ON THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION IN FRANCE

NOBILISSIMA GALLORUM GENS

Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on February 8, 1884.

To Our Venerable Brethren the Archbishops and Bishops in France.

Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Benediction.

The most noble nation of the French, besides many splendid achievements in
peace and war, has deserved from the Catholic Church praise for special
services, gratitude for which will never die, and the glory of which will
never grow old. Having embraced Christianity at the initiative of its King,
Clovis, it was rewarded by this most honorable testimony to its faith and
piety, the title of eldest daughter of the Church. From that time,
Venerable Brethren, often have your ancestors been the helpers of
Providence itself in the performance of great and salutary works, and
especially has their valor been illustrated in defending Catholicism
throughout the world, in propagating the Christian Faith among barbarous
nations, in delivering and protecting the more sacred places in Palestine,
so that it is not without cause that the ancient phrase, "Gesta Dei per
Francos," has become proverbial. And thus it has been their happy lot,
through faithful devotion to the Catholic cause, to become, as it were,
associated with the glories of the Church, and to found many Public and
private institutions marked by a singular strength of religious faith,
charity, and greatness of soul. And these virtues of your fathers the Roman
Pontiffs, Our predecessors, have been accustomed greatly to commend, and,
with the favor due to desert, have more than once heaped praises upon the
French nation. Great indeed are the commendations which Innocent III. and
Gregory IX., those great lights of the Church, awarded to your ancestors;
the former, in his letter to the Archbishop of Reims, saying: "We love the
Kingdom of France with a kind of special and pre-eminent love, inasmuch as
it has always been obedient and devoted to Us and the Apostolic See, before
all the other kingdoms of the world;" and the second, in a letter to St.
Louis IX., declaring that in the Kingdom of France, "which could never be
torn away from its devotion to God and the Church, ecclesiastical liberty
has never perished, and Christian faith has never at any time lost its
proper vigor; and that for the preservation of these blessings the Kings
and subjects of the said kingdom have not hesitated for a moment to shed
their blood and expose themselves to many dangers." And God, who is the
Father of nature, from whom States receive on earth the reward of their
virtues and good deeds, has conferred much prosperity on France, fame in
war, the arts of peace, national glory, and imperial power. And if France,
forgetful, as it were, of herself, and neglecting the office conferred on
her by God, has sometimes chosen to assume a hostile attitude towards the
Church, yet, by a special mercy of God, she has not for long, or as a whole
nation, remained in these evil dispositions. And would that she had escaped
altogether unhurt from those disasters to religion and the State which
times not far distant from our own have brought forth! But when the human
mind, filled with the poison of new opinions, had begun, in the pride of an
untempered liberty, to reject the authority the Church, its downward course
has been rapid and precipitate. For when the mortal poison of false
doctrines had penetrated manners and customs themselves, society, to a
great extent, came to fall away from Christianity. And in France the
propagation of this plague was not a little promoted by certain
philosophers in the last century, professors of a foolish wisdom, who set
themselves to root up the foundations of Christian truth, and started a
system of philosophy calculated the more vehemently to inflame the desires
after unlimited license which had been already enkindled. Nor was the help
of these wanting whom an impotent hatred of religion binds together in
unhallowed bonds, and daily renders more eager in the persecution of
Catholics; and whether emulation in this evil work was greater in France
than anywhere else, nobody, Venerable Brethren, can be a better judge than
yourselves.

2. For these reasons, therefore, the fatherly love We bear to all the
nations of the world, and which impelled Us to recall the peoples of
Ireland, Spain, and Italy to their duty, when the need arose, by Our
letters to their Bishops--has induced Us to turn Our attention and thought
to France. The designs of which We have just spoken are injurious, not only
to religion, but are also harmful and fatal to the State; for it is
impossible that prosperity should follow a State in which the influence of
religion is extinguished. The moment man ceases to be in fear of God, he is
deprived of the most necessary basis of justice, without which--even in the
opinion of the Pagan philosophers--society cannot exist; the authority of
rulers will lose its weight, and the laws of the land their force. Self-
interest will weigh more with every man than high principles, and the
integrity of rights will be threatened, for the fear of punishment is but a
bad guarantee for the fulfillment of duty; those who rule will easily be
led to exceed the proper limits of their authority, and those who obey
seduced into sedition and revolt. Moreover, as there is nothing good in
nature which is not to be referred to the Divine goodness, every human
society which does its utmost to exclude God from its laws and its
constitution, rejects the help of this Divine beneficence, and deserve,
also, that help should be denied it. Rich, therefore, and powerful as it
appears, that society bears within itself the seeds of death, and cannot
hope for a lengthy existence. It is, indeed, with Christian peoples as with
individuals; it is safety to follow the counsels of God, it is danger to
fall away from them; and it often happens that when nations jealously
retain their fidelity to God and the Church, they arrive, almost naturally,
at the highest pitch of natural prosperity; but that when they fall away
from it they perish. These facts are to be found in history; and We could
cite to you more recent instances, even in your own country, had We the
time to recall the events seen by a previous generation, when the impiety
of the mob shook France to its very foundations, and Church and State
perished in the same destruction. But, on the other hand, these certain
causes of the State's ruin are easily removed, if, in the constitution and
ruling of the family and of society, the precepts are observed of the
Catholic religion, for these are most eminently fitted to preserve order
and the welfare of the State.

3. And first, as regards family life, it is of the highest importance that
the offspring of Christian marriages should be thoroughly instructed in the
precepts of religion; and that the various studies by which youth is fitted
for the world should be joined with that of religion. To divorce these is
to wish that youth should be neutral as regards its duties to God; a system
of education in itself fallacious, and particularly fatal in tender years,
for it opens the door to atheism, and closes it on religion. Christian
parents must, therefore, be careful that their children receive religious
instruction as soon as they are capable of understanding it; and that
nothing may, in the schools they attend, blemish their faith or their
morals. Both the Divine and the natural law impose this duty on them, nor
can parents on any ground whatever be freed from this obligation. The
Church, guardian of the integrity of the Faith--which, in virtue of its
authority, deputed from God its Founder, has to call all nations to the
knowledge of Christian lore, and which is consequently bound to watch
keenly over the teaching and upbringing of the children placed under its
authority by baptism--has always expressly condemned mixed or neutral
schools; over and over again she has warned parents to be ever on their
guard in this most essential point. To obey the Church in this is to obey
the requirements of social utility, and to serve in the most excellent
manner the common welfare. Those, indeed, whose early days were not
enlightened by religious instruction, grow up without any knowledge
whatever of the greatest truths, which alone can nourish in man the love of
virtue, and repress in him his evil passions; such as, for instance, the
ideas of God the Creator, of God the Judge and Avenger, of the rewards and
punishments in another life, of the heavenly help offered to us by Jesus
Christ of the conscientious and holy fulfillment of our duties. Where these
are unknown, all intellectual culture will prove unhealthy; young people,
unaccustomed to the fear of God, will not endure the restraint of an
upright life, they will not venture even to deny anything to their
passions, and will easily be seduced into troubling the State.

4. Next, as regards those most beneficial and real principles relating to
civil society and the reciprocal rights and duties of the sacred and the
political powers. For, as there are on earth two principal societies, the
one civil, the proximate end of which is the temporal and worldly good of
the human race; the other religious, whose office it is to lead mankind to
that true, heavenly, and everlasting happiness for which we are created; so
these are twin powers, both subordinate to the eternal law of nature, and
each working for its own ends in matters concerning its own order and
domain. But when anything has to be settled which for different reasons and
in a different way concerns both powers, necessity and public utility
demand that an agreement shall be effected between them, without which an
uncertain and unstable condition of things will be the result, totally
inconsistent with the peace either of Church or State. When, therefore, a
solemn public compact has been made between the sacred and the civil power,
then it is as much the interest of the State as it is just that the compact
should remain inviolate; because, as each power has services to render to
the other, a certain and reciprocal advantage is enjoyed and conferred by
each.

5. In France, at the beginning of this century, after the previous public
commotions and terrors had subsided, the rulers themselves understood that
they could not more effectually relieve the State, wearied with so many
ruins, than by the restoration of the Catholic religion. In anticipation of
future advantages, Our predecessor, Pius VII., spontaneously acceded to the
desire of the First Consul, and acted as indulgently as was consistent with
his duty. And when an agreement was reached as regarded the principal
points, the bases were laid, and a safe course marked out for the
restoration and gradual establishment of religion. Many prudent
regulations, indeed, were made at that and at subsequent times for the
safety and honor of the Church. And great were the advantages derived
therefrom, which were all the more to be valued in consequence of the state
of prostration and oppression into which religion had been brought in
France. With the restoration of public dignity to religion, Christian
institutions manifestly revived; and it was wonderful what an increase of
civil prosperity was the result. For when the State had scarcely emerged
from the tempestuous waves and was anxiously looking for firm foundations
on which to base tranquillity and public order, it found the very thing
which it desired opportunely offered to it by the Catholic Church, so that
it was apparent that the idea of effecting an agreement with the latter was
the outcome of a prudent mind and a true regard for the people's welfare.
Wherefore, if there were no other reasons for it, the same notice which led
to the work of pacification being undertaken, ought now to operate for its
maintenance. For--now that the desire of innovation has been enkindled
everywhere, and in the existing uncertainty as to the future--to sow fresh
seeds of discord between the two powers, and by the inter-position of
obstacles to fetter or delay the beneficial action of the Church, would be
a course void of wisdom and full of peril. And yet we are troubled and
grieved to see that perils of this kind are at the present time arising,
for certain things opposed to the well-being of the Church have been and
are being done, in consequence of the aroused mistrust and hatred of
hostile minds against Catholic institutions, which have been wont to
represent them as the enemies of the State. We are also no less concerned
and anxious at the designs of these who, with the object of dividing the
interests of Church and State, would wish to break, more or else rapidly,
the salutary compact concluded with the Apostolic See.

6. In this state of affairs We have neglected nothing which the times
seemed to call for. Each time that it has appeared necessary to Us, We have
ordered our Nuncio to make representations to the rulers of the State,
which they declared they received in a spirit disposed to do justice. We
Ourselves, on the law being passed for the suppression of the religious
orders, made known Our sentiments in a letter addressed to Our dear Son,
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and Arch-bishop of Paris. Similarly, in a
letter of June last, to the President of the Republic, We complained of
certain acts injurious to the salvation of souls and infringing the rights
of the Church. We have acted in this manner for the double reason that it
was the duty of Our Apostolic office, and that we ardently desire that
France should preserve, with pious and inviolate fidelity, the religion it
received from its fathers and ancestors. In the same manner, with the same
firmness and the same steadfastness, We will never cease to defend the
Catholic interests of France. In the carrying out of that just and strict
duty, You have all, Venerable Brethren, been Our strenuous supporters.
Compelled to deplore the lot of the religious orders, You have nevertheless
done all that lay in Your power to prevent the fall of those who deserved
as well of the State as they had done of the Church. At present, as  far as
the laws allow, You are applying your most earnest care and attention to
procure for youth numerous facilities for a good education, nor are You
backward in demonstrating how pernicious to the State itself are the plans
which some men entertain against the Church. No one, therefore, will have
the right to accuse You of yielding to human considerations or of warring
against the established order of things; for, when God's honor, when the
salvation of souls are endangered, the duty of your office is to take up
the protection and defense of all such matters. Continue, therefore, to
fulfill with prudence and firmness, the duties of your episcopal ministry;
teaching the precepts of heavenly doctrine, and pointing out to Your people
the path to follow amid the great wickedness of the times. There must be a
perfect union of mind and will, and where the cause is the same, the mode
of action should likewise be the same. See that schools are never wanting
in which the young may be carefully imbued with the ideas of the rewards of
heaven and of their duties to God; and in which they may obtain accurate
knowledge of the Church and learn submission to her teaching, so that they
may understand and feel that they should be ready to brave all risks for
it.

7. France is rich in instances of eminent men who have not feared to face,
for the Christian faith, all misfortunes and even the loss of life. In the
social upheaval of which We spoke just now, many men of unconquerable faith
were to be met with who maintained the honor of their country with courage
and their blood. We see virtue worthily maintaining itself, with God's
help, in the midst of snares and perils. The clergy are attached to their
duty, and fulfill it with the charity ever ready and apt to help our
neighbor, which is proper to the priest. Large numbers of laymen openly and
boldly profess the Catholic faith; they rival one another in the
multiplication and variety of the testimonies of their devotion to the Holy
See: they provide, at great cost and at great trouble, for the education of
youth; and they come forward in aid of public needs with admirable
liberality and munificence.

8. All this good, which affords the best hopes for the future of France,
must not only be pre served, but increased by united efforts and constant
watchfulness. Above all, care must be taken that the ranks of the clergy
shall be more and more filled with worthy and capable men. Let the
authority of their Bishops be sacred to the priest; let the latter be
convinced that their ministry will be neither holy, nor profitable, nor
respected, if it be not exercised under the guidance of their Bishops. The
prominent laymen also, those devoted to Our common Mother the Church, and
who are able to render useful service to the Catholic religion by their
word and by their pen, must multiply their efforts in the defense of the
Church. To obtain these results, it is an absolute necessity that wills
should be in harmony, and the action unanimous. There is certainly nothing
more wished for by Our adversaries than dissensions between Catholics, who
should avoid nothing with greater care than any disagreement, mindful of
the Divine words: "Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made
desolate."

9. But if any one is compelled, so that union may be preserved, to renounce
his own private opinion, let him do it cheerfully for the common good.
Catholic writers must spare no effort to preserve this harmony in all
things; let them prefer that which is of general utility to their own
private interests. Let them favor common action; let them willingly submit
to those "whom the Holy Ghost has set as Bishops to rule over the Church of
God;" let them respect their authority and never undertake anything against
the will of those they should look on as their leaders in the battle for
Catholic interests.

10. Finally, following the invariable custom of the Church in times of
difficulty, let all the faithful, under your direction, unceasingly pray
and beseech God to look down on France that His mercy may overcome his
wrath. The unbridled license of speech and of the press, has many times
outraged the Majesty of God; men are not wanting who not only ungratefully
repudiate the benefits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, but even
go so far in their impiety as to glory in not believing in the existence of
God. To Catholics will fall the duty of making reparation by a great spirit
of faith and piety for these perverse aberrations of mind and deed, and of
publicly proving that they have nothing more at heart than the glory of
God, nothing dearer than the religion of their forefathers. Those
especially, whose life is passed in more intimate union with God in the
cloister, should excite themselves to more and more generous charity, and
strive to appease the Lord by their humble prayers, voluntary self-denials,
and offering of self. And thus, with the help of the Divine Mercy, we are
confident that the strayed will come to repentance. and the name of France
will regain its ancient greatness.

11. In all that We have hitherto said, Venerable Brethren, You will see the
fatherly love and deep affection which We bear to the whole of France. We
doubt not that this testimony of Our most keen anxiety will tend to
strengthen and tighten the necessary bond between France and the Holy See--
a union which has ever been at all times a source of mutual, numerous, and
important advantages.--Gladdened with this thought, Venerable Brethren, We
implore for You and your faithful the greatest abundance of heavenly
graces; and We grant You most lovingly in the Lord as a pledge and
testimony of Our especial good-will, to You and to the whole of France, the
Apostolic Benediction.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's the 8th day of February, 1884, in the sixth
year of Our Pontificate.