Encyclical Letter "Ad Apostolorum Principiis" against the persecution of Catholics in China.

 

TO THE VENERABLE BROTHERS AND BELOVED SONS ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS AND OTHER ORDINARY PLACES.

TO THE CHINESE CLERGY AND PEOPLE IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE

POPE PIO XII

Venerable Brothers and beloved children, Health and Apostolic Blessing.

When, thirty-two years ago, next to the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, in the majestic Vatican Basilica, Our immediate predecessor, of happy memory, Pius XI, consecrating conferred the fullness of the priesthood "on the first fruits and the new offspring of the Chinese Episcopate "(1), thus expanding the sentiments that were penetrating his paternal heart at that solemn moment: "You have come, Venerable Brothers, to "see Peter"; moreover, you have received the staff from him, which you will use to undertake apostolic journeys and gather the sheep. And Peter has embraced you with love, who instill no little hope of bringing the evangelical truth to your compatriots" (2).

The echo of these words is reproduced again in Our soul today, Venerable Brothers and beloved children, in this hour of affliction for the Catholic Church in your homeland. Certainly the hope of Our great Predecessor was not vain or without fruit: new armies of Holy Shepherds and heralds of the Gospel joined that first handful of Bishops that Peter, living in his Successor, had sent to govern that select portion of the flock of Christ; a vigorous flourishing of new works and companies of the apostolate, even in the midst of multiple difficulties, flourished among you. And We, when later we had the great happiness of erecting the ecclesiastical hierarchy in China, made Ours and increased that hope and saw even wider horizons open up for the expansion of the divine Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

A few years later, unfortunately, storm clouds darkened the sky; For your Christian communities, some of which had already flourished for a long time, sad and painful times began. We saw the missionaries, among whom were many Archbishops and Bishops animated by great apostolic zeal, and also Our Internunciation, forced to leave the soil of China; and thrown into prison, or afflicted by privations and sufferings of all kinds, the holy Bishops, priests, men and women religious and many faithful.

Then We saw ourselves forced to raise Our anguished voice to reprove the unjust persecution, and with the Encyclical Letter "Cupimus imprimís" of January 18, 1952 (3), We were careful to remember for love of truth, aware of Our duty, that the Catholic Church cannot be considered foreign, let alone hostile, to anyone; even more, that she, in her maternal solicitude, embraces all nations with the same charity, that she does not ambition earthly things, but, to the extent of her strength, leads all citizens to the achievement of the darling. We also warn that missionaries do not seek the interests of a particular nation, but, coming from all parts of the world, and united as they are by a single divine love, desire and seek only the spread of the Kingdom of God; it is quite clear, therefore,

After almost two years, on October 7, 1954, with another Encyclical Letter "Ad Sinarum gentem" (4) sent to you to refute the accusations directed against the same Chinese Catholics, we openly proclaimed that the Christian is not, nor can he be, inferior to none in true fidelity and love to his earthly homeland. And because the false doctrine called the "Three Independences" had spread among you, We, by virtue of Our divine and universal Magisterium, warned that this doctrine, as its supporters understood it, already in its theoretical significance, already in its applications practices derived from it, could not be approved by any Catholic, since they tear souls from the necessary unity of the Church.

Now we must warn that, in your nation, in recent years, the conditions of the Church have been worsening. It is true —and this is a source of great consolation for Us in the midst of so many and such great sorrows— that in the face of the prolonged persecutions that afflict you, your intrepid faith has not diminished, nor your most ardent love for the Divine Redeemer and for the Church of he; intrepid faith and ardent love that you have shown in a thousand ways, for all of which you will one day receive God's eternal prize, although only a small part of them has come to the knowledge of men.

But at the same time it is Our duty to clearly denounce —and We do so with trembling and deep sorrow— that conditions among you, thanks to insidious plans, are worsening to the point that it seems that the false doctrine, which We have reproved, is going reaching the most extreme and pernicious consequences.

Indeed, with a skilfully conceived tactic, an association has been founded among you, which has taken the name of patriotic, and Catholics are violently forced to belong to it.

This association —as has been said in repeated statements— would have the purpose of uniting the clergy and the faithful in the name of love for the homeland and religion, to propagate the patriotic spirit, to defend peace among peoples, and at the same time to to support, reform and propagate the socialism established in your Nation and to help the civil authorities to defend, when the opportunity arises, resolutely what they call political and religious freedom. It is nevertheless evident that, under these expressions of peace and patriotism, which can deceive the naive, such an association tends to put into practice certain pernicious principles and plans.

With the appearance of patriotism, which is actually shown to be fallacious, such an association mainly seeks for Catholics to progressively adhere to the falsehoods of atheistic materialism, with which God is denied and all supernatural principles are rejected.

Under the pretext of defending peace, that same association accepts and propagates false suspicions and accusations against many venerable members of the clergy and even against the Bishops and the Apostolic See itself, attributing to them extravagant purposes of imperialism, condescension and complicity in the exploitation of the people, of premeditated hostility towards the Chinese nation.

While they affirm that it is necessary for there to be absolute freedom in religious matters, and with the excuse of facilitating relations between the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, in fact, the association claims that the Church, neglecting and neglecting its sacred rights, is totally subjected to to civil authority. For which the members are encouraged to consider unjust measures as good, such as the expulsion of missionaries, the imprisonment of Bishops, priests, religious, religious and faithful; also to consent to the measures taken to obstinately prevent the jurisdiction of many legitimate Pastors; in addition to supporting reprehensible principles that openly attack the unity and universality of the Church and its hierarchical constitution; and to admit initiatives that aim to undermine the obedience of the clergy and the faithful to their legitimate Prelates and to separate the Catholic communities from the Apostolic See.

In order to spread and inculcate these principles more easily in all intelligences, this association, which, as we have said, glories with the name of patriotic, resorts to the most varied means, even those of oppression and violence: namely, propaganda. abundant and clamorous in the press; meetings and congresses, which are forced to attend with invitations, threats, and deceit —even those who do not want to—, and in which, if someone bravely stands up to defend the truth, they are easily silenced, defeated, and They call it infamous, as an enemy of the country and of the new order. Mention must also be made of those training courses, in which the disciples have to drink and embrace this fallacious doctrine; and to those who are forced priests, men and women religious, students of the sacred seminary, faithful of any state and age. In these short courses, through almost endless and endless lessons and discussions, over the course of weeks and months, the forces of the mind and the will are so weakened and extinguished that with this psychological violence it is uprooted, rather than requested. freely, as would be fair, an adherence, which has almost nothing human anymore. To this must be added those ways of proceeding that, exercised with all means, privately and publicly, with deceit, with fraud and with grave fear, disturb the minds; the so-called "confessions, extorted by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag ignominiously even Venerable Bishops to judge them. over the weeks and months, the forces of the mind and of the will are so weakened and extinguished that with this psychological violence, an adherence is torn out, rather than freely requested, as would be fair, which almost nothing has anymore. of human. To this must be added those ways of proceeding that, exercised with all means, privately and publicly, with deceit, with fraud and with grave fear, disturb the minds; the so-called "confessions, extorted by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag ignominiously even Venerable Bishops to judge them. over the weeks and months, the forces of the mind and of the will are so weakened and extinguished that with this psychological violence, an adherence is torn out, rather than freely requested, as would be fair, which almost nothing has anymore. of human. To this must be added those ways of proceeding that, exercised with all means, privately and publicly, with deceit, with fraud and with grave fear, disturb the minds; the so-called "confessions, extorted by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag ignominiously even Venerable Bishops to judge them. Rather, it is freely requested, as would be fair, an adherence, which is almost nothing human anymore. To this must be added those ways of proceeding that, exercised with all means, privately and publicly, with deceit, with fraud and with grave fear, disturb the minds; the so-called "confessions, extorted by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag ignominiously even Venerable Bishops to judge them. Rather, it is freely requested, as would be fair, an adherence, which is almost nothing human anymore. To this must be added those ways of proceeding that, exercised with all means, privately and publicly, with deceit, with fraud and with grave fear, disturb the minds; the so-called "confessions, extorted by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag ignominiously even Venerable Bishops to judge them. torn off by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag even Venerable Bishops to judge them ignominiously. torn off by force; the "re-education" camps; the so-called "popular trials", before which they have dared to drag even Venerable Bishops to judge them ignominiously.

Against such means, which violate the most important rights of the human person and trample on the sacred freedom of the children of God, the protest of all the faithful Christians of the entire world, and even of all the sensible people to deplore the outrage against the conscience of citizens.

And since in the name of patriotism such iniquities are carried out, it is Our duty to remind everyone, once again, that it is precisely the Church with its doctrine that exhorts and incites Catholics to foster a sincere and deep love for their own nations. , to render the due submission to the public authorities, except for the natural and positive divine right, to contribute generously and actively to all the companies that lead to a peaceful and orderly prosperity that is always increasing and to a true progress of the homeland community. The Church has never tired of instilling in her children the norm received from her Divine Redeemer: "Render, therefore, to Caesar what is Caesar's,

But it is also necessary to affirm that, if Christians, due to a duty of conscience, must give to Caesar, that is, to human authority, what belongs to him, likewise, Caesar, that is, the rulers, cannot demand from the citizens submission in the things that touch God and not them and that is why he cannot ask for obedience when it comes to usurping the sovereign rights of God, or forcing the faithful to act in opposition to their religious duties, or to separate themselves from the unity of the Church and its legitimate hierarchy. Then, without a doubt, every Christian with a serene face and a firm will repeats the words with which Peter and the first Apostles responded to the persecutors: "We must obey God before men" (6).

With emphatic eloquence, those who promote and support this association, which uses the name patriotic as its own name, constantly speak of peace and insistently proclaim that Catholics must fight for it. Words, in themselves, magnificent and most just: ¿who should be praised more than the one who prepares the path of peace? But peace, as you well know, Venerable Brothers and beloved sons, is not based on words alone, it is not an external formality, perhaps suggested by occasional tactics and contradicted by initiatives and works that, rather than being inspired by peaceful feelings, have hearts to resentment, hatred or aversion, true peace must be founded on principles of justice and charity, taught by the One who adorned himself, as with a royal title, with the name of "Prince of peace" (7); true peace is that desired by the Church, stable, just, equitable and orderly peace —among individuals, families and peoples— which, respecting the rights of each one, and especially those of God, unites everyone with the bond of the reciprocal and fraternal collaboration.

In such a peaceful perspective of harmonious coexistence of all nations, the Church wants each Nation to have the position of dignity that is its responsibility. The Church, which has always sympathetically followed the events and vicissitudes of your Homeland, already before, speaking through the mouth of Our immediate Predecessor, of happy memory, wished "that the legitimate aspirations and rights of that people, the most numerous of the earth, whose civilization dates back to ancient ages, which in past centuries experienced periods of greatness and splendor, and which will not lack a great future, if it remains on the paths of justice and honesty" (8 )

On the contrary, according to the news broadcast on the radio and by the press, there are some —and unfortunately also among the clergy, by the way— who dare to insinuate the suspicion and accusation of malevolence of the Holy See towards your Country.

Continue.