ANNI SACRI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII
ON A PROGRAM FOR COMBATTING
ATHEISTIC PROPAGANDA THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
The Holy Year, which is in the course of passing, has already
furnished Us with more than one reason for joy and consolation.
To Rome, whence the light of the Gospel teaching radiates since
the origins of the Church, multitudes of the faithful have streamed
from all parts of the world. They have come to the See of Peter
not only to redeem their own faults, but also to expiate the sins
of the world and implore the return of society to God, from Whom
alone can come true peace of heart, civil concord and the well-being
of nations.
2. And We know that these first groups of pilgrims
form the vanguard of those who will come more frequently and in
greater numbers during the favorable season. Therefore, the hope
is warranted that from this still more salutary and abundant fruits
will be harvested. Nevertheless, if these sights have given Us
gentle comfort, reasons are not lacking for the anxiety and anguish
which grieve Our paternal heart. And in the first place, although
war has almost everywhere ceased, nevertheless, the longed-for
peace has not come - a stable and solid peace which might happily
solve the many and ever-increasing reasons for discord. Many nations
are still opposed to each other; and as confidence lessens an
armaments race begins, leaving the hearts of all overcome by fear
and trepidation.
3. That which seems to Us not only the greatest
evil but the root of all evil is this: often the lie is substituted
for the truth, and is then used as an instrument of dispute. On
the part of not a few religion is passed by as a thing of no importance,
and elsewhere absolutely prohibited in family and social life
as a remnant of ancient superstitions; public and private atheism
is exalted in such a way that God and His law are being abolished,
and morals no longer have any foundation. The Press also too often
vulgarly reviles religious feeling, while it does not hesitate
to spread the most shameful obscenities, agitating and with incalculable
harm leading into vice tender childhood and betrayed youth.
4. By means of false promises a people is deceived
and provoked to hatred, rivalry and rebellion, especially when
the hereditary faith, the only relief in this earthly exile, is
successfully torn from its heart. Disturbances, riots and revolts
are organized and fomented in continuing series, which prepare
for the ruin of the economy and cause irreparable harm to the
common good.
5. We must above all deplore with overwhelming
sadness that in not a few nations the rights of God, Church and
human nature itself are outraged and trampled upon. Sacred ministers,
even those invested with high dignities, are either driven from
their proper Sees, exiled and imprisoned, or impeded in a manner
preventing them from exercising their ministry. In the field of
education, whether of lower or of university level, as well as
in publications and the Press, permission to explain and defend
the doctrine of the Church either is not given or is so restricted
and subjected to such surveillance by official censorship that
the arbitrary proposition that truth, liberty and religion must
submissively serve only the civil authority seems to be the established
principle.
6. Since these innumerable evils spring, as We
have said, from one source only, the repudiation of God and contempt
for His law, it is necessary, Venerable Brethren, to offer to
God fervent prayers and recall all to those principles whence
alone can come enlightenment for minds, peace and concord for
souls and well ordered justice between the various social classes.
7. As you know, once religion is taken away there
cannot be a well ordered, well regulated society. In this point
lies the urgency to spur on priests under your guidance in order
that, especially during the Holy Year, they spare no efforts so
that souls entrusted to them, with their false prejudices and
erroneous convictions cast aside, and hatreds and discords settled,
may nourish themselves on the teachings of the Gospel and thus
participate in Christian life so as to hasten the desired renewal
of morals.
8. And since the priest can reach neither everybody
nor everything, and as his work is not always able to meet adequately
all needs, those who serve in the Catholic Action ranks must offer
the aid of their own experience and activity. No one must be idle
and lazy in the face of so many evils and dangers while those
in the other camp strive to destroy the very basis of Catholic
religion and Christian worship. Let it never come to pass that
"the children of this world are wiser than the children of
light" (Luke xvi. 8); let it never be that the latter are
less active than the former.
9 But human efforts are ineffective unless strengthened
by Divine Grace. We exhort you, therefore, Venerable Brethren,
to begin a veritable crusade of prayer among your faithful to
implore from the Father of Mercies and the God of Consolation
(2 Cor. i. 3) suitable remedies for the present evils. We intensely
desire that, united with Us, they offer public prayers on March
26th Passion Sunday, when the sacred rites of the Church begin
to commemorate the bitter sufferings by means of which the Divine
Redeemer liberated us from slavery to the demon and led us back
to the freedom of the sons of God. It is Our intention on that
day to descend into the Basilica of St. Peter to unite Our prayers
not only with those present but - as We hope - with those of the
whole Catholic world. Let those who, because of illness or old
age or other reasons, cannot come to church, offer to God with
humble and trusting heart their sufferings and their fears so
that the prayer of all, the yearning of all and the wish of all
may be one.
10. Let all, united with Us in prayer, implore
from Divine mercy that a new order, based on truth, justice and
charity, may arise from the longed-for restoration of morals.
May the Heavenly Light illuminate the minds of those who have
in their hands the destinies of peoples; may they realize that
just as peace is the work of wisdom and justice, so war is the
fruit of blindness and hatred; let them consider that one day
they must render account not only to history but to God's eternal
judgment.
11. Those who profusely sow the seed of hatred,
of discord and of rivalry; those who secretly or openly arouse
the masses and provoke rebellions; those who deceive with empty
promises the easily agitated masses, even they must understand
that the justice demanded by Christian principles, which gives
birth to equilibrium and fraternal concord, is achieved not through
force and violence, but with the application of the law.
12. Guided by the supreme light gained by collective
prayer, let all be persuaded that only the Divine Redeemer can
compose the many and formidable conflicts; only Jesus Christ,
We say, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John xvi. 6),
Who bestows celestial clarity to clouded minds and Divine strength
to doubtful and indolent wills (Imitation of Christ, III, 50 8,
5); He alone can set on the road to eternal happiness the souls
of men joined by the bond of brotherhood.
13. With faith, love and hope, therefore, We
address to Him Our prayers. May He then, especially during this
Holy Year, benignly look down upon humanity, oppressed by so many
misfortunes, assailed by so many fears and by waves of so many
discords. And as one day, by His divine sign, He calmed the tempest
on the Lake of Galilee, so today may He quieten human storms.
14. Let the lies of the wicked be exposed by
His light, let the surly arrogance of the proud be humbled, let
the rich be led to justice, generosity and charity, let the poor
and wretched take as their model the family of Nazareth, which
also earned its bread through daily labor; finally, let those
who hold the Government of State be persuaded that there is no
more solid social foundation than Christian teaching and the safeguarding
of religious liberty.
15. We desire, Venerable Brethren, that you make
these things known to the faithful entrusted to your care and
that you exhort them to pray fervently with Us to the Lord.
16. Confident that all will respond to our exhortations
with loving willingness, with fullness of heart We impart to each
one of you and all your faithful Our Apostolic Benediction, pledge
of Our benevolence and token of heavenly favor.
Given at Rome at St. Peter's, March 12th, 1950,
the twelfth year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
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