become, together with Christ, ‘a pure victim, a holy victim, an immaculate victim’ (Missale Rom., can). (Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on the use of internet for catholic education

• A system of education that does not respect the sacred precincts of the Christian family protected by God’s holy law, incurs condemnation

A formation which forgot or, worse still, deliberately neglected to direct the eyes and hearts of youth to the heavenly country would be an injustice to youth, an injustice against the inalienable duties and rights of the Christian family […] The crime of high treason against the ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (1Tim 6:15; cf. Rev 19:6) perpetrated by an education that is either indifferent or opposed to Christianity, the reversal of ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me’ (Mt 19:14), would bear most bitter fruits. […] The souls of children given to their parents by God and consecrated in Baptism with the royal character of Christ, are a sacred charge over which watches the jealous love of God. The same Christ Who pronounced the words ‘Suffer little children to come unto me’ has threatened, for all His mercy and goodness, with fearful evils, those who give scandal to those so dear to His heart. Now what scandal is more permanently harmful to generation after generation, than a formation of youth which is misdirected towards a goal that alienates from Christ ‘the Way and the Truth and the Life’ and leads to open or hidden apostasy from Christ? […] Of all that exists on the face of the earth, the soul alone has deathless life. A system of education that should not respect the sacred precincts of the Christian family, protected by God’s holy law, that should attack its foundations, bar to the young the way to Christ, to the Savior’s fountains of life and joy (cf. Is 12:3), that should consider apostasy from Christ and the Church as a proof of fidelity to the people or a particular class’s word: ‘They that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth’ (Jer 17:13). (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 67.68.69.70, October 20, 2010)

• Strive so that your children and youth receive an ample and well-based religious formation

Oppose then, the pernicious efforts which seek to completely distance religion from education and from schools, or at least to found on a purely naturalistic foundation schools and education itself, that ideal of the task of teaching enriched by the inestimable treasure of a faith which is felt and lived, by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Strive that your children and youth, as they progress in the way of years, also receive a religious formation which is ever more ample and well-based: remembering to take into account that the full and deep awareness of thee religious truths, as well as the doubts and difficulties, normally appear in the last year higher study, especially if the student is in contact, as is practically unavoidable today, with persons contrary to Christian doctrine; and so religious instruction demands, with all right, a place of honor in the programs of the universities and the centers for post-graduate studies. Do this in such a way that this instruction is closely united to the holy fear of God, the habit of recollecting oneself in prayer, and the full and conscious participation in the spirit of the liturgical year of Holy Mother Church, source of innumerable graces; but in this work, proceed with caution and prudence, so that it may always be the young person who is always seeking something more and little by little, working on his own he gradually learns how to live and proceed in his life of faith.(Pius XII. Radio message for the closing of the Inter-American Congress on Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

• The Vicar of Christ must testify to the truth

We feel We owe no greater debt to Our office and to Our time than to testify to the truth with Apostolic firmness: “to give testimony to the truth.” This duty necessarily entails the exposition and confutation of errors and human faults. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 19, October 20, 2010)

…judges Francis’ idea on renouncing our own culture to benefit the refugees

• The Catholic priests worked as missionaries to teach the Gospel to the natives, and proclaimed that the natives were to be treated as brothers by the colonists

With the discovery of the New World, Christ’s priests were the tireless companions of the men who founded colonies in those far distant lands. It was these priests who made sure that these colonists would not desert Christian ways nor become proud because of the riches acquired in the new lands. These priests also wished to move forward suitably and readily as missionaries to teach the Gospel to the natives, who previously were entirely ignorant of the Divine Light. And they zealously proclaimed that the natives were to be treated as brothers by the colonists. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• True Christians should be filled with an ardent desire to see the faith take root and flourish in every land

Zeal for missionary activity and the Catholic spirit are one and the same. A principal note of the Church is catholicity; consequently, a man is no true member of the Church unless he is likewise a true member of the entire body of Christian believers and is filled with an ardent desire to see her take root and flourish in every land (Discorsi e radiomessaggi, 8, 328). (Pius XII. Encyclical Fidei Donum, no. 44, April 21, 1957)

• The uncultured invaders received the blessings of the true Faith

Equally noble were the vigorous ardent labors of bishops and priests who sought to bring to newcomers the blessings of the true Faith and to introduce them into the social customs of these new countries. They also facilitated the assimilation of the uncultured invaders whom they introduced both to the Christian religion and to a new culture. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

…judges Francis’ idea on if doctrine can be interpreted against the infallible Magisterium

• Incite a more determined resistance of the ever-increasing host of Christ’s enemies who tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths of God

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard? […] Who among ‘the Soldiers of Christ’ – ecclesiastic or layman – does not feel himself incited and spurred on to a greater vigilance, to a more determined resistance, by the sight of the ever-increasing host of Christ’s enemies; as he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 5, October 20, 1939)

• The Church may not abstain from reminding the faithful of concrete moral obligations

Against this doctrine, which had never been refuted throughout the centuries, there now arise difficulties and objections that must be clarified. […] The first step, or rather, the first blow against the edifice of moral Christian norms would be the separating them – as is intended – from the constricted and oppressing vigilance of the authority of the Church. […] The “new morality” affirms that the Church, instead of fomenting the law of human liberty and love, insisting on it as a worthy dynamic of the life of morality, rather bases itself, on the contrary, almost exclusively and with excessive rigidity, on the firmness and the intransigence of moral Christian laws, frequently resorting to the terms ‘you are obliged’, ‘it is not licit’, which has too much of an air of a degrading pedantry. In reality: The Church desires, on the contrary – and it manifests this clearly in the formation of consciences – that the Christian be introduced to the infinite richness of the faith and grace in a persuasive manner, in such a way that they feel inclined to penetrate them profoundly. But the Church may not abstain from warning the faithful that these riches may not be acquired nor conserved if not at the cost of concrete moral obligations. (Pius XII. Radio message La famiglia, on the occasion of the celebration of ‘Family Day’, March 23, 1952)

• The Church has the right to proclaim to the whole world the unchanging basic laws

But on the other hand, [the Church] as the ‘Pillar and Ground of Truth’ (1Tim 3:15) and guardian, by the will of God and the mandate of Christ, of the natural and supernatural order, the Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim to her sons and to the whole world the unchanging basic laws, saving them from every perversion, frustration, corruption, false interpretation and error. This is all the more necessary for the fact that from the exact maintenance of these laws, and not merely by the effort of noble and courageous wills, depends in the last analysis the solidity of any national and international order, so fervently desired by all peoples. (Pius XII. Radio message Con sempre nuova freschezza, Christmas, December 24, 1942)

• The advocates of novelty present the Magisterium of the Church as a hindrance to progress

Lamentably, these advocates of novelty […] This Magisterium is represented by them as a hindrance to progress and an obstacle in the way of science; and by some non-Catholics it is considered as an unjust restraint with which some more qualified theologians are refrained from reforming their science. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani generis, no. 12, August 12, 1950)

• Novelty is never in itself a criterion of truth – it can be worthy of praise only when it confirms the truth and leads to righteousness and virtue

You are already aware that among priests, especially those less equipped with doctrine and of less strict lives, a certain spirit of novelty is being diffused in an ever graver and more disturbing manner. Novelty is never in itself a criterion of truth and it can be worthy of praise only when it confirms the truth and leads to righteousness and virtue. (Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 116–117, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on interpersonal relationships no longer need to seek purity and perfection

• The Mother of Jesus, a most perfect model of the domestic virtues

The Mother of Jesus is, in effect, a most perfect model of the domestic virtues, of those virtues that should beautify the state of the Christian couples. In Mary we find the most pure, holy and faithful affection, made of sacrifice and of delicate attentions, toward her most holy spouse: in Her the complete and continuous giving over to the cares of the family and the house: in Her the perfect faith and love toward her Divine Son: in Her the humility that was manifested in submission to Joseph, in the inalterable patience and serenity in face of the discomforts of poverty and work, in the full conformity to the dispositions, frequently arduous and difficult, of Divine Providence, in the sweetness of conduct and in the charity toward all those who lived close to the holy walls of the little house of Nazareth. (Pius XII. Address to newlyweds, May 31, 1939)

• The difficulties of family life do not humiliate, but rather exalt

Before you, newlyweds, who succeed other similar groups who have come before Us and have been blessed by Us, our thought brings to mind the great saying of Ecclesiastes: ‘One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays’ (Eccles 1:4). In this way, new centuries unfold, but God does not change; the Gospel does not change nor the destiny of man for eternity; the law of the family does not change; the ineffable example of the family of Nazareth does not change, great sun of three suns, one of the most divine brilliance and more ardent than the other two that surround it. Observe that modest and humble mansion, oh fathers and mothers; contemplate He who was ‘the carpenter’s son’ (Mt 13:55), born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin slave of the Lord; and comforted in the sacrifices and in the works of life. Kneeling before them as children; invoking them, supplicating them; and learning from them that the difficulties of family life do not humiliate, but rather exalt; how they do not make the man nor the woman less great or dear to heaven, but a rather worth a happiness, that in vain are sought within the commodities of this world where all is fleeting and transient. (Pius XII. Allocution to newlyweds, March 11, 942)

…judges Francis’ idea that preaching the Gospel does not entail doctrinal and moral principles

• There are those who wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute them with other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place

As he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 7, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on Christian marriage realized in a partial and analogous way by adultery

• It is never permitted to yield to the carnal appetite outside of matrimony

In effect, conjugal union, by its very nature, contains the destiny, aptitude and sufficiency for the end mentioned, for, those who contract marriage or live in marriage find themselves connected and linked to each other by a mutual, exclusive and perpetual right to carry out acts which are apt – of themselves – for the begetting of children. Once this right is established, and given that – on one hand – the sexual appetite feels ardently impelled to exercise the generating faculty, and that – on the other hand – man is not permitted to yield to this appetite outside of matrimony, it is evident that in matrimony the attainment of the purpose of procreation and the education of children have been provided for in a manner sufficient and efficacious. (Pius XII. Instruction to the Roman Rota, January 22, 1944)

• The imprudence of devaluating what has been traditionally conceived, expressed and perfected by men endowed with no common talent and holiness for unstable tenets of a new philosophy

Hence to neglect, or to reject, or to devalue so many and such great resources which have been conceived, expressed and perfected so often by the age-old work of men endowed with no common talent and holiness, working under the vigilant supervision of the holy magisterium and with the light and leadership of the Holy Ghost in order to state the truths of the faith ever more accurately, to do this so that these things may be replaced by conjectural notions and by some formless and unstable tenets of a new philosophy, tenets which, like the flowers of the field, are in existence today and die tomorrow; this is supreme imprudence and something that would make dogma itself a reed shaken by the wind. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani generis, no. 11, August 12, 1950)

…judges Francis’ attitude on Ukraine

• The Ukrainians looked toward the Church of Rome as an only mother, and to her they payed obedience and veneration

We think it will be useful if in this letter we give a brief historical summary of the events with which we are concerned. It must be observed in the first place that even before the union of the Ruthenians with the Apostolic See was happily concluded at Rome and confirmed at Brest in 1595 and 1596, these people had more than once looked to the Roman Church as the one mother of the whole Christian community and dutifully paid it due obedience and reverence. […] Not a few of his descendants [Saint Vladimir] also received the legates of the Roman pontiffs with due honor and were fraternally united with other Catholic communities, even after the Church of Constantinople was separated by the lamentable schism. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientals omnes Ecclesias, no. 5, December 23, 1945)

• The Metropolitan and the Bishops acknowledged one Supreme Pastor and First Bishop in the Church of God on earth, no other than the Holy Pope of Rome

On 2nd December 1594, the metropolitan and six bishops, after taking counsel together, published a joint declaration in which they proclaimed themselves ready to promote agreement and the long desired union. We have come to this determination, they wrote, ‘from the consideration, full of sadness for us, of how great are the hindrances men find in the way of salvation in the absence of this union of the Churches of God. From the time of Christ our Savior and his holy apostles, as the canons and councils make clear, our predecessors long continued in this union; they acknowledged one Supreme Pastor and First Bishop in the Church of God on earth, no other than the Holy Pope of Rome, and obeyed him in all things. While this state of affairs remained in its vigor there was ever order in the Church of God and increase of divine worship’ (cf. Baronius: Annales, VII, Rome 1596, App. p. 681). (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 9, December 23, 1945)

• Discussions of the whole matter finally reached the desired happy result

Discussions of the whole matter began at once and finally reached the desired happy result. On 23rd December 1595 the emissaries were admitted to the presence of the supreme pontiff; they read the declaration of all the bishops before the illustrious assembly and then in their own name and that of the other bishops made a solemn profession of faith and promised due obedience and respect. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 10, December 23, 1945)

• Pope Clement VIII joyfully communicated the news of this happy event to the world

On the same day our predecessor Clement VIII joyfully communicated the news of this happy event to the world by the Apostolic constitution Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis. How great was the joy and goodwill with which the Roman Church welcomed the Ruthenian people on their reception into the unity of the fold may be seen also from the Apostolic Letter Benedictus sit Pastor, issued on 7th February 1596, in which the supreme pontiff informed the metropolitan and the other Ruthenian bishops of the happy establishment of the union of their whole Church with the Apostolic See. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 11, December 23, 1945)

• Saint Josaphat, intrepid champion of Catholic unity, was hunted down with bitter hatred and murderous intent by the schismatics, and then slain

Josaphat Kuntzevitch, archbishop of Polotsk and Vitebsk, was famed for his holiness of life and apostolic zeal, and was an intrepid champion of Catholic unity. He was hunted down with bitter hatred and murderous intent by the schismatics and on 12th November 1623 he was inhumanly wounded and slain with a halberd. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 15, December 23, 1945)

• The Russian civil authorities employed a project to destroy the unity of the Ruthenians with the Roman Church

However it came about by the inscrutable will of God that towards the end of the century this community was harassed by many persecutions and vexations, and after the partition of Poland these became ever harder and more bitter in the areas which were annexed to the Russian Empire. After the death of Alexander I the rash policy was deliberately adopted of entirely breaking the union of the Ruthenians with the Roman Church. Already most of their eparchies had been almost cut off from any intercourse with the Apostolic See. Soon bishops were chosen who were imbued and inspired with zeal for schism, and so would become the lackeys and applauders of the civil power. In the seminary of Vilna, founded by the tsar Alexander I, teaching hostile to the Roman pontiffs was imparted to the clergy of both rites. The Basilian Order, whose members had always been a great support to the Catholic Church of the Eastern rite, was deprived of its own government and administration, and its monks and monasteries were entirely subjected to the consistories of the eparchies. Then the priests of the Latin rite were prohibited under grave penalties from administering the sacraments or other religious helps to the Ruthenians. Finally, alas, in 1839 the union of the Ruthenian Church with the dissident Russian Church was solemnly proclaimed. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 19, December 23, 1945)

• Miseries, perils and hardships with which the Ruthenians strived to retain their faith when they had been driven by force and fraud into schism

Finally, alas, in 1839 the union of the Ruthenian Church with the dissident Russian Church was solemnly proclaimed. It is impossible to describe the miseries, perils and hardships with which the most noble nation of the Ruthenians was afflicted at that time, for no other crime or guilt but that of crying out against the wrong done it and striving to retain its faith, when it had been driven by force and fraud into schism. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 19–20, December 23, 1945)

• Examples of “fraternal love” of the Orthodox towards the Ukrainian Catholics

Besides all this a new and no less bitter persecution of Catholicism was begun a few years before the partition of Poland. […] Many churches of the Ruthenian rite were taken away from the Catholics by force of arms; the priests who refused to abjure their faith were put in chains, insulted, scourged and cast into prison, where they suffered cruelly from hunger, thirst and cold. Not inferior to these in constancy and fortitude were the clergy who, about the year 1839, suffered the loss of their goods and even of their liberty, rather than abandon their religious duties. Among these we wish to recall in a special way the well-known priest, Joseph Ancewski, who was kept in harsh confinement in the monastery of Suzdal for thirty-two years, attaining the reward of his singular steadfastness in 1877, when he died a most holy death. We recall also the one hundred and sixty priests, who for open profession of the Catholic faith were torn away from their families, which were left in wretchedness, were transported into the interior of Russia and imprisoned in monasteries, but could not be turned from their holy resolve by hunger or any other affliction. Equally conspicuous for fortitude were the many, both clergy and laity, of the eparchy of Chelm, who with unconquerable courage resisted the persecutors of the Catholic faith. For example, when troops came to seize their church and hand it over to the schismatics, the inhabitants of Pratolin did not resist force by force, but, unarmed, put their crowded bodies in the way of their attackers like a living wall; some were wounded and savagely ill-treated, some suffered long imprisonment or were deported to the icy regions of Siberia, some, finally, were put to the sword and shed their blood for Christ. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias, no. 49–51, December 23, 1945)

…judges Francis’ idea on Judas being a poor, penitent man

• Judas, obdurate in his wicked treachery, handed Christ over to His executioners

But His Heart was moved by a particularly intense love mingled with fear as He perceived the hour of His bitter torments drawing near and, expressing a natural repugnance for the approaching pains and death […] in love triumphant united to deepest grief, He addressed to him those words which seem to be the final invitation of His most merciful Heart to the friend who, obdurate in his wicked treachery, was about to hand Him over to His executioners: ‘Friend, whereto art thou come? Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?’ (Lk. 22-48) (Pius XII. Encyclical Haurietis aquas, no. 67, May 15, 1956)

…judges Francis’ idea on God’s mercy aimed at religious syncretism

• It is always an active love that guides the chastisements of God

God at times lets trials befall individuals and peoples, trials of which the malice of men is the instrument in a design of justice directed towards the punishment of sin, towards purifying persons and peoples through the expiations of this present life and bringing them back by this way to Himself; but it means believing at the same time that this justice always remains here below the justice of a Father inspired and dominated by love. However severe may seem the Hand of the Divine Surgeon when he cuts with the lancet into the live flesh, it is always an active love that guides and drives it in, and only the good of men and peoples makes Him intervene in such a painful way. (Pius XII. Radio message, Divine Providence in human events, June 29, 1941)

• By the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law

And first of all, by the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had been abolished; then the Law of Christ together with its mysteries, enactments, institutions, and sacred rites was ratified for the whole world in the blood of Jesus Christ. For, while our Divine Savior was preaching in a restricted area – He was not sent but to the sheep that were lost of the House of Israel (cf. Mt 15:24) – the Law and the Gospel were together in force (cf. S. Th., I–II, q. 103, a. 3, ad 2); but on the gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees (cf. Eph 2:15) fastened the handwriting of the Old Testament to the Cross (Col 2:14), establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human race (cf. Mt 26:28; 1Cor 11:25). ‘To such an extent, then,’ says St. Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our Lord, ‘was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to the Church, from the many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as Our Lord expired, that mystical veil which shut off the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent violently from top to bottom’ (Leo the Great, Serm.,68,3). On the Cross then the Old Law died, soon to be buried and to be a bearer of death, in order to give way to the New Testament of which Christ had chosen the Apostles as qualified ministers (cf. 2Cor 3:6). (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 29–30, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on zeal for the liturgy, doctrine and prestige of the Church

• Nothing is more glorious, nothing nobler, than to belong to the Church

For nothing more glorious, nothing nobler, nothing surely more honorable can be imagined than to belong to the One, Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, in which we become members of One Body as venerable as it is unique; are guided by one supreme Head; are filled with one divine Spirit; are nourished during our earthly exile by one doctrine and one heavenly Bread, until at last we enter into the one, unending blessedness of heaven. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 91, June 29, 1943)

• Lamentably, there even exist those who represent the Church’s Magisterium as a hindrance to progress

Lamentably, these advocates of novelty easily pass from despisal of scholastic theology to contempt towards the Magisterium of the Church itself, which has given such authoritative approval to that [scholastic] theology. This Magisterium is represented by them as a hindrance to progress and an obstacle in the way of science; and by some non-Catholics it is considered as an unjust restraint with which some more qualified theologians are refrained from reforming their science. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani generis, no. 12, August 12, 1950)

• The devout associations gave rise to innumerable hospices, hospitals for strangers, churches, etc.

We wish also to say a few words concerning the unceasing care exercised in behalf of pilgrims by a number of devout associations. […] Under their influence, innumerable hospices and hospitals for strangers, churches and national societies were established. Many traces of them are found even today. Especially worthy of note were the Pilgrims’ Halls: Saxon, Frankish, Frisian, which by the 8th century had been established around the Vatican beside the tomb of SaintPeter, Prince of the Apostles. These Halls housed visitors from countries north of the Alps who had journeyed to Rome to venerate the memory of the Apostles. These Halls were provided with their own churches and cemeteries, and staffed by priests and clerics of their respec­tive nationalities, who provided for the material and spiritual welfare of their people, especially the sick and the poor. In the following centuries other monasteries were built, with their associated hospices for pilgrims. Included among them were Ethiopian or Abyssinian, Hungarian and Armenian Halls. All this happily echoed words of the Apostle Paul: ‘… sharing the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.’ (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, I, August 1, 1952)

• The provident enterprises of Mother Church are unjustly assailed, scorned and overlooked by her enemies

These timely projects have seemed altogether worth noting here. Initiated by this Apostolic See, they were undertaken by the bishops with the eager co-operation of priests, members of religious communities and laymen. The names of these collaborators, although, for the most part, not recorded in history books, are nevertheless written in heaven. Again, these works have appeared worth recounting here, if only briefly, so that the universal and benevolent activity of the Church on behalf of migrants and exiles of every kind –to whom she has extended every possible aid: religious, moral and social – might thus become better appreciated. Besides, it seemed that these things badly needed to be publicized, especially in our times, when the provident enterprises of Mother Church are so unjustly assailed by her enemies and scorned and overlooked, even in the very field of charity where she was first to break ground and often the only to continue its cultivation. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, I, August 1, 1952)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Church having defects

• The Church is enriched with the abundant gifts of the Paraclete

But if our Savior, by His death, became, in the full and complete sense of the word, the Head of the Church, it was likewise through His blood that the Church was enriched with the fullest communication of the Holy Spirit, through which, from the time when the Son of Man was lifted up and glorified on the Cross by His sufferings, she is divinely illumined. […] so at the hour of His precious death He willed that His Church should be enriched with the abundant gifts of the Paraclete in order that in dispensing the divine fruits of the Redemption she might be, for the Incarnate Word, a powerful instrument that would never fail. For both the juridical mission of the Church, and the power to teach, govern and administer the Sacraments, derive their supernatural efficacy and force for the building up of the Body of Christ from the fact that Jesus Christ, hanging on the Cross, opened up to His Church the fountain of those divine gifts, which prevent her from ever teaching false doctrine and enable her to rule them for the salvation of their souls through divinely enlightened pastors and to bestow on them an abundance of heavenly graces. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 31, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on the role of women in the Church

• Nothing nobler to define and describe the true Church of Jesus Christ than the expression ‘the Mystical Body of Christ’

If we would define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ – which is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church – we shall find nothing more noble, more sublime, or more divine than the expression ‘the Mystical Body of Christ’, an expression which springs from and is, as it were, the fair flowering of the repeated teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the Holy Fathers. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 13, June 29, 1943)

• Bishops must be considered as the more illustrious members of the Universal Church for they have a special bond to the divine Head of the whole Body

Consequently, Bishops must be considered as the more illustrious members of the Universal Church, for they are united by a very special bond to the divine Head of the whole Body and so are rightly called ‘principal parts of the members of the Lord’ (St. Gregory the Great, Moral., XIV, 35, 43); moreover, as far as his own diocese is concerned, each one as a true Shepherd feeds the flock entrusted to him and rules it in the name of Christ (cf. Vat. Council, Const. de Eccl., Cap. 3) Yet in exercising this office they are not altogether independent, but are subordinate to the lawful authority of the Roman Pontiff. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 42, June 29, 1943)

• The enemies of the Church themselves well know the vital importance of the priesthood, for it is against it that they direct their attacks

The enemies of the Church themselves well know the vital importance of the priesthood; for against the priesthood in particular […] they direct the point of their attacks. It is the priesthood they desire to be rid of; that they may clear the way for that destruction of the Church, which has been so often attempted yet never achieved. (Pius XII. Encyclical Ad catholici saserdotii, no. 7, December 20, 1935)

…judges Francis’ idea on renouncing our own culture to receive the refugees

• Christ’s priests were the tireless companions of the colonizers of the New World: missionaries of the Divine Light to the natives, while also laboring for the relief and conversion of the Negroes

With the discovery of the New World, Christ’s priests were the tireless companions of the men who founded colonies in those far distant lands. It was these priests who made sure that these colonists would not desert Christian ways nor become proud because of the riches acquired in the new lands. These priests also wished to move forward suitably and readily as missionaries to teach the Gospel to the natives, who previously were entirely ignorant of the Divine Light. And they zealously proclaimed that the natives were to be treated as brothers by the colonists. We must also mention those apostles of the Church who labored for the relief and conversion of those Negroes who were barbarously deported from their own land and sold as slaves in American and European ports. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• Missionary priests facilitated the assimilation of the uncultured invaders whom they introduced both to the Christian religion and to a new culture

Equally noble were the vigorous ardent labors of bishops and priests who sought to bring to newcomers the blessings of the true Faith and to introduce them into the social customs of these new countries. They also facilitated the assimilation of the uncultured invaders whom they introduced both to the Christian religion and to a new culture.  (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution, Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• Institutions, which to this day the pride of civilization are the fruit of Christian charity: hospitals, orphanages, leprosariums, etc.

It has always been a cause of amazement for the researcher of Church History – and for the believer, a confirmation of its divine origin – the fact of the promptness of Christian charity […]. There is also no region today where there is not a name that shines of itself, recalling feats of Christian charity. […] A charity which is always spontaneous, as spontaneous as the springtime which comes forth as the sun becomes warmer – Christ is the Sun of his Church – as spontaneous as is that which is connatural, and is not Christ the life-giving sap? [A charity which is] ever at our side, as if a special motion of the Holy Spirit makes the gaze of the Christian far-reaching to discover misery wherever it may be hiding, and the restless heart, so that there be no misfortune that is not responded to by a work and a group of brethren attentive to alleviate it. In this way, the flowing benefits of charity were born and have grown immensely, giving life to those institutions which are to this day the pride of civilization, such as, for example, hospitals, orphanages, Orders for the ransom of slaves, for the defense of pilgrims, houses for women at risk, associations to visit and console prisoners, and in more recent times, leprosariums, institutions for aiding the poor elderly, the blind, the deaf mute, immigrants, children of prisoners, the mutilated; which are all, together with the names of their founders and associates, among the precious pearls which adorn the Mystical Body of Christ. (Pius XII. Allocution to the delegates of the Italian National Congress of the Societies of Charity, April 22. 1952:AAS 54, 1952, p.468-469)

• Religious orders founded specifically to ransom prisoners

We indeed are happy to recall those religious orders founded specifically to ransom prisoners. Their members, burning with Christian love, endured great hardships on behalf of their enchained brothers for the purpose of liberating, or at least, of consoling many of them. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, no. 7, August 1, 1952)

• Hospices and hospitals are also benefits we received from Christian Civilization

We wish also to say a few words concerning the unceasing care exercised in behalf of pilgrims by a number of devout associations. Providentially set up during the Middle Ages, these groups flourished throughout the Christian world, and especially here in Rome. Under their influence, innumerable hospices and hospitals for strangers, churches and national societies were established. Many traces of them are found even today. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, no. 7, August 1. 1952)

• True Christians should have an ardent desire to see the Church take root and flourish everywhere

Zeal for missionary activity and the Catholic spirit are one and the same. A principal note of the Church is catholicity; consequently, a man is no true member of the Church unless he is likewise a true member of the entire body of Christian believers and is filled with an ardent desire to see her take root and flourish in every land. (Pius XII. Encyclical Fidei donum, no. 12, April 21, 1957)

• It is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma, even on the plea of promoting unity

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria warns us, ‘although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ.’ (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae no. 16, April 9, 1944)

• Jesus Mary and Joseph are the models of every migrant and refugee

The émigré Holy Family of Nazareth, fleeing into Egypt, is the archetype of every refugee family. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, living in exile in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for all times and all places, the models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear of persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his close friends, and to seek a foreign soil. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• There never has been a period during which the Church has not been active on behalf of migrants, exiles and refugees

Indeed, there never has been a period during which the Church has not been active in behalf of migrants, exiles and refugees. […] It is well to begin this survey by mentioning the fifty volumes preserved in the Vatican Archives: Holy See’s Care in behalf of the French. Truly they constitute a magnificent proof of the never-ending devotion of the Roman Pontiffs to the hapless persons banished from their country by revolution or war. These volumes reveal the fatherly care taken of the French by our predecessors Pius VI and Pius VII. Driven from their native land, many of these émigrés were received with open arms in the Papal State, and particularly in Rome, while others took refuge in other countries. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia Nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

…judges Francis’ idea on conversion of the papacy

• They have taken away the visible head and have left the Mystical Body of the Redeemer obscured and maimed

They, therefore, walk in the path of dangerous error who believe that they can accept Christ as the Head of the Church, while not adhering loyally to His Vicar on earth. They have taken away the visible head, broken the visible bonds of unity and left the Mystical Body of the Redeemer so obscured and so maimed, that those who are seeking the haven of eternal salvation can neither see it nor find it. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 40, June 29, 1943)

• Tangible demonstration of the indissoluble unity of the Catholic Church

And though from that first moment We felt all the great weight of responsible cares inseparable from the supreme power given to Us by Divine Providence, it was a consolation to see that magnificent and tangible demonstration of the indissoluble unity of the Catholic Church rallying all the closer to the impregnable Rock of Peter, to form around it a wall and a bulwark as the enemies of Christ become bolder. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 14, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on confession

• The priest ‘lends his tongue, and gives his hand’ to Christ

Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is made like to the High Priest and possesses the power of performing actions in virtue of Christ’s very person. Wherefore in his priestly activity he in a certain manner ‘lends his tongue, and gives his hand’ to Christ (Saint John Chrysostom, In Joann. Hom., 86:4). (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 57, November 20, 1947)

…judges Francis’ idea on reforming the Church

• The Church prolongs the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the sacred liturgy

But what is more, the divine Redeemer has so willed it that the priestly life begun with the supplication and sacrifice of His mortal body should continue without intermission down the ages in His Mystical Body which is the Church. That is why He established a visible priesthood to offer everywhere the clean oblation which would enable men from East to West, freed from the shackles of sin, to offer God that unconstrained and voluntary homage which their conscience dictates. In obedience, therefore, to her Founder’s behest, the Church prolongs the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the sacred liturgy. She does this in the first place at the altar, where constantly the sacrifice of the cross is represented and with a single difference in the manner of its offering, renewed. She does it next by means of the sacraments, those special channels through which men are made partakers in the supernatural life. She does it, finally, by offering to God, all Good and Great, the daily tribute of her prayer of praise. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 2–3, January 20, 1947)

• Liturgical rites exist due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

The more recent liturgical rites […] owe their inspiration to the Holy Spirit, who assists the Church in every age even to the consummation of the world. They are equally the resources used by the majestic Spouse of Jesus Christ to promote and procure the sanctity of man. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 61, January 20, 1947)

• The integrity of faith and morals ought is the special criterion of this sacred science

Indeed, though we are sorely grieved to note, on the one hand, that there are places where the spirit, understanding or practice of the sacred liturgy is defective, or all but inexistent, We observe with considerable anxiety and some misgiving, that elsewhere certain enthusiasts, over-eager in their search for novelty, are straying beyond the path of sound doctrine and prudence. Not seldom, in fact, they interlard their plans and hopes for a revival of the sacred liturgy with principles which compromise this holiest of causes in theory or practice, and sometimes even taint it with errors touching Catholic faith and ascetical doctrine. Yet the integrity of faith and morals ought to be the special criterion of this sacred science, which must conform exactly to what the Church out of the abundance of her wisdom teaches and prescribes. It is, consequently, Our prerogative to commend and approve whatever is done properly, and to check or censure any aberration from the path of truth and rectitude. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 8–9, January 20, 1947)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Church’s moral teaching

• The bases of an existing social order should be in accordance with the immutable order of God

On the other hand, it is fitting to the Church, where the social order approaches and even touches on the moral field, to judge if the bases of an existing social order are in accordance with the immutable order that God, Creator and Redeemer, has promulgated through the natural law and Revelation – a double manifestation which Leo XIII refers to in his encyclical. […] Because the Church, guardian of the supernatural Christian order, in which nature and grace converge, must form consciences, even of those who are called to find solutions for the problems and duties imposed by social life. For, it is on the form given to society, whether conformed or not to the divine laws, that the good and evil in souls depends and is upheld; that is, whether men, who are all called to be vivified by the grace of Jesus Christ, breathe the healthy and vital air of truth and moral virtue or the morbid, and often fatal, germ of error and depravation in the course of their earthly life. (Pius XII. Radio message for the 50th anniversary of Rerum novarum, no. 5, June 1, 1941)

• The Church applies perennial Christian morality to the present economic and social circumstances

The divine Redeemer has entrusted his Revelation – of which moral obligations form an essential part – no longer merely to each man, but rather to his Church, to which he has given the mission to lead them to embrace that sacred deposit with fidelity. And, in the same way, to the Church itself and not to each one of the individuals, was promised the assistance intended to preserve Revelation of errors and deformations. Providence also knew this, because the Church, a living organism, may in this way, securely and easily, both illuminate and even penetrate the moral truths, as well as apply them – while maintaining their substance intact – to the variable conditions of place and time. It is enough to think, for example, of the social doctrine of the Church, which, born to respond to new necessities, in the end is nothing but the application of the perennial Christian morality to the present economic and social circumstances. (Pius XII. Radio message, The family, regarding the conscience and moral, no. 9, March 23, 1952)

• A new morality: situation ethics that is not based on universal moral laws like the Ten Commandments, but rather on concrete circumstances according to which the individual conscience chooses

We have already spoken of the new morality in our radio message last March 23, to Christian educators. And what we shall treat of today is nothing but a continuation of what we said then: We wish to discover the profound origins of this concept. It could be qualified as ethical existentialism, ethical actualism, ethical individualism, understood in the restrictive meaning that we are going to explain, just as that which you find in what is called, with another name, Situationsethik (situation ethics). The distinctive sign of this morality is that it is in no way based on the universal moral laws, as, for example, the Ten Commandments, but rather on the real and concrete conditions and circumstances in which it has to act and according to which the individual conscience has to judge and choose. Such a state of things is only one of its kind and holds once for each human action: thus, the decision of the conscience – affirm the defenders of this ethic – is not governed by ideas, principles or universal laws. (Pius XII. Address on the errors of situation ethics, April 18, 1952)

• Situation ethics removes God as the ultimate end of human acts – it does not outright deny the concepts and general moral principles, but moves them from the center to the last position

The Christian faith bases its moral requirements upon the knowledge of the essential truths and of their relations; Saint Paul does so in the letter to the Romans (Rom 1, 19–21) for religion as such, be it the Christian religion or that which was anterior to Christianity: from the moment of creation, the Apostle says, man glimpses and grasps the Creator in some way, his eternal power and his divinity, and this occurs with such evidence that he knows and feels obliged to recognize God and pay some form of worship to him, in such a way that to distain this cultivation or pervert it in idolatry is gravely culpable, for all and at all times. This is not, in any manner, what the ethic We refer to affirms. It does not outright deny the concepts and general moral principles (though at times it nears such a negation), but rather moves them from the center to the last position. (Pius XII. Address on the errors of situation ethics, April 18, 1952)

• The fundamental obligations of the moral law are based, in essence, upon the nature of man and upon his essential relations, and consequently hold true in every place where man is

One might ask in what manner the moral law, which is universal, may be sufficient and even obligatory in a particular case, which, in its concrete situation, is always unique and occurs ‘only once’. It may, and is so, since precisely because of its universality, moral law necessarily and ‘intentionally’ comprehends all particular cases, in which its concepts are found. And in these cases, which are very numerous, it does so with a logic that is so conclusive, that even the conscience of the simple faithful immediately perceives, with entire certainty, the decision that should be made. This is especially true with respect to the negative obligations of the moral law, those that require that one not do, and that one avoid. But not only for these. The fundamental obligations of the moral law are based, in essence, upon the nature of man and upon his essential relations, and consequently hold true in every place where man is; the fundamental obligations of Christian law, from the very fact that they supersede those of the natural law, are based on the essence of the supernatural order constituted by the divine Redeemer. From the essential relations between man and God, between man and man, between spouses, between parents and children; from the essential relationships in community, in family, in the Church and in the State, it results – among other things – that hatred for God, blasphemy, idolatry, the defection from the true faith, the denial of the faith, perjury, homicide, false testimony, calumny, adultery and fornication, the abuse of matrimony, the solitary sin, robbery and rapine, the withdrawal of life’s necessities, the defrauding of just salary, the hoarding of basic life provisions and the unjustified increase of prices, fraudulent bankruptcy, unjust maneuverers and profiteering is all gravely prohibited by the divine Legislator. There is no room for doubt. Regardless of the particular situation of the individual, there is no other way but to obey. (Pius XII. Address on the errors of situation ethics, April 18, 1952)

• The Christian should assume the grave and great commitment to assert the truth, the spirit, and the law of Christ in his personal, professional, social and public life. This is Catholic morality

Where absolutely obligatory norms do not exist, independent of any circumstance or eventuality, the situation ‘occurring once’, in its uniqueness, requires, it is true, an attentive examination to decide what are the norms that must be applied and in what manner. Catholic morality has always dealt amply with this problem of the formation of the individual conscience with prior examination of the circumstances of the case to be resolved. All that it teaches offers a precious aid for the theoretic as well as practical determinations of the conscience. It would suffice to cite the unsurpassed exposition, of Saint Thomas regarding the cardinal virtue of prudence and the virtues related to it (S. Th. II–II q. 47–57). His treatise reveals a sense of personal activity and regarding achievement, that contains all that is just and positive in ethics ‘according to situation’, but avoiding all of its confusions and deviations. It is enough, therefore, for the modern moralist to continue along the same line if he wants to delve into new problems. […] The Christian, for his part, should assume the grave and great commitment to assert the truth, the spirit and the law of Christ, to the extent that depends on him, in his personal life, in his professional life and in social and public life. This is Catholic morality; and it leaves a vast field free for the initiative and personal responsibility of the Christian. (Pius XII. Address on the errors of situation ethics, April 18, 1952)

• It is erroneous to establish norms for real life that deviate from natural and Christian morality

Consequently, it would be erroneous to establish for real life norms which would deviate from natural and Christian morality, and which, for want of a better word, could be called “personalist” ethics. The latter would without doubt receive a certain “orientation” from the former, but this would not admit of any strict obligation. The law of the structure of man in the concrete is not to be invented but applied. (Pius XII. Address to the Fifth International Congress on Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology, no. 17, April 13, 1953)

• The use of material goods in society should be based on the fulfillment of moral duties

The original right regarding the use of material goods, since it bears intimate union with the dignity and other rights of the human person, offers him, with the forms indicated earlier, a secure material base, of supreme importance in raising him to the fulfillment of his moral duties. Fostering this right will assure the personal dignity of man and will lighten his tending to and satisfying for, with just liberty, that ensemble of obligations and stable decisions for which he is directly responsible to the Creator. Certainly it is the absolutely personal duty of man to conserve his material and spiritual life and orient it toward perfection in order to attain the religious and moral end that God has intended for all men. (Pius XII. Radio message for Pentecost, on the 50th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, no. 14, June 1, 1941)

…judges Francis’ idea on switching Christ for interconfessionalism

• Avoid unnecessary and harmful changes of expression which modify the substance of the truth

You must also see to it that you present the truth so that it can be rightly understood and appreciated, using always clear and never ambiguous terms, avoid unnecessary and harmful changes of expression which easily modify the substance of the truth. Such has ever been the practice and usage of the Catholic Church. And it agrees with that saying of Saint Paul: “Jesus Christ…was not: ‘It is’ and ‘It is not’; but, ‘It is’, was in him” (2Cor 1:19). (Pius XII. Allocution to the Seminarians of the Ecclesiastical College of Rome, June 24, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Church called to dialogue

• Christ left the truths and precepts in the hands of his Church, so that she may preach them to all peoples free of all contamination and error

The divine Savior has brought to man, ignorant and weak, his truth and grace: truth to indicate the path that leads to his end; grace to give him the strength to be able to reach it. Following this path signifies, in practice, accepting the will and the commandments of Christ and conforming one’s life to them. […] Both, the law engraved in the heart, which is the natural law, as well as the truths and precepts of supernatural revelation, were left by Jesus the Redeemer, as the moral treasure of humanity, in the hands of his Church, so that she may preach them to all peoples, explaining and transmitting them integrally and free of all contamination and error from generation to generation. (Pius XII. Radio message La famiglia è la culla on the occasion of the celebration of ‘Family Day’, March 23, 1952)

• The Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim to her sons and to the whole world the unchanging basic laws

But on the other hand, [the Church] as the ‘Pillar and Ground of Truth’ (1Tim 3:15) and guardian, by the will of God and the mandate of Christ, of the natural and supernatural order, the Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim to her sons and to the whole world the unchanging basic laws, saving them from every perversion, frustration, corruption, false interpretation and error. This is all the more necessary for the fact that from the exact maintenance of these laws, and not merely by the effort of noble and courageous wills, depends in the last analysis the solidity of any national and international order, so fervently desired by all peoples. (Pius XII. Radio message Con sempre nuova freschezza, Christmas, December 24, 1942)

…judges Francis’ idea on Ecumenical dialogue

• Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria warns us, ‘although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ’ (Ep. 61). (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientalis ecclesiae no. 16, April 9, 1944)

• The true Christian gives encouragement and example to those who are tempted to given in to discouragement before the number and power of the adversaries

Conscious of the tenebrous audacity of the widespread evil in this life, the true follower of Christ feels a living stimulus for a greater vigilance over himself as well as over his brothers who find themselves in danger. Certain as he is of the promise of God and the final triumph of Christ over his enemies and those of his kingdom, he feels interiorly strengthened against disillusions and weaknesses, defeats and humiliations, and may communicate equal confidence to all who approach his apostolic ministry, converting himself into a spiritual bulwark, while giving encouragement and example to those who are tempted to given in to discouragement before the number and power of the adversaries. (Pius XII. Address to the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals and the Roman Prelature for Christmas, December 24, 1940)

• Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard and win them back?

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard, and to win back to the victorious banner of the Cross those who have abandoned it? What heart is not inflamed, is not swept forward to help at the sight of so many brothers and sisters who, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God and have lost contact with the joyful and life-giving message of Christ? Who among ‘the Soldiers of Christ’ – ecclesiastic or layman – does not feel himself incited and spurred on to a greater vigilance, to a more determined resistance, by the sight of the ever-increasing host of Christ’s enemies; as he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 5, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on Catholic Faith and Lutheran belief

• It is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma on the pretext of promoting unity

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria warns us, ‘although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ.’ […] The only successful method will be that which bases harmony and agreement among Christ’s faithful ones upon all the truths, and the whole of the truths, which God has revealed. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, no. 1, April 9, 1944)

…judges Francis’ idea on God’s love for sinners

• The principle duty of pastors entails the confutation of errors and human faults

We feel We owe no greater debt to Our office and to Our time than to testify to the truth with Apostolic firmness: ‘to give testimony to the truth.’ This duty necessarily entails the exposition and confutation of errors and human faults; for these must be made known before it is possible to tend and to heal them. ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ (Jn 8:32). (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 14, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on proclaiming the Gospel only with gentleness

• The Church may not desist in showing firmness and intransigence when transmitting morals

Against this doctrine, which had never been refuted throughout the centuries, there now arise difficulties and objections that must be clarified. […] The first step, or rather, the first blow against the edifice of moral Christian norms would be the separating them – as is intended – from the constricted and oppressing vigilance of the authority of the Church. […] The “new morality” affirms that the Church, instead of fomenting the law of human liberty and love, insisting on it as a worthy dynamic of the life of morality, rather bases itself, on the contrary, almost exclusively and with excessive rigidity, on the firmness and the intransigence of moral Christian laws, frequently resorting to the terms ‘you are obliged’, ‘it is not licit’, which has too much of an air of a degrading pedantry. In reality: The Church desires, on the contrary – and it manifests this clearly in the formation of consciences – that the Christian be introduced to the infinite richness of the faith and grace in a persuasive manner, in such a way that they feel inclined to penetrate them profoundly. But the Church may not abstain from warning the faithful that these riches may not be acquired nor conserved if not at the cost of concrete moral obligations. (Pius XII. Radio message La famiglia, on the occasion of the celebration of ‘Family Day’, March 23, 1952)

• From the exact maintenance of the laws, which the Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim, depends the solidity of any national and international order

[…] as the ‘Pillar and Ground of Truth’ and guardian, by the will of God and the mandate of Christ, of the natural and supernatural order, the Church cannot renounce her right to proclaim to her sons and to the whole world the unchanging basic laws, saving them from every perversion, frustration, corruption, false interpretation and error. This is all the more necessary for the fact that from the exact maintenance of these laws, and not merely by the effort of noble and courageous wills, depends in the last analysis the solidity of any national and international order, so fervently desired by all peoples. (Pius XII. Radio message for Christmas, December 24, 1942)

• The greatest duty of the Vicar of Christ: ‘to give testimony to the truth’

We feel We owe no greater debt to Our office and to Our time than to testify to the truth with Apostolic firmness: ‘to give testimony to the truth.’ This duty necessarily entails the exposition and confutation of errors and human faults; for these must be made known before it is possible to tend and to heal them. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 14, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on proclaiming the Gospel

• The Church is the rock of truth when even at the cost of torments or martyrdom, it has to say: ‘Non licet; it is not allowed!’

Taught precisely by the sad failure of human expedients to stave off the tempest that threatens to sweep civilization away, many turn their gaze with renewed hope to the Church, the rock of truth and of charity, to that Chair of Peter from which, they feel, can be restored to mankind that unity of religious teaching and of the moral code which of old gave consistency to pacific international relations. […] These last are recognizing in the Catholic Church principles of belief and life that have stood the test of 2,000 years; the strong cohesion of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, which in union with the Successor of Peter spends itself in enlightening minds with the teaching of the Gospel, in guiding and sanctifying men, and which is generous in its material condescension towards all, but firm when, even at the cost of torments or martyrdom, it has to say: ‘Non licet; it is not allowed!’ (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 97 – 99, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on the pastor

• Clerics must live both interiorly and exteriorly a holier life than lay people

Led by the light of this virtue, let him keep his eyes fixed on Christ. Let him follow closely His Teaching, His actions and His example, convincing himself that it is not sufficient for him to accomplish the duties enjoined on the ordinary faithful. He must strive with ever increasing efforts to tend to perfection of life in keeping with the high dignity of the priesthood according to the warning of the Church: Clerics must live both interiorly and exteriorly a holier life than lay people, and must excel them in giving an example of virtue and good deeds[C.I.C., can. 124]. (Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 14, September 3, 1950)

• Avoid every familiarity – let your interest be confined to the demands of the sacred ministry

To this end We deem it opportune to address to you a special exhortation as regards your direction of associations and sodalities of women, that you show yourselves as becomes a priest; avoid every familiarity; when you must give your services, give them in a way that is befitting sacred ministers. Moreover, in directing these associations, let your interest be confined to the demands of the sacred ministry. (Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 24, September 3, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on new forms of poverty

• Never did the Church lack missionaries who labored tirelessly to make brothers of the natives and the slaves

With the discovery of the New World, Christ’s priests were the tireless companions of the men who founded colonies in those far distant lands. It was these priests who made sure that these colonists would not desert Christian ways nor become proud because of the riches acquired in the new lands. These priests also wished to move forward suitably and readily as missionaries to teach the Gospel to the natives, who previously were entirely ignorant of the Divine Light. And they zealously proclaimed that the natives were to be treated as brothers by the colonists. We must also mention those apostles of the Church who labored for the relief and conversion of those Negroes who were barbarously deported from their own land and sold as slaves in American and European ports. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• The universal and benevolent activity of the Church on behalf of migrants and exiles

These timely projects have seemed altogether worth noting here. Initiated by this Apostolic See, they were undertaken by the bishops with the eager co-operation of priests, members of religious communities and laymen. The names of these collaborators, although, for the most part, not recorded in history books, are nevertheless written in heaven. Again, these works have appeared worth recounting here, if only briefly, so that the universal and benevolent activity of the Church on behalf of migrants and exiles of every kind –to whom she has extended every possible aid: religious, moral and social–, might thus become better appreciated. Besides, it seemed that these things badly needed to be publicized, especially in our times, when the provident enterprises of Mother Church are so unjustly assailed by her enemies and scorned and overlooked, even in the very field of charity where she was first to break ground and often the only to continue its cultivation. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• In the assistance of those in need, those higher up in the social structure have a greater responsibility

In the great personal and social solidarity, everyone must be ready to work, to sacrifice oneself, to devote oneself to the good of all. The difference lies not in the obligation itself, but in the manner of fulfilling it. Is it not true that those who have more time and more abundant means at their disposal should be more assiduous and more solicitous in their desire to serve? In speaking of means, We are not referring only nor primarily to wealth, but to all the gifts of intelligence, culture, education, knowledge, and leadership, which are gifts not granted to certain privileged individuals for their exclusive advantage or to create an irremediable inequality among brothers, but rather for the good of the whole social community. In all that involves serving one’s neighbor, society, the Church and God, you must always be the first. Therein lies your true rank of honor, your most noble preeminence. Generous adhesion to the precepts of Christian doctrine and the Christian life. These are the same for all, for there are not two truths, nor two laws; rich and poor, big and small, noble and humble, all are equally expected to submit their intellects through faith in the same dogma, their wills through obedience to the same morals. Divine justice, however, will be much more severe toward those who have received more, those who are better able to understand the sole doctrine and to put it into practice in everyday life, those who with their example and their authority can more easily direct others onto the road of justice and salvation, or else lose them on the fatal roads of unbelief and sin. (Pius XII. Address to the gentlemen and ladies of the patriciate and nobility, January 15, 1949)

• The Church calls people to a higher culture and a better way of life

Another end remains to be achieved; and We desire that all should fully understand it. The Church from the beginning down to our own time has always followed this wise practice: let not the Gospel on being introduced into any new land destroy or extinguish whatever its people possess that is naturally good, just or beautiful. For the Church, when she calls people to a higher culture and a better way of life, under the inspiration of the Christian religion, does not act like one who recklessly cuts down and uproots a thriving forest. No, she grafts a good scion upon the wild stock that it may bear a crop of more delicious fruit. Although owing to Adam’s fall, human nature is tainted with original sin, yet it has in itself something that is naturally Christian; and this, if illumined by divine delight and nourished by God’s grace, can eventually be changed into true and supernatural virtue. (Pius XII. Encyclical Evangelii Praecones, no. 56 – 57, June 2, 1951)

• The Pontiff demonstrates love for Negroes by inaugurating a seminary for them

This is the place to duly note the love that this same Pontiff demonstrated for Negroes scattered throughout the world. It is clearly evident from a letter to the Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word, April 5, 1923, in which he sent his best wishes for the seminary shortly to be inaugurated for Negro students. He described as most beneficial their plan to receive into the Society of the Divine Word those Negroes who seemed called to the religious life. Then, when these students had attained the priesthood, they might exercise the sacred ministry more effectively among their own peoples. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

• Pastoral attention so that immigrants may overcome hardships and validly receive the sacraments

Because of the hardships and the circumstances of the places in which they found themselves, some people, after emigrating from Europe to distant lands, were contracting marriage without the canonical formalities and even resorted to attempted marriage. Since such formalities were designed to prevent certain highly undesirable evils, the Pontiff was anxious that they be fully observed. When he learned of their neglect, he directed the Congregation of Sacraments to issue instructions concerning proof of freedom to marry and, likewise, the notification of the contracted marriage. These instructions were issued again, by the same Congregation a few years later and afterwards even these were supplemented by prudent rules for the benefit of migrants contracting marriage by proxy. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Exsul familia nazarethana, August 1, 1952)

…judges Francis’ idea on the ‘Bread of Life’

• The Church feeds us at Mass with the Bread of angels

Here then is a better and more suitable way to raise the heart to God. Thenceforth the priesthood of Jesus Christ is a living and continuous reality through all the ages to the end of time, since the liturgy is nothing more nor less than the exercise of this priestly function. Like her divine Head, the Church is forever present in the midst of her children. She aids and exhorts them to holiness, so that they may one day return to the Father in heaven clothed in that beauteous raiment of the supernatural. To all who are born to life on earth she gives a second, supernatural kind of birth. She arms them with the Holy Spirit for the struggle against the implacable enemy. She gathers all Christians about her altars, inviting and urging them repeatedly to take part in the celebration of the Mass, feeding them with the Bread of angels to make them ever stronger. She purifies and consoles the hearts that sin has wounded and soiled. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 32, November 20, 1947)

…judges Francis’ idea on private property

• By defending private ownership the Church pursues a lofty ethical-social aim

By defending private ownership the Church, therefore, also pursues a lofty ethical-social aim. She does not intend to protect in principle the rich and the plutocrat against the poor. On the contrary, ever since its origins the church has always protected the poor and the weak against the tyranny of the powerful and has always championed the just claims of workers against any injustice. The aim of the church is to render the institution of private ownership such as it should be in accordance with the plans of Divine wisdom and the dictates of nature: one of the elements of the social order, a necessary premise of human initiative, an impulse to labor for the advantage of the temporary and transcendental aims of the goal, the prize of freedom and dignity of man, who was created to the image of God and to whom was assigned, ever since the beginning, domination over matter. (Pius XII. Radio Message, September 1, 1944)

• Private property is a natural fruit of labor – a product of man’s activity for own existence and that of his family

The Church has always acknowledged the natural right to property and the handing of this. It is not less true that private property is a natural fruit of labor, a product of intense activity of man, acquired through his energetic determination to ensure and develop with his own strength his own existence and that of his family and to create for himself and his own an existence of just freedom, not only economic but also political, cultural and religious. (Pius XII. Radio Message, September 1, 1944)

• Christian conscience cannot admit as right a social order that denies the natural right to ownership

Christian conscience cannot admit as right a social order that denies the principle or renders impossible and useless in practice the natural right to ownership of commodities and means of production. Nor can it accept systems that acknowledge the right to private ownership according to an altogether false conception and that are opposed to a true and healthy social order. (Pius XII. Radio Message, September 1, 1944)

• The hope to acquire some personal property is a natural stimulus for hard work

If a worker is deprived of hope to acquire some personal property, what other natural stimulus can be offered him that will inspire him to hard work, labor, saving and sobriety today, when so many nations and men have lost everything and all they have left is their capacity for work? Do we, perhaps, intend to perpetuate economic conditions of wartime, whereby in certain countries the State controls all means of production and provides for everybody and everything at the cost of severe discipline? Or are we to submit to the dictatorship of a political group that, as a ruling class, will control the means of production but will lack bread and therefore the will to work of individuals? (Pius XII. Radio Message, September 1, 1944)

• The property owner of the means of production is lord of his economic decisions

The property owner of the means of production, regardless of who he is – private property owner, association of workers or foundation – should, always within the limits of the public right of the economy, be the master of his economic decisions. It is evident that his remuneration is higher than that of his collaborators. But it happens that the material prosperity of all of the members of the people, which is the end of social economy, imposes on him, more than the others, the obligation of contributing with his savings toward the increasing of the national capital. As it is necessary, on the other hand, to not lose sight of the fact that it is extremely advantageous for a healthy social economy that this growth of capital come from the most numerous sources possible, therefore, it is highly desirable that the workers may also, with the fruit of their savings, participate in the constitution of the national capital. (Pius XII. Speech to the International Union of Catholic Employer Associations, no. 2, May 7, 1949)

• The hope of personal property is a natural stimulus to hard work

If a worker is deprived of hope to acquire some personal property, what other natural stimulus can be offered him that will inspire him to hard work, labor, saving and sobriety today, when so many nations and men have lost everything and all they have left is their capacity for work? Do we, perhaps, intend to perpetuate economic conditions of wartime, whereby in certain countries the State controls all means of production and provides for everybody and everything at the cost of severe discipline? Or are we to submit to the dictatorship of a political group that, as a ruling class, will control the means of production but will lack bread and therefore the will to work of individuals? (Pius XII. Radio Message, September 1, 1944)

• Distributive justice does not demand the co-participation of the workers in the company’s property, nor in the earnings obtained

One would no longer be in the truth by wanting to affirm that every private enterprise is by nature a society, in such a way that the relations between the participants would be determined by the rules of distributive justice, such that all indiscriminately – whether owners or not of the means of production – would have the right to their part of the property, or at least of all the profits of the company. Such a conception emerges from the hypothesis that every company enters by nature in the ambit of public law. An inexact hypothesis: whether the company be constituted in the manner of foundation or association of all the workers as co-owners, or it be private property of an individual who signs with all of his workers a work contract, in one case as in another, it depends on the private juridical order of the economic life. (Pius XII. Address to the International Union of Catholic Associations, May 7, 1949)

• Social Catholic Doctrine conscientiously defends the right to individual property and rejects the right of co-property of the worker in the capital of the company

The solution of class struggle for a reciprocal organic ordination of the patron and the worker, for class struggle may never be a Catholic social ethical goal. The Church has always known that She is responsible for all classes and levels of the population. Further, [it involves] the protection of the individual against the current that threatens to carry it toward total socialization, in whose extreme it would become a frightening reality of the terrifying image of Leviathan. The Church will carry out this struggle until the end, for this concerns lasting values: the dignity of man and the salvation of the soul. That is why Catholic doctrine defends the right to individual property so conscientiously among other things. Here also the more profound motives of why the Popes of the social Encyclicals, and We ourselves, deny to deduce, be it directly or indirectly the right of co-property of the worker in the capital of the company from the nature of the contract of work, and, in consequence, the [so-called] right of co-direction. Such a right must be denied because behind it another greater problem is raised. The right of the individual and of the family to property is a direct consequence of the essence of the person, a right to personal dignity – certainly a right charged with social duties, but it is not exclusively a social function. (Pius XII. Address to the National Convention of Austrian Catholics, September 14, 1952)

• Justice does not demand that the workers participate in the co-managements of the company

Such a danger is also present when it is required that the employees of a company, have the right of economic co-management, especially when the exercise of this right depends, in fact, directly or indirectly on organizations directed from outside of the company. In that case, neither the nature of the work contract, nor the nature of the company, necessarily comport, by themselves, a right of this kind. It is indisputable that the employee and the employer are equally subjects, not objects of the economy of a people. (Pius XII. Address to the participants of the International Congress for Social Studies, June 3, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea that Koran is a book of peace

• Peace is the happy inheritance of those who observe the law of God

Peace, the font of true happiness, cannot come except from God, cannot be found anywhere but in God: ‘Oh Lord, we were made only for Thee and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee’. Consequently, absolute tranquility, complete and perfect happiness will not be except in heaven, in the vision of the divine essence. But also during this earthly life the fundamental condition of true peace and healthy happiness is the loving and filial dependence on the will of God: all of that which weakens, ruptures and breaks this conformity and union of will, is in opposition to peace: first of all, and above all, sin. Sin is rupture and disunion, disorder and perturbation, remorse and fear, and those who resist the will of God do not have, cannot have, peace: Quis restitit ei et pacem habuit? (Job 9: 4), while peace is the happy inheritance of those who observe the law of God: Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam (Ps 118: 165). (Pius XII. General audience, July 19, 1939)

• Peace can only be obtained from the principles and norms dictated by Christ and put into practice with sincere piety

However, realizing that ‘every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights’ (Jas 1:17), We consider it opportune, Venerable Brothers, to call once again for public prayers and supplications to implore concord among peoples. It will be the care of your pastoral zeal not only to urge the souls committed to you to raise fervent prayers to God, but also to encourage them to works of penance and expiation, by which the Divine Majesty, which has been offended by so many grievous public and private crimes, can be appeased. Meanwhile, in accordance with your office, give notice to the faithful of this our paternal invitation; recall to them once more from what principles a just and lasting peace may issue and by what means it must be sought. Indeed, as you well know, it can only be obtained from the principles and norms dictated by Christ and put into practice with sincere piety. Such principles and norms, in fact, recall men to truth, justice and charity; they put a restraint on their unruly desires; they force the senses to be obedient to reason; they move the reason to obey God; they produce this effect, that all men, even those who are rulers of the peoples, may recognize the freedom that is due to religion, which, beyond its primary purpose of leading souls to eternal salvation, has also another, of safeguarding and protecting the very foundations of the State. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi maeroris, no. 7 – 9, July 19, 1950)

• How far removed from procuring a secure peace are those who trample underfoot the sacred rights of the Catholic Church

From what We have said so far, it is easy to conclude, Venerable Brothers, how far removed from procuring a secure peace are those who trample underfoot the sacred rights of the Catholic Church. They forbid her ministers the free exercise of religious worship. They even condemn them to exile and to prison. They impede or directly proscribe and destroy schools and institutes of education which are conducted according to Christian norms and principles. Through errors, calumnies and every kind of indecency, they draw the people, especially the tender youth, away from integrity of morals, from virtue and innocence, to the allurements of vice and corruption. […] You must teach all this with frankness; because only when the Christian commandments inform private and public life, only then may we rightly hope that, after human dissensions have been composed, the various classes of citizens, peoples and nations will live together in brotherly concord. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi maeroris, no. 10, 13, July 19, 1950)

• In the field of a new order founded over moral principles there is no place for the persecution of religion and of the Church

We consequently make use of our right, or better said, we fulfill our duty, when today, on Christmas Eve – divine aurora of hope and peace for the world – with the authority of our apostolic ministry and the ardent stimulus of our heart, we once again call attention and the consideration of the entire universe regarding the dangers that undermine and threaten a peace, which may be the firm basis of a truly new order and replies to the hope and the desires of all people for a more tranquil future. […] In the field of a new order founded over moral principles there is no place for the injury of liberty, the integrity and the security of other nations, regardless of its territorial extension or its defensive capacity. […] In the field of a new order founded over moral principles there is no place for the persecution of religion and of the Church. From a living faith in a personal and transcendent God there necessarily arises a forthright and resistant moral energy that informs the entire course of life; because faith is not only a virtue, but the divine door through which all of the virtues enter into the temple of the soul, and form that strong and tenacious character that never vacillates in the foundations of reason and justice. (Pius XII. Radio message for Christmas, no. 16.19.25, December 24, 1941)

…judges Francis’ idea that Jesus came into the world to learn how to be a man

• Christ came into the world to glorify the Father and give himself as a victim

There is nothing we can recommend more, for living of reparatory and glorifying love is to live of the life of He who came into the world to glorify the Father and give himself as a victim for the salvation of the human race; it is to live the quintessence of the Christian spirit; it is to live the highest perfection. (Pius XII. Address to a group of pilgrims from Bilbao, May 15, 1956)

…judges Francis’ idea on good-will replacing theological investigation

• Theologians have the serious duty of protecting divine and human truth

Indeed, Catholic theologians and philosophers, upon whom falls the serious duty of protecting divine and human truth, and of inculcating these in the minds of men, may not ignore or neglect these opinions which more or less stray from the straight road. Moreover, they should thoroughly examine these opinions, because diseases cannot be cured unless they have been rightly diagnosed; also because sometimes in false fabrications something of truth lies hidden; finally, because such theories provoke the mind to scrutinize and weigh certain truths, philosophical or theological, more carefully. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3879. Pius XI, Encyclical Humani generis, no. 5, August 2, 1950)

• The sacred Magisterium is the proximate and universal norm of faith to any theologian

And, although this sacred Magisterium, in matters of faith and morals, should be the proximate and universal norm of faith to any theologian, inasmuch as Christ the Lord entrusted the entire deposit of faith to it, namely, the Sacred Scriptures and divine ‘tradition’, to be guarded, and preserved, and interpreted. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3884. Pius XI, Encyclical Humani generis, no. 5, August 2, 1950)

• Speculation, which neglects the deeper investigation of sacred deposit, becomes sterile

It is also true that theologians must always have recourse to the sources of divine revelation; for it is their duty to indicate how what is taught by the living magisterium is found, either explicitly or implicitly, in Sacred Scripture and in divine ‘tradition’. In addition, both sources of doctrine, divinely revealed, contain so many and such great treasures of truth that they are in fact never exhausted. Therefore, the sacred disciplines always remain vigorous by a study of the sacred sources, while, on the other hand, speculation, which neglects the deeper investigation of sacred deposit, as we know from experience, becomes sterile. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3886. Pius XI, Encyclical Humani generis, no. 21, August 2, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on family

• Large families are synonymous with Christian families

Only the divine and eternal light of Christianity gives full life and meaning to the family and this is so true that right from the beginning and through the whole course of its history, large families have often been considered as synonymous with Christian families. (Pius XII. Address to the Association of Large Families in Rome, January 20, 1958 – English summary)

• Sodom was destroyed because of its crimes against the family

When Sodom was destroyed due to its iniquities, and precisely due to its crimes against the family, the faithful Lot, warned by angels, was spared with his daughters and his sons-in-law. (Pius XII. Allocution Quarantun anno, June 19, 1940)

…judges Francis’ idea on human suffering

• Christ possessed all power, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; He was full of grace and truth, and had the knowledge of the beatific vision

To Him has been given ‘power over all flesh’ (cf. Jn 17:2); ‘all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him abundantly’ (cf. Col 2:3). The knowledge which is called ‘vision’ He possesses with such clarity and comprehensiveness that it surpasses similar celestial knowledge found in all the saints of heaven. So full of grace and truth is He that of His inexhaustible fullness we have all received (cf. Jn 1:14-16). (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, no. 48, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on the social doctrine of the Church

• The Social Doctrine of the Church is based on Natural Law and on the Law of Christ, therefore it has no need to be retouched

It will be asked today of a Church which affirms it is a standard elevated above the nations, what is its contribution for the construction of social order. The Catholic Church can, without presumption, affirm that in the course of her history she has given an enormous contribution to the perfection of social life; and historical investigation gives witness to this for already some time. In fact, the Church does not close her eyes to the abysmal social disorders that the era of technology and capitalism has fomented. She has not thought she could resolve the social question of her own accord. She can, however, show, and with her head held high, the values she has prepared and that she has ready to resolve them. One of these points is, precisely, her social doctrine, which is based, even in its smallest details on natural law and on the law of Christ. The social doctrine of the Church has given proof of it, showing itself to be greatly fruitful, and this occurs particularly among you in Germany. There is therefore, no necessity to retouch, in its essential points, the social doctrine. It remains as it is, in full vigor. The Church has always emphasized that to form a solid social order it is not sufficient to look to the material conditions, rather it is necessary, in addition, to cultivate the mentality: that is to say, direct the conscience toward a vision of order and moral strength that is absolutely valid, so as to always operate in conformity with the conscience. (Pius XII. Message to the German Katholikentag, Acta Apostilicae Sedis 48, pg. 624-625, September 2, 1956)

• The principles of the Catholic Social Doctrine are the most conformed to the natural and supernatural life of the human being

The number of those who take part in your Confederation would of itself be enough to prove its importance and to qualify it as the professional organization that is most powerful in this field. Since it contributes more that 60% of the agricultural production, how could it fail to influence amply in the social life of the country? For this reason, We are pleased to congratulate you, so much more so, to the measure that you carry out your labor with the purpose to put into practice the principles of the social Catholic doctrine, which are the most conformed to the exigencies of natural and supernatural human life, and lead to seeking a solution to the problems that are constantly brought forth by the rapid economic evolution and the general conditions of human society. In this way, respecting due order and the institutions, you contribute with the patient effort of every day, to the construction of a world that is less arduous, less impregnated by materialism and less enslaved by the persistent angst to seek a purely egoistic interest. (Pius XII. Address to primary cultivators, Acta Apostoicae Sedis, 47, pg. 497, April 19, 1955)

• Catholic Social doctrine is a sure guide to achieve order, peace and tranquility in the relations between the various social classes

But the difficulty in this mission in your case finds an incomparable support and an unbreakable pillar in the maturity, in the amplitude, in the solidity of the Catholic social doctrine which, drawing on the evangelical principles and always taking into consideration the fundamental premises of morality, no less than the inalienable rights of the human person, may always serve you as a sure guide along your difficult way. And with what confidence should a doctrine, whose excellence in practice we see every day, at least by the tremendous consequences brought on by forgetting it or willfully desregarding it! And wholly futile would it be to to seek tranquility, peace and order among men, as long as this order, this peace and this tranquility do not begin in the very interior of the nations and especially in the relations between social classes. (Pius XII. Address to the industry technicians of Barcelona, September 6, 1956)

• The social program of the Church fights not to foment class struggle, but rather to guarantee to workers a secure and stable condition

If we must boast, we will say with Saint Paul (2Cor 11:30), who can show a social program which is so solidly founded, so rich in content, so vast and at the same time so proportionate and just, as the Catholic Church? Who, since the proletariat of industry exists, has combated as has the Catholic Church in a loyal fight for the defense of the human rights of workers? In a loyal fight: because it is the action to which the Church feels obliged before God and by the law of Christ; in a loyal fight, not to foment class struggle, but rather to guarantee to the group of workers a secure and stable condition, which other classes of people already enjoyed, so that the working class would take part in the social community with equal rights, similar to the other members. (Pius XII. Allocution Assai numerose, Acta Apostlicae Sedis 37, 1945, p. 215, August 15, 1945)

• He who intensifies social tension and abandons the solid basis of clear principles does not serve peace, but rather augments the disorientation of already confused intelligences

In times such as ours, in which errors are easily transformed into catastrophes, a Christian politician cannot – today, less than ever – intensify the internal social tensions, dramaticizing them, neglecting the positive points and allowing the true vision of what is reasonably possible to be lost. Tenacity in the application of the Christian social doctrine is demanded of him, tenacity and confidence, greater than that which the enemies demonstrate in their errors. If the Christian social doctrine, for more than a hundred years, has developed and become fruitful in the political practice of many peoples – unfortunately not of all – those who arrive too late have no right to lament that Christianity has today left some breach in the social field, which, according to what they say, should be filled by a revolution of the Christian consciences, as they call it. The breach is not in Christianity, but in the minds of the accusers. Being as it is, the Christian politician does not serve the internal peace, nor consequently the external peace, when he abandons the solid basis of objective experience and of clear principles, and becomes a sort of charismatic herald of a new social land, contributing to augment the disorientation of the intelligences, already confused. (Pius XII. Radio message for Christmas, no. 17, December 24, 1953)

• The exploiters of class struggle deceive by depicting the Catholic Church as an enemy of the disinherited of this world – in reply, true Christians cannot deviate one single step from the path of the Church’s Social Doctrine

To you, especially, is directed the invitation to collaborate without reserve in the advent of a public order which brings about, in a measure that is as high as possible, a healthy economy and social justice, in such a way that the exploiters of class struggle be deprived of the possiblility of enticing the disillusioned and disinherited of this world, depicting the Christian faith and the Catholic Church under the aspect not of an ally, but of an enemy. By disposition of Divine Providence, the Catholic Church has elaborated and promulgated its social doctrine. It shows us the sure path, and no fear of losing temporal goods or benefits, of appearing less enthusiast of modern culture, or less patriotic or less social, could authorize true Christians to deviate, even one single step, from this path. (Pius XII. Address to the Sacred College of Cardinals, June 2, 1947)

• To safeguard themselves from deception, workers should examine if programs are in accord, or contrast, with the principles of Christian social doctrine

To the farmers, as to all workers, there continually arrive suggestions and programs of all kinds from different quarters, such as to confound their ideas, in such a way that they often are unable to distinguish what is just from injustice, what is upright from avarice, liberty from slavery, in a word, their true well-being from generalized ruin. In what way can you escape from such wiles, and distinguish truth from falsehood? There is only one way: make sure if these programs are in accord, or on the contrary, contrast, with the principles of Christian social doctrine. This is, in effect, the steadfast touchstone, which deserves the full confidence of the honest worker, because it is the result of the most ample vision of reality; it is based on the order established by God, manifest by nature; it is apt to safeguard the dignity of the person, as the begining and the end of human relations; it does not bend to unilateral class interests; it respects the just hierarchy of values; it does not sacrifice one good for another, but rather tends to harmonize them all in justice and love. While affirming, then, the rights, while putting forward the needs, and while perfecting the programs of your class, strive to not distance yourselves from the spirit of that doctrine, from which you can learn what are the duties, but also the rights in a well-ordered society. (Pius XII. Address to the participants of the Tenth Congress of the National Italian Confederation of Primary Agricultural Workers, April 11, 1956)

…judges Francis’ idea on studying theology

• Theologians must always return to Tradition

It is also true that theologians must always return to the sources of divine revelation: for it belongs to them to point out how the doctrine of the living Teaching Authority is to be found either explicitly or implicitly in the Scriptures and in Tradition (cf. Pius IX, Inter gravissimas, Oct. 28, 1870). (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, no. 21, August 12, 1950)

• Speculation which neglects a deeper search into the deposit of faith, proves sterile

Hence it is that theology through the study of its sacred sources remains ever fresh; on the other hand, speculation which neglects a deeper search into the deposit of faith, proves sterile, as we know from experience. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3886. Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, no. 21, August 12, 1950)

• It is supreme imprudence to neglect, or to reject or to devalue Tradition

Hence to neglect, or to reject, or to devalue so many and such great resources which have been conceived, expressed and perfected so often by the age-old work of men endowed with no common talent and holiness, working under the vigilant supervision of the holy magisterium and with the light and leadership of the Holy Ghost in order to state the truths of the faith ever more accurately, to do this so that these things may be replaced by conjectural notions and by some formless and unstable tenets of a new philosophy, tenets which, like the flowers of the field, are in existence today and die tomorrow; this is supreme imprudence and something that would make dogma itself a reed shaken by the wind. The contempt for terms and notions habitually used by scholastic theologians leads of itself to the weakening of what they call speculative theology, a discipline which these men consider devoid of true certitude because it is based on theological reasoning. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, no. 17, August 12, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on the formation of youth

• Oppose the pernicious efforts which seek to form schools and education on a purely naturalistic foundation

Oppose then, to the pernicious efforts which seek to completely distance religion from education and from schools, or at least to form schools and education on a purely naturalistic foundation, the idea of the task of teaching enriched by the inestimable treasure of a faith which is felt and lived, by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.   Strive so that your children and youth, as they progress in the way of years, also receive a religious formation which is ever more ample and well based. […] Do this in such a way that this instruction is closely united to the holy fear of God, the habit of recollecting oneself in prayer, and the full and conscious participation in the spirit of the liturgical year of Holy Mother Church. (Pius XII. Radio message for the closing of the Inter-American Congress on Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

• Counter the scarcity of principles with an education which capacitates to discern between good and evil

Counter the scarcity of principles of this century, which measures everything by the criteria of success, with an education which capacitates the young person to discern between truth and error, good and evil, justice and injustice, planting firmly in his soul the pure sentiments of love, of fraternity, of fidelity. If the dangerous movies today, speaking only to the senses, and in an excessively unilateral manner, bring the risk of producing in souls a state of superficiality and passivity of soul, a good book can complete what is missing here, having an increasing importance in the work of education. (Pius XII. Radio message for the closing of the Inter-American Congress on Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

• Develop the hierarchical spirit to dissipate the atmosphere of excessive liberty

Develop, in the souls of children and youth, the hierarchical spirit, which does not deny to each age group its due development, so as to dissipate, as much as possible, this atmosphere of independence and excessive liberty which the youth today breathe, and which brings them to reject all authority and all control, seeking to bring about and form this sense of responsibility and recalling that liberty is not the only human value, although it is among the first, but rather that it has its intrinsic limits in the inevitable norms of honesty, and extrinsically in the correlative rights of the rest, whether it be each one in particular or society taken as a whole. (Pius XII. Radio message for the closing of the Inter-American Congress on Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

• The Church approves of physical culture when it does not lead to the worship of the body

Respond to the exaggerated importance given today to everything that is merely technical and material with an education which always gives first place to spiritual and moral values, the natural and above all the supernatural ones. The Church, doubtlessly, approves of physical culture, if it is orderly; and it will be orderly when it does not lead to the worship of the body, when it is useful to strengthen the body, and not waste away its energies, when it serves as recreation to the spirit, and is not the cause of weakening or roughening of the spirit, when it provides new stimulus for study of professional work an when it does not lead to abandoning them, neglecting them, or causing perturbation in the peace which should reign in the sanctuary of the home. Oppose the immoderate search for pleasure and moral indiscipline – which also seek to invade the ranks of catholic youth, making them forget that they carry with them a fallen nature burdened with the sad inheritance of original sin – the education in self-dominance, sacrifice and renunciation, beginning with the small to later progress to what is great; education in fidelity to the fulfillment of one’s own duties, of sincerity, serenity and purity, especially in the years in which development approaches maturity. But may you never forget that this goal cannot be reached without the powerful aid of the Sacraments of Confession and the Most Holy Eucharist, whose supernatural educational value can never be fully appreciated. (Pius XII. Radio message for the closing of the Inter-American Congress on Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

…judges Francis’ idea that sin forms a part of religious life

• A canonical Religious life is closely interwoven with the holiness and Catholic apostolate of the Church itself

We have only to look at the glorious calendar of religious men and women through the ages to see how a canonical religious life is closely interwoven with the holiness and catholic apostolate of the Church itself. The relationship is integral to the Church and to the Religious Orders and Congregations, which by the grace of the life-giving Spirit has grown gradually and steadily in deeper and firmer self-consistency and unity and in wonderful variety of forms. (Pius XII. Apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia, no. 4, February 2, 1974)

…judges Francis’ idea that man is the center of christian life

• Without sacrifice there is no profession of the Christian Faith, rather there is desertion

Who among ‘the Soldiers of Christ’ – ecclesiastic or layman – does not feel himself incited and spurred on to a greater vigilance, to a more determined resistance, by the sight of the ever-increasing host of Christ’s enemies; as he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place? Who could observe without profound grief the tragic harvest of such desertions among those who in days of calm and security were numbered among the followers of Christ, but who – Christians unfortunately more in name than in fact – in the hour that called for endurance, for effort, for suffering, for a stout heart in face of hidden or open persecution, fell victims of cowardice, weakness, uncertainty; who, terror-stricken before the sacrifices entailed by a profession of their Christian Faith, could not steel themselves to drink the bitter chalice awaiting those faithful to Christ? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificates, no. 7-8, October 20, 1939)

• Our hearts must be inflamed with charity at the sight of so many brothers and sisters misled by error

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard, and to win back to the victorious banner of the Cross those who have abandoned it? What heart is not inflamed, is not swept forward to help at the sight of so many brothers and sisters who, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God and have lost contact with the joyful and life-giving message of Christ? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 5, October 20, 1939)

• The Holy Spirit enlightens and guides souls to sanctity – the Church on earth, like the Church in heaven, has many mansions

As regards the different methods employed in these exercises, it is perfectly clear to all that in the Church on earth, no less in the Church in heaven, there are many mansions, and that asceticism cannot be the monopoly of anyone. It is the same spirit who breatheth where He will (Jn 3:8), and who with differing gifts and in different ways enlightens and guides souls to sanctity. Let their freedom and the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit be so sacrosanct that no one presume to disturb or stifle them for any reason whatsoever. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 223, November 20, 2011)

…judges Francis’ idea on selling off churches to feed the poor

• The Church desires that all material redemptions have as their base a moral elevation

The Church is concerned and has always been concerned regarding the labor question, of the social question, offering above all those great principles, that have to be the only base of every true solution, and descending also, as much as possible, to those practical initiatives that are within its reach. The Church desires that those who work may live a truly human life, in order to be able to live a Christian life, without the excessive earthly preoccupations impeding them to gaze toward heaven; the Church proposes a more just distribution of natural goods, starting principally from the base of a just salary, that guarantees your present life and that of your family, opening the doors to savings that guarantee the future. But we desire to add once more that the Church desires that all of the material redemptions have as their base a former intellectual and moral elevation, for not from bread alone does man live (Deut. 8:3) and it is written: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides (Mt 6:33). (Pius XII. Address to a pilgrimage of workers from Barcelona, October 25, 1954)

…judges Francis’ idea on anticlericalism

• The fact that the faithful participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice does not mean that they are also endowed with priestly power

It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the faithful should be aware that to participate int he eucharistic sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not in an inert and negligent fashion, giving way to distraction and day-dreaming, but with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest […] The fact, however, that the faithful participate in the eucharistic sacrifice does not mean that they also are endowed with priestly power. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, nos. 82.104, November 20, 1947)

• Priests alone have been marked with the indelible sign conforming them to Christ the Priest

The sacrament of holy orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful who have not received this consecration. For they alone, in answer to an inward supernatural call, have entered the august ministry, where they are assigned to service in the sanctuary and become, as it were, the instruments God uses to communicate supernatural life from on high to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Add to this, as We have noted above, the fact that they alone have been marked with the indelible sign ‘conforming’ them to Christ the Priest, and that their hands alone have been consecrated ‘in order that whatever they bless may be blessed, whatever they consecrate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 43, November 20, 1947)

• The priest lends his tongue, and gives his hand to Christ

Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is made like to the High Priest and possesses the power of performing actions in virtue of Christ’s very person. Wherefore in his priestly activity he in a certain manner ‘lends his tongue, and gives his hand’ to Christ ( Saint John Chrysostom, In Joann. Hom., 86:4.) (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 69, November 20, 1947)

• The divine Redeemer willed that the priestly life, begun with the supplication and sacrifice of His mortal body, should continue in His Mystical Body

But what is more, the divine Redeemer has so willed it that the priestly life begun with the supplication and sacrifice of His mortal body should continue without intermission down the ages in His Mystical Body which is the Church. That is why He established a visible priesthood to offer everywhere the clean oblation which would enable men from East to West, freed from the shackles of sin, to offer God that unconstrained and voluntary homage which their conscience dictates. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 2, November 20, 1947)

• The priest is like ‘another Christ’ – he is marked with an indelible character making him like a living image of our Saviour

The priesthood is a great gift of the Divine Redeemer, Who, in order to perpetuate the work of redemption of the human race which He completed on the Cross, confided His powers to the Church which He wished to be a participator in His unique and everlasting Priesthood. The priest is like ‘another Christ’ because he is marked with an indelible character making him, as it were, a living image of our Saviour. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 7, September 23, 1950)

• Priests are the apostles of light, grace and pardon

Priests are ‘the stewards of the mysteries of God’ (1 Cor 4:1); therefore they must serve Jesus Christ with perfect charity and consecrate all their strength to the salvation of their brethren. They are the apostles of light; therefore they must illuminate the world with the teachings of the Gospel and be so strong in the Christian faith as to be able to communicate it to others, and follow the example and doctrine of the Divine Master in order to lead everyone to Him. They are the apostles of grace and pardon: therefore they must consecrate themselves entirely to the salvation of men and draw them to the altar of God in order that they may nourish themselves with the bread of eternal life. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 56, September 23, 1950)

• Priests represent Jesus Christ before their people, and are representatives of their people before God

Only to the apostles, and thenceforth to those on whom their successors have imposed hands, is granted the power of the priesthood, in virtue of which they represent the person of Jesus Christ before their people, acting at the same time as representatives of their people before God. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 40, November 20, 1947)

• The organs whereby this Mystical Body develops

Not only do they procure and communicate Christ’s grace to the members of His Mystical Body, but they are also the organs whereby this Mystical Body develops because they must ever give the Church new sons, bring them up, educate them, and guide them. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 56, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on material charity

• To enkindle men’s souls with the charity of Christ, you must be first illumined with truth. Devote yourselves to sacred studies

If you wish to be the light of truth, which comes from Christ, you must yourselves be first illumined with that truth. It is for this that you are devoting yourselves to sacred studies. If you would enkindle men’s souls with the charity of Christ, you must first glow with that same charity yourselves; this is the purpose of your religious and ascetical training. (Pius XII. Address to the Ecclesiastic Institutes of Rome, June 24, 1939)

…judges Francis’ criteria for the nomination of Bishops

• The fullness of the apostolic dignity resides in the Bishops

It is an undoubted fact that it was to Peter alone and to his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, that Jesus Christ entrusted the entirety of his flock: ‘Feed my lambs; feed my sheep’ (Jn 21:16-18). But even though each bishop is the pastor of that portion only of the Lord’s flock entrusted to him, nevertheless as lawful successor of the Apostles by God’s institution and commandment he is also responsible, together with all the other bishops, for the Apostolic task of the Church, according to the words of Christ to the Apostles: ‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you’ (Jn 20:21).This mission, or ‘sending forth,’ embraces ‘all nations . . . even unto the consummation of the world’ (Mt 28:19-20), and certainly did not cease with the death of the Apostles. Nay, it still continues in the bishops who are in communion with the Vicar of Jesus Christ. For in them, as being specifically named ‘those who are sent,’ namely, Apostles of the Lord, the fullness of the apostolic dignity resides, which as Saint Thomas Aquinas testifies ‘is the chief dignity in the Church’ (Expos. in Ep. ad Rom., cap. 1, lect. 1). (Pius XII. Encyclical Fidei Donum, no. 42-43, April 21, 1957)

…judges Francis’ prayer in the ecumenical and interreligious Meeting in Sarajevo

• The prayer of the priest has efficacy because it is done in the name of Christ

The priest continues to do down the course of the ages, that which Christ Himself had done, who ‘in the days of His earthly life, with a loud cry and tears, offered up prayers and supplications. . . and was heard because of His reverent submission’ (Heb 13:7). This prayer has, without doubt, a singular efficacy because it is done in the name of Christ, ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ,’ who is our Mediator with the Father, presenting to Him incessantly, His own satisfaction, His merits, and the infinite price of His Blood. It is truly ‘the voice of Christ,’ who ‘prays for us as our Priest, prays among us as our Head’ (S. Aug., Ennar. in Ps. 95, n. 1). (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti nostrae, no. 39, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea that Christians should always humble themselves

• The first duty of the Pope is giving witness to the Truth, and to confute those who err

As Vicar of Him who in a decisive hour pronounced before the highest earthly authority of that day, the great words: ‘For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, hearest My voice’ (Jn 18: 37), We feel We owe no greater debt to Our office and to Our time than to testify to the truth with Apostolic firmness: ‘to give testimony to the truth.’ This duty necessarily entails the exposition and confutation of errors and human faults; for these must be made known before it is possible to tend and to heal them. ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ (Jn 8:32). (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 19, October 20, 1939)

• Nothing more glorious, nobler of more honorable than to belong to the Catholic Church

Venerable Brethren, in Our exposition of this mystery which embraces the hidden union of us all with Christ, We have thus far, as Teacher of the Universal Church, illumined the mind with the light of truth, and Our pastoral office now requires that We provide an incentive for the heart to love this Mystical Body with that ardor of charity which is not confined to thoughts and words, but which issues in deeds. If those who lived under the Old Law could sing of their earthly city: ‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten; let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee, if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy’( Ps 136:5-6). How much greater then should be the joy and exultation that should fill our hearts who dwell in a City built on the holy mountain of living and chosen stones, ‘Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone’(Eph 2:20; 1Pet 2:4-5). For nothing more glorious, nothing nobler, nothing surely more honorable can be imagined than to belong to the One, Holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, in which we become members of One Body as venerable as it is unique; are guided by one supreme Head; are filled with one divine Spirit; are nourished during our earthly exile by one doctrine and one heavenly Bread, until at last we enter into the one, unending blessedness of heaven. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 91, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on capital punishment

• The execution of a condemned man: by his crime he has already disposed himself of his right to live

Even when it is a question of the execution of a condemned man, the State does not dispose of the individual’s right to life. In this case it is reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned person of the enjoyment of life in expiation of his crime when, by his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to live. (Pius XII. Address to the participants in the First International Congress on Histopathology of the Nervous System, no. 33, September 14, 1952)

…judges Francis’ idea on a horizontal Church

• The divine Redeemer has willed that the Church be supported on a holy hierarchical order that resembles the heavenly hierarchy

The Church is a society, and as such requires an authority and hierarchy of her own. Though it is true that all the members of the Mystical Body partake of the same blessings and pursue the same objective, they do not all enjoy the same powers, nor are they all qualified to perform the same acts. The divine Redeemer has willed, as a matter of fact, that His Kingdom should be built and solidly supported, as it were, on a holy order, which resembles in some sort the heavenly hierarchy. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 39, November 20, 1947)

• Christ guides the Church through him who is His representative on earth

After He had ruled the ‘little flock’ (Lk 12:32) Himself during His mortal pilgrimage, Christ our Lord, when about to leave this world and return to the Father, entrusted to the Chief of the Apostles the visible government of the entire community He had founded. Since He was all wise He could not leave the body of the Church He had founded as a human society without a visible head. […] For Peter in virtue of his primacy is only Christ’s Vicar; so that there is only one chief Head of this Body, namely Christ, who never ceases Himself to guide the Church invisible, though at the same time He rules it visibly, through him who is His representative on earth. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 40, June 29, 1943)

• Bishops receive the power of jurisdiction directly from the Supreme Pontiff

Consequently, Bishops must be considered as the more illustrious members of the Universal Church, for they are united by a very special bond to the divine Head of the whole Body and so are rightly called ‘principal parts of the members of the Lord;’ moreover, as far as his own diocese is concerned, each one as a true Shepherd feeds the flock entrusted to him and rules it in the name of Christ. Yet in exercising this office they are not altogether independent, but are subordinate to the lawful authority of the Roman Pontiff, although enjoying the ordinary power of jurisdiction which they receive directly from the same Supreme Pontiff. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 42, June 29, 1943)

• The Catholic Church will not be able to be ruled with ‘autonomy of government’

The Catholic Church in your nation, as in all the others, will not be able to be ruled with ‘autonomy of government’, as they say today. In fact, even then, as you well know, it will be entirely necessary for your Christian community, if it wishes to be part of the society divinely founded by our Redeemer, to be completely subject to the Supreme Pontiff, Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, and be strictly united with him in regard to religious faith and morals. With these words – and it is well to note them – is embraced the whole life and work of the Church, and also its constitution, its government, its discipline. All of these things depend certainly on the will of Jesus Christ, Founder of the Church. (Pius XII. Encyclical Ad sinarum gentes, no. 10-11, October 7, 1954)

…judges Francis’ idea on divorcees as Godparents

• A poison that is corrupting no small part of the human family

Whoever examines today the causes that can be attributed to the moral decay, the poison that is corrupting no small part of the human family, will soon discover that one of the most ill-fated and guilty sources may be found in the legislation and in the practice of divorce. The creations and laws of God always have a beneficial and powerful action; but when human thoughtlessness or malice gets in the way with disturbance and disorder, then the beneficial fruit, which disappears, is succeeded by an incalculable culmination of harm, as if nature itself was indignantly stirred up against the work of the men. And who can deny or doubt that the indissolubility of marriage be creation and law of God, a most robust support for the family, for the greatness of the nation, for the defense of the Fatherland, that will always find the arm and shield of its prosperity in the bosom of her gallant youth? (Pius XII. Allocution Quando, dilleti, to newlyweds, no. 6, April 29, 1942

• People feel the need for a better and more elevated concept of domestic life

What a great collaboration could the press, radio, and cinema offer; but also, great is its responsibility regarding the family! Rather than demeaning itself with the intrigues of divorce and separation, would it not be better for the cinema to be put at the service of the unity of marriage, of conjugal fidelity, of family health and the happiness of the home? People feel the need for a better and more elevated concept of domestic life. (Pius XII. Address to delegates from the International Union of Family Organisms, September 20, 1949)

• Catholic marriage may not be compared with the irreverent and shameless image of marriage and infidelity portrayed in films

The whole concept of the field of life, which is found in the sixth commandment, is infected by what might be called the ‘film marriage’, which is nothing other than an irreverent and shameless image of the contaminations of marriage and marital infidelity, abasing the view of matrimony as disconnected from all moral bonds, merely as a scene and source of sensual pleasure, and not as a work of God, as a holy institution, and as a natural duty and pure joy, in which the spiritual element always prevails and dominates; a school and at the same time the true triumph of faithful love until the tomb, and to the gates of eternity. (Pius XII. Address to the Parish Priests and Lenten preaches of Rome, February 23, 1944)

…judges Francis’ idea on offering rosaries

• The recitation of identical formulas repeated so many times infuses confidence in him who prays

The recitation of identical formulas repeated so many times, rather than rendering the prayer sterile and boring, has on the contrary the admirable quality of infusing confidence in him who prays and brings to bear a gentle compulsion on the motherly Heart of Mary. (Pius XII. Encyclical Ingruentium malorum, September 15, 1951)

…judges Francis’ words that it was not an offense accepting the Cross in the form of a communist symbol

• Atheistic Marxism masks its tactic and hides its strategy

We have often observed that the enemy of the human race is one and multiple. Today it presents itself with a well defined face and with a well known name. It spreads in a wide front, and combats without exclusion of means nor sparing blows; the zone of Terni finds itself among those who suffer most from the attack. Be it through the ability with which it masks its tactic and hides its strategy, be it through the fear that it has known to instill, or by the hope that it has awakened, atheistic marxism has penetrated among you and is still very firm in its position. Our heart is upset and tears come to Our eyes each time that we ask how is it possible that there still exists such consent and so much obstinacy within a considerable part of the best groups of workers. Is it possible that in this point nothing is able to open their eyes, nothing serves to move their hearts? They wish to remain with the enemies of God, they wish to strengthen the ranks, cooperating, in this way, to worsen the chaos of the modern world. Why? Individuals and people have wished to lead them along the evil path, for they have promised a better distribution of goods, proclaiming at the same time a desire to save liberty, protect the family, assuring that the people will have power, the workers the factories and the peasants the earth. And if, on the contrary, after having sown hatred, provoked subversion and fomented discord, they arrive at power, they impoverish the poor and make terror reign. This is what is happening these days among the distressed Hungarian people, as documented by the evidence of blood, which shows with the evidence of blood how far those who hate God can go. (Pius XII. Address to a pilgrimage of workers from Terni, no. 2, November 18, 1956)

…judges Francis’ pro-communist ideas expressed in the Meetings with Popular Movements

• Inequalities of culture, wealth and social position do not constitute any obstacle for the existence of an authentic spirit of community and fraternity

In a people worthy of this name, the citizen feels within himself the awareness of his personality, of his duties and his rights, of his own liberty united to the respect for the liberty and the dignity of others. In a people worthy of this name, all of the inequalities, which have their origin not in the arbitrary, but rather from the very nature of things, inequalities of culture, wealth, social position – without injury, obviously, to justice and mutual charity – do not constitute, in reality, any obstacle for the existence and prevalence of an authentic spirit of community and fraternity. Moreover, these natural inequalities, far from undermining in any way civil equality, confer to it its legitimate meaning, that is, as regards the State, each citizen has the right to live his own personal life with dignity in the position and conditions in which the designs and the dispositions of Providence have placed him. (Pius XII. Radio message Benignitas et humanitatis for Christmas, 1944)

• To expect the absolute equality of all would be the same as seeking to give identical functions to the diverse members of a single organism

In the second place it is necessary that you truly feel as brothers. This is not a mere guise: you are truly children of God and therefore you are truly brothers. Now, brothers are not born nor do they remain all equal: some are strong, others weak, some intelligent, others incapable; perhaps one is abnormal, and it could also happen that one become unworthy. It is therefore inevitable that there exist a certain material, intellectual and moral inequality, even within the same family. But, as nothing – not even contingencies, nor the use of free will – can destroy paternity and maternity, in the same way there should be intangibly and effectively maintained, within the limits of the just and possible, fraternity among the sons of the same father and mother. Apply this to your parish, which We desire to see transformed into a truly great family. To expect the absolute equality of all would be the same as seeking to give identical functions to the diverse members of a single organism. That said, it is necessary to make this fraternity work amongst yourselves, for it is only when you love one another, that men will recognize that you are a Christianly renovated parish. (Pius XII. Speech to a group of parishioners from Marsciano, Perusa, June 4, 1953)

• The attempt to rupture the links between managers and workers is the pretension of blind and irrational despotism

We have just referred to the preoccupations of those who participate in industrial production. Erroneous and fateful in its consequences is the prejudice, unfortunately very widespread, that sees in it an irreducible opposition of divergent interests. The opposition is only apparent. In the economic dominion there exists a community of activities and of interests between the managers and the workers. To ignore this reciprocal link, to work to rupture it, cannot be anything other than the result of the pretension of blind and irrational despotism. Company managers and workers are not irreconcilable enemies. They are cooperators in a common task. They eat, we could say, at the same table, for in the end they live from the net and global utilities of the national economy. Each one of them receives his part, and under this aspect, the reciprocal relations do not put in any manner, one at the service of the other. (Pius XII. Speech to the International Union of Catholic Associations, no. 2, May 7, 1949)

• Capitalism of the State (communism) always ends up compressing and subduing the workers within a giant work machine

The social revolution boasts of elevating the working class to power: a vain affirmation and mere appearance of an impossible reality! In fact you observe that the working people remain tied, subjugated and constrained by the might of capitalism of the State; which compresses and subdues everything, the family no less than the conscience, transforming workers into a giant machine of work. No differently from other systems and social orders, that it claims to combat, it concentrates, organizes and constrains all into a terrible instrument of war, that demands not only blood and health, but also the goods and prosperity of the people. And if the chiefs go haughtily after this or that advantage or betterment obtained in the ambit of work – agitating it and spreading it with noisy bragging – such a material advantage can never be a worthy recompense for the renunciation imposed on each one, that injure the rights of the person, liberty in the direction of the family, in the exercise of the profession, in the condition of citizen, and especially in the practice of religion and ultimately in the life of conscience. No, your salvation is not in the revolution, dear sons and daughters; and it is against an authentic and sincere Christian profession, the propensity – of thinking only of your own benefit and material advantage, that seems, nonetheless, each time more uncertain – toward a revolution that proceeds from injustice and civil insubordination, and to be sadly guilty of the blood of co-citizens and the destruction of common goods. (Paul XII. Address to the representation of the workers of Italy, June 13, 1943)

• Marxism promises workers the factories and the peasants the earth – but after having sowed hatred, they impoverish the poor and make terror reign

Be it through the ability with which it masks its tactic and hides its strategy, be it due to the fear that it has known how to instill, as well as for the hope that it has awakened. Atheistic Marxism has penetrated among you and is still very firm in its position. Our heart is upset and tears come to Our eyes each time that we ask how is it possible that there still exists such consent and so much obstinacy within a considerable part of the best groups of workers. Is it possible that in this point nothing is able to open their eyes, nothing serves to move their hearts? They wish to remain with the enemies of God, they wish to strengthen the ranks, cooperating, in this way, to worsen the chaos of the modern world. Why? Individuals and people have wished to lead them along the evil path, for they have promised a better distribution of goods, proclaiming at the same time a desire to save liberty, protect the family, assuring that the people will have power, the workers the factories and the peasants the earth. And if, on the contrary, after having sown hatred, provoked subversion and fomented discord, they arrive at power, they impoverish the poor and make terror reign. This is what is happening these days among the distressed Hungarian people, as documented by the evidence of blood, which shows with the evidence of blood how far those who hate God can go. (Pius XII. Discourse to a pilgrimage of workers from Terni, no. 2, November 18, 1956)

• The Church rejects communism as a social system in virtue of natural law and Christian doctrine

In the Christmas radio message last year we presented the Church’s thought regarding this theme and now we intend to confirm it still once more. We reject communism as a social system in virtue of Christian doctrine, and we should particularly affirm the foundations of natural law. For the same reason, we equally reject the opinion that the Christian should see communism today as a phenomenon or a phase in the course of history, as an almost necessary evolutive ‘moment’ of the same and, consequently, accept it as decreed by Divine Providence. (Pius XII. Christmas radio message, Col cuore aperto, December 24, 1955)

• The false pastors, who boast of friendship with the people, call the good bad, and the bad good

The Church, custodian and teacher of truth, while asserting and courageously proposing the rights of the working people, on repeated occasions, combating error, has had to take care to not be fooled by the illusions of the specious and vain theories of future well-being and the deceitful solicitations and enticements of the false masters of social prosperity, who call the good bad, and the bad good and, boasting of being the friendship of the people, do not permit between capital and work and between the employers and the worker, those mutual agreements that maintain and promote social harmony and the progress for the common good. You have already heard these friends of the people, in the squares, in the strongholds, in the congresses; you know of the promises contained in their pamphlets; you have listened to their songs and hymns; but by such words, when have the facts ever answered or have the hopes smiled with reality? Falsities and disillusions have tasted from them and still taste both individuals and the people, who lent them their faith and followed them by paths which, far from improving, worsened and deteriorated life conditions and material and moral progress. These false pastors insinuate that salvation should emerge from a revolution, which changes the social consistency or is clothed in nationalist character. (Paul XII. Address to the representation of the workers of Italy, June 13, 1943)

• The ‘People’ live a life of their own; the ‘masses’ are an easy plaything in the hands of the manipulators who know how to take advantage of their instincts

The State does not contain in itself and does not mechanically unite within a determined territory, an amorphous agglomeration of individuals. It is, and in reality should be, the organic and organizing unity of a true people. People and amorphous multitude, or, as is often said, masses, are two different concepts. The people live and act with a life of their own; the mass is of itself inert and cannot act if not from exterior influence. The people live of the plenitude of the life of the individuals, each one of which —in his own place and own way— is a person aware of his own responsibility and of his own convictions.   The masses, on the contrary, await the exterior impulse, and are an easy plaything in the hands of anyone who knows how to take advantage of their instincts and impressions; ready to follow, time and again, today this, tomorrow that other flag. From the exuberance of the life of a true people, life is diffused, abundant and rich, for the State and in all of its organs, instilling in them, with an incessantly renovated vigor, the awareness of its own responsibility, of the true sense of the common good. From the elementary strength of the masses, easily managed and taken advantage of, the State can also be served: in the ambitious hands of only one or of many, whom egoistic tendencies have artificially brought together, the State itself can —with the support of the masses, reduced to nothing other than a simple machine— impose its caprice on the better part of the true people; common interest is consequently gravely injured during a long time period, and the wound is frequently very difficult to heal. From this, another conclusion clearly follows: the masses, as We have now defined them, are the capital enemy of true democracy and of its ideal of liberty and equality. (Pius XII. Radio Message Benignitas et humanitas no. 2, Christmas, 1944)

…judges Francis’ ideas on faith being revolutionary

• Formation of youth: in prayer, in sacrifice and in the fulfillment of duties

Young ladies of Spanish Catholic Action! […] And all – dearest daughters, older and younger; daughters that the Pope esteems so much– be at all moments obedient, faithful and generous; make of your youth, in imitation of Mary Most Holy, a perfumed and pure flower; be the joy and consolation of all; do not let yourselves be seduced by the alluring invitations of a corrupt world, the first echoes of which you may be hearing now; be formed solidly in prayer, in sacrifice and in the fulfillment of your daily duties; in such a way that you will never be unworthy of those who, in much more difficult times, have gone before you. […] But Spain is much more beautiful in the Christian virtues that characterize her, in the purity of her customs, in the integrity of the family, in fidelity to the Church, in her firm adhesion to a Faith for which she has shown she knows how to die; Spain is much more beautiful in her Saints. May this flame never die out in Spanish hearts, may this longing for sanctity live and grow, and to obtain it, be saints yourselves and then sanctify all those around you. (Pius XII. Radio message to girls, aspirants and young ladies of Spanish Catholic Action, November 27, 1955)

• Youth should prepare themselves for the narrow way

Spirit of faith and sacrifice; life of piety and of continual progress in the forefront; adhesion, respect and love of the Church; a heart as big as the world; and if in other times the battle-cry: ‘For Saint James and for Spain! (¡Santiago y cierra España!)’ conquered the enemies of the faith, if still yesterday the Apostle did not abandon those who invoked him, be certain that today and always his spirit and his protection will lead you again to victory in spiritual battles and will help you overcome the snares that are laid everywhere for you, especially for you, young people, because they know you are a powerful and gallant force in the present and a radiant and sure promise for the future. ‘Igitur via peregrinalis est res optima sed augusta’ ‘The pilgrim’s way is excellent, but narrow’, as was stated in the sermon of the Codex Calixtinus (Codex Calistinus l. I c. XVII, Sermo beati Calixte Pape, fol. 80); but it would be the first time that danger would scare, disarm, or make youth retreat, and much less a youth like yours, nourished on solid faith, and matured in the ardent climate of sacrifice. (Pius XII. Radio message to youth gathered in Compostela, August 28, 1948)

• Youth should prepare themselves for the narrow way

Spirit of faith and sacrifice; life of piety and of continual progress in the forefront; adhesion, respect and love of the Church; a heart as big as the world; and if in other times the battle-cry: ‘For Saint James and for Spain! (¡Santiago y cierra España!)’ conquered the enemies of the faith, if still yesterday the Apostle did not abandon those who invoked him, be certain that today and always his spirit and his protection will lead you again to victory in spiritual battles and will help you overcome the snares that are laid everywhere for you, especially for you, young people, because they know you are a powerful and gallant force in the present and a radiant and sure promise for the future. ‘Igitur via peregrinalis est res optima sed augusta’ ‘The pilgrim’s way is excellent, but narrow’, as was stated in the sermon of the Codex Calixtinus (Codex Calistinus l. I c. XVII, Sermo beati Calixte Pape, fol. 80); but it would be the first time that danger would scare, disarm, or make youth retreat, and much less a youth like yours, nourished on solid faith, and matured in the ardent climate of sacrifice. (Pius XII. Radio message to youth gathered in Compostela, August 28, 1948)

• It is necessary to dissipate the atmosphere of independence and excessive liberty

Promote, in the souls of children and youth, the hierarchical spirit, which does not deny to each age its due development, to dissipate, as much as possible, that atmosphere of independence and excessive liberty that in our days the youth breathe and which seeks to lead it to reject all authority and all control, seek to foment and form the sense of responsibility and recalling that liberty is not the only human value, although it is counted among the first, but rather that it has its intrinsic limits in the obligatory norms of honesty, and extrinsic limits in the corresponding rights of others, of each one individually as well as of society taken as a whole. (Pius XII. Radio message to participants in the Inter-American Congress of Catholic Education, October 6, 1948)

…judges Francis’ ideas on finding God

• An unhealthy quietism: attribute the whole spiritual life to the God’s action, neglecting our due collaboration

No less far from the truth is the dangerous error of those who endeavor to deduce from the mysterious union of us all with Christ a certain unhealthy quietism. They would attribute the whole spiritual life of Christians and their progress in virtue exclusively to the action of the Divine Spirit, setting aside and neglecting the collaboration which is due from us. No one, of course, can deny that the Holy spirit of Jesus Christ is the one source of whatever supernatural powers enters into the Church and its members. For ‘The Lord will give grace and glory’ as the Psalmist says (Ps 83:12). But that men should persevere constantly in their good works, that they should advance eagerly in grace and virtue, that they should strive earnestly to reach the heights of Christian perfection and at the same time to the best of their power should stimulate others to attain the same goal, – all this the heavenly Spirit does not will to effect unless they contribute their daily share of zealous activity. ‘For divine favors are conferred not on those who sleep, but on those who watch,’ as Saint Ambrose says (Expos. Evang. sec. Luc., IV, 49; PL 15, 1626). For if in our mortal body the members are strengthened and grow through continued exercise, much more truly can this be said of the social Body of Jesus Christ in which each individual member retains his own personal freedom, responsibility, and principles of conduct. For that reason he who said: ‘I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me’ (Gal 2:20) did not at the same time hesitate to assert: ‘His (God’s) grace in me has not been void, but I have labored more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me’ (1Cor 15:10). (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, No. 87, June 29, 1943)

• God sets the time and place to meet with us

But it is His will, besides, that the worship He instituted and practiced during His life on earth shall continue ever afterwards without intermission. For he has not left mankind an orphan. He still offers us the support of His powerful, unfailing intercession, acting as our ‘advocate with the Father’ (cf. 1 Jn 2:1). He aids us likewise through His Church, where He is present indefectibly as the ages run their course: through the Church which He constituted ‘the pillar of truth’ (cf. 1Tim 3:15) and dispenser of grace, and which by His sacrifice on the cross, He founded, consecrated and confirmed forever (cf. Boniface IX, Ab origine mundi; Callistus III, Summus Pontifex; Pius II, Triumphans Pastor; Innocent XI, Triumphans Pastor). (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, No. 18, November 20, 1947)

• Mutual encounter is good, but to live in Christ is better and more necessary

But the chief element of divine worship must be interior. For we must always live in Christ and give ourselves to Him completely, so that in Him, with Him and through Him the heavenly Father may be duly glorified. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 24, November 20, 1947)

• Sacraments possess objective power to make us sharers in the divine life of Jesus Christ

It is an unquestionable fact that the work of our redemption is continued, and that its fruits are imparted to us, during the celebration of the liturgy, notable in the august sacrifice of the altar. Christ acts each day to save us, in the sacraments and in His holy sacrifice. By means of them He is constantly atoning for the sins of mankind, constantly consecrating it to God. Sacraments and sacrifice do, then, possess that ‘objective’ power to make us really and personally sharers in the divine life of Jesus Christ. Not from any ability of our own, but by the power of God, are they endowed with the capacity to unite the piety of members with that of the head, and to make this, in a sense, the action of the whole community. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, No. 29, November 20, 1947)

• At Holy Mass, God will undoubtedly be present

The unbloody immolation at the words of consecration, when Christ is made present upon the altar in the state of a victim, is performed by the priest and by him alone, as the representative of Christ and not as the representative of the faithful. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, No. 92, November 20, 1947)

• Through prayer we can encounter the Blessed Trinity

To this lofty dignity of the Church’s prayer, there should correspond earnest devotion in our souls. For when in prayer the voice repeats those hymns written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and extols God’s infinite perfections, it is necessary that the interior sentiment of our souls should accompany the voice so as to make those sentiments our own in which we are elevated to heaven, adoring and giving due praise and thanks to the Blessed Trinity; ‘so let us chant in choir that mind and voice may accord together’ (Saint Benedict, Regula Monachorum, c. 19). It is not merely a question of recitation or of singing which, however perfect according to norms of music and the sacred rites, only reaches the ear, but it is especially a question of the ascent of the mind and heart to God so that, united with Christ, we may completely dedicate ourselves and all our actions to Him. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, No. 145, November 20, 1947)

…judges Francis’ ideas on the Church closed and ailing

• Apostolic success ensues from the measure that one binds himself more closely to God

But for the man who enters upon the apostolic life there is one attribute that is indispensable. It is of the most critical importance, as We have mentioned before, that he have sanctity of life. For the man who preaches God must himself be a man of God. The man who urges others to despise sin must despise it himself. Preaching by example is afar more effective procedure than vocal preaching, especially among unbelievers, who tend to be more impressed by what they see for themselves than by any arguments that can be presented to them. Give the missionary, if you will, every imaginable talent of mind and intellect, endow him with the most extensive learning and the most brilliant culture. Unless these qualities are accompanied by moral integrity they will be of little or no value in the apostolate, On the contrary, they can be the cause of disaster, both to himself and to others. Let us have him, then, an example to those he deals with. Let him be humble and obedient and chaste. And especially let him be a devout man, dedicated to prayer and constant union with God, a man who goes before the Divine Majesty and fervently pleads the cause of souls. For as he binds himself more and more closely to God, he will receive the grace and assistance of God to a greater and greater degree. […] With these virtues the missionary will open for the Faith he preaches a smooth and unobstructed entrance into the hearts of men. All obstacles will melt from his path, for no man’s will is obdurate enough to oppose their attraction with equanimity. (Benedict XV. Apostolic Letter Maximum illud, no. 26-27, November 30, 1919)

• You have been called to carry light to men who lie in the shadow of death

Now We turn to you, beloved sons, the working-men of the Lord’s vineyard. In your hands lies the immediate responsibility for disseminating the wisdom of Christ, and with this responsibility the salvation of innumerable souls. Our first admonition is this: never for a moment forget the lofty and splendid character of the task to which you have devoted yourselves. Your task is a divine one, a task far beyond the feeble reach of human reasoning. You have been called to carry light to men who lie in the shadow of death and to open the way to heaven for souls that are hurtling to destruction. (Benedict XV. Apostolic Letter Maximum illud, no. 18, November 30, 1919)

…judges Francis’ words in his first appearance

• The Church is a body with a variety of members reciprocally dependent – those who exercise sacred power in this Body are its chief members

Again, as in nature a body is not formed by any haphazard grouping of members but must be constituted of organs, that is of members, that have not the same function and are arranged in due order; so for this reason above all the Church is called a body, that it is constituted by the coalescence of structurally untied parts, and that it has a variety of members reciprocally dependent. […] That those who exercise sacred power in this Body are its chief members must be maintained uncompromisingly. It is through them, by commission of the Divine Redeemer Himself, that Christ’s apostolate as Teacher, King and Priest is to endure. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis, no. 16-17, June 29, 1943)

• The members of the Mystical Body are not all qualified to perform the same acts

The Church is a society, and as such requires an authority and hierarchy of her own. Though it is true that all the members of the Mystical Body partake of the same blessings and pursue the same objective, they do not all enjoy the same powers, nor are they all qualified to perform the same acts. The divine Redeemer has willed, as a matter of fact, that His Kingdom should be built and solidly supported, as it were, on a holy order, which resembles in some sort the heavenly hierarchy. Only to the apostles, and thenceforth to those on whom their successors have imposed hands, is granted the power of the priesthood, in virtue of which they represent the person of Jesus Christ before their people, acting at the same time as representatives of their people before God. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 39-40, November 20, 1947)

• The sacrament of holy orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful…

In the same way, actually that baptism is the distinctive mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them from those who have not been cleansed in this purifying stream and consequently are not members of Christ, the sacrament of holy orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful who have not received this consecration. For they alone, in answer to an inward supernatural call, have entered the august ministry, where they are assigned to service in the sanctuary and become, as it were, the instruments God uses to communicate supernatural life from on high to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Add to this, as We have noted above, the fact that they alone have been marked with the indelible sign ‘conforming’ them to Christ the Priest, and that their hands alone have been consecrated ‘in order that whatever they bless may be blessed, whatever they consecrate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Roman Pontifical, Ordination of a priest: anointing of hands) (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 43, November 20, 1947)

• … qualifying him to perform those official acts of religion by which men are sanctified

That is why the visible, external priesthood of Jesus Christ is not handed down indiscriminately to all members of the Church in general, but is conferred on designated men, through what may be called the spiritual generation of holy orders. This latter, one of the seven sacraments, not only imparts the grace appropriate to the clerical function and state of life, but imparts an indelible ‘character’ besides, indicating the sacred ministers’ conformity to Jesus Christ the Priest and qualifying them to perform those official acts of religion by which men are sanctified and God is duly glorified in keeping with the divine laws and regulations. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 41-42, November 20, 1947)

• Christ entrusted the visible government of the entire community He founded to the Chief of the Apostles

On the contrary, our Redeemer also governs His Mystical Body in a visible and normal way through His Vicar on earth. You know, Venerable Brethren, that after He had ruled the ‘little flock’ (Lk XII,32) Himself during His mortal pilgrimage, Christ our Lord, when about to leave this world and return to the Father, entrusted to the Chief of the Apostles the visible government of the entire community He had founded. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 40, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ ideas on the norms of the Church

• The Eucharistic fast pays due honor to our Divine Redeemer and fosters piety towards the first and loftiest Nourishment

Abstinence from food and drink is in accord with that supreme reverence we owe to the supreme majesty of Jesus Christ when we are going to receive Him hidden under the veils of the Eucharist. And moreover, when we receive His precious Body and Blood before we take any food, we show clearly that this is the first and loftiest nourishment by which our soul is fed and its holiness increased. […] Not only does the Eucharistic fast pay due honor to our Divine Redeemer, it fosters piety also; and hence it can help to increase in us those most salutary fruits of holiness which Christ, the Source and Author of all good, wishes us who are enriched by His Grace to bring forth. Moreover, everyone with experience will recognize that, by the very laws of human nature, when the body is not weighted down by food the mind more easily is lifted up and is by a more ardent virtue moved to meditate upon that hidden and transcendent Mystery that works in the soul, as in a temple, to the increase of divine charity. (Pius XII. Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus, January 6, 1953)

• Strongly exhorted to observe the old and venerable form of the Eucharistic fast

In the early part of 1953 [January 6] We issued the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus, by which We eased the rigor of the law on the Eucharistic fast so that the faithful could receive Holy Communion more frequently and more easily fulfill the precept of hearing Holy Mass on holy days. […] Having taken into consideration the considerable changes which have occurred in working and office hours and in all social life, We deemed it advisable to comply with the insistent requests of the Bishops and have therefore decreed: […] Priests and faithful, before Holy Mass or Holy Communion respectively, must abstain for three hours from solid foods and alcoholic liquids, for one hour from non-alcoholic liquids. Water does not break the fast. […] We strongly exhort priests and faithful who are able to do so to observe the old and venerable form of the Eucharistic fast before Mass and Holy Communion. All those who will make use of these concessions must compensate for the good received by becoming shining examples of a Christian life and principally with works of penance and charity. (Pius XII. Moto proprio Sacram Communionem, March 19, 1957)

• Christ conferred a triple power on His Apostles and their successors

And as to govern human society signifies to lead men to the end proposed by means that are expedient, just and helpful (cf. STh, I, q. 22, a. 1-4), it is easy to see how our Savior, model and ideal of good Shepherds (cf. Jn 10:1-18; 1Pet 5:1-5), performs all these functions in a most striking way. While still on earth, He instructed us by precept, counsel and warning in words that shall never pass away, and will be spirit and life (cf. Jn 6:63) to all men of all times. Moreover He conferred a triple power on His Apostles and their successors, to teach, to govern, to lead men to holiness, making this power, defined by special ordinances, rights and obligations, the fundamental law of the whole Church. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, no. 37-38, June 29, 1943)

• Condemned: the pernicious error of those who dream of an imaginary Church, where charity is opposed to juridical form. There is no opposition or conflict, but mutual complementation

For this reason We deplore and condemn the pernicious error of those who dream of an imaginary Church, a kind of society that finds its origin and growth in charity, to which, somewhat contemptuously, they oppose another, which they call juridical. But this distinction which they introduce is false: for they fail to understand that the reason which led our Divine Redeemer to give to the community of man He founded the constitution of a Society, perfect of its kind and containing all the juridical and social elements – namely, that He might perpetuate on earth the saving work of Redemption (Vat. Council I, Sess. IV, Const. de Eccl., prol.), – was also the reason why He willed it to be enriched with the heavenly gifts of the Paraclete. The Eternal Father indeed willed it to be the ‘kingdom of the Son of his predilection’ (Col 1:13); but it was to be a real kingdom in which all believers should make Him the entire offering of their intellect and will (Vat. Council I, Sess. III, Const. de fide Cath., Cap. 3), and humbly and obediently model themselves on Him, Who for our sake ‘was made obedient unto death’ (Phil 2:8). There can, then, be no real opposition or conflict between the invisible mission of the Holy spirit and the juridical commission of Ruler and Teacher received from Christ, since they mutually complement and perfect each other – as do the body and soul in man – […] And if at times there appears in the Church something that indicates the weakness of our human nature, it should not be attributed to her juridical constitution, but rather to that regrettable inclination to evil found in each individual, which its Divine Founder permits even at times in the most exalted members of His Mystical Body, for the purpose of testing the virtue of the Shepherds no less than of the flocks, and that all may increase the merit of their Christian faith. For, as We said above, Christ did not wish to exclude sinners from His Church; hence if some of her members are suffering from spiritual maladies, that is no reason why we should lessen our love for the Church, but rather a reason why we should increase our devotion to her members. Certainly the loving Mother is spotless in the Sacraments by which she gives birth to and nourishes her children; in the faith which she has always preserved inviolate; in her sacred laws imposed on all; in the evangelical counsels which she recommends; in those heavenly gifts and extraordinary grace through which with inexhaustible fecundity (cf. Vat. Council, Sess. III, Const. de fide Cath., Cap 3), she generates hosts of martyrs, virgins and confessors. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, no. 65-66, June 29, 1943)

• The practical observance of the same laws is an external manifestation of the union of the members of Christ’s Mystical Body

Our union in and with Christ is first evident from the fact that, since Christ wills His Christian community to be a Body which is a perfect Society, its members must be united because they all work together towards a single end. The nobler the end towards which they strive, and the more divine the motive which actuates this collaboration, the higher, no doubt, will be the union. Now the end in question is supremely exalted; the continual sanctifying of the members of the Body for the glory of God and of the Lamb that was slain. […] Now since its Founder willed this social body of Christ to be visible, the cooperation of all its members must also be externally manifest through their profession of the same faith and their sharing the same sacred rites, through participation in the same Sacrifice, and the practical observance of the same laws. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, no. 68-69, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ ideas present in Laudate Si‘

• A society that eliminates the idea of a Creator and His creatures loses the harmony of relations between man and the world and with his fellow men, based on Christian religious principles

If this foundation of the spirit is removed, and as a consequence the image (in man) and the vestige (in creatures lacking reason) of the divine Being in created things, the harmony within the relations among man and the world are also lost. Man would be reduced to a simple point and the localization of an anonymous and irrational vitality. He would no longer be within the world as in his own home. The world would become something foreign, dark, dangerous, always inclined to lose the character of instrument and to become his enemy. And what would the regulating relations of life in society be without the light of the divine Spirit and without taking into account the relationship of Christ with the world? To this question answers the bitter reality of those who, preferring the obscurity of the world, declare themselves adorers of the exterior works of man. Their society achieves only, under the iron discipline of collectivism, to maintain the anonymous existence of some alongside others. Very different is the social life based on the example of the relations of Christ with the world and with man: a life of fraternal cooperation and mutual respect for the rights of others, a life worthy of the first principle and of the final end of every human creature. (Pius XII. Christmas message to the faithful, December 22, 1957)

• The moral life does not belong only to the interior sphere, but also has an effect on the harmony of the world: even the most individual acts have a repercussion in the surrounding world

The divine symphony of the cosmos, particularly on the earth and among men, is confided by its supreme Author to humanity itself, so that, as an immense orchestra, distant in times and multiform in ways but united under the direction of Christ, it be faithfully executed, interpreting with the greatest perfection possible its sole and brilliant theme. In effect, God gave his plans to men, so that they could put them into act, personal and freely, pledging full moral responsibility and demanding, when necessary, fatigue and sacrifices, following the example of Christ. Under this aspect, the Christian is, in the first place, an admirer of the divine order in the world, one who loves its presence and does everything to see it recognized and affirmed. He will be, therefore, necessarily, its ardent defender against the forces and tendencies that hinder the operation, be those that he has hidden in himself – the evil inclinations – or those that come from the exterior – Satan and his superstitions. This is how Saint Paul saw the Christian in the world, when he pointed out the adversaries of God and exhorted to cloth oneself in his armor, in order to resist the assails of the demon, girding the waist with truth and clothing oneself with the breastplate of justice (cf. Eph 6: 11,14). The vocation of Christianity is not, therefore, an invitation of God only for an aesthetic complacency in the contemplation of his admirable order, but rather the obligatory calling toward an incessant action, austere, and directed to all of the senses and aspects of life. His [the Christian’s] action is carried out, before all else, in the full observance of the moral law, no matter what its object, small or great, secret or public, of abstention or positive realization. The moral life does not only belong to the interior sphere in such a way that it also does not touch, through its effects, on the harmony of the world. Man is never so alone, so individual and segregated to himself, in any event, even the most singular, that his decisions and acts do not have a repercussion in the surrounding world. Executer of the divine symphony, no man may presume that his action as something exclusively his own, that speaks only with respect to himself. The moral life is, without doubt, in the first place, an individual and interior work, but not in the sense of a certain ‘interiorism’ and ‘historicism’, with which some try to weaken and slight the universal value of the moral norms. (Pius XII. Christmas message to the faithful, December 22, 1957)

• Christian action cannot renounce its title and character to collaborate with a ‘human’ action that signifies agnosticism toward Religion and the true values of life, which would be equal to a request of abdication, to which a Christian cannot consent

Christian action cannot, neither today nor formerly, renounce its title and character, merely because some see in the contemporary human consortia a so-called pluralist society, divided by opposed mentalities, inalterable in their respective positions and incapable of admitting any collaboration that is not established upon the plan that is simply ‘human’. If this ‘human’ signifies, as it seems to, agnosticism toward Religion and the true values of life, every invitation to this collaboration would be equal to a request for abdication, to which a Christian cannot consent. For the rest, from where would this ‘human’ obtain the strength to oblige, to found liberty of conscience for all, if not on the vigor of the order and of the divine harmony? This ‘human’ would end up creating a new kind of ‘ghetto’, but deprived of a universal character. (Pius XII. Christmas message to the faithful, December 22, 1957)

• The perfection and the order of the world of some sort of immanent process, which is a return to the old superstition that deified nature; but is a vital happening of the same history as the divine Word – the form of this world passes and its final destiny to the glory of the Father and the triumph of the Word

Therefore, it is useless to await the perfection and the order of the world of some sort of immanent process, in which man would be merely a spectator, according to what some have affirmed. This obscure immanentism is a return to the old superstition that deified nature; and cannot be based, as some wish, on history without artificially falsifies the explication of the facts. The history of humanity in the world is very different than that of a process of blind forces; it is an admirable and vital happening of the same history as the divine Word, that had its beginning in Him and will be fulfilled by Him, on the day of the universal return to the first principle, when the Incarnate Word will offer to the Father, as testimony of his glory, his property redeemed and illuminated by the Spirit of God. Therefore, many facts, especially those of history, that seem now as disharmonies, will be revealed as elements of authentic harmony: as, for example, the continuous ensuing of new things, while the old things disappear, because one and the other participate or will participate in some way in the truth and divine goodness. The passing nature of something or of a happening does not take from them, when they possess it, the dignity of expressing the divine Spirit. The entire world, as well, is like this, as the Apostle adverted: ‘For the form of this world is passing away’ (1Cor 7:31) but its final destiny to the glory of the Father and the triumph of the Word, that is in the foundation of all process, conferred it and conserved in the world the dignity of the testimony and instrument of the truth, goodness and eternal harmonies. (Pius XII, Christmas message to the faithful, December 22, 1957)

…judges Francis’ idea on Laudate Si‘

• The Church should form the consciences of those who are called to seek the practical solutions for social problems in conformity to the divine laws

Moved by the profound conviction that the Church not only has the right, but also the duty to pronounce its authorized word on social questions, Leo XIII directed his message to the world. It is not that he sought to establish norms of purely practical, or we could almost say technical character, of the social constitution; for he knew well and it was evident to him […] that the Church does not attribute to Herself such a mission. […] It is on the other hand, undoubtedly, the prerogative of the Church that aspect of the social order where it comes close to and in contact with the moral field, to judge whether the bases of an existing social order are in accordance with the immutable order that God, Creator and Redeemer, has shown through natural right and Revelation: a double manifestation, to which Leo XIII refers to in his encyclical. […] Because the Church, guardian of Christian supernatural order, in which nature and grace converge, must form the consciences, even of those who are called to seek solutions for the problems and the duties imposed by social life. On the form given to society, conforming or not to divine laws, depends and influences also the good and evil in souls, that is to say, that if men, all called to be vivified by the grace of Jesus Christ, inhale either the healthy and vital air of the truth and moral virtue or the harmful and often lethal bacteria of error and depravation in the situations of the course of the earthly life. (Pius XII. Radio message for Pentecost – on the 50^th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, nos. 4-5, June 1, 1941)

• Caution must be used when there is question of hypotheses in scientific questions

It remains for Us now to speak about those questions which, although they pertain to the positive sciences, are nevertheless more or less connected with the truths of the Christian faith. In fact, not a few insistently demand that the Catholic religion take these sciences into account as much as possible. This certainly would be praiseworthy in the case of clearly proved facts; but caution must be used when there is rather question of hypotheses, having some sort of scientific foundation, in which the doctrine contained in Sacred Scripture or in Tradition is involved. If such conjectural opinions are directly or indirectly opposed to the doctrine revealed by God, then the demand that they be recognized can in no way be admitted. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani generis, no. 28, August 12, 1950)

• The harmony of the relationship between man and creation comes from its common origin, elevated by the Incarnation

The relationship of man with the world enjoys the clear light of the eternal Spirit, communicated by the Creator to creation. In this way, the Incarnation conserves and augments the dignity of man and the nobility of the world over the foundation of its same origin in the divine Spirit, font and unity, order and harmony. If, on the contrary, this foundation of the spirit is removed, and, in consequence, the image (in man) and the trace (in irrational creatures) of the eternal divine Being in created things, the harmony is also lost in the relationship of man with the world. (Pius XII. Radio message for Christmas, December 22, 1957)

… judges Francis’ ideas on the evangelization of the Americas

• Transformed from idolatrous peoples into devout children of the Spouse of Christ

The pride of this faith exalts your name and makes sacred many pages of your history; this faith elevated over the vestiges of the pre-Colombian civilization, and over the savage solitudes, and even beyond the steep peaks of your mountains, the missionary spirit which, regenerating them in union with Rome, transformed those idolatrous peoples into devout children of the Spouse of Christ. (Pius XII. Radio Message for the 2nd National Eucharist Congress of Peru, January 27, 1940)

• Universities inspired by the Church flourished in America – fruit of missionary work aided by the Catholic spirit of the legislation of the monarchs

And this in a world as is your Ibero-American world, in which the Church, fully conscious of the cultural mission that accompanies its religious message, with Friar Juan de Zumárraga, Friar Alonso de la Vera Cruz and the great bishop Vasco de Quiroga in Mexico; with Friar Jerónimo de Loaísa, José de Acosta and the eminent metropolitan Bishop of Lima, Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo in Peru; and with the Jesuits Torres Bollo, Manuel de Nóbrega and Saint Peter Claver in old Paraguay, in Brazil and in the New Granada, flourished an educative and schooling effort which, given the insufficient means of that century and the difficulties which were opposed to it, We are pleased to call it grandiose and profoundly enduring. It’s enough to recall the intent, in great part achieved, of those great missionaries, supported by the universal and Catholic spirit of the legislation of their monarchs, of melding into one people, through catechesis, school, and the colleges of Humane Letters, the indigenous element with the cultured classes coming from Europe or already born in the American lands. Nor was this effort limited to the elemental and humanistic teaching. For it is a perpetual glory for Hispanic America, that in the 18^th century, there flourished in 19 of her cities as many or more university centers, inspired and directed by the Church. (Pius XII. Radio message on the occasion of the Fifth Inter American Congress of Catholic Education, January 12, 1954)

• Portugal: God used you as a precious instrument for admirable accomplishments

And now, when more than a few European nations have been lost to the Church because of the changes in these calamitous times, We see your people and their Spanish brothers opening paths and laboring for the Church in the spacious lands of Africa, Asia, and America. […] But how does it happen that you, although not numerous, achieve such good deeds? (cf. Camoes, Lusiadas, VII. 3). Where did the people of Portugal get that vigorous strength with which they were able to dominate the shores of Africa and Asia and even the distant land of America? Without a doubt this came about because that nation, as the greatest poet of Portugal sang, persevered in an ardent and strong faith; also, your leaders were preeminent in Christian wisdom and prudence. Therefore, God used your nation as a precious instrument for admirable accomplishments. (Pius XII. Encyclical Saeculo exeunte octavo, no. 8-10, June 13, 1940)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Church reduced to a minority

• The Church possesses an abiding strength from on high to build a new society of peoples

All earthly institutions begun and built solely on human wisdom and human power, in the course of time succeed one another, flourish and then quite naturally fail, weaken and crumble away; but the organization which Our Redeemer established has received from its divine Founder unfailing life and abiding strength from on high. Thus sustained and fortified the Church comes out victorious through the hostile fortunes of time and circumstances; amid their ruins and failures it is capable of molding a new and happier age and with Christian doctrine and spirit she can build and erect a new society of citizens, peoples and nations. (Pius XII. Encyclical Fulgens radiatur, March 21, 1947)

• By reason of his apostolic office the Pope is appointed ‘preacher and apostle’

‘If I preach the Gospel, I have there in no ground for boasting, since I am under constraint. For woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel’ (1Cor 9:16)! Why should We not apply these earnest admonitions to Ourselves, that is, to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, who by reason of his apostolic office has been appointed ‘a preacher and apostle…a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth’ (1Tim 2:7)? (Pius XII. Encyclical Fidei donum, no. 82, April 21, 1957)

• Zeal for missionary activity and the Catholic spirit are one and the same – he is not a true member of the Church who does not will Her expansion

Zeal for missionary activity and the Catholic spirit are one and the same. A principal note of the Church is catholicity; consequently, a man is no true member of the Church unless he is likewise a true member of the entire body of Christian believers and is filled with an ardent desire to see her take root and flourish in every land (Discorsi e radiomessaggi, 8, 328). (Pius XII. Encyclical Fidei donum, no. 82, April 21, 1957)

• No duty more urgent than to preach Christ to the men of our time

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard, and to win back to the victorious banner of the Cross those who have abandoned it? What heart is not inflamed, is not swept forward to help at the sight of so many brothers and sisters who, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God and have lost contact with the joyful and life-giving message of Christ? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 5, October 20, 1939)

• Charity is well employed in propagating the Kingdom of Christ and in bringing salvation to many

Your charity can certainly be employed in no better cause since it is thus destined to propagate the Kingdom of Christ and to bring salvation to so many still outside the Fold. It is the Lord Himself Who ‘gave…to everyone of them commandment concerning his neighbor’ (Eccl 17:12). (Pius XII. Encyclical Evangelii praecones, no. 67, June 2, 1951)

…judges Francis’ idea on equality as the source of justice and happiness

• Inequalities of culture, wealth, social position that have origin in the very nature of things are not an obstacle for an authentic spirit of community and fraternity

In a people worthy of this name, the citizen feels within himself the awareness of his personality, of his duties and his rights, of his own liberty united to the respect for the liberty and the dignity of others. In a people worthy of this name, all of the inequalities, which have their origin not in caprice, but rather from the very nature of things, inequalities of culture, wealth, social position – without injury, naturally, to justice and mutual charity – do not constitute, in reality, any obstacle for the existence and prevalence an authentic spirit of community and fraternity. Moreover, these natural inequalities, far from undermining in any way civil equality, confer to it its legitimate meaning, that is, as regards the State, each citizen has the right to live his own personal life with dignity in the position and conditions in which the designs and the dispositions of Providence have placed him. (Radio message Benignitas et humanitas for Christmas, December 24, 1944)

• Differences between men are ordered when there is fidelity to God

If social life implicates of itself an interior unity, it does not however exclude the differences caused by reality and nature. But, when fidelity to God, the supreme regulator of everything that refers to man is maintained, the similarities, as well as the differences of men find their adequate place in the absolute order of the being, of values and, consequently, also of morality. If, on the contrary, this foundation is shaken, among the different fields of culture a dangerous discontinuity is opened, uncertainty and transience will appear in the outlines, limits and values such that only merely external factors, and often blind instincts, come to determine later on, according to the dominant tendency of the moment, to whom will pertain the dominance of one or other trends. (Pius XII. Radio message Con sempre nuova feschezza for Christmas, December 24, 1942)

…judges Francis’ idea on the immortality of the soul

• The soul is spiritual and immortal

The Apostle of the Gentiles later on makes himself the herald of this truth which associates men as brothers in one great family, when he proclaims to the Greek world that God ‘hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation, that they should seek God’ (Acts 17:26, 27). A marvelous vision, which makes us see the human race in the unity of one common origin in God ‘one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in us all’ (Eph 4:6); in the unity of nature which in every man is equally composed of material body and spiritual, immortal soul; in the unity of the immediate end and mission in the world; in the unity of dwelling place, the earth, of whose resources all men can by natural right avail themselves, to sustain and develop life; in the unity of the supernatural end, God Himself, to Whom all should tend; in the unity of means to secure that end. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, nos. 37-38, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on God’s omnipotence

• The Church cannot permit the violation of those principles and laws which direct and govern man in his path to God

In like manner, approval cannot be given to the false principles of those who assert and claim freedom to depict and propagate anything at all, even though there has been established beyond dispute in these past years both the kind and the extent of the damage to both bodies and souls which has had its source in these principles. There is no question here of the true liberty of which We have spoken above, but rather of an uncontrolled freedom, which disregards all precautions, of communicating with others anything at all, even though it be contrary to sound morals and can result in serious danger to souls. The Church encourages and supports everything which truly concerns a fuller enrichment of the mind – for She is the patron and fostermother of human knowledge and the noble arts; therefore She cannot permit the violation of those principles and laws which direct and govern man in his path to God, his final end. Let no one, then, be surprised if, in this matter, where many reservations are necessary, the Church acts with due thought and discretion, according to that saying of the Apostle: ‘But prove all things: hold fast that which is good. From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves’ (1Thess 5:21-22). (Pius XII. Encyclical Miranda Prorsus, August 9, 1957)

…judges Francis’ idea on the laicity of the State

• It is the tradition of the Church to maintain the distinction, but also the unity of the two powers

Your cities are a living part of the Church. There are, in Italy, those who get stir up, for fear that Christianity takes from Cesar that which is of Cesar. As though giving to Cesar what belongs to him was not a command of Jesus; as though laicity of the State, when healthy and legitimate, is not one of the principles of Catholic doctrine; as though it was not the tradition of the Church to make continuous efforts to maintain the distinction, but also – always according to correct principles – the unity of the two powers; as though, on the contrary, the amalgamation of the sacred and the profane had not been proven in history with greater intensity, than when a portion of the faithful separate from the Church. (Pius XII. Address to the Marchigiani residents in Rome, March 23, 1958)

• Laicity of the State deprives it of the beneficent and regenerating influence of God and the Church

The Holy Gospel narrates that when Jesus was crucified ‘there was darkness over the whole earth’ (Mt 27:45); a terrifying symbol of what happened and what still happens spiritually wherever incredulity, blind and proud of itself, has succeeded in excluding Christ from modern life, especially from public life, and has undermined faith in God as well as faith in Christ. The consequence is that the moral values by which in other times public and private conduct was gauged have fallen into disuse; and the much vaunted civilization of society, which has made ever more rapid progress, withdrawing man, the family and the State from the beneficent and regenerating effects of the idea of God and the teaching of the Church, has caused to reappear, in regions in which for many centuries shone the splendors of Christian civilization, in a manner ever clearer, ever more distinct, ever more distressing, the signs of a corrupt and corrupting paganism: ‘There was darkness when they crucified Jesus’. Many perhaps, while abandoning the teaching of Christ, were not fully conscious of being led astray by a mirage of glittering phrases, which proclaimed such estrangement as an escape from the slavery in which they were before held; nor did they then foresee the bitter consequences of bartering the truth that sets free, for error which enslaves. They did not realize that, in renouncing the infinitely wise and paternal laws of God, and the unifying and elevating doctrines of Christ’s love, they were resigning themselves to the whim of a poor, fickle human wisdom; they spoke of progress, when they were going back; of being raised, when they groveled; of arriving at man’s estate, when they stooped to servility. They did not perceive the inability of all human effort to replace the law of Christ by anything equal to it; ‘they became vain in their thoughts’ (Rom 1:21). With the weakening of faith in God and in Jesus Christ, and the darkening in men’s minds of the light of moral principles, there disappeared the indispensable foundation of the stability and quiet of that internal and external, private and public order, which alone can support and safeguard the prosperity of States. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi pontificatus, no. 23-25, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on the formation of consciences

• Conscience can and should be educated: the Church must intervene authoritatively in moral questions when necessary

It is necessary to turn again to some fundamental concepts of Catholic doctrine in order to duly understand that the conscience can and should be educated. The divine Savior has brought to man, ignorant and weak, his truth and grace: truth to indicate the path that leads to his end; grace to give him the strength to be able to reach it. […] But, where may the educator and the educated find, concretely with facility and certainty, the moral Christian law? In the law of the Creator, engraved on the heart of each one, (cf Rom 2: 14-16), and in revelation; that is to say, in the ensemble of truths and precepts taught by the divine Master. Both, the law engraved in the heart, which is the natural law, as well as the truths and precepts of supernatural revelation, were left by Jesus the Redeemer, as the moral treasure of humanity, in the hands of his Church, so that she may preach them to all peoples, explaining and transmitting them integrally and free of all contamination and error from generation to generation. […] Conscious, therefore, of the right and the obligation of the Holy Apostolic See to intervene, when it be necessary, authoritatively in moral questions, We in the address of October 29 last year, proposed to enlighten the consciences in that which refers to the problems of conjugal life. With the same authority we declare today to educators and to the youth: the divine commandment of the purity of soul and body is also necessary without diminishment for the youth of today. They in the same way, have the moral obligation – and with the help of grace – the possibility of keeping themselves pure. eposciences, (Pius XII. Radio message La famiglia è la culla on the occasion of the celebration of ‘Family Day’, March 23, 1952)

• The Church: inexhaustible fecundity and inviolate in her sacred laws

Certainly the loving Mother is spotless in the Sacraments by which she gives birth to and nourishes her children; in the faith which she has always preserved inviolate; in her sacred laws imposed on all; in the evangelical counsels which she recommends; in those heavenly gifts and extraordinary grace through which with inexhaustible fecundity (cf. Vat. Council I, Sess. III, de fide Cath., cap 3), she generates hosts of martyrs, virgins and confessors. But it cannot be laid to her charge if some members fall, weak or wounded. In their name she prays to God daily: ‘Forgive us our trespasses;’ and with the brave heart of a mother she applies herself at once to the work of nursing them back to spiritual health. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 66, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on our sins drawing us close to Jesus

• Dangerous error: certain quietism, that pretends to neglect our collaboration in spiritual life, attributing all to God’s action

No less far from the truth is the dangerous error of those who endeavor to deduce from the mysterious union of us all with Christ a certain unhealthy quietism. They would attribute the whole spiritual life of Christians and their progress in virtue exclusively to the action of the Divine Spirit, setting aside and neglecting the collaboration which is due from us. (Denzinger-Hünnerman 3817. Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 87, June 29, 1943)

• The Spirit does not will to act unless men contribute

No one, of course, can deny that the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is the one source of whatever supernatural powers enters into the Church and its members. For ‘The Lord will give grace and glory’ as the Psalmist says. But that men should persevere constantly in their good works, that they should advance eagerly in grace and virtue, that they should strive earnestly to reach the heights of Christian perfection and at the same time to the best of their power should stimulate others to attain the same goal, – all this the heavenly Spirit does not will to effect unless they contribute their daily share of zealous activity. ‘For divine favors are conferred not on those who sleep, but on those who watch,’ as Saint Ambrose says. (Denzinger-Hünnerman 3817. Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 87, June 29, 1943)

• Illusion: to believe that the efficacy of the Eucharist dispenses from cooperation in the acquisition of salvation

The Church in posterior centuries has always followed the same path, and even today it does not proceed differently. Who does not know as our predecessor Pius X, of holy memory, amply opened to the faithful and especially to children, the doors to the Eucharistic fonts of grace? But it would be a fatal illusion to believe that the efficacy of the Holy Supper – the opus operatum – dispenses the soul from cooperation in seeking its salvation. One of the effects of the Holy Eucharist, ‘tamquam antidotum, liberemur quo en culpis quotidianis, et in peccatis mortalibus praeservemur’ (Conc. Trent, sess.13, ch.2), consists exactly in giving strength to fight against sin. The life of a Christian, which follows the example of Christ, is a life of combat against the devil, the world and the flesh. (Pius XII. Address L’inscrutabile consiglio on the Ten Commandments, February 23, 1944)

• To ensure progress in virtue the practice of frequent confession is important

The same result follows from the opinions of those who assert that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Far more important, they say, is that general confession which the Spouse of Christ, surrounded by her children in the Lord, makes each day by the mouth of the priest as he approaches the altar of God. As you well know, Venerable Brethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways which are to be highly commended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, We will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself. (Piux XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on knowing God’s will from the people

• The true follower of Christ is a spiritual bastion of those who are tempted to give in to evil

Conscious of the sinister audacity of evil overflowing in this life, the true follower of Christ experiences in himself a living stimulus for a greater vigilance over himself as well as over his brothers and sisters in danger. With the assurance he holds of the promise of God and the final triumph of Christ over his enemies and of his kingdom, he interiorly feels strengthened against disillusions and failures, defeats and humiliations, being able to communicate this with equal confidence to all those he approaches in his apostolic ministry, transforming himself in this way, into a spiritual bastion, while giving encouragement and example to those who are tempted to give in or be discouraged before the number and power of the adversaries. (Pius XII. Address Grazie venerabili fratelli to the Sacred College of Cardinals and members of the Roman Curia for Christmas, December 24, 1940)

• There is no greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the men of our time misled by error

Can there be, Venerable Brethren, a greater or more urgent duty than to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) to the men of our time? Can there be anything nobler than to unfurl the ‘Ensign of the King’ before those who have followed and still follow a false standard, and to win back to the victorious banner of the Cross those who have abandoned it? What heart is not inflamed, is not swept forward to help at the sight of so many brothers and sisters who, misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, have strayed away from faith in the true God and have lost contact with the joyful and life-giving message of Christ? Who among ‘the Soldiers of Christ’ – ecclesiastic or layman – does not feel himself incited and spurred on to a greater vigilance, to a more determined resistance, by the sight of the ever-increasing host of Christ’s enemies; as he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God’s Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 6-7, October 20, 1939)

• Divine revelation is morally necessary so that moral truths may be known with freedom from all error

For though, absolutely speaking, human reason by its own natural force and light can arrive at a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, Who by His providence watches over and governs the world, and also of the natural law, which the Creator has written in our hearts, still there are not a few obstacles to prevent reason from making efficient and fruitful use of its natural ability. The truths that have to do with God and the relations between God and men, completely surpass the sensible order and demand self-surrender and self-abnegation in order to be put into practice and to influence practical life. Now the human intellect, in gaining the knowledge of such truths is hampered both by the activity of the senses and the imagination, and by evil passions arising from original sin. Hence men easily persuade themselves in such matters that what they do not wish to believe is false or at least doubtful.

It is for this reason that divine revelation must be considered morally necessary so that those religious and moral truths which are not of their nature beyond the reach of reason in the present condition of the human race, may be known by all mean readily with a firm certainty and with freedom from all error (Con. Vat. I: De Fide cath., cap. 2, De revelatione). (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generi, no. 1-2, August 12, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on contemplative life

• Nuns participate in the apostolate of love for neighbor through example, prayer and penance

It is evident that these exclusively contemplative nuns participate in the apostolate of love for neighbor in its three forms: of example, of prayer and of penance. (Pius XII. Radio Message to the cloistered nuns of the world, August 2, 1958)

• Contemplative nuns possess an entirely apostolic vocation

Mother Church requires that all of the canonically consecrated nuns of contemplation, combine perfect love of God with perfect charity toward neighbor. […] Therefore, may all nuns understand well that their vocation is fully and entirely apostolic, not constrained in any way by the limits of time, place or thing, but rather extends, always and in all places […] practiced principally through […] the example of Christian perfection; because their lives, even without the use of words, continually and significantly takes the faithful to Christ and to Christian perfection, and for the good soldiers of Christ it is like a standard or flag that excites them to real combat and stimulates them toward the crown. (Pius XII. Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi, no. 39, November 21, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on the flesh of Christ and poverty as a theological category

• Those who are divided in faith or government cannot live in the unity of the Mystical Body, nor receive the life of the Spirit

Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed. ‘For in one spirit’ says the Apostle, ‘were we all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free’ (1Cor 12:13). As therefore in the true Christian community there is only one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one Baptism, so there can be only one faith (cf. Eph 4:5). And therefore, if a man refuse to hear the Church, let him be considered – so the Lord commands – as a heathen and a publican (cf. Mt 18:17). It follows that those who are divided in faith or government cannot be living in the unity of such a Body, nor can they be living the life of its one Divine Spirit. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 21, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea that the Virgin Mary was capable to rebel against God

• She offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam – her mother’s rights and mother’s love were included in the holocaust

…She […] who ‘in the name of the whole human race’ gave her consent ‘for a spiritual marriage between the Son of God and human nature.’ (S Th., III, q. 30, a. 1, c.) […] It was she, the second Eve, who, free from all sin, original or personal, and always more intimately united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam, sin-stained by his unhappy fall, and her mother’s rights and her mother’s love were included in the holocaust. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici corporis Christi, no. 51, June 29, 1943)

• The work of salvation was accomplished by a kind of ‘recapitulation’: a virgin was instrumental in salvation, just as a virgin had been closely associated in death

…if Mary, in taking an active part in the work of salvation, was, by God’s design, associated with Jesus Christ, the source of salvation itself, in a manner comparable to that in which Eve was associated with Adam, the source of death, so that it may be stated that the work of our salvation was accomplished by a kind of ‘recapitulation,’ (S. Irenaeus, Adv. haer., V, 19, 1) in which a virgin was instrumental in the salvation of the human race, just as a virgin had been closely associated with its death; if, moreover, it can likewise be stated that this glorious Lady had been chosen Mother of Christ ‘in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race’; (Pius XI, Auspicatus profecto) and if, in truth, ‘it was she who, free of the stain of actual and original sin, and ever most closely bound to her Son, on Golgotha offered that Son to the Eternal Father together with the complete sacrifice of her maternal rights and maternal love, like a new Eve, for all the sons of Adam, stained as they were by his lamentable fall,’ (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis.) then it may be legitimately concluded that as Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because, as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam. (Pius XII. Encyclical Ad caeli reginam, no. 15, October 11, 1954)

…judges Francis’ idea on the origin of the Psalms

• The Church has kept Sacred Scripture with all care and defends it from every perverse interpretation

Inspired by the Divine Spirit, the Sacred Writers composed those books, which God, in His paternal charity towards the human race, deigned to bestow on them in order ‘to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice: that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work’ (2Tim 3:16-17). This heaven-sent treasure Holy Church considers as the most precious source of doctrine on faith and morals. No wonder therefore that, as she received it intact from the hands of the Apostles, so she kept it with all care, defended it from every false and perverse interpretation and used it diligently as an instrument for securing the eternal salvation of souls, as almost countless documents in every age strikingly bear witness. (Pius XII. Encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, no. 1, September 30, 1943)

• Pray with the same intention as the Redeemer

Consequently, the priest ought to pray [the Divine Office] with the same intention as the Redeemer. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti Nostrae, no. 41, September 23, 1950)

• The Divine Office is the prayer of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the hymn that the Divine Word introduced into this earthly exile

The Divine Office is the prayer of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, offered to God in the name and on behalf of all Christians […] By assuming human nature, the Divine Word introduced into this earthly exile a hymn which is sung in heaven for all eternity. He unites to Himself the whole human race and with it sings this hymn to the praise of God. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 142-144, November 20, 1947)

…judges the act of seeking blessings from heretics and schismatics

• Their efficacy is due to the action of the Church inasmuch as She is holy and in closest union with her Head

This efficacy, where there is question of the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments, derives first of all and principally from the act itself (ex opere operato). […] if one refers to the ‘sacramentals’ and the other rites instituted by the hierarchy of the Church, then its effectiveness is due rather to the action of the Shurch (ex opere operantis Ecclesiae), inasmuch as She is holy and acts always in closest union with her Head. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mediator Dei, no. 27, November 20, 1947)

…judges Francis’ idea on the incapacity of the Church to resolve the crisis of the family

• The formula: instruct the faithful well concerning matrimony

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. (Pius XI. Encyclical Casti connubii, no. 105, December 31, 1930)

…judges Francis’ idea on eternal condemnation

• The greatest disgrace is grave sin, by which one becomes worthy of eternal chastisement

Once restored by the waters of baptism, [the soul] is clothed in luminous whiteness, but with evil actions, it separates from the right path and is stained again. If the fault is grave, the grace of God is lost and one becomes worthy of eternal chastisement. Is there a greater disgrace than this? It is of capital importance for the Christian not to offend God, not to sin, and to keep the soul always in the state of grace. (Pius XII. Letter to the Archbishop of Sucre – AAS 46 (1954): 525-527, August 13, 1954)

• Before God and men, the Church has the sacred duty to preach about hell and to teach it without any mitigation

The preaching of the first truths of the faith and the final ends of man have not only not lost any of their appropriateness in our times, but have also come to be more necessary and urgent than ever. This includes preaching about hell. There is no doubt that this subject must be spoken of with dignity and wisdom. But, as far as the real substance of this truth goes, the Church has, before God and before men, the sacred duty to proclaim it, to teach it without any mitigation, as Christ has revealed it, and there is no condition of time that might diminish the rigor of this obligation…It is true that the desire for heaven is of itself a more perfect motive than the fear of eternal damnation; but this does not mean that it is for all men also the most efficacious motive, to keep them far from sin and to convert them to God. (Pius XII. Address to Priests and Lenten Preachers, March 23, 1949)

…judges Francis’ idea on the harmony among good and evil

• A serious danger concealed beneath the mask of virtue: to consider an obstacle to fraternal union what is founded on the laws and principles given by Christ

It is apparent, however, that some today, as in apostolic times, desirous of novelty, and fearing to be considered ignorant of recent scientific findings, […] try to withdraw themselves from the sacred Teaching Authority and are accordingly in danger of gradually departing from revealed truth and of drawing others along with them into error. Another danger is perceived which is all the more serious because it is more concealed beneath the mask of virtue. There are many who, deploring disagreement among men and intellectual confusion, through an imprudent zeal for souls, are urged by a great and ardent desire to do away with the barrier that divides good and honest men; these advocate an ‘eirenism’ according to which, by setting aside the questions which divide men, they aim not only at joining forces to repel the attacks of atheism, but also at reconciling things opposed to one another in the field of dogma. […] But some through enthusiasm for an imprudent ‘eirenism’ seem to consider as an obstacle to the restoration of fraternal union, things founded on the laws and principles given by Christ and likewise on institutions founded by Him, or which are the defense and support of the integrity of the faith, and the removal of which would bring about the union of all, but only to their destruction. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, nos. 10,11,12, August 12, 1950)

• It is not licit to dissimulate the truth with the pretext of promoting unity

Even on the plea of promoting unity it is not allowed to dissemble one single dogma; for, as the Patriarch of Alexandria [St Cyril] warns us, ‘although the desire of peace is a noble and excellent thing, yet we must not for its sake neglect the virtue of loyalty in Christ’ (Ep. 61). […] The only successful method will be that which bases harmony and agreement among Christ’s faithful ones upon all the truths, and the whole of the truths, which God has revealed. (Pius XII. Encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, no.1, April 9, 1944)

• Novelty is only praiseworthy when it confirms the truth

Among priests, especially among the less formed in doctrine and with a less austere life, circulates, in an ever more grave and preoccupying manner, a certain spirit of novelty. Novelty, in and of itself, is never a sure criteria of the truth; and can be praiseworthy only when it confirms the truth and leads to uprightness and virtue. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti Nostrae, September 23, 1950)

• Let no Christian embrace novelties lightly – the principles of natural and positive law do not change

For truth and its philosophic expression cannot change from day to day, least of all where there is question of self-evident principles of the human mind or of those propositions which are supported by the wisdom of the ages and by divine revelation. […] Let no Christian therefore, whether philosopher or theologian, embrace eagerly and lightly whatever novelty happens to be thought up from day to day, but rather let him weigh it with painstaking care and a balanced judgment, lest he lose or corrupt the truth he already has, with grave danger and damage to his faith. (Pius XII. Encyclical Humani generis, no. 30, August 12, 1950)

• Absolute and immutable value of the precepts of natural law

Furthermore, Christ instituted His Church as ‘the pillar and bulwark of truth’ (1Tm 3:15). With the Holy Spirit’s assistance, she ceaselessly preserves and transmits without error the truths of the moral order, and she authentically interprets not only the revealed positive law but ‘also . . . those principles of the moral order which have their origin in human nature itself’ (Dign Hum, 14; Pius XI, CastConn,; Pius XII, Alloc. 2/XI/1954; John XXIII, Mater et Mag; Paul VI, Hum Vit, 4) (and which concern man’s full development and sanctification. Now in fact the Church throughout her history has always considered a certain number of precepts of the natural law as having an absolute and immutable value, and in their transgression she has seen a contradiction of the teaching and spirit of the Gospel. (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Persona humana, December 29, 1975)

…judges Francis’ idea on the evils in our times

• The greatest sin of our time: the loss of the sense of sin

Perhaps the greatest sin in the world today is that men have begun to lose the sense of sin. (Pius XII. Radio Message to participants in the National Catechetical Congress of the United States in Boston, October 26, 1946)

• The greatest kind of sin: open and implacable hatred against God and His Church

 For if We experience bitter sorrow at the feeble loyalty of the good in whose souls, tricked by a deceptive desire for earthly possessions, the fire of divine charity grows cool and gradually dies out, much more is Our heart deeply grieved by the machinations of evil men who, as if instigated by Satan himself, are now more than ever zealous in their open and implacable hatred against God, against the Church and above all against him who on earth represents the Person of the divine Redeemer […] But, in truth, hatred of God and of those who lawfully act in His place is the greatest kind of sin that can be committed by man created in the image and likeness of God and destined to enjoy His perfect and enduring friendship forever in heaven. Man, by hatred of God more than by anything else, is cut off from the Highest Good and is driven to cast aside from himself and from those near to him whatever has its origin in God, whatever is united with God, whatever leads to the enjoyment of God, that is, truth, virtue, peace and justice (cf. STh. II-II, q.34, a.2). (Pius XII. Encyclical Haurietis Aquas, nos 117- 118, May 15, 1956)

• We must make every effort to lead back to Christ those brethren who have strayed from the right path

Consider the immense need of our time. We must make every effort to lead back to Christian principles those brethren who have strayed through error or been blinded by passions, to enlighten nations with the light of Christian doctrine, to guide them according to Christian norms and to form in them more Christian consciences, and lastly to urge them to struggle for the triumph of truth and justice. (Pius XII. Apostolic Exhortation Menti Nostrae, September 23, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on First Holy Communion

• Heretics are outside of the Mystical Body of Christ

It is owing to the Savior’s infinite mercy that place is allowed in His Mystical Body here below for those whom, of old, He did not exclude from the banquet (cf. Mt, 9:11; Mk 2:16; Lk, 15:2). For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis, no.22, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on clarity and doctrinal security

• Theologians should always have recourse to Tradition

It is also true that theologians must always have recourse to the sources of divine Revelation; for it is their duty to indicate how what is taught by the living magisterium is found, either explicitly or implicitly, in Sacred Scripture and in divine ‘tradition.’ In addition, both sources of doctrine, divinely revealed, contain so many and such great treasures of truth that they are in fact never exhausted. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3886. Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, August 12, 1950)

•  Highest imprudence: to abandon traditional theological terminology

Therefore, to neglect, or to reject, or to deprive so many great things of their value, which in many instances have been conceived, expressed, and perfected after long labor, by men of no ordinary genius and sanctity, under the watchful eye of the holy Magisterium, and not without the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit for the expression of the truths of faith ever more accurately, so that in their place conjectural notions may be substituted, as well as certain unstable and vague expressions of a new philosophy, which like a flower of the field exists today and will die tomorrow, not only is the highest imprudence, but also makes dogma itself as a reed shaken by the wind. Moreover, the contempt for the words and ideas which the scholastic theologians customarily use, tends to weaken so-called speculative philosophy, which they think is void of true certitude, since it rests on theological reasoning. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3883. Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, August 12, 1950)

• Those eager for novelties present the Magisterium as a hindrance to progress

Surely it is lamentable that those eager for novelty easily pass from a contempt for scholastic theology to a neglect, and even a disrespect for the magisterium of the Church, which supports that theology by its authority. For, this Magisterium is considered by them as a hindrance to progress and an obstacle to science; indeed, by certain non-Catholics it is looked upon as an unjust restraint by which some learned theologians are prevented from pursuing their science. (Denzinger-Hünermann 3884. Pius XII. Encyclical Humani Generis, August 12, 1950)

…judges Francis’ idea on responsible parenthood

• To avoid the primary duty of matrimony without a grave reason is a sin against the very nature of married life

Therefore, to embrace the matrimonial state, to use continually the faculty proper to such a state and lawful only therein, and, at the same time, to avoid its primary duty without a grave reason, would be a sin against the very nature of married life. […] the will to avoid the fecundity of their union, while continuing to satisfy to tile full their sensuality, can only be the result of a false appreciation of life and of motives foreign to sound ethical principles. (Pius XII. Address to participants in the Congress of the Italian Catholic Union of Obstetricians, October 29, 1951)

• Matrimony: an institution at the service of life

We have taken advantage, throughout the last few years, of all occasions to manifest one or other essential point of the mentioned family morals, and more recently to show it as a whole; not only refuting the errors that corrupt it, but also showing plainly their meaning, their reason, their importance, their value for the happiness of the spouses, the children and of the entire family, for the stability and greater social good of the domestic home, and even for the State and the Church itself. At the center of this doctrine, matrimony appears as an institution at the service of life. (Pius XII. Speech to the participants of the National Congress of the Family Front and the Federations about the Family, November 27, 1951)

• Accept with happiness and gratitude the number of children it pleases God to send

If the sincere purpose of allowing the Creator to undertake his work freely is lacking [in matrimony], human egoism will always discover new sophisms and deviations in order to, if possible, stifle the conscience and perpetuate abuses. Now, the value of the testimony of parents of large families not only consists of rejecting without hesitation, and with the strength of the facts, all intentional compromise between the law of God and the egoism of man, but also in the promptness of accepting with happiness and gratitude the inestimable gifts of God, who are the children, and in the number that pleases Him. (Pius XII. Speech to the participants of the National Congress of the Family Front and the Federations about the Family, November 27, 1951)

…judges Francis’ idea on all being saved

• Those who do not belong to the visible Body of the Catholic Church cannot be sure of salvation

We have committed to the protection and guidance of heaven those who do not belong to the visible Body of the Catholic Church […] ask each and every one of them to correspond to the interior movements of grace, and to seek to withdraw from that state in which they cannot be sure of their salvation. For even though by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer, they still remain deprived of those many heavenly gifts and helps which can only be enjoyed in the Catholic Church. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on Catholic Education to the Youth

• Formation that deliberately neglects to direct youth to the heavenly country is an injustice

On the other hand, a formation which forgot or, worse still, deliberately neglected to direct the eyes and hearts of youth to the heavenly country would be an injustice to youth, an injustice against the inalienable duties and rights of the Christian family and an excess to which a check must be opposed, in the interests even of the people and of the State itself. (Piux XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 67, October 20, 1939)

• An education indifferent to Christianity is a crime of high treason against the King of kings

Such an education might seem perhaps to the rulers responsible for it, a source of increased strength and vigor; it would be, in fact, the opposite, as sad experience would prove. The crime of high treason against the ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (1Tim 6:15, cf. Apoc 19:6) perpetrated by an education that is either indifferent or opposed to Christianity, the reversal of ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me’ (Mt 19:14), would bear most bitter fruits. (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 68, October 20, 1939)

• The formation of youth that alienates from Christ is a scandal

The same Christ Who pronounced the words ‘Suffer little children to come unto me’ has threatened, for all His mercy and goodness, with fearful evils, those who give scandal to those so dear to His heart. Now what scandal is more permanently harmful to generation after generation, than a formation of youth which is misdirected towards a goal that alienates from Christ ‘the Way and the Truth and the Life’ and leads to open or hidden apostasy from Christ? (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no. 68-69, October 20, 1939)

• An education system that proclaims apostasy from Christ pronounces a sentence of condemnation against itself

A system of education that should not respect the sacred precincts of the Christian family, protected by God’s holy law, that should attack its foundations, bar to the young the way to Christ, to the Savior’s fountains of life and joy (cf. Is 12: 3), that should consider apostasy from Christ and the Church as a proof of fidelity to the people or a particular class, would pronounce against itself the sentence and wold experiment in time the undeniable truth of the pophet’s word: ‘They that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth’ (Jer 12:13). (Pius XII. Encyclical Summi Pontificatus, no.70, October 20, 1939)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Pope

• Christ entrusted the visible government of the Mystical Body to the Chief of the Apostles

But we must not think that He rules only in a hidden (Cf. Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum: A.S.S., XXVIII, 725) or extraordinary manner. On the contrary, our Redeemer also governs His Mystical Body in a visible and normal way through His Vicar on earth. You know, Venerable Brethren, that after He had ruled the ‘little flock’ (Lk 12:32) Himself during His mortal pilgrimage, Christ our Lord, when about to leave this world and return to the Father, entrusted to the Chief of the Apostles the visible government of the entire community He had founded. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 40, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea that the Church should not be a Point of Reference

• The Church only has one light: that of Her divine Head, Christ

As the nerves extend from the head to all parts of the human body and give them power to feel and to move, in like manner our Savior communicates strength and power to His Church so that the things of God are understood more clearly and are more eagerly desired by the faithful. From Him streams into the body of the Church all the light with which those who believe are divinely illumined, and all the grace by which they are made holy as He is holy. Christ enlightens His whole Church […] It is He who imparts the light of faith to believers; it is He who enriches pastors and teachers and above all His Vicar on earth with the supernatural gifts of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, so that they may loyally preserve the treasury of faith, defend it vigorously, and explain it and confirm it with reverence and devotion. Finally, it is He who, though unseen, presides at the Councils of the Church and guides them. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)

• The Church is like another Christ

This appellation of the Body of Christ is not to be explained solely by the fact that Christ must be called the Head of His Mystical Body, but also by the fact that He so sustains the Church, and so in a certain sense lives in the Church, that she is, as it were, another Christ. […] Nevertheless this most noble title of the Church must not be so understood as if that ineffable bond by which the Son of God assumed a definite human nature belongs to the universal Church; but it consists in this, that our Savior shares prerogatives peculiarly His own with the Church in such a way that she may portray, in her whole life, both exterior and interior, a most faithful image of Christ. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)

• The Church is indefectible in Her mission to teach and govern

But if our Savior, by His death, became, in the full and complete sense of the word, the Head of the Church, it was likewise through His blood that the Church was enriched with the fullest communication of the Holy Spirit, through which, from the time when the Son of Man was lifted up and glorified on the Cross by His sufferings, She is divinely illumined. […] so at the hour of His precious death He willed that His Church should be enriched with the abundant gifts of the Paraclete in order that in dispensing the divine fruits of the Redemption She might be, for the Incarnate Word, a powerful instrument that would never fail. For both the juridical mission of the Church, and the power to teach, govern and administer the Sacraments, derive their supernatural efficacy and force for the building up of the Body of Christ from the fact that Jesus Christ, hanging on the Cross, opened up to His Church the fountain of those divine gifts, which prevent her from ever teaching false doctrine and enable her to rule them for the salvation of their souls through divinely enlightened pastors and to bestow on them an abundance of heavenly graces. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)

…judges Francis’ idea on happiness

• Happiness is found in God and in the practice of His teachings

Today the world navigates adrift, perhaps more than ever, behind the false indications of happiness. And happiness is only found in God and in the practice of His divine teachings. (Pius XII. Radio Message to the Clergy and Argentineans, February 1, 1948)

…judges Francis’ idea on Ascetism and silence in the Spiritual Exercises…

• The perseverance of the Spaniards during the war was due in part to the Spiritual Exercises

Effectively, what are you now if not representatives of a profoundly Catholic people whose ardent and lively perseverance in the faith is due perhaps, among other reasons, to the blossoming of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in your country? […] Great was your valor in the hour of trial, when, in the midst of persecution, your fidelity and spirit of sacrifice was written with the very blood of your heroic brothers. You put the resolutions of the Exercises into practice well, demonstrating their fulfillment not in life, but in death! (Pius XII. Speech to pilgrims from Spain on a pilgrimage organized by the Society for Parish Exercises, October 24, 1948)

•  An increased desire for greater mortification is one of the effects of the Exercises

We affirm without a doubt that it is always, in all cases and for all people, there will be a participation in that fruit which consists of ‘ordering one’s life’ (Spirit. Exer., 21) after ‘conquering oneself”, and stripping oneself ‘of all disordered affections…in order to seek and fulfill the divine will in the ordering of one’s life’ (Ibid 1); always derives from them a greater practice of prayer and examination of conscience, along with an increased desire for mortification, with a deeper moral formation, the person is consequently more disposed to ‘love and serve his divine majesty in all things. (Ibid., 233)’ (Pius XII, Speech, June 15, 1956)

• The Exercises are efficacious when fidelity to the Ignatian spirit and method are conserved

But your example also serves us in commending the efficacy of the Exercises of Saint Ignatius, when fidelity to its spirit and method are conserved, as it is among you, thanks be to God. It is not true that the method has lost its efficacy, or that it no longer corresponds to the needs of modern man. Actually, the sad reality is that the liqueur loses its potency when diluted in the waters of over-adaptation, and the machine loses its strength when basic gears of the Ignatian system are dismantled. The Exercises of Saint Ignatius will always be one of the most efficacious means for spiritual renovation and proper order in the world, but on condition that they continue to be authentically Ignatian. (Pius XII. Speech to pilgrims from Spain, October 24, 1948)</

 …judges Francis’ idea on the Old Covenant still being valid

• With the death of the Redeemer the New Law succeeded the Old, which would soon be buried and a bearer of death

And first of all, by the death of our Redeemer, the New Testament took the place of the Old Law which had been abolished; then the Law of Christ together with its mysteries, enactments, institutions, and sacred rites was ratified for the whole world in the blood of Jesus Christ. For, while our Divine Savior was preaching in a restricted area —He was not sent but to the sheep that were lost of the House of Israel— the Law and the Gospel were together in force; but on the gibbet of His death Jesus made void the Law with its decrees fastened the handwriting of the Old Testament to the Cross, establishing the New Testament in His blood shed for the whole human race. “To such an extent, then” says Saint Leo the Great, speaking of the Cross of our Lord, “was there effected a transfer from the Law to the Gospel, from the Synagogue to the Church, from the many sacrifices to one Victim, that, as Our Lord expired, that mystical veil which shut off the innermost part of the temple and its sacred secret was rent violently from top to bottom.” On the Cross then the Old Law died, soon to be buried and to be a bearer of death, in order to give way to the New Testament of which Christ had chosen the Apostles as qualified ministers. (Piux XII. Enclyclical Mystici Corpori Christi, June 19, 1846)

…judges Francis’ idea on Peace

• Just and Lasting Peace May Only be Obtained Through the Law of Christ, Font of Justice

Meanwhile, in accordance with your office, give notice to the faithful of this our paternal invitation; recall to them once more from what principles a just and lasting peace may issue and by what means it must be sought. Indeed, as you well know, it can only be obtained from the principles and norms dictated by Christ and put into practice with sincere piety. Such principles and norms, in fact, recall men to truth, justice and charity; they put a restraint on their unruly desires; they force the senses to be obedient to reason; they move the reason to obey God; they produce this effect, that all men, even those who are rulers of the peoples, may recognize the freedom that is due to religion, which, beyond its primary purpose of leading souls to eternal salvation, has also another, of safeguarding and protecting the very foundations of the State. (Pius XII. Encylcical Summu Maeroris, On Public Prayers for Peace, July 19 1950)

• The True Path Has Been Lost Due to a Distancing From Jesus Christ Both in Private and Public Life

Let all remember that the flood of evil and disaster that has over-taken the world in past years was due chiefly to the fact that the divine religion of Jesus Christ, that provider of mutual charity among citizens, peoples and nations, did not govern, as it should, private, domestic and public life. If things have gone wrong on account of the desertion from Christ, public and private life must return to Him as soon as possible: if error has clouded the minds of men, they must return to that truth which, revealed from on high, indicates the right way to heaven: if hatred has brought them fatal results, they must return to Christian love which alone can heal their many wounds, and carry them over the crisis so filled with danger.  (Pius XII. Encylcial Optatissima Pax, no. 7, December 18, 1947)

…judges Francis’ idea on all being children of God

•  A Supplication to Those Who do not Belong to the Catholic Church: Seek to Withdraw from this State

We have committed to the protection and guidance of heaven those who do not belong to the visible Body of the Catholic Church, solemnly declaring that after the example of the Good Shepherd We desire nothing more ardently than that they may have life and have it more abundantly. Imploring the prayers of the whole Church We wish to repeat this solemn declaration in this Encyclical Letter in which We have proclaimed the praises of the “great and glorious Body of Christ” and from a heart overflowing with love We ask each and every one of them to correspond to the interior movements of grace, and to seek to withdraw from that state in which they cannot be sure of their salvation. (Pius XII. Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943)