ON THE CHURCH IN HUNGARY

CONSTANTI HUNGARORUM

Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on September 2, 1893.

To Our Venerable Brothers, the Primate, the Archbishops, Bishops and other
Ordinaries, in Peace and Communion with the Holy See.

Venerable Brothers, Health and Apostolic Benediction.

The loyal affection and profound respect of the Hungarian people towards 
this Apostolic See have always evoked deep fatherly love from the Roman 
Pontiffs. We ourselves have frequently confirmed our personal esteem and 
loving care. Indeed, we did so seven years ago when Hungary celebrated the 
memory of an auspicious event. On that occasion we wrote to you recalling 
the ancestral faith of the Hungarians, their virtues, and their glorious 
deeds. We also counseled you on matters concerning the well-being of your 
people in times so hostile to the Catholic cause. For the same reason and 
for the same purpose, we feel constrained to write you again.

2. Certainly, because of the nature of the recent, disturbing events, Our 
concern demands that We earnestly exhort you and your clergy to fidelity, 
unity, and zeal in teaching and in admonishing opportunely your people. 
Other conditions among you present a new cause for anxiety to Us: We refer 
to the dangers that day by day are becoming a more serious threat to 
religion. To be sure, just as these dangers require our utmost concern and 
attention, they also urgently demand greater efforts from you. We are 
confident you will recompense fully Our counsel and expectations.

3. The general duty of Catholics to preserve the integrity of religion in 
their country in all vicissitudes, and to do so in a spirit of unity, 
becomes a serious obligation during times of treacherous hostilities to 
Christian institutions. Indeed, not only is the interest of the highest 
good of all at stake, namely the eternal salvation of mankind, but also the 
protection and preservation of the very things that in civil society 
contribute most importantly to true peace and happiness. This was clearly 
the conviction of those eminent men, brilliant examples of moral fortitude, 
who were ready to sacrifice not only all their possessions, but their very 
lives for the sake of religion and the Church. Among these heroes, your 
Hungary has its share down the long course of your history. The fact that 
you have persevered steadfastly in the Catholic faith is the result of the 
firm determination of your people. They certainly understood perfectly that 
when religion is at stake, so is the glory of the name and the existence 
itself of their nation.

4. Their determination has nurtured generous and remarkable virtues. Even 
in the most critical times, their power has enabled the Hungarians to 
oppose the magnitude of danger with an equal magnitude of courage and 
constancy. Shielded, indeed, by these virtues, they resisted invincibly the 
repeated incursions of the Tartars and the fierce attacks of the Muslims. 
In this perilous struggle, they deserved all the help they received from 
foreign peoples, from rulers, and from the Roman pontiffs. Not only was the 
faith and sovereignty of the Hungarian people in jeopardy, but also the 
Catholic faith itself and the safety of the West. By the same means, 
Hungary escaped the tempests of more recent centuries that wrought such 
serious havoc among neighboring peoples, though even Hungary felt their 
violence and suffered no slight damages. Hungary, however, will survive if 
the Hungarians only remain loyal to their religion, learn their daily 
obligations, and fulfill them most faithfully.

5. Now let us turn to those matters closer to our concerns, which filled 
our heart with anguish when We saw them, moreover, written in the laws of 
Hungary. As We deplored on another occasion, "they are incompatible with 
the rights of the Church, restrict its capacity to act, and are detrimental 
to the profession of the Catholic faith."[1] There have been other evils 
these past years, either decreed or carried out by public authority, no 
less destructive to the Church and to the Catholic faith. Considering the 
direction in which your country is going, moreover, it is greatly to be 
feared that there is impending evil far more harmful to religion.

6. Consequently, be sure that you diligently do all that you can so that 
priests and laity understand exactly what they are allowed to do and what 
they must beware of lest they offend the precepts of natural and divine 
law. As the majority of you who have pastoral responsibility gave orders to 
await the judgment of the Holy See on these matters, it will be your urgent 
duty to exhort the same ministers of the sacred mysteries to consider it 
their religious duty not to depart in the least degree from the decision or 
regulations of the Holy See. It goes without saying, moreover, that what is 
forbidden for the clergy is by no means permitted the laity.

7. In other respects, to remove the source of many evils, it is of utmost 
importance that pastors never cease to admonish their flocks to refrain as 
far as possible from entering into mixed marriages. Let the faithful 
correctly understand and resolutely remember that it is their duty to 
regard with horror such marriages, which the Church has always detested. 
They are to be abhorred for the reason which we emphasized in another 
letter, "They offer the opportunity for a forbidden sharing and 
participation in sacred things; they create a danger to the religion of the 
Catholic partner; they are an impediment to the virtuous education of 
children and very often cause them to become accustomed to viewing all 
religions as equal because they have lost the power of discriminating 
between the true and the false."[2]

8. There are, however, as We have warned you, still greater dangers 
threatening the ancestral faith of the Hungarians. The enemies of the 
Catholic faith are by no means concealing their intention to strive with 
all their most harmful weapons to accomplish the daily deterioration of the 
Church and the Catholic faith. We, therefore, exhort you, more urgently 
than ever before, to spare neither effort nor labor to ward off such peril 
from your flock and from your native land. It must be your primary care 
that all your people, strengthened by your authority and example, undertake 
with courage and zeal the cause of religion and always defend it firmly. 
Very often it happens, indeed, and we shall speak frankly, that some 
Catholics at the very time when they should be protecting and vindicating 
the rights of the Church, led by a certain appearance of human prudence, 
either turn away from the issue or prove themselves too timid or too 
submissive. It is obvious that this procedure opens the way to grave danger 
especially if it involves those in authority or those most influential in 
shaping public opinion. More than the fact that they are unfaithful to the 
just duty owed their office, they very often cause scandal and prevent the 
harmony that results in unity of thought and action. Nothing, of course, 
could be more welcome to the enemies of the Catholic faith than this apathy 
or disagreement of Catholics. All too often, by avoiding bold arguments, 
they allow the enemy to effect greater injustices with ease.

9. In all matters, certainly, be prudent and moderate; the Church itself in 
defense of the truth intends to follow a responsible mode of action. 
Nothing, however, is so contradictory to the laws of true prudence than to 
allow religion to be harassed with impunity and to endanger the moral 
welfare of the people.

10. Experience has truly proven that the annual meetings of Catholic men, 
in which under episcopal leadership common directives are discussed 
concerning Catholic affairs and the increase of pious activity, are 
wonderfully effective in strengthening unity and in arousing the zealous 
ingenuity of Catholics. We, therefore, ardently desire that these meetings 
be held. Nor do We have any doubt that they will greatly contribute to the 
success of your goals.

11. It is fitting, too, that you be diligently aware that only men of 
religious orthodoxy and proven virtue be elected to the legislative 
assemblies, men who pursue objectives tenaciously, always ready to defend 
the Church and the Catholic cause. You see, moreover, that the opponents of 
the Church by means of periodicals and books are intent upon spreading 
their venom and the perverse opinions of others, corrupting morality and 
seducing the multitude. Therefore, your people should use every means to 
counteract their writings with writings equal to the greatness of the 
struggle and providing remedies appropriate to the evils.

12. Above all, We wish you to direct your zeal and devotion towards the 
education of children and adolescents. It is not Our intention to repeat 
now what We have already written in the same letter that We mentioned in 
the beginning of this one. We cannot, however, refrain from touching 
briefly upon certain serious matters. In respect to primary schools, you 
must insist that pastors and others who are in charge of souls be 
constantly vigilant in their behalf and consider it their most important 
duty to teach sacred doctrine to children. This special service should be 
undertaken by themselves and valued as a sacred trust. It is certain that a 
wholesome and pious education in childhood ensures in great measure not 
only the preservation of the family. but of the state itself. Nor should 
you spare any industry or ingenuity to help these schools increase and 
develop successfully. It would be most appropriate to appoint in each 
diocese supervisors of schools for both the diocese and the deaneries. The 
bishops could confer with them annually on the condition of the schools as 
well as on other matters pertaining to faith, morals, and the care of 
souls. If it should be necessary to build new schools in answer to local 
needs or enlarge those already established, we are fully confident that 
your liberality and likewise that of all Catholics will be prompt and 
generous.

13. Regarding high schools and graduate schools, care should be taken that 
the good, planted like seeds in the minds and hearts of children, be not 
sadly destroyed in their adolescence. See that dangers of that kind be 
removed or diminished. Most especially, your pastoral concern should avail 
in selecting learned and virtuous teachers of religion and in removing 
those causes that too often hinder fruitful results.

14. For the rest, We appreciate your concerted efforts to maintain the 
seats of highest studies under the authority of the Church and bishops in 
accord with the will of their founders. We, nevertheless, exhort you to 
continue to fulfill this obligation. It would certainly not be equitable to 
deny Catholics that which is granted adversaries of the Catholic cause. It 
is of common interest, moreover, that what our predecessors established so 
piously and wisely should never be used to the detriment of the Church and 
Catholic faith, but for the protection and defense of both and hence, for 
the continuous good of the state itself.

15. Finally, these recommendations also apply to seminarians and priests. 
You should expend even greater effort on them that they may be worthy of 
the priesthood and that they may manifest virtue fitting the times. For 
this reason, the sacred seminaries justly claim the greater part of your 
attention. Direct them in the best way possible and provide them with all 
that is necessary so that through the dedication of selected teachers, 
seminarians will be trained in the morals and virtues required by their 
order and, moreover, in all the beauty and glory of doctrine, both human 
and divine.

16. For your clergy, the times require a very particular unanimity in your 
guidance. concern and love in admonishing and exhorting them, and 
extraordinary firmness in defending ecclesiastical discipline. In turn, all 
priests should have strong faith in their bishops, accept their directives, 
and support their undertakings. In their sacred duties and their pastoral 
work, they should always be ready and zealous, guided by love.

Because, moreover, priests set an example, they should be living models of 
virtue and constancy. They should be cautious, however, not to get too 
involved in civilian or political affairs, and let them often recall this 
passage from St. Paul, "No one serving as God's soldier entangles himself 
in worldly affairs, that he may please him whose approval he has secured."[3]

17. To be sure, as St. Gregory the Great admonishes, it is not right to 
abandon foresight in external matters in one's anxiety for spiritual 
matters. Explicitly, when it is a question of defending religion or 
promoting the common good, the latter is not to be disregarded. A priest 
must be cautious not to overstep his dignity and deportment lest he seem 
more concerned for human than heavenly affairs. Most aptly the same Gregory 
the Great says, "Therefore, worldly occupations are sometimes to be 
tolerated out of compassion, never however to be pursued out of love; lest 
they, by burdening the mind of the lover, overwhelm him and make him sink 
under their weight from heaven into the depths."[4]

We also desire that you counsel pastors to take conscientious care of 
church property and manage it most carefully. Where any negligence has 
crept in, apply the most suitable remedy.

18. We firmly believe, moreover, that this is the opportune time for the 
clergy to revive the sodalities and confraternities of the laity to their 
former honor and glory. Surely, this is a work redounding no less to the 
well-being of the sodalities than to the universal good of religion. Not to 
mention other advantages, these sodalities can help you and your clergy not 
only by carefully cultivating in the people piety and a Christian way of 
life, but also of strengthening that salutary harmony of mind and heart 
that we strive for so ardently.

19. Finally, in everything pertaining to the protection and defense of our 
ancestral religion and faith, to the growth of Catholic institutions, or 
even to the discipline of clergy, hold periodic conferences so that in 
common discernment you will recognize those matters which are especially 
compelling and timely.

20. We hope that all the Catholics in Hungary will realize the dangerous 
turn of affairs in their country and will find courage and strength in our 
solicitude and good will. We hope, too, that on their part they will most 
conscientiously obey our counsel and admonitions.

21. May God be graciously present to you, venerable brothers, and likewise 
to the clergy and the Catholic people working with you in one accord so 
untiringly for the sake of religion, and may He happily bless your 
initiatives. Nor indeed, may there be lacking in a cause so holy and just 
the favorable assistance of your sovereign, we mean your apostle and king 
who, already from the beginning of his reign, gave your people abundant 
proof of his benevolence.

22. Direct your ardent prayers with Us to God, venerable brothers, that all 
may proceed successfully according to our desires. Above all, implore the 
patronage of the most blessed mother of God; then, too, beseech your 
faithful apostle, St. Stephen, to look favorably upon his Hungary and 
preserve holy and inviolate the benefits of a holy religion.

23. As a token of heavenly favors and as a witness of Our paternal good 
will, We lovingly impart Our Apostolic Blessing to you, venerable brothers, 
to the clergy and all your people.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, 2 September 1893, the sixteenth year of Our 
Pontificate.

     ENDNOTES

     1. Encyclical letter "Quod multum," 22 August 1886.

     2. Encyclical letter "Arcanum," 10 February 1880.

     3. 2 Tm 2.4.

     4. "Reg. Pastor.," chap. 7, p. 2.