PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



597 



Allocution pronounced in tlie Vatican Basilica, 

 at the opening of tlie (Ecumenical Council 

 ly Pope Pius /X, on the St7i day of De- 

 cember, 1869. 



To the Bishops of the Catholic World in tlie same 

 Council assembled. 



VENERABLE BRETHREN : What by all our vows and 

 prayers we have been continually begging of God, 

 that, namely, we should be enabled to celebrate with 

 you the (Ecumenical Council which we had sum- 

 moned ; this has, by the marked and singular good- 

 ness of God Himself, been granted to us, and fills us 

 with the utmost joy. Wherefore our heart exults in 

 the Lord, and > is filled with unspeakable consolation, 

 for that on this most auspicious day ? hallowed by the 

 memory of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin 

 Mary Mother of God, we again see you before us in 

 greater numbers than heretofore, present in this 

 stronghold of the Catholic religion ; and we are glad- 

 dened by the sight of you who are called to bear a 

 part of our solicitude. 



You are here, venerable brethren^ gathered together 

 in the name of Christ (Matt, xviii. 20) that with us 

 you may give testimony to the Word of God and the 

 testimony of Jesus Christ (Apoc. i. 2) : and that with 

 us you may teach all men the way o God in truth 

 (Matt. xxii. 16) ; and that under the guidance of the 

 Holy Spirit you may judge (Acts x. 5, 19) with us of 

 the oppositions of knowledge falsely so called (1 Tim. 

 vi. 20). 



For at this time more than ever ? now that the earth 

 has mourned and faded away, infected by the inhab- 

 itants thereof (Isa. xxiv. 4, 5), zeal for the glory of 

 God and the safety of the Lord's flock requires of us 

 to surround Zion, and to encompass her ; and to tell 

 her towers, and to set our hearts in her strength 

 (Ps. xlvii. 13, 14). 



For you see, venerable brethren, with what fury 

 the old enemy of mankind has attacked and still con- 

 tinues to attack the house of the Lord which holiness 

 becometh. 



To him is due that disastrous conspiracy of the 

 impious so widely spread, which, strong in union, 

 powerful in resources, fenced rouna with ordinances, 

 and making liberty a cloak for malice (1 Pet. ii. 16), 

 ceases not to wage a cruel war, disgraced by every 

 atrocity, against the holy Church of Christ. You 

 know well the nature of this war, its fierceness, its 

 weapons, its successes, and its purposes. You have 

 ever present before you how those sound doctrines 

 on which rests human society, in its various ranks, 

 are disordered and obscured ; how deplorably all the 

 rules of right are turned to wrong ; how manifold are 

 the forms employed of falsehood and corruption, 

 while the saving bonds of justice ? honor, and au- 

 thority, are loosened ; the vilest passions are inflamed, 

 and the Christian faith is uprooted from the souls of 

 men ; so that if any schemes and endeavors of the 

 wicked could avail for the destruction of the Church 

 of God, we might at this very time fear her approach- 

 ing downfall. " But nothing is more powerful than 

 the Church " they are the words of St. Chrysostom 

 ' ' the Church is stronger than heaven itself. ' Heaven 

 and earth shallpass away ; but My words shall not 

 pass away.' What words are these? 'Thou art 

 Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church : 

 and the gates of ^hell shall not prevail against it.'" 

 (Homil., ante exil., n. 1.) 



And although the city of the Lord of hosts, the city 

 of our God, rests on a foundation that shall never be 

 overthrown ; yet when we see, and in our inmost heart 

 grieve over, so vast an accumulation of ills, and the ruin 

 of so many souls, to avert which we would willingly 

 lay down our life ; as we exercise on earth the office 

 of the eternal pastor, and therefore must needs be 

 more inflamed than others with zeal for the house of 

 God : we deemed ourselves bound to adopt that course 

 which offered most hope of healing the many wounds 

 of the Church. And often turning in our mind that 



word of the Prophet Isaias, Take counsel, gather a 

 council ; " and considering that this remedy had often 

 been successfully employed by our predecessors in 

 the utmost extremity of the Christian Church : after 

 long-continued prayers ; after hearing the counsel of 

 our venerable brethren the cardinals of the holy Ko- 

 man Church, and after learning the desires of many 

 holy bishops, we have thought right to summon you, 

 venerable brethren, who are the salt of the earth, the 

 guardians and pastors of the flock of the Lord, to as- 

 semble at this See of Peter ; and on this day, through 

 the gracious providence of God, who has removed all 



cele- 

 opening of 



_ ous p: _ 



that might hinder our great undertaking, w r e 

 brate, with the ancient solemn rites, the openi 

 pur holy congregation. So various and so abundant 

 is the feeling of love, venerable brethren, which we 

 experience at this time, that we are unable to retain 

 it in our breast. For seeing you, we imagine that wo 

 behold the whole Catholic family, our own most dear 

 children, gathered around us. We think of the many 

 pledges of love, of the many outbursts of fervent 

 hearts by which, at your suggestion, under your 

 guidance, and by your example, our children have 

 shown and continue to show, such admirable respect 

 and affection for us and for this Apostolic See ; and 

 full of this thought we cannot in this most honorable 

 assembly, wherein you are gathered together, refrain 

 from a solemn and public profession of our great 

 gratitude to them all ; and we most earnestly beseech 

 God that the trial of their faith, much more precious 

 than gold, may be found unto praise, and glory, and 

 honor, at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Peter ix. 7). 

 We think also of the wretched fate of so many men 

 who are led astray and wander far from the way of 

 truth and justice, and therefore of true happiness ; 

 and with desire we desire to help and save them,, re- 

 membering the example of our Divine Eedeemer and 

 Master Jesus, who came to seek r and to save that 

 which was lost. Moreover, our eyes are turned to 

 this monument raised to the honor of the prince of 

 the Apostles in which we stand : they are turned on 

 this cherished city, which, by the loving-kindness 

 of God, has not been delivered over as a spoil to the 

 nations ; they are turned on this Koman people, so 

 dear to us, by whose love, fidelity, and reverence, we 

 are always surrounded, and we are moved to extol 

 the goodness of God, who has been pleased at this 

 season more and more to assure to us the hope of 

 His divine protection. But our thoughts, venerable 

 brethren, dwell chiefly upon you, whose care, earnest- 

 ness, and concord, we now perceive to be of so great 

 importance for promoting the glory of God: we 

 notice the burning zeal which you have brought to 

 the fulfilment of your task, and in particular that ad- 

 mirable and most close union which exists between 

 all of you and us and this Apostolic See ; than which 

 union, in this season more even than in all our former 

 afflictions, nothing can be more grateful to us, noth- 

 ing more beneficial to the Church; and we rejoice 

 venemently in the Lord to see such dispositions in 

 you, that we are forced to conceive a sure and well- 

 founded hope of most rich and excellent fruits to be 

 obtained from your coming together in this present 

 Council. Never heretofore, perhaps, was^war waged 

 with more determination and more cunning against 

 the kingdom of God ; and never was there more need 

 of that close union between the priests of the Lord 

 and the supreme shepherd of His flock, which im- 

 parts so wonderful strength to the Church- and, 

 through the peculiar care pf God, and through your 

 excellent dispositions, this union has been main- 

 tained without breach ; so that it has become, and 

 we trust will daily more and more become, a spec- 

 tacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 



Wherefore, venerable brethren, be strong in the 

 Lord ; and in the name of the most holy Trinity, be 

 sanctified in truth (John xvii. 19) ; put on the whole 

 armor of light, and join with us in teaching the way, 

 the truth, and the life, for which men, so long the vic- 

 tims of countless disorders, must now needs yearn ; 



