ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
Issued on December
31, 1930
To the Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other
Local Ordinaries enjoying Peace and Communion
with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1. How great is the
dignity of chaste wedlock, Venerable
Brethren, may be judged best from this
that Christ Our Lord, Son of the Eternal
Father, having assumed the nature of
fallen man, not only, with His loving
desire of compassing the redemption
of our race, ordained it in an especial
manner as the principle and foundation
of domestic society and therefore of
all human intercourse, but also raised
it to the rank of a truly and great
sacrament of the New Law, restored it
to the original purity of its divine
institution, and accordingly entrusted
all its discipline and care to His spouse
the Church.
2. In order, however,
that amongst men of every nation and
every age the desired fruits may be
obtained from this renewal of matrimony,
it is necessary, first of all, that
men's minds be illuminated with the
true doctrine of Christ regarding it;
and secondly, that Christian spouses,
the weakness of their wills strengthened
by the internal grace of God, shape
all their ways of thinking and of acting
in conformity with that pure law of
Christ so as to obtain true peace and
happiness for themselves and for their
families.
3. Yet not only do
We, looking with paternal eye on the
universal world from this Apostolic
See as from a watch-tower, but you,
also, Venerable Brethren, see, and seeing
deeply grieve with Us that a great number
of men, forgetful of that divine work
of redemption, either entirely ignore
or shamelessly deny the great sanctity
of Christian wedlock, or relying on
the false principles of a new and utterly
perverse morality, too often trample
it under foot. And since these most
pernicious errors and depraved morals
have begun to spread even amongst the
faithful and are gradually gaining ground,
in Our office as Christ's Vicar upon
earth and Supreme Shepherd and Teacher
We consider it Our duty to raise Our
voice to keep the flock committed to
Our care from poisoned pastures and,
as far as in Us lies, to preserve it
from harm.
4. We have decided
therefore to speak to you, Venerable
Brethren, and through you to the whole
Church of Christ and indeed to the whole
human race, on the nature and dignity
of Christian marriage, on the advantages
and benefits which accrue from it to
the family and to human society itself,
on the errors contrary to this most
important point of the Gospel teaching,
on the vices opposed to conjugal union,
and lastly on the principal remedies
to be applied. In so doing We follow
the footsteps of Our predecessor, Leo
XIII, of happy memory, whose Encyclical
Arcanum,[1] published fifty years ago,
We hereby confirm and make Our own,
and while We wish to expound more fully
certain points called for by the circumstances
of our times, nevertheless We declare
that, far from being obsolete, it retains
its full force at the present day.
5. And to begin with
that same Encyclical, which is wholly
concerned in vindicating the divine
institution of matrimony, its sacramental
dignity, and its perpetual stability,
let it be repeated as an immutable and
inviolable fundamental doctrine that
matrimony was not instituted or restored
by man but by God; not by man were the
laws made to strengthen and confirm
and elevate it but by God, the Author
of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by
Whom nature was redeemed, and hence
these laws cannot be subject to any
human decrees or to any contrary pact
even of the spouses themselves. This
is the doctrine of Holy Scripture;[2]
this is the constant tradition of the
Universal Church; this the solemn definition
of the sacred Council of Trent, which
declares and establishes from the words
of Holy Writ itself that God is the
Author of the perpetual stability of
the marriage bond, its unity and its
firmness.[3]
6. Yet although matrimony
is of its very nature of divine institution,
the human will, too, enters into it
and performs a most noble part. For
each individual marriage, inasmuch as
it is a conjugal union of a particular
man and woman, arises only from the
free consent of each of the spouses;
and this free act of the will, by which
each party hands over and accepts those
rights proper to the state of marriage,[4]
is so necessary to constitute true marriage
that it cannot be supplied by any human
power.[5] This freedom, however, regards
only the question whether the contracting
parties really wish to enter upon matrimony
or to marry this particular person;
but the nature of matrimony is entirely
independent of the free will of man,
so that if one has once contracted matrimony
he is thereby subject to its divinely
made laws and its essential properties.
For the Angelic Doctor, writing on conjugal
honor and on the offspring which is
the fruit of marriage, says: "These
things are so contained in matrimony
by the marriage pact itself that, if
anything to the contrary were expressed
in the consent which makes the marriage,
it would not be a true marriage."[6]
7. By matrimony, therefore,
the souls of the contracting parties
are joined and knit together more directly
and more intimately than are their bodies,
and that not by any passing affection
of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate
and firm act of the will; and from this
union of souls by God's decree, a sacred
and inviolable bond arises. Hence the
nature of this contract, which is proper
and peculiar to it alone, makes it entirely
different both from the union of animals
entered into by the blind instinct of
nature alone in which neither reason
nor free will plays a part, and also
from the haphazard unions of men, which
are far removed from all true and honorable
unions of will and enjoy none of the
rights of family life.
8. From this it is
clear that legitimately constituted
authority has the right and therefore
the duty to restrict, to prevent, and
to punish those base unions which are
opposed to reason and to nature; but
since it is a matter which flows from
human nature itself, no less certain
is the teaching of Our predecessor,
Leo XIII of happy memory:[7] "In
choosing a state of life there is no
doubt but that it is in the power and
discretion of each one to prefer one
or the other: either to embrace the
counsel of virginity given by Jesus
Christ, or to bind himself in the bonds
of matrimony. To take away from man
the natural and primeval right of marriage,
to circumscribe in any way the principal
ends of marriage laid down in the beginning
by God Himself in the words 'Increase
and multiply,'[8] is beyond the power
of any human law."
9. Therefore the sacred
partnership of true marriage is constituted
both by the will of God and the will
of man. From God comes the very institution
of marriage, the ends for which it was
instituted, the laws that govern it,
the blessings that flow from it; while
man, through generous surrender of his
own person made to another for the whole
span of life, becomes, with the help
and cooperation of God, the author of
each particular marriage, with the duties
and blessings annexed thereto from divine
institution.
10. Now when We come
to explain, Venerable Brethren, what
are the blessings that God has attached
to true matrimony, and how great they
are, there occur to Us the words of
that illustrious Doctor of the Church
whom We commemorated recently in Our
Encyclical Ad salutem on the occasion
of the fifteenth centenary of his death:[9]
"These," says St. Augustine,
"are all the blessings of matrimony
on account of which matrimony itself
is a blessing; offspring, conjugal faith
and the sacrament."[10] And how
under these three heads is contained
a splendid summary of the whole doctrine
of Christian marriage, the holy Doctor
himself expressly declares when he said:
"By conjugal faith it is provided
that there should be no carnal intercourse
outside the marriage bond with another
man or woman; with regard to offspring,
that children should be begotten of
love, tenderly cared for and educated
in a religious atmosphere; finally,
in its sacramental aspect that the marriage
bond should not be broken and that a
husband or wife, if separated, should
not be joined to another even for the
sake of offspring. This we regard as
the law of marriage by which the fruitfulness
of nature is adorned and the evil of
incontinence is restrained."[11]
11. Thus amongst the
blessings of marriage, the child holds
the first place. And indeed the Creator
of the human race Himself, Who in His
goodness wishes to use men as His helpers
in the propagation of life, taught this
when, instituting marriage in Paradise,
He said to our first parents, and through
them to all future spouses: "Increase
and multiply, and fill the earth."[12]
As St. Augustine admirably deduces from
the words of the holy Apostle Saint
Paul to Timothy[13] when he says: "The
Apostle himself is therefore a witness
that marriage is for the sake of generation:
'I wish,' he says, 'young girls to marry.'
And, as if someone said to him, 'Why?,'
he immediately adds: 'To bear children,
to be mothers of families'."[14]
12. How great a boon
of God this is, and how great a blessing
of matrimony is clear from a consideration
of man's dignity and of his sublime
end. For man surpasses all other visible
creatures by the superiority of his
rational nature alone. Besides, God
wishes men to be born not only that
they should live and fill the earth,
but much more that they may be worshippers
of God, that they may know Him and love
Him and finally enjoy Him for ever in
heaven; and this end, since man is raised
by God in a marvelous way to the supernatural
order, surpasses all that eye hath seen,
and ear heard, and all that hath entered
into the heart of man.[15] From which
it is easily seen how great a gift of
divine goodness and how remarkable a
fruit of marriage are children born
by the omnipotent power of God through
the cooperation of those bound in wedlock.
13. But Christian
parents must also understand that they
are destined not only to propagate and
preserve the human race on earth, indeed
not only to educate any kind of worshippers
of the true God, but children who are
to become members of the Church of Christ,
to raise up fellow-citizens of the Saints,
and members of God's household,[16]
that the worshippers of God and Our
Savior may daily increase.
14. For although Christian
spouses even if sanctified themselves
cannot transmit sanctification to their
progeny, nay, although the very natural
process of generating life has become
the way of death by which original sin
is passed on to posterity, nevertheless,
they share to some extent in the blessings
of that primeval marriage of Paradise,
since it is theirs to offer their offspring
to the Church in order that by this
most fruitful Mother of the children
of God they may be regenerated through
the laver of Baptism unto supernatural
justice and finally be made living members
of Christ, partakers of immortal life,
and heirs of that eternal glory to which
we all aspire from our inmost heart.
15. If a true Christian
mother weigh well these things, she
will indeed understand with a sense
of deep consolation that of her the
words of Our Savior were spoken: "A
woman . . . when she hath brought forth
the child remembereth no more the anguish,
for joy that a man is born into the
world";[17] and proving herself
superior to all the pains and cares
and solicitudes of her maternal office
with a more just and holy joy than that
of the Roman matron, the mother of the
Gracchi, she will rejoice in the Lord
crowned as it were with the glory of
her offspring. Both husband and wife,
however, receiving these children with
joy and gratitude from the hand of God,
will regard them as a talent committed
to their charge by God, not only to
be employed for their own advantage
or for that of an earthly commonwealth,
but to be restored to God with interest
on the day of reckoning.
16. The blessing of
offspring, however, is not completed
by the mere begetting of them, but something
else must be added, namely the proper
education of the offspring. For the
most wise God would have failed to make
sufficient provision for children that
had been born, and so for the whole
human race, if He had not given to those
to whom He had entrusted the power and
right to beget them, the power also
and the right to educate them. For no
one can fail to see that children are
incapable of providing wholly for themselves,
even in matters pertaining to their
natural life, and much less in those
pertaining to the supernatural, but
require for many years to be helped,
instructed, and educated by others.
Now it is certain that both by the law
of nature and of God this right and
duty of educating their offspring belongs
in the first place to those who began
the work of nature by giving them birth,
and they are indeed forbidden to leave
unfinished this work and so expose it
to certain ruin. But in matrimony provision
has been made in the best possible way
for this education of children that
is so necessary, for, since the parents
are bound together by an indissoluble
bond, the care and mutual help of each
is always at hand.
17. Since, however,
We have spoken fully elsewhere on the
Christian education of youth,[18] let
Us sum it all up by quoting once more
the words of St. Augustine: "As
regards the offspring it is provided
that they should be begotten lovingly
and educated religiously,"[19]--and
this is also expressed succinctly in
the Code of Canon Law--"The primary
end of marriage is the procreation and
the education of children."[20]
18. Nor must We omit
to remark, in fine, that since the duty
entrusted to parents for the good of
their children is of such high dignity
and of such great importance, every
use of the faculty given by God for
the procreation of new life is the right
and the privilege of the married state
alone, by the law of God and of nature,
and must be confined absolutely within
the sacred limits of that state.
19. The second blessing
of matrimony which We said was mentioned
by St. Augustine, is the blessing of
conjugal honor which consists in the
mutual fidelity of the spouses in fulfilling
the marriage contract, so that what
belongs to one of the parties by reason
of this contract sanctioned by divine
law, may not be denied to him or permitted
to any third person; nor may there be
conceded to one of the parties anything
which, being contrary to the rights
and laws of God and entirely opposed
to matrimonial faith, can never be conceded.
20. Wherefore, conjugal
faith, or honor, demands in the first
place the complete unity of matrimony
which the Creator Himself laid down
in the beginning when He wished it to
be not otherwise than between one man
and one woman. And although afterwards
this primeval law was relaxed to some
extent by God, the Supreme Legislator,
there is no doubt that the law of the
Gospel fully restored that original
and perfect unity, and abrogated all
dispensations as the words of Christ
and the constant teaching and action
of the Church show plainly. With reason,
therefore, does the Sacred Council of
Trent solemnly declare: "Christ
Our Lord very clearly taught that in
this bond two persons only are to be
united and joined together when He said:
'Therefore they are no longer two, but
one flesh'."[21]
21. Nor did Christ
Our Lord wish only to condemn any form
of polygamy or polyandry, as they are
called, whether successive or simultaneous,
and every other external dishonorable
act, but, in order that the sacred bonds
of marriage may be guarded absolutely
inviolate, He forbade also even willful
thoughts and desires of such like things:
"But I say to you, that whosoever
shall look on a woman to lust after
her hath already committed adultery
with her in his heart."[22] Which
words of Christ Our Lord cannot be annulled
even by the consent of one of the partners
of marriage for they express a law of
God and of nature which no will of man
can break or bend.[23]
22. Nay, that mutual
familiar intercourse between the spouses
themselves, if the blessing of conjugal
faith is to shine with becoming splendor,
must be distinguished by chastity so
that husband and wife bear themselves
in all things with the law of God and
of nature, and endeavor always to follow
the will of their most wise and holy
Creator with the greatest reverence
toward the work of God.
23. This conjugal
faith, however, which is most aptly
called by St. Augustine the "faith
of chastity" blooms more freely,
more beautifully and more nobly, when
it is rooted in that more excellent
soil, the love of husband and wife which
pervades all the duties of married life
and holds pride of place in Christian
marriage. For matrimonial faith demands
that husband and wife be joined in an
especially holy and pure love, not as
adulterers love each other, but as Christ
loved the Church. This precept the Apostle
laid down when he said: "Husbands,
love your wives as Christ also loved
the Church,"[24] that Church which
of a truth He embraced with a boundless
love not for the sake of His own advantage,
but seeking only the good of His Spouse.[25]
The love, then, of which We are speaking
is not that based on the passing lust
of the moment nor does it consist in
pleasing words only, but in the deep
attachment of the heart which is expressed
in action, since love is proved by deeds.[26]
This outward expression of love in the
home demands not only mutual help but
must go further; must have as its primary
purpose that man and wife help each
other day by day in forming and perfecting
themselves in the interior life, so
that through their partnership in life
they may advance ever more and more
in virtue, and above all that they may
grow in true love toward God and their
neighbor, on which indeed "dependeth
the whole Law and the Prophets."[27]
For all men of every condition, in whatever
honorable walk of life they may be,
can and ought to imitate that most perfect
example of holiness placed before man
by God, namely Christ Our Lord, and
by God's grace to arrive at the summit
of perfection, as is proved by the example
set us of many saints.
24. This mutual molding
of husband and wife, this determined
effort to perfect each other, can in
a very real sense, as the Roman Catechism
teaches, be said to be the chief reason
and purpose of matrimony, provided matrimony
be looked at not in the restricted sense
as instituted for the proper conception
and education of the child, but more
widely as the blending of life as a
whole and the mutual interchange and
sharing thereof.
25. By this same love
it is necessary that all the other rights
and duties of the marriage state be
regulated as the words of the Apostle:
"Let the husband render the debt
to the wife, and the wife also in like
manner to the husband,"[28] express
not only a law of justice but of charity.
26. Domestic society
being confirmed, therefore, by this
bond of love, there should flourish
in it that "order of love,"
as St. Augustine calls it. This order
includes both the primacy of the husband
with regard to the wife and children,
the ready subjection of the wife and
her willing obedience, which the Apostle
commends in these words: "Let women
be subject to their husbands as to the
Lord, because the husband is the head
of the wife, and Christ is the head
of the Church."[29]
27. This subjection,
however, does not deny or take away
the liberty which fully belongs to the
woman both in view of her dignity as
a human person, and in view of her most
noble office as wife and mother and
companion; nor does it bid her obey
her husband's every request if not in
harmony with right reason or with the
dignity due to wife; nor, in fine, does
it imply that the wife should be put
on a level with those persons who in
law are called minors, to whom it is
customary to allow free exercise of
their rights on account of their lack
of mature judgment, or of their ignorance
of human affairs. But it forbids that
exaggerated liberty which cares not
for the good of the family; it forbids
that in this body which is the family,
the heart be separated from the head
to the great detriment of the whole
body and the proximate danger of ruin.
For if the man is the head, the woman
is the heart, and as he occupies the
chief place in ruling, so she may and
ought to claim for herself the chief
place in love.
28. Again, this subjection
of wife to husband in its degree and
manner may vary according to the different
conditions of persons, place and time.
In fact, if the husband neglect his
duty, it falls to the wife to take his
place in directing the family. But the
structure of the family and its fundamental
law, established and confirmed by God,
must always and everywhere be maintained
intact .
29. With great wisdom
Our predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory,
in the Encyclical on Christian marriage
which We have already mentioned, speaking
of this order to be maintained between
man and wife, teaches: "The man
is the ruler of the family, and the
head of the woman; but because she is
flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone,
let her be subject and obedient to the
man, not as a servant but as a companion,
so that nothing be lacking of honor
or of dignity in the obedience which
she pays. Let divine charity be the
constant guide of their mutual relations,
both in him who rules and in her who
obeys, since each bears the image, the
one of Christ, the other of the Church."[30]
30. These, then, are
the elements which compose the blessing
of conjugal faith: unity, chastity,
charity, honorable noble obedience,
which are at the same time an enumeration
of the benefits which are bestowed on
husband and wife in their married state,
benefits by which the peace, the dignity
and the happiness of matrimony are securely
preserved and fostered. Wherefore it
is not surprising that this conjugal
faith has always been counted amongst
the most priceless and special blessings
of matrimony.
31. But this accumulation
of benefits is completed and, as it
were, crowned by that blessing of Christian
marriage which in the words of St. Augustine
we have called the sacrament, by which
is denoted both the indissolubility
of the bond and the raising and hallowing
of the contract by Christ Himself, whereby
He made it an efficacious sign of grace.
32. In the first place
Christ Himself lays stress on the indissolubility
and firmness of the marriage bond when
He says: "What God hath joined
together let no man put asunder,"[31]
and: "Everyone that putteth away
his wife and marrieth another committeth
adultery, and he that marrieth her that
is put away from her husband committeth
adultery."[32]
33. And St. Augustine
clearly places what he calls the blessing
of matrimony in this indissolubility
when he says: "In the sacrament
it is provided that the marriage bond
should not be broken, and that a husband
or wife, if separated, should not be
joined to another even for the sake
of offspring."[33]
34. And this inviolable
stability, although not in the same
perfect measure in every case, belongs
to every true marriage, for the word
of the Lord: "What God hath joined
together let no man put asunder,"
must of necessity include all true marriages
without exception, since it was spoken
of the marriage of our first parents,
the prototype of every future marriage.
Therefore although before Christ the
sublimeness and the severity of the
primeval law was so tempered that Moses
permitted to the chosen people of God
on account of the hardness of their
hearts that a bill of divorce might
be given in certain circumstances, nevertheless,
Christ, by virtue of His supreme legislative
power, recalled this concession of greater
liberty and restored the primeval law
in its integrity by those words which
must never be forgotten, "What
God hath joined together let no man
put asunder." Wherefore, Our predecessor
Pius VI of happy memory, writing to
the Bishop of Agria, most wisely said:
"Hence it is clear that marriage
even in the state of nature, and certainly
long before it was raised to the dignity
of a sacrament, was divinely instituted
in such a way that it should carry with
it a perpetual and indissoluble bond
which cannot therefore be dissolved
by any civil law. Therefore although
the sacramental element may be absent
from a marriage as is the case among
unbelievers, still in such a marriage,
inasmuch as it is a true marriage there
must remain and indeed there does remain
that perpetual bond which by divine
right is so bound up with matrimony
from its first institution that it is
not subject to any civil power. And
so, whatever marriage is said to be
contracted, either it is so contracted
that it is really a true marriage, in
which case it carries with it that enduring
bond which by divine right is inherent
in every true marriage; or it is thought
to be contracted without that perpetual
bond, and in that case there is no marriage,
but an illicit union opposed of its
very nature to the divine law, which
therefore cannot be entered into or
maintained."[34]
35. And if this stability
seems to be open to exception, however
rare the exception may be, as in the
case of certain natural marriages between
unbelievers, or amongst Christians in
the case of those marriages which though
valid have not been consummated, that
exception does not depend on the will
of men nor on that of any merely human
power, but on divine law, of which the
only guardian and interpreter is the
Church of Christ. However, not even
this power can ever affect for any cause
whatsoever a Christian marriage which
is valid and has been consummated, for
as it is plain that here the marriage
contract has its full completion, so,
by the will of God, there is also the
greatest firmness and indissolubility
which may not be destroyed by any human
authority.
36. If we wish with
all reverence to inquire into the intimate
reason of this divine decree, Venerable
Brethren, we shall easily see it in
the mystical signification of Christian
marriage which is fully and perfectly
verified in consummated marriage between
Christians. For, as the Apostle says
in his Epistle to the Ephesians,[35]
the marriage of Christians recalls that
most perfect union which exists between
Christ and the Church: "Sacramentum
hoc magnum est, ego autem dico, in Christo
et in ecclesia;" which union, as
long as Christ shall live and the Church
through Him, can never be dissolved
by any separation. And this St. Augustine
clearly declares in these words: "This
is safeguarded in Christ and the Church,
which, living with Christ who lives
for ever may never be divorced from
Him. The observance of this sacrament
is such in the City of God . . . that
is, in the Church of Christ, that when
for the sake of begetting children,
women marry or are taken to wife, it
is wrong to leave a wife that is sterile
in order to take another by whom children
may be hand. Anyone doing this is guilty
of adultery, just as if he married another,
guilty not by the law of the day, according
to which when one's partner is put away
another may be taken, which the Lord
allowed in the law of Moses because
of the hardness of the hearts of the
people of Israel; but by the law of
the Gospel."[36]
37. Indeed, how many
and how important are the benefits which
flow from the indissolubility of matrimony
cannot escape anyone who gives even
a brief consideration either to the
good of the married parties and the
offspring or to the welfare of human
society. First of all, both husband
and wife possess a positive guarantee
of the endurance of this stability which
that generous yielding of their persons
and the intimate fellowship of their
hearts by their nature strongly require,
since true love never falls away.[37]
Besides, a strong bulwark is set up
in defense of a loyal chastity against
incitements to infidelity, should any
be encountered either from within or
from without; any anxious fear lest
in adversity or old age the other spouse
would prove unfaithful is precluded
and in its place there reigns a calm
sense of security. Moreover, the dignity
of both man and wife is maintained and
mutual aid is most satisfactorily assured,
while through the indissoluble bond,
always enduring, the spouses are warned
continuously that not for the sake of
perishable things nor that they may
serve their passions, but that they
may procure one for the other high and
lasting good have they entered into
the nuptial partnership, to be dissolved
only by death. In the training and education
of children, which must extend over
a period of many years, it plays a great
part, since the grave and long enduring
burdens of this office are best borne
by the united efforts of the parents.
Nor do lesser benefits accrue to human
society as a whole. For experience has
taught that unassailable stability in
matrimony is a fruitful source of virtuous
life and of habits of integrity. Where
this order of things obtains, the happiness
and well being of the nation is safely
guarded; what the families and individuals
are, so also is the State, for a body
is determined by its parts. Wherefore,
both for the private good of husband,
wife and children, as likewise for the
public good of human society, they indeed
deserve well who strenuously defend
the inviolable stability of matrimony.
38. But considering
the benefits of the Sacrament, besides
the firmness and indissolubility, there
are also much higher emoluments as the
word "sacrament" itself very
aptly indicates; for to Christians this
is not a meaningless and empty name.
Christ the Lord, the Institutor and
"Perfecter" of the holy sacraments,[38]
by raising the matrimony of His faithful
to the dignity of a true sacrament of
the New Law, made it a sign and source
of that peculiar internal grace by which
"it perfects natural love, it confirms
an indissoluble union, and sanctifies
both man and wife."[39]
39. And since the
valid matrimonial consent among the
faithful was constituted by Christ as
a sign of grace, the sacramental nature
is so intimately bound up with Christian
wedlock that there can be no true marriage
between baptized persons "without
it being by that very fact a sacrament."[40]
40. By the very fact,
therefore, that the faithful with sincere
mind give such consent, they open up
for themselves a treasure of sacramental
grace from which they draw supernatural
power for the fulfilling of their rights
and duties faithfully, holily, perseveringly
even unto death. Hence this sacrament
not only increases sanctifying grace,
the permanent principle of the supernatural
life, in those who, as the expression
is, place no obstacle (obex) in its
way, but also adds particular gifts,
dispositions, seeds of grace, by elevating
and perfecting the natural powers. By
these gifts the parties are assisted
not only in understanding, but in knowing
intimately, in adhering to firmly, in
willing effectively, and in successfully
putting into practice, those things
which pertain to the marriage state,
its aims and duties, giving them in
fine right to the actual assistance
of grace, whensoever they need it for
fulfilling the duties of their state.
41. Nevertheless,
since it is a law of divine Providence
in the supernatural order that men do
not reap the full fruit of the Sacraments
which they receive after acquiring the
use of reason unless they cooperate
with grace, the grace of matrimony will
remain for the most part an unused talent
hidden in the field unless the parties
exercise these supernatural powers and
cultivate and develop the seeds of grace
they have received. If, however, doing
all that lies with their power, they
cooperate diligently, they will be able
with ease to bear the burdens of their
state and to fulfill their duties. By
such a sacrament they will be strengthened,
sanctified and in a manner consecrated.
For, as St. Augustine teaches, just
as by Baptism and Holy Orders a man
is set aside and assisted either for
the duties of Christian life or for
the priestly office and is never deprived
of their sacramental aid, almost in
the same way (although not by a sacramental
character), the faithful once joined
by marriage ties can never be deprived
of the help and the binding force of
the sacrament. Indeed, as the Holy Doctor
adds, even those who commit adultery
carry with them that sacred yoke, although
in this case not as a title to the glory
of grace but for the ignominy of their
guilty action, "as the soul by
apostasy, withdrawing as it were from
marriage with Christ, even though it
may have lost its faith, does not lose
the sacrament of Faith which it received
at the laver of regeneration."[41]
42. These parties,
let it be noted, not fettered but adorned
by the golden bond of the sacrament,
not hampered but assisted, should strive
with all their might to the end that
their wedlock, not only through the
power and symbolism of the sacrament,
but also through their spirit and manner
of life, may be and remain always the
living image of that most fruitful union
of Christ with the Church, which is
to venerated as the sacred token of
most perfect love.
43. All of these things,
Venerable Brethren, you must consider
carefully and ponder over with a lively
faith if you would see in their true
light the extraordinary benefits on
matrimony--offspring, conjugal faith,
and the sacrament. No one can fail to
admire the divine Wisdom, Holiness and
Goodness which, while respecting the
dignity and happiness of husband and
wife, has provided so bountifully for
the conservation and propagation of
the human race by a single chaste and
sacred fellowship of nuptial union.
44. When we consider
the great excellence of chaste wedlock,
Venerable Brethren, it appears all the
more regrettable that particularly in
our day we should witness this divine
institution often scorned and on every
side degraded.
45. For now, alas,
not secretly nor under cover, but openly,
with all sense of shame put aside, now
by word again by writings, by theatrical
productions of every kind, by romantic
fiction, by amorous and frivolous novels,
by cinematographs portraying in vivid
scene, in addresses broadcast by radio
telephony, in short by all the inventions
of modern science, the sanctity of marriage
is trampled upon and derided; divorce,
adultery, all the basest vices either
are extolled or at least are depicted
in such colors as to appear to be free
of all reproach and infamy. Books are
not lacking which dare to pronounce
themselves as scientific but which in
truth are merely coated with a veneer
of science in order that they may the
more easily insinuate their ideas. The
doctrines defended in these are offered
for sale as the productions of modern
genius, of that genius namely, which,
anxious only for truth, is considered
to have emancipated itself from all
those old-fashioned and immature opinions
of the ancients; and to the number of
these antiquated opinions they relegate
the traditional doctrine of Christian
marriage.
46. These thoughts
are instilled into men of every class,
rich and poor, masters and workers,
lettered and unlettered, married and
single, the godly and godless, old and
young, but for these last, as easiest
prey, the worst snares are laid.
47. Not all the sponsors
of these new doctrines are carried to
the extremes of unbridled lust; there
are those who, striving as it were to
ride a middle course, believe nevertheless
that something should be conceded in
our times as regards certain precepts
of the divine and natural law. But these
likewise, more or less wittingly, are
emissaries of the great enemy who is
ever seeking to sow cockle among the
wheat.[42] We, therefore, whom the Father
has appointed over His field, We who
are bound by Our most holy office to
take care lest the good seed be choked
by the weeds, believe it fitting to
apply to Ourselves the most grave words
of the Holy Ghost with which the Apostle
Paul exhorted his beloved Timothy: "Be
thou vigilant . . . Fulfill thy ministry
. . . Preach the word, be instant in
season, out of season, reprove, entreat,
rebuke in all patience and doctrine."[43]
48. And since, in
order that the deceits of the enemy
may be avoided, it is necessary first
of all that they be laid bare; since
much is to be gained by denouncing these
fallacies for the sake of the unwary,
even though We prefer not to name these
iniquities "as becometh saints,"[44]
yet for the welfare of souls We cannot
remain altogether silent.
49. To begin at the
very source of these evils, their basic
principle lies in this, that matrimony
is repeatedly declared to be not instituted
by the Author of nature nor raised by
Christ the Lord to the dignity of a
true sacrament, but invented by man.
Some confidently assert that they have
found no evidence of the existence of
matrimony in nature or in her laws,
but regard it merely as the means of
producing life and of gratifying in
one way or another a vehement impulse;
on the other hand, others recognize
that certain beginnings or, as it were,
seeds of true wedlock are found in the
nature of man since, unless men were
bound together by some form of permanent
tie, the dignity of husband and wife
or the natural end of propagating and
rearing the offspring would not receive
satisfactory provision. At the same
time they maintain that in all beyond
this germinal idea matrimony, through
various concurrent causes, is invented
solely by the mind of man, established
solely by his will.
50. How grievously
all these err and how shamelessly they
leave the ways of honesty is already
evident from what we have set forth
here regarding the origin and nature
of wedlock, its purposes and the good
inherent in it. The evil of this teaching
is plainly seen from the consequences
which its advocates deduce from it,
namely, that the laws, institutions
and customs by which wedlock is governed,
since they take their origin solely
from the will of man, are subject entirely
to him, hence can and must be founded,
changed and abrogated according to human
caprice and the shifting circumstances
of human affairs; that the generative
power which is grounded in nature itself
is more sacred and has wider range than
matrimony--hence it may be exercised
both outside as well as within the confines
of wedlock, and though the purpose of
matrimony be set aside, as though to
suggest that the license of a base fornicating
woman should enjoy the same rights as
the chaste motherhood of a lawfully
wedded wife.
51. Armed with these
principles, some men go so far as to
concoct new species of unions, suited,
as they say, to the present temper of
men and the times, which various new
forms of matrimony they presume to label
"temporary," "experimental,"
and "companionate." These
offer all the indulgence of matrimony
and its rights without, however, the
indissoluble bond, and without offspring,
unless later the parties alter their
cohabitation into a matrimony in the
full sense of the law.
52. Indeed there are
some who desire and insist that these
practices be legitimatized by the law
or, at least, excused by their general
acceptance among the people. They do
not seem even to suspect that these
proposals partake of nothing of the
modern "culture" in which
they glory so much, but are simply hateful
abominations which beyond all question
reduce our truly cultured nations to
the barbarous standards of savage peoples.
53. And now, Venerable
Brethren, we shall explain in detail
the evils opposed to each of the benefits
of matrimony. First consideration is
due to the offspring, which many have
the boldness to call the disagreeable
burden of matrimony and which they say
is to be carefully avoided by married
people not through virtuous continence
(which Christian law permits in matrimony
when both parties consent) but by frustrating
the marriage act. Some justify this
criminal abuse on the ground that they
are weary of children and wish to gratify
their desires without their consequent
burden. Others say that they cannot
on the one hand remain continent nor
on the other can they have children
because of the difficulties whether
on the part of the mother or on the
part of family circumstances.
54. But no reason,
however grave, may be put forward by
which anything intrinsically against
nature may become conformable to nature
and morally good. Since, therefore,
the conjugal act is destined primarily
by nature for the begetting of children,
those who in exercising it deliberately
frustrate its natural power and purpose
sin against nature and commit a deed
which is shameful and intrinsically
vicious.
55. Small wonder,
therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness
that the Divine Majesty regards with
greatest detestation this horrible crime
and at times has punished it with death.
As St. Augustine notes, "Intercourse
even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful
and wicked where the conception of the
offspring is prevented. Onan, the son
of Juda, did this and the Lord killed
him for it."[45]
56. Since, therefore,
openly departing from the uninterrupted
Christian tradition some recently have
judged it possible solemnly to declare
another doctrine regarding this question,
the Catholic Church, to whom God has
entrusted the defense of the integrity
and purity of morals, standing erect
in the midst of the moral ruin which
surrounds her, in order that she may
preserve the chastity of the nuptial
union from being defiled by this foul
stain, raises her voice in token of
her divine ambassadorship and through
Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever
of matrimony exercised in such a way
that the act is deliberately frustrated
in its natural power to generate life
is an offense against the law of God
and of nature, and those who indulge
in such are branded with the guilt of
a grave sin.
57. We admonish, therefore,
priests who hear confessions and others
who have the care of souls, in virtue
of Our supreme authority and in Our
solicitude for the salvation of souls,
not to allow the faithful entrusted
to them to err regarding this most grave
law of God; much more, that they keep
themselves immune from such false opinions,
in no way conniving in them. If any
confessor or pastor of souls, which
may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted
to him into these errors or should at
least confirm them by approval or by
guilty silence, let him be mindful of
the fact that he must render a strict
account to God, the Supreme Judge, for
the betrayal of his sacred trust, and
let him take to himself the words of
Christ: "They are blind and leaders
of the blind: and if the blind lead
the blind, both fall into the pit.[46]
58. As regards the
evil use of matrimony, to pass over
the arguments which are shameful, not
infrequently others that are false and
exaggerated are put forward. Holy Mother
Church very well understands and clearly
appreciates all that is said regarding
the health of the mother and the danger
to her life. And who would not grieve
to think of these things? Who is not
filled with the greatest admiration
when he sees a mother risking her life
with heroic fortitude, that she may
preserve the life of the offspring which
she has conceived? God alone, all bountiful
and all merciful as He is, can reward
her for the fulfillment of the office
allotted to her by nature, and will
assuredly repay her in a measure full
to overflowing.[47]
59. Holy Church knows
well that not infrequently one of the
parties is sinned against rather than
sinning, when for a grave cause he or
she reluctantly allows the perversion
of the right order. In such a case,
there is no sin, provided that, mindful
of the law of charity, he or she does
not neglect to seek to dissuade and
to deter the partner from sin. Nor are
those considered as acting against nature
who in the married state use their right
in the proper manner although on account
of natural reasons either of time or
of certain defects, new life cannot
be brought forth. For in matrimony as
well as in the use of the matrimonial
rights there are also secondary ends,
such as mutual aid, the cultivating
of mutual love, and the quieting of
concupiscence which husband and wife
are not forbidden to consider so long
as they are subordinated to the primary
end and so long as the intrinsic nature
of the act is preserved.
60. We are deeply
touched by the sufferings of those parents
who, in extreme want, experience great
difficulty in rearing their children.
61. However, they
should take care lest the calamitous
state of their external affairs should
be the occasion for a much more calamitous
error. No difficulty can arise that
justifies the putting aside of the law
of God which forbids all acts intrinsically
evil. There is no possible circumstance
in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened
by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully
their duties and preserve in wedlock
their chastity unspotted. This truth
of Christian Faith is expressed by the
teaching of the Council of Trent. "Let
no one be so rash as to assert that
which the Fathers of the Council have
placed under anathema, namely, that
there are precepts of God impossible
for the just to observe. God does not
ask the impossible, but by His commands,
instructs you to do what you are able,
to pray for what you are not able that
He may help you."[48]
62. This same doctrine
was again solemnly repeated and confirmed
by the Church in the condemnation of
the Jansenist heresy which dared to
utter this blasphemy against the goodness
of God: "Some precepts of God are,
when one considers the powers which
man possesses, impossible of fulfillment
even to the just who wish to keep the
law and strive to do so; grace is lacking
whereby these laws could be fulfilled."[49]
63. But another very
grave crime is to be noted, Venerable
Brethren, which regards the taking of
the life of the offspring hidden in
the mother's womb. Some wish it to be
allowed and left to the will of the
father or the mother; others say it
is unlawful unless there are weighty
reasons which they call by the name
of medical, social, or eugenic "indication."
Because this matter falls under the
penal laws of the state by which the
destruction of the offspring begotten
but unborn is forbidden, these people
demand that the "indication,"
which in one form or another they defend,
be recognized as such by the public
law and in no way penalized. There are
those, moreover, who ask that the public
authorities provide aid for these death-dealing
operations, a thing, which, sad to say,
everyone knows is of very frequent occurrence
in some places.
64. As to the "medical
and therapeutic indication" to
which, using their own words, we have
made reference, Venerable Brethren,
however much we may pity the mother
whose health and even life is gravely
imperiled in the performance of the
duty allotted to her by nature, nevertheless
what could ever be a sufficient reason
for excusing in any way the direct murder
of the innocent? This is precisely what
we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted
upon the mother or upon the child, it
is against the precept of God and the
law of nature: "Thou shalt not
kill:"[50] The life of each is
equally sacred, and no one has the power,
not even the public authority, to destroy
it. It is of no use to appeal to the
right of taking away life for here it
is a question of the innocent, whereas
that right has regard only to the guilty;
nor is there here question of defense
by bloodshed against an unjust aggressor
(for who would call an innocent child
an unjust aggressor?); again there is
not question here of what is called
the "law of extreme necessity"
which could even extend to the direct
killing of the innocent. Upright and
skillful doctors strive most praiseworthily
to guard and preserve the lives of both
mother and child; on the contrary, those
show themselves most unworthy of the
noble medical profession who encompass
the death of one or the other, through
a pretense at practicing medicine or
through motives of misguided pity.
65. All of which agrees
with the stern words of the Bishop of
Hippo in denouncing those wicked parents
who seek to remain childless, and failing
in this, are not ashamed to put their
offspring to death: "Sometimes
this lustful cruelty or cruel lust goes
so far as to seek to procure a baneful
sterility, and if this fails the fetus
conceived in the womb is in one way
or another smothered or evacuated, in
the desire to destroy the offspring
before it has life, or if it already
lives in the womb, to kill it before
it is born. If both man and woman are
party to such practices they are not
spouses at all; and if from the first
they have carried on thus they have
come together not for honest wedlock,
but for impure gratification; if both
are not party to these deeds, I make
bold to say that either the one makes
herself a mistress of the husband, or
the other simply the paramour of his
wife."[51]
