HOLINESS POPE LEO XIII

To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic world.

To Our Vénérable Brelhren, ail the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and Bishops of the Catholic icorld, in the grâce and communion of the Apostolic See.

LEO PP. XIII

Vénérable Brethren, health and Apostolic Bénédiction.

Having, by the inscrutable designs of Grod,been raised , although miworthy, to the Apostolic dignity, "We hâve immediately felt impelled by our présent désire, and, as it were, a necessity, to address you, not only to express the affection which ¥e cherish in your regard, but also that ¥e may by means of the grâce Divinely bestowed upon Us, impart to you, who are called to bear a portion of Our cares, strength to sustain you in the conflict of the âge in defence of the Church of Ood and the salvation of soûls.

For, from the very commencement of Our Pontificate, the sad spectacle présents itself to Us of the evil by which the human race is every where oppressed ; the widespread subversion of those primary truths, upon which, as upon foundations, the whole structure of society is supported ; the perverseness of mind which revolts against ail legitimate authority ; the unceasing source of discords, whence arise intestine conflicts and cruel and bloody wars ; the contempt of the laws which regulate morals and protect justice ; the insatiable désire of temporal possessions, and forgetfulness of those that are everlasting, carried to such a pitch of insanity that misérable men are found who do not fear to lay violent hands upon themselves ; the maladministration, the extravagance, the confusion of public affaire, the shameless audacity of those who, when them-

selves niost at fault, assume to be the champions of country, of liberty, and of right ; finally, that deadly poison which courses through the veins of humain society, allowing it no rest, and threatening it with fresh convulsions and disastrous issues.

We are persuaded that the principal cause of thèse evils is to be found in the contempt and rejection of that holy and vénérable authority of the Church which, in the Divine name, présides over the human race, and is the sanction and safeguard of ail legitimate authority. The enemies of public order, well aware of this, could conceive no means more calculated to destroy the foundations of society than persistently to attack the Church of G-od, endeavouring by wicked calumnies to bring odium upon it, as if it were the enemy of true humanity ; to break its power and its authority by daily wounds to overthrow the suprême power of the Roman Pontiff, the champion and the custodian upon earth of the immutable laws of eternal right. Heiice were enacted those laws attacking the constitution of the Church which, to our sorrow, preyail in so many countries ; hence emanated the contempt for Episcopal authority, the obstacles thrown in the way of ecclesiastical ministrations, the dispersion of religious orders, the sécularisation of the property devoted to the service of the Church and the support of the poor ; hence public institutions, consecrated to charity and benevo- Lence, were withdrawn from the salutary government of the Church ; hence arose theunbridled licence of teaching and publishing pernicious doctrines, while, on the other hand, the right of the Church to control the training and éducation of youth is in every way violated and suppressed. This, too, is the meaning of the seizure of the Civil Power, which Divine Providence conferred upon the Roman Pontiff" so many centuries ago, that he might exercise the power bestowed upon him by Christ, freely md without hindrance, for the eternal Balyation of men.

We hâve recited this sad catalogue of evils, Vénérable Brothers, not for the purposc of adding to the sorrow ivhich this unhappy state of affairs is calculated to insère, 1ml because We know that the contemplation of il

will impress upon you the extrême gravity of the situation, which calls for your zealous ministration, and with what earnestness ¥e must labour to défend and vindicate with ail Our strength the Church of Christ and the dignity of the Apostolic See, outraged by so many calumnies in this impious âge.

It clearly appears, Yenerable Brothers, that human civilisation would not rest upon any solid foundation unless it were supported by the eternal principles of truth and the immutable laws of right and justice, and unless sincère charity united the minds of men and softened their mutual relations. "Who will deny that it was the Church which, having spread the tidings of the Grospel through the nations, brought the light of truth to peoples barbarous and immersed in base superstitions, and led them to the knowledge of the Divine Creator and to respect for themselves ; which rescued men from the dégradation of slavery and recalled them to the pristine dignity of a noble nature ; which, raising the sign of rédemption in every région of the earth, introduced or preserved science and art ; founded and protected the most admirable institutions of charity, in which ail human sufTerings were alleviated ; civilised man in his public and his private relations, rescued him from misery, and,with infinité pains, moulded him in the refinemeiits of life and in the consciousness of human dignity and hope, and if any reasonable man were to compare the âge in which we live, hostile as it is to religion and the Church, with those happy times in which the Church was venerated as a mother by the nations, he would certainly conclude that this âge of ours, so full of commotions and of disasters, is rushing rapidly to destruction ; whereas those times advanced in the perfection of their institutions, in the tranquillity of life, in wealth and in prosperity, in the same degree in which the people showed themselves devoted to the laws and discipline of the Church. And if the many benefits to which we hâve referred — conferred through the aid and ministry of the Church — are true works and ornaments of civilisation, so far from the Church of Christ condemning or repudiating it, she may rather claim the honour of being its nurse, inistress, and mother.

But that kind of human civilisation, which is répugnant to the sacred doctrines and laws of the Church, is to be reg'arded bnt as an empty name and figure. And of this an example is afforded by those nations upon whom the light of the Grospel has not shone, in whose life, indeed, some spark of human culture can be seen, but its true and real benefits are not possessed. That, certainly, is not to be considered a truly civilised state, in which every legitimate authority is despised ; nor is that to be esteemed liberty which, to the shame and the misery of ail, runs riot in the unchecked propagation of error, the free indulgence of depraved desires, the impunity of outrages and crimes, and the oppression of good citizens of every class ; for thèse, being vain and wicked things, cannot forai the human family and guide it to happiness, for sin makes the people wretched ; but it must needs be that, destroyinoalike soûl and body, they drag them down by their own weight to ruin, confound ail right order, and thus, sooner or later, bring the prosperity and peace of the State to final destruction.

And if we look at ail that has been achieved by the Iloman See, is it not monstrous to deny the great and distinguished services which the Bishops of Rome hâve rendered to the cause of society ? Our predecessors never hesitated to undertake, for the good of their people, ail manner of contests, of difficulties, and of labours ; and, with eyes uplifted to heaven/ they never quailed before the threats of the wicked, nor suffered themselves to be led astray from their duty by base assent to flatteries or promises. It was the Holy tëee which gathered and preserved the fragments of ancient society ; she was the torch that shed a friendly ray upon the civilisation of Christian limes ; she was the anchor of safety in the iicrce tempests by which the human race was tossed ; she was the sacred bond of concord uniting together nations separated by distance and diversity of manneTS ; she, finally, was the common centre where ail meii came to seek as well the doctrines of faith and religion as peace and counsel in their difficulties. It istheglory of the Sovereign Pontifie that they hâve been a wall and bulwark airainsl the re-

lapse of human sociely intô superstition and the barbarism of antiquity.

Would that this salutary authority had never been neglected or repudiated ! Then would not the civil power hâve lost that august and sacred honour which religion impressed upon it, and which alone made the condition of obédience dignified and noble ; nor would so many séditions and wars hâve been kindled, which hâve saddened the world with calamities add slaughter ; nor would once flourishing kingdoms, cast down from the summit of prosperity, be crushed under the weight of woes of every description. The Oriental nations who, having broken the sweet bonds which joined them to this Apostolic See, hâve lost the splendour of their former greatness, the glory of the arts and sciences, and the famé of their Empire, afford an example of what We hâve said.

This land of Italy experienced in a spécial manner those «reat beneflts which the famous monuments of ail times prove to hâve been conferred by the Apostolic See in every part of the world ; and from the proximity of her position she reaped more abundant fruits. Italy owes to the Soverei<ni PontifTs the glory and the greatness which distin«*uished her among other nations. Their authority and paternal care protected her more than once from the assault of her enemies, and such a help to her that there was no time in which the Catholic fait h was not preserved intact in the hearts of the Italians.

Services such as thèse, rendered by Our predecessors, to pass over other instances, are recorded especially in the history of times of St Léo the Grreat, of Alexander III., Innocent III., St Pius V., Léo X., and of other PontifTs by whose labours and protection Italy was saved from the utter ruin threatened by the barbarians, retained uncorrupted the ancient faith, and, amidst the gloom and wretchedness of a barbarous âge, nourished and kept alive the lio-ht of science and the splendour of the arts. This fair city, the See of the Suprême PontifTs, attests those beneflts of which it received so large a share, becoming not only the impregnable citadel of the faith, but the refuge of the

arts and the home of learning, and attracting to itself the attention and the wonder of the whole world. In présence of the proofs of thèse great facts, afforded for ever by the monuments of history, we can easily nnderstand that nothing but extrême malice and unworthy calumny, intended to deceive mankind, could ever hâve caused it to be said or written that this Apostolic See was an obstacle to the culture and the happiness of Italy.

If, then, ail the hopes of Italy and of the entire world are based on a force so favourable to the well-being and usefulness of ail under the authority of the Apostolic See, and under the fast bond which unités ail the faithful to the Roman PontifF, We are aware that We ought to hâve nothing so much at heart as to maintain intact and in its integrity the dignity of the Chair of Peter, and to draw more closely together the members and the head — the sons and the father.

Therefore it is that in order to maintain above ail, and to the best of Our power, the rights and freedom of the Holy See, We shall never cease to use every effort to préserve the obédience due to Our authority ; to remove the obstacles which interfère with the free exercise of ()ar ministry and Our power, and to obtain the reinstation of that position of affairs in which the dictâtes of Divine wisdom had formerly placed the Roman Pontiffs. And it is neither by a passion for ambition nor a désire for domination, Vénérable Brethren, that We seek this restitution, but solely on account of the duties of Ouicharge, and by the terms of the oath which binds Us. In addition, We are actuated not only by the considération that the Temporal Power is necessary to Us, in order to défend and protect the full freedom of the Spiritual Power, but also becanse it is cleaxly shown that in the Sovereign Temporality of the Holy See is involved the public well-being and the safety oi' human society. Conscquently, in virtue of the duties of Our mission, which obliges Us to défend the privilèges of the Holy Church. when the Temporal Power of the Apostolic Sec is in question, We cannot avoid renewing and confirming in tnese letters ail the protestations and déclarations thaï

Our predeeessor, Pius IX., of holy memory, has on many occasions made and reiterated, as much against the occupation of the Temporal Power as against the violation of the rights of the Catholic Church. But, at the same time, We address Ourselves to the Princes and suprême heads of the nations, and ask them urgently, by the august name of the Almighty G-od, not to reject the aid which the Church ofFers them at a time when it is so needful for them to receive it. We ask them to draw near in an amicable spirit of concord and peace to the source of authority and safety, and to become united more and more with the Holy see in the bonds of a deep love and respect. May it please Grod that they shall recognise the truth of what We hâve said, and be persuaded that the doctrine of Jésus Christ, as St Augustine says, " if it be observed, is the great safety of the country itself," and that the public peace and safety as well as their own are involved in the security of the Church and the obédience given to it ! May they dévote their thoughts and their cares to the relief of the evils with which the Church and its visible head are afflicted, and may it be finally brought about that the people over whom they rule, having entered on the ways of peace and justice, may enjoy a happy era of prosperity and tranquility !

Besides tins, wishing that the concord of the entire Catholic flock, with the Suprême Pastor, should be strengthened day by day, We address to you hère an especially affection ate appeal, Vénérable Brethren, and warmly exhort you, by y our sacerdotal zeal and pastoral vigilance, to inflame the love of religion in the hearts of those entrusted to your care, so that they may be attached more closely and intimately to this seat of truth and justice ; that they may receive ail its doctrines with the deepest submission of spirit and will, and absolutely reject ail the opinions, even the most widespread, which may be opposed to the teaching of the Church. Remembering the words of Saint Paul — " Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of nien, according to the éléments of the world, and not according to Christ," Roman Pontifts, Our predecessors, and in particular Pius IX., of holy memory, in the Council of

the Vatican, hâve never omitted, when it was necessary, to reprove the ciirrent errors, and condemn them with Apostolic censure, Following in the footsteps of Onr predecessors, we confirm and renew ail those condemnations from Our Apostolic See of truth, and, at the same time, we fervently pray to the Father of Light to grant that ail the faithful, fully united in the same feelings and sentiments, may think and speak in accord with Us. It isyourduty, Vénérable Brethren, to dévote your assiduous cares to scatter afar in the field of the Lord the seed of your heavenly doctrines, and to cause the principles of the Catholic faith to penetrate early into the soûls of the faithful, so that they may push their roots deeper and be preserved in that shelter from the contagion of errors. The greater the efforts of the enemies of religion to présent to inexperienced persons, and especially to youth, teachings which may obscure their minds and corrupt their hearts, the more must you labour zealously for the success, not alone of a good and solid method of éducation, but especially to make the teaching itself confor- Diable in science and discipline to the Catholic faith, particularly in philosophy, on which dépends in a great manner the just direction of other sciences, and which, far from tending to destroy the Divine révélation, is likely rather to smooth the way for it and to défend it against its enemies, as has been taught Us in the example and vvritings of the great Augustine and other doctors of Christian science.

It is, however, necessary that this excellent éducation of youth, in order to ensure the true faith and religion, and be a real snieguard to morals, shoilld commence with the earliesl years and in the very interior of the family, Now, that family, so dcplorably disturbcd in Our time, can be re-established in ils dignity by no other menus than by the laws according to which the Divine Maker established it in the Church. Jésus Christ, in elevating into the dignity ofa sacrament the ceremony ofmarriage, which Ile wisned to use as 8 symbol of His union with tlie Chnrch, has not only rendered more holy the conjugal union, but has prep;nvd for the parents as well as for

the children the mosi efficacions aids by which they may

more readily arrive, by accomplishing their mutual duties, at the possession of temporal and eternal felicity. But when impious laws, haying no regard to the respect due to this great sacrament, hâve placed it in the same category as purely civil contracts, the resuit is the déplorable conséquences that, the dignity of Chiistian marriage being violated, some citizens hâve substituted légal concubinage for the legimate union ; the married couple hâve neglected their mutual duties of fidelity, the children hâve not observed the respect and obédience which they owed to their parents, the ties of domestic affection hâve been relaxed, and, what is a most détestable example, the gravest préjudice to public morals, pernicious and regrettable séparations hâve very often succeeded to an insensate love. It is impossible, Vénérable Brethren, that the sight of thèse lamentable calamities should not awaken Our zeal, and should not incite you to recommend seriously and constantly to the faithful confided to your vigilance, to lend a docile ear to the doctrines which treat of the sanctity of Christian marriage, and to obey the laws by which the Ghurch régulâtes the duties of parents and children.

It is thus you will bring about a désirable reform in the morals and manner of living of each m an in particular ; for as an unsound tree produces rotten branches and misérable fruit, the sad blot which dépraves families is contagions, and becomes a cause of vice and sin in each individual member. On the contrary, if the family is governed by the rules of Christian life, each member of it will gradually become accustomed to cherish religion and piety, to reject with horror false and pemicious doctrines, to practise virtue, to render obédience to the authorities, and to repress the insatiable egotism which so much lowers and enfeebles human nature. With this object it would certainly be very useful to direct and encourage those associations which hâve priiicipally been established of late years to the great advantag'e of Catholic interests. Those matters which are embraced in Our hopes and wishes are immense, Vénérable Brethren, and above human strength ; but as G-od has founded His Church for the salvation of the people, promising to aid

lier even unto the consummation of the world, We are firm in the confidence tliat the human race, stricken by so many woes and calamities, will end, thanks to your efforts, by seeking safety and prosperity in submission to the Church and in the infallible ministry of this Apostolic Chair. And now, Vénérable Brethren, before closing this Letter, We feel the necessity of communicatiiig to you Our joy at seeing the admirable union and concord which reign amongst you and unité you so thoroughty to this Apostolic See, and ¥e are really persuaded that this perfect unity is not alone an impregnable bulwark against the assaults of our enemies, but also a happy présage of better times for the Church. It gives Us a great encouragement in our weakness, and raises our spirits in a wonderful degree, by assisting Us to sustain with ardour the difficult mission which We hâve received, and ail the fatigues and labours on behalf of the Church of Grod. Neither can We separate from thèse reasons for joy and hope that We hâve manifested to you the déclarations of love and obédience which, in the commencement of Our Pontificale, you, Vénérable Brethren, hâve offered to Our humble person, in common with so many priests and faithful, proving this by the letters sent to Us, by the ofFerings made, the pilgrimages accomplished, and so many other marks of piety that that dévotion and charity which you had never ceased to show towards Our most worthy predecessor still remain constant, stable, and firm, and hâve not been enfeebled by the coming of a successor who so little merits this héritage. At the sight of such splendid testimonies of the Catholic faith We must humbly i on fess that the Lord is good and merciful, and to you, Vénérable Brethren, and ail Our dearly-beloved children, from whom We hâve received them, We express the deep feelings of gratitude which flood Our heart, full of the confidence tlml in the distress and difnculties of the présent time your zeal and affection, as well as ihose of the faithful, will never be w anling to Us. We hâve no doubt that thèse n^markablc examples of filial piety and Christian virtne will powerfully tonch the heart of the Allmereiful (rod, and will cause Ilim to <'ast a merciful eye onllis flock, ;iik1 irrnnl peace and victory to the Church

Butas We are convinced that that peace and victory vviil hemore readily and eàsily accorded to us if the faithful coiistantly address their prayers to God to ask Him for it, We exhort you ardently, Vénérable Brethren, to excite the zeal and iervour of the faithful by requesting them to seek the médiation at the Throne of Grod of the Immamlate Queen of Heaven, and as intercessors, St Joseph, tin» celestial patron of the Church ; the holy apostles, Petef and Paul, to whose powerful patronage We recommend Our humble person, ail the Orders ol the ecclesiastical hierarchy and ail the llock of the Lord. In addition.. We désire that those days when We eelebrate the solemn anniversary of the résurrection of Jésus Christ may be blessed and full of holy joy for you and for ail the ilock of the Lord, and We pray Grod, who is so g'ood, to blot out the sins which we hâve committed, and to mercifully remit the punishments we hâve deserved, by the virtue of the blood of the Immaculate Lamb, who has efraced the stain of our condemnation. — -Benrdictio Dei, Sçc.

Griven at St.-Peter's, Rome, Easter Sunday, 21st April, 1878, the first year of Our Pontiiicato.

LEO PP. XTIL

PASTORAL LETTER

OF THE

BISHOPS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE

OF QUEBEC

ON THE REVERENCE DUE TO THE WORD OF GOD AND TO THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

lst JUNE 1880

PASTORAL LEÏTER

OF THE

BISHOPS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE

OF QUEBEC

We, by the Grâce of God and of the Apostolic See, Archbishop and Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Québec,

To the Clergy Secular and Regular, and to ail the Faithful of the Ecclesiastical Province of Québec, Greeting and Bénédiction in Our Lord.

Already, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, in our joint pastoral letter of the 22nd September 1875, on the subject of ecclesiastical burial, we hâve raised our voice to défend the liberty of the Church. We then said : " Jésus Christ, says St. Paul, loved the Church and delivered himself up for it (Eph. V. 25.). After the example of our Divine Master and Mode], nothing should be dearer to us, in tliis world, than this same Church, of which we are 1 lie members under one Head who is Jésus Christ. She is our mother, since she h as begotten us to the life of grâce ; we should love lier with a filial love, rejoice in lier triumplis, share lier BOITOW8, and, if need be, raise our voice in her defence. When, therefore, we see lier liberty and her dignity disregarded, it cannot be permitted to lier children, and still less to her Pastora to pre-

" serve a silence which would be tantamount to trea- " chery."

To-day, O. D. B. B., the same duty is incumbent upon us again to raise our voice in order to protest against certain practiees which tend to destroy the liberty of the pastoral ministry, and the respect due to the sacrament of Penance, and to its ministers.

On some rather récent occasions, the principle which we expounded in the saine pastoral letter, was laid aside, that is : " Whoever thinks he has grounds of com- " plaint against a minister of the Church, should arraign " him, not before the civil, but before the ecclesiastical " tribunal, alone compétent to judge the doctrine and " the acts of the priest. Therefore, Pius TX in his Bull " Apostolicœ Sedis, October 1869, declared struck with " a major excommunication such as, directly or indi- " rectly, oblige lay judges to arraign ecclesiastical per- " sons before their tribunal, against the dispositions of " canon law."

Parish priests hâve been arraigned before the civil tribunal to answer for what they had said in the pulpifc, and, what is still more grievous, witnesses hâve been summoned to elicit from them if, and why, absolution had been denied them in the holy tribunal of Penance.

In the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we read that St. Peter and St. John were summoned to appear and to answer this question : By what power or by what name hâve y ou preached : In qua virtute, aut in quo nomine fecistis hoc vos ? (v. 7.)- They answered : By the name of Our Lord Jésus Christ of Nazareth , and, wheh this was forbidden them, they appealed from this iniquitious sentence, saying : If it be just in the sight of God, to hear you rather than God> judge ye : Sijustum est in conspectu Dei, vos potius audire quant J)eum, judicate (v. 19.).

The church alone gives the mission to preach ; she above ail can judge whether the limits of this mission hâve been respected or not, and the child of the church who first goes to the civil judge, and demands of him to pronounce judgment on this subject, despises this mother of his soûl, and labors to dry up the source of the divine word which saves soûls.

Far more guilty>till are they who assail the sacrament of Penance.

Our Lord Jésus Christ, in whom we hâve rédemption through his blood, the rémission of sins ; in quo habemus redemptionem per sanguinem ejus, remissionem peccatorum (Col. I. 14.), instituted this sacrameut when lie said to his Apostles and, in their person, to ail priests even to the consummation of the world : Whose sins y ou shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins y ou shall retain, they are retained ; Quorum remiseritis peccata remittuntur eis, et quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt {St. John, XX. 23.). As this twofold power should not be blindly exercised, it follows that the sinner, who wants to be reconciled to God, must make knovvn to the minister of the sacrauieut not only ail the grievous sins with which his conscience reproaches him, but aiso the interior and supernatural dispositions of sincère sorrow for the past, and of firm purpose for the futiue, without which no siu can be forgiven.

God, who is infinité wisdom, wills each thing with ail its conséquences, and ihe conditions necessary that it may attain the end He lias intended. He must tlierefore bave willed, and the Church teaches that He bas really willed, that the minister of the sa>rameut shuulu keep the mosi absolu te silence on ail that takes place in that judgment, which he pcrf'orms in the name of God, III order to remit or to retain sins.

Who would, ia effect, submit to that tribunal if he had the least treachery to dread ?

Neither death which threatens the innocent, neither the necessity to prevent a public calamity, nor any dispensation even from the highest authority in the Church, can authorize the confessor to violate this secret, even after the death of the pénitent. Were he himself threatened with death, he should, Hke St. John Neporùucene, die a martyr to the secrecy of confession, rather than reveal either directly or indirectly what ke knows by confession. So absolute is this secret that the confessor must keep it even with regard to the pénitent, towards whora he should avoid the least word, allusion, or sign which might pain him, or render the sacrament odious to him. He cannot speak thereof to the pénitent, even for his greater spirituai good, without his permission clearly expressed and freely given. And, if there be the least danger that the respect and confidence due to the sacrament should suffer by this, the confessor cannot make use oi that permission, because the pénitent is not then alone interested therein.

Since thèse ordinances, concerning the secret Which binds the confessor in what relates to the sacrament of Penance, hâve been established by divine right, the pénitent himself, necessarily has, on his part, binding obligations to fulfil towards the sacrament, and towards the minister to whom he cornes for absolution.

In effect, what priest would exercise this ministry of mercy and reconciliation, if he had the least treachery to dread ?

Undoubtedly the pénitent is bound but to what is called the natural secret, concerning ail that may lessen the respect the faithful should hâve for this sacrament, for the sacred ministry with which the priest is invested by divine grâce, or for the person of the confessor. This

natural secret , although less binding than that of the confessor, is, nevertheless, the object of a very grave obligation of religion,! ckarity and justice.

Civil law (Code of procédure, art. 275) , protects the confessor, as well as the advocate, the notary, the physician, and every other person to whom is confided a secret of office. It does not permit him to be questioned thereon ; for motives of public order require that such confidential communications of a citizen with him from whom he expects counsel and support, should be protected against any suspicion of treachery, and be made in ail sincerity and liberty. Even in cases when this disclosure would be productive of considérable advantage, the law, nevertheless, forbids it, for it would be looked upon as toô dearly bought at the cost of the mutual confidence and of the perfect liberty which should exist in such communications.

For the sa me motives of public order, the professional man and, with far greater reason, the confessor, should be sheltered from the indiscrétions of the client or of the pénitent. The law should refuse a hearing to the man who, violating ail the laws of honor, would compromise him from whom he has sought counsel, or the reconciliation of his soûl, and of whom he exacts absolute silence. Must not justice and public order protect the one as well as the other ? And when there is question of the sacrament of Penance, religion adds a new vveight to thèse reasons.

What does the man who appears before a civil tribunal, and there and then déposes against his confessor, and accuses him of liaving unjustly denicd him absolution ? He cowardly accuses a man who cannot défend himself ; he exposes to public dérision the sacrament of the divine mercy ; he submits an essentially ecclesiastical cause to a judge who may be a étranger to his faith, an infidel, an impious man, an atheist... and who,

in any case, does not possess the necessary theological science to discern those intimate questions of conscience, into which the Church herself can penetrate but by the gênerai rules which she prescribes to confessors.

To judge with a thorough knowledge of the case, one should know the inmost recesses of the penitent's conscience ; but will the latter consent thus to manifest himself ?

In the holy tribunal the pénitent is, more than auy body else, interested in telling the whole truth, nothing but the truth ; for his sincerity is itself a proof of his good disposition, and helps him to merit the forgiveness which he cornes to solicit. But, at the tribunal of human justice, will he make the same avowal to justify his denunciation ?

And, with regard to policital questions, there are, especially now a days, but to many blinded partisans who imagine that ail means are good to secure the triumph of their party. Already we hâve frequently condemned this monstrous error ; we hâve above ail sought to brand perjury with infamy, and to inspire therefor the greatest horror : For this reason we hâve made it a reserved case, and hâve commanded pastors of soûls to explain the malice thereof twice a year. Thèse presumptions should, it seems, sufïice to destroy the credibility of a testimony given under such circu instances, and to prove that neither justly, nor prudently, nor reasonably, can a civil tribunal permit a witness to be summoned and questioned in order to elicit from him if, and why, absolution has been denied him by his confessor.

" The purity of élections, lately said an honorable " judge, is certainly necessary for the good working of " public affairs, but it would be too dearly bought if " obtained with détriment to an institution of a higher

" order, and in which a greater number of perso n 8 are

" interested, I mean the tribunal of Penance."

Besides, O. D. B. B., as regards our Province in particular, no one is ignorant how highly the Bishops hâve proclaimed the liberty of purely political opinions ; but, in using this liberty, nien too frequently transgress the principles of morality, either by acting through motives which it condemns, or by violating the laws of justice, of charity, or of truth, and then Pastors of soûls must, in the tribunal of penance, as well as from the pulpit, reprove what God forbids and what civil law would itself punish if it could reach it. Expérience proves that hearers do not always understand what is said to thfm from the pulpit, nor do pénitents always comprehend the reason why they are refused absolution. This happens especially in those times of excitement, when the électoral fever makes men say and do things from which, in calmer moments, they would shrink. Every passion blindfolds and enchains the heart, and when religion would destroy it, in order to restore to that troubled heart light and liberty, she always meet with a certain résistance, which however must not prevent zeal and charity from doing their work.

We confidently hope that the grave considérations we hâve just laid before you, will dispel ail disquietudes and doubts on this important subject, and clearly show why the immortal Pius IX, in his Bull Apostolicœ Sedis, of the month of October 1869, " declared struck ipso "facto with a major excommunication reserved to the <: iSovereign Pontiff, Buch as, directly or indirectly, " oblige lay judges to arraign ecclesiastical persons be- " fore their tribunal, against the dispositions of canon- " law ; " which certainly takes place when they drag a priest before the tribunals, to make him render an account of what he lias said or donc in the exercise of the holy ministry. AVe hère add that we regard as a grie-

vous assault upon tlie liberty of thesacred ministry, any attempt to constrain, or even simply to permit, a catholic to dépose, in tlie courts of justice, against his confessor for refusing hira absolution. " Whoever tliinks he " bas grounds of com plaint against a minister of the " Church, should arraign him, not before tlie civil, but " before the ecclesiastical tribunal, alone compétent to "judge the doctrine and the acts of the priesc." (Collective Pastoral, 22nd September 1875.)

This our présent Pastoral Letter shall be read and published at the prone of ail Parochial Churches and Chapels of parishes and missions where public service is performed, on the iirst Sunday after its réception.

Given under cur signatures, the seal of the Archdiocese, and the counter-signature of the secretary of the Archdiocese, the first of June, one thousand eight hundred and eighty.

^ E.-A., ARCH. OF QUEBEC