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The following is one in a series of installments of fho
text of the encyclical Ecclesiam Suam (His Church) of
His Holiness Pope Paul VI.
Preaching is the primary
apostolate. Our apostolate, ven
erable brothers, is above all the
ministry of the Word. We know
this very well, but it seems good
to remind ourselves of it now,
so as to direct our pastoral ac
tivities aright. We must go back
to the study, not of human elo
quence or empty rhetoric, but
of the genuine art of the sacred
Word.
We must search for the laws
of Its simplicity and clarity, for
its power and authority, so as
tc overcome our natural lack
of skill in the use of the great
and mysterious spiritual instru
ment of speech and to enable
us worthily to compete with
those who today exert so much
influence through their words
by having access to the organs
of public opinion.
We must beg the Lord for the
great and uplifting gift of
speech (cf. Jer. 1, 6), to be
able to confer on faith its prac
tical and efficacious principle
(cf. Rom. 10, 17), and to enable
our words to reach out to the
ends of the earth (cf. Ps. 18, 5
and Rom. 10, 18).
May we carry out the pre
scriptions of the council’s Con
stitution on Sacred Liturgy with
zeal and ability. And may the
catechetical teaching of the
Faith to the Christian people,
and to as many others as pos
sible, be marked by the aptness
of its language, and wisdom of
its method, the zeal of its exer
cise supported by the evidence
of real virtues, and may it
strive ardently to lead its hear
ers to the security of the Faith,
to a realization of the intimate
connection between the divine
Word and life, and to the illu
mination of the living God.
★ ★ ★
RENEWED FERVOR
We must, finally, refer to
those to whom our dialogue is
directed. But, even on this
point, we do not intend to fore
stall the council, which, please
God, will soon make its voice
heard.
Speaking in general on the
role of partner in dialogue, a
role which the Catholic Church
must take up with renewed fer
vor today, we should like mere
ly to observe that the Church
must be ever ready to carry on
the dialogue with all men of
good will, within and without
its own sphere. There is no one
who is a stranger to its heart,
no one in whom its ministry has
no interest. It has no enemies,
except those who wish to be
such. Its name of catholic is
not an idle title. Not in vain has
it received the commission to
foster in the world unity, love
and peace.
The Church is not unaware
of the formidable dimensions of
such a mission; it knows the
disproportion in numbers be
tween those who are its mem
bers and those who are not; it
knows the limitations of its
power.
It knows, likewise, its own
human weaknesses and failings.
It recognizes, too, that the ac
ceptance of the Gospel depends
ultimately not upon any apos
tolic efforts of its own nor upon
any favorable temporal condi
tions, for faith is a gift of God
and God alone defines in the
world the times and limits of
salvation.
But the Church knows that
it is the seed, the leaven, the
salt and light of the world. It
sees clearly enough the astound
ing newness of modern times,
but with frank confidence it
stands upon the path of his
tory and says to men: “I have
that for which you search, that
which you lack.”
★ ★ ★
WORDS FOR THE POOR
It does not thereby promise
earthly felicity, but it does of
fer something —its light and
its grace — which makes the
attainment as easy as possible;
and then it speaks to men of
their transcendent destiny. In
doing this it speaks to them
of truth, justice, freedom, prog
ress, concord, peace and civi-
ization.
These are words whose secret
is known to the Church for
Christ has entrusted the secret
to its keeping. And so the
Church has a message for ev
ery category of humanity: For
children, for youth, for men of
science and learning, for the
world of labor and for every
social class, for artists, for
statesmen and for rulers. Most
of all, the Church has words
for the poor, the outcasts, the
suffering and the dying; for all
men.
In speaking in this way, we
may seem to be allowing our
selves to be carried away in the
contemplation of our mission
and to be out of touch with
reality as regards the actual
relations of mankind with the
Catholic Church. But that is not
so. We see the concrete situation
quite clearly. To give a brief
idea of it, we think it can be
described as consisting of a se
ries of concentric circles around
the central point in which God
has placed us.
The first of these circles is
immense. Its limits stretch be
yond our sight and merge with
the horizon. It is that of man
kind as such, the world. We
gauge the distance that lies be
tween us and the world; yet
we do not consider the world
a stranger. All things human
are our concern.
We share with the whole of
mankind a common nature; hu
man life with all its gifts and
problems. In this primary uni
versal reality we are ready to
play our part, to acknowledge
the deep-seated claims of its
fundamental needs, to applaud
the new, and sometimes sub
lime, expressions of its genius.
★ ★ ★
MORAL TRUTHS
We possess, too, vital moral
truths, to be brought to men’s
notice and to be corroborated
by their conscience, to the bene
fit of all. Wherever men are
trying to understand themselves
and the world, we can commu
nicate with them. Wherever the
councils of nations come togeth
er to establish the rights and
duties of man, we are honored
when they allow us to take our
seat among them.
If there exists in men “a
soul which is naturally Chris
tian,” we desire to show it our
respect and to enter into con
versation with it. Our attitude
in this, as we remind ourselves
and everyone else, is, on the
one hand, entirely disinterest
ed. We have no temporal or
political aim whatever. On the
other hand, its purpose is to
raise up and elevate to a su
pernatural and Christian level
every good human value in the
world. We are not civilization,
but we promote it.
We realize, however, that in
this limitless circle there are
many — very many, unfortu
nately — who profess no re
ligion. We are aware also that
there are many who profess
themselves, in various ways, to
be atheists.
We know that some of these
proclaim their godlessness
openly and uphold it as a pro
gram' of human education and
political conduct, in the ingen
uous but fatal belief that they
are setting men free from false
and outworn notions about life
and the world and are, they
claim, putting in their place a
scientific conception that is in
conformity with the needs of
modern progress.
★ ★ ★
SERIOUS PROBLEM
This is the most serious prob
lem of our time. We are firmly
convinced that the theory on
which the denial of God is
based is utterly erroneous.
This theory is not in keeping
with the basic, undeniable re
quirements of thought. It de
prives the reasonable order of
the world of its genuine founda
tion. This theory does not pro
vide human life with a liberat
ing formula but with a blind
dogma which degrades and sad
dens it. This theory destroys, at
the root, any social system
which attempts to base itself
upon it. It does not bring free
dom. It is a sham, attempting
to quench the light of the living
God.
We shall, therefore, resist
with all our strength the as
saults of this denial. This we
do in the supreme cause of
truth and in virtue of our sa
cred duty to profess Christ and
Ecclesiam Suam
His Gospel, moved by deep, un
shakable love for men and in
the invincible hope that mod
ern man will come again to
discover, in the religious ideals
that Catholicism sets before
him, his vocation to the civili
zation that does not die, but
ever tends to the natural and
supernatural perfection of the
human spirit, and in which the
grace of God enables man to
possess his temporal goods in
peace and honor, and to live in
hope of attaining eternal goods.
These are the reasons which
compel us, as they compelled
our predecessors and, with
them, everyone who has religi
ous values at heart, to condemn
the ideological systems which
deny God and oppress the
Church — systems which are
often identified with economic,
social and political regimes,
amongst which atheistic com
munism is the chief. It could be
said that it is not so much that
we condemn these systems and
regimes as that they express
their radical opposition to us
in thought and deed. Our regret
is, in reality, more sorrow for
a victim than the sentence of a
judge.
★ ★ ★
VERY DIFFICULT
Dialogue in such conditions is
very difficult, not to say impos
sible, although, even today, we
have no preconceived intention
of excluding the persons who
profess these systems and be
long to these regimes. For the
lover of truth discussion is al
ways possible.
The difficulties are enormous
ly increased by obstacles of the
moral order: the absence of suf
ficient freedom of thought and
action, and the perversion of
discussion so that the latter is
not made use of to seek and
express objective truth but to
serve predetermined utilitarian
ends.
This is what puts an end to
dialogue. The Church of Si
lence, for example, speaks only
by her sufferings, and with her
speaks also the suffering of an
oppressed and degraded so
ciety, in which the rights of
the spirit are crushed by those
who control its fate. If we begin
to speak in such a state of af
fairs, how can we offer dialogue,
when we cannot be anything
more than a “voice crying in
the wilderness” (Mark 1, 3)?
Silence, groaning, patience and
always love, in such conditions,
are the witness that the Church
can still offer, and not even
death can silence it.
★ ★ ★
HUMAN VALUES
But though we must speak
firmly and clearly in declaring
and defending religion and the
human values which it pro
claims and upholds, we are
moved by our pastoral office
to seek in the heart of the mod
ern atheist the motives of his
turmoil and denial.
His motives are many and
complex, so that we must ex
amine them with care if we are
to answer them effectively.
Some of them arise from the
demand that divine things be
presented in a worthier and
purer wav than is, perhaps, the
case in certain imperfect forms
of language and worship, which
we ought to try to purify so
that they express as perfectly
and clearly as possible the sa
cred reality of which they are
the sign.
We see these men full of
yearning, prompted sometimes
by passion and desire for the
unattainable, but often also by
great-hearted dream of justice
and progress. In such dreams
noble social aims are set up
in the place of the Absolute and
Necessary God, testifying
thereby to the ineradicable need
for the Divine Source and End
of all things, whose transcend
ence and immanence it is the
task of our teaching office to
reveal with patience and wis
dom.
★ ★ ★
ENTHUSIASM
Again, we see them, some
times with ingenuous enthu
siasm, having recourse to hu
man reason, with the intention
of arriving at a scientific expla
nation of the universe. This pro
cedure is all the less reprehen
POPK PAUL VPs* plans to build a center in Jerusalem for study of Eastern and especial
ly Orthodox theology were announced following the audience i Aug. 291 His Holiness
granted to Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., (right), president of Notre Dame Uni
versity, and Mr. Ignatius A. O'Shaughnessy of St. Paul, Minn. Although no official con
nection has been announced between this visit and the proposed center of theology in
Jerusalem, it was reported that the Holy Father has enlisted the aid of his two visitors in
the project, a memorial to the historic meeting in Jerusalem last January of the Pope
and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. <NC Photos i
sible in that it is often based
upon laws of logical thought not
unlike those of our classical
school.
It is a procedure which leads
in a direction quite contrary to
the will of those who use it,
thinking to find in it an un
answerable proof of their athe
ism and its own intrinsic valid
ity, for it leads them onward
towards the new and final
metaphysical and logical asser
tion of the existence of the su
preme God.
In this cogent process of rea
soning the atheistic politico-
scientist stops short wilfully at
a certain point and so exting
uishes the sovereign light of the
intelligibility of the universe.
Is there no one among us wno
could help him to reason on
to a realization of the objec
tive reality of the cosmic uni
verse, a realization which re
stores to man the sense of the
divine. Presence, and bring to
his lips the humble, halting
words of a consoling prayer?
Sometimes, too, the atheist
is spurred on by noble senti
ments and by impatience with
the mediocrity and self-seeking
of so many cpntemporary so
cial settings. He knows well
how to borrow from our Gospel
modes and expressions of soli
darity and human compassion.
Shall we not be able to lead
him back one day to the Chris
tian source of such manifesta
tions of moral worth?
Accordingly, bearing in mind
the words of our predecessor of
venerable memory, Pope John
XXIII, in his encyclical Pacem
in Terris to the effect that the
doctrines of such movements,
once elaborated and defined,
remain always the same,
whereas the movements them
selves cannot help but evolve
and undergo changes, even of
a profound nature (cf. n. 54),
we do not despair that they
may one day be able to enter
into a more positive dialogue
with the Church than the pres
ent one which we now of neces
sity deplore and lament.
★ ★ ★
CHERISHED DESIRE
But we cannot turri our gaze
away from the contemporary
world without expressing a
cherished desire, namely that
our intention of developing and
perfecting our dialogue in the
varied and changing facets
which it presents, may assist
the cause of peace between
men. by providing a method
which seeks to order human re
lationships in the sublime light
of the language of reason and
sincerity, and by making a con
tribution of experience and wis
dom which can stir up all men
to the consideration of the su
preme values.
The opening of a dialogue,
such as ours would be, dis
interested, objective and sin
cere, is in itself a decision in
favor of a free and honorable
peace. It excludes pretence, ri
valry, deceit and betrayal. It
cannot do other than condemn,
as a crime and destruction,
wars of aggression, conquest or
domination.
It cannot confine itself to re
lationships with the heads of na
tions, but must set them up also
with the body of the nation and
with its foundations, whether
social, family or individual, so
as to diffuse in every institu
tion and in every soul the un
derstanding, the relish and the
duty of peace.
Then we see another circle
around us. This, too, is vast In
its extent, yet it is not so far
away from us. It is made up of
the men who above all adore
the one, supreme God whom we
too adore.
We refer to the children,
worthy of our affection and re
spect, of the Hebrew people,
faithful to the religion which
we call that of the Old Testa
ment. Then to the adorers of
God according to the concep
tion of monotheism, the Moslem
religion especially, deserving of
our admiration for all that is
true and good in their worship
of God. And also to the follow
ers of the great Afro-Asiatic
religions.
★ ★ ★
HONESTY
Obviously we cannot share in
these various forms of religion
nor can we remain indifferent
to the fact that each of them,
in its own way, should regard
itself as being the equal of any
other and should authorize its
followers not to seek to discov
er whether God has revealed
the perfect and definitive form,
free from all error, in which he
wishes to be known, loved and
served. Indeed, honesty com
pels us to declare openly our
conviction that there is but one
true religion, the religion of
Christianity. It is our hope that
all who seek God and adore
Him may come to acknowledge
its truth.
But we do, nevertheless, rec
ognize and respect the moral
and spiritual values of the vari
ous non-Christian religions, and
we desire to join with them in
promoting and defending com
mon ideals of religious liberty,
human brotherhood, good cul
ture, social welfare and civil or
der. For our part, we are ready
to enter into discussion on these
common ideals, and wilt not fail
to take the initiative where our
offer of discussion in genuine,
mutual respect, would be well
received.
And so we come to the circle
which is nearest to us, the cir
cle of Christianity.
In this field the dialogue,
which has come to be called
ecumenical, has already begun,
and in some areas is making
real headway. There is much
to be said on this complex and
delicate subject, but our dis
course does not end here. For
the moment we limit ourself
to a few remarks — none of
them new.
The principle that we are
happy to make our own is this:
Let us stress what we have in
common rather than what di
vides us. This provides a good
and fruitful subject for our dia
logue. We are ready to carry
it out wholeheartedly.
We will say more: on many
points of difference regarding
tradition, spirituality, canon law,
and worship, we are ready to
study how we can satisfy the
legitimate desires of our Chris
tian brothers, still separated
from us. It is our dearest wish
to embrace them in a perfect
union of faith and charity.
★ ★ ★
INTEGRITY OF FAITH
But we must add that it, is not
in our power to compromise
with the integrity of the faith
or the requirements of charity.
We foresee that this will cause
misgiving and opposition, but
now that, the Catholic Church
has taken the initiative in re
storing the unity of Christ’s fold,
it will not cease to go forward
with all patience and consider
ation.
It will not cease to show that
the prerogatives, which keep
the separated brothers at a dis
tance, are not the fruits of his
toric ambition or of fanciful the
ological speculation, but derive
from the will of Christ and that,
rightly understood, they are for
the good of all and make for
common unity, freedom and
Christian perfection. The Cath
olic Church will not cease, by
prayer and penance, to pre
pare herself worthily for the
longed-for reconciliation.
In reflecting on this subject,
it distresses us to see how we,
the promoter of such reconcilia
tion, are regarded by many of
the separated brethren as being
its stumbling-block, because of
the primacy of honor and juris
diction which Christ bestow
ed upon the Apostle Peter, and
which we have inherited from
him.
Do not some of them say that
if it were not tor the primacy
of the pope, the reunion of the
separated churches with the
Catholic Church would be easy?
★ ★ ★
SEPARATED BRETHREN
We beg the separated breth
ren to consider the inconsisten
cy of this position, not only in
that, without the pope the Cath
olic Church would no longer be
Catholic, but also because, with
out the supreme, efficacious and
decisive pastoral office of Peter
the unity of the Church of Christ
would utterly collapse.
It would be vain to look for
other principles of unity in place
of the one established by Christ
himself. As St. Jerome justly
wrote: “There would arise in the
Church as many sects as there
are priests" (Dial, contra Luci-
ferianos, n.9L We should also
like to observe that this funda
mental principle of Holy Church
has not as its objective a su
premacy of spiritual pride and
human domination. It is a pri
macy of service, of ministra
tion, of love. It is not empty
rhetoric which confers upon the
Vicar of Christ the title of “serv
ant of the servants of God.”
It is along these lines that
our dialogue is alert, and, even
before entering into fraternal
conversation, it speaks in pray
er and hope wilh the heavenly
Father.
We must observe, venerable
brethren, with joy and confi
dence, that the vast and varied
circle of separated Christians
is pervaded by spiritual activi
ties which seem to promise con
soling developments in regard
to their reunion in the one
Church of Christ. We beg that
the Holy Spirit will breathe
upon the “ecumenical move
ment,” and we recall the emo
tion and joy we felt at Jeru
salem in our meeting, full of
charity and new hope, with the
Patriarch Athenagoras.
★ ★ ★
REVERENT INTEREST
We wish to greet with grati
tude and respect the participa
tion of so many representatives
of separated churches in the
Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council.
The Church’s authority is in
stituted by Christ; it is, indeed,
representative of Him; it is the
authorized channel of His word;
it is the expression of His
toral charity.
Obedience, therefore, is moti
vated by faith, develops into a
school of evangelical humility, f
and links the obedient man to ♦
the wisdom, unity, constructive- 1 .
ness and charity by which the
body of the Church is sustained. 4
It confers upon him who im- *
poses it and upon him who con- «
forms himself to it the merit
of being like Christ who was ^
“made obedient unto death” *
(Phil. 2. 8'.
■ 4
By obedience, therefore, in
the context of dialogue, we
mean the exercise of authority
in the full awareness of its be
ing a service and ministry of
truth and charity, and we mean
the observance of canonical
regulations and respect for the
government of legitimate su- |
periors in the spirit of untrou
bled readiness as becomes free '
and loving children.
peace,
disJWie
criticism, of rebellion ill ac
cords with the charity which
gives life to the Church’s sol
idarity, concord and
and easily transforms tl
alogue into argument, di^KRe
and disagreement. This most re
grettable attitude, so easy, alas,
to produce, is condemned by
the Apostle Paul in his warn
ing words: “Let there be no
divisions among you” (I Cor.
1, 10).
It is, therefore, our ardent
desire that the dialogue within
the Church should take on new
fervor, new themes and speak
ers, so that the holiness and
vitality of the Mystical Body of
Christ on earth may be in
creased.
★ ★ ★
INTERIOR LIFE
Anything that makes known
the teachings of which the i
Church is both custodian and y
dispenser receives our approba
tion. We have already mention
ed the liturgy, the interior life
and preaching. We could add
also: Schools, the press, the so
cial apostolate, the missions,
the exercise of charity.
We want to give our assur
ance, once again, that we have
an attentive, reverent interest
in the spiritual movements con
nected with the problem of uni-
ity, which are stirring up vital
and noble religious sentiments
in various individuals, groups
and communities. With love and
reverence we greet all these
Christians, in hope that we may
promote together, even more
effectively, the cause of Christ
and the unity which He desired
for His Church, in the dialogue
of sincerity and love.
And lastly we turn te speak
with the children of the House
of God, the one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church, of which
this Roman Church is “mother
and head.” It is our ardent de
sire that this conversation with
our own children should be full
of faith, of charity, of good
works, should be intimate and
familiar.
We would have it responsive
to all truth and virtue and to
all the realities of our doctrinal
and spiritual inheritance. Sin
cere and sensitive in genuine
spirituality, ever ready to give
ear to the manifold voice of
the contemporary world, ever
more capable of making Catho
lics truly good men, men wise,
free, serene and strong; that is
what we earnestly desire our
family conversation to be.
★ ★ ★
PROPER FUNCTION
This desire to impress upon
the internal relationships of the
Church the character of a dia
logue between members of a
body, whose constitutive prin
ciple is charity does not do
away with the exercise of the
virtue of obedience where the
right order necessary in all well
constructed societies. Above all,
the hierarchic constitution of the
Church requires that, on the
one side, authority should be
exercised according to its
proper function and that, on the
other side, there should be sub
mission.
All these are themes to which
the council will direct our at
tention. And we bless and en
courage all those who, under
the guidance of competent au
thority, take part in the life-
giving dialogue of the Church,
priests especially and Religious,
and our well-loved laity, ded
icated to Christ in Catholic Ac
tion and in so many other as- t
sociations and activities.
It is a cause of joy and
fort for us to see that
a dialogue is already in ex
istence in the Church and in
the areas which surround it.
The Church today is more than
ever alive. But it seems good
to consider that everything still
remains to be done; the work
begins today and never comes
to an end.
This is the law of our tem
poral, earthly pilgrimage. This
is the ordinary task, venerable
brothers, of our ministry, which
everything today stimulates us
to renew and to make more
devoted and intense.
★ ★ ★
COOPERATION
As for ourself in speaking to
you of these things, we are
pleased to trust in your co
operation and offer you our own
in return. This union of aims
and labor we ask for and offer
not long after our elevation to
the Chair of the Apostle Peter,
bearing the name and sharing, ^
please God, something of the
spirit of the Apostle of the Gen
tiles.
And so celebrating the IB
of Christ among us, we senano
you with this, our first letter,
in the name of the Lord, our
blessing as brother and father,
a blessing which we gladly ex
end to the whole Church and
to all mankind.
From the Vatican, 6 August
1964.
On the Feast of the Trans
figuration of Our Lord Jesus
Christ.