HUMANUM GENUS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON FREEMASONRY
APRIL 20, 1884
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops of the Catholic World in Grace and
Communion with the Apostolic See.
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator
and the Giver of heavenly gifts, "through the envy of the
devil," separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of
which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other
of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The
one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of
Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united
with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and
His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire
will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and
control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader
and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and
eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of
God, and many aims also against God.
2. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described
after the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because
striving for contrary objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed
the efficient cause of each in these words: "Two loves formed
two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God,
an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self,
a heavenly one."1 At every period of time each has been in
conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons
and of warfare, although not always with equal ardor and assault.
At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining
together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or
assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association
called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret of their purposes,
they are now boldly rising up against God Himself. They are planning
the destruction of holy Church publicly and openly, and this with
the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations of Christendom,
if it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us through Jesus
Christ our Saviour. Lamenting these evils, We are constrained by
the charity which urges Our heart to cry out often to God: "For
lo, Thy enemies have made a noise; and they that hate Thee have
lifted up the head. They have taken a malicious counsel against
Thy people, and they have consulted against Thy saints. They have
said, `come, and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation.’” 2
3. At so urgent a crisis, when so fierce and so pressing an onslaught
is made upon the Christian name, it is Our office to point out
the danger, to mark who are the adversaries, and to the best of
Our power to make head against their plans and devices, that those
may not perish whose salvation is committed to Us, and that the
kingdom of Jesus Christ entrusted to Our charge may not stand and
remain whole, but may be enlarged by an ever-increasing growth
throughout the world.
4. The Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors, in their incessant watchfulness
over the safety of the Christian people, were prompt in detecting
the presence and the purpose of this capital enemy immediately
it sprang into the light instead of hiding as a dark conspiracy;
and, moreover, they took occasion with true foresight to give,
as it were on their guard, and not allow themselves to he caught
by the devices and snares laid out to deceive them.
5. The first warning of the danger was given by Clement XII in
the year l738, 3 and his constitution was confirmed and renewed
by Benedict XIV. 4 Pius VII followed the same path; 5 and Leo XII,
by his apostolic constitution, Quo Graviora, 6 put together the
acts and decrees of former Pontiffs on this subject, and ratified
and confirmed them forever. In the same sense spoke Pius VIII,
7 Gregory XVI, 8 and, many times over, Pius IX. 9
6. For as soon as the constitution and the spirit of the masonic
sect were clearly discovered by manifest signs of its actions,
by the investigation of its causes, by publication of its laws,
and of its rites and commentaries, with the addition often of the
personal testimony of those who were in the secret, this apostolic
see denounced the sect of the Freemasons, and publicly declared
its constitution, as contrary to law and right, to be pernicious
no less to Christiandom than to the State; and it forbade any one
to enter the society, under the penalties which the Church is wont
to inflict upon exceptionally guilty persons. The sectaries, indignant
at this, thinking to elude or to weaken the force of these decrees,
partly by contempt of them, and partly by calumny, accused the
sovereign Pontiffs who had passed them either of exceeding the
bounds of moderation in their decrees or of decreeing what was
not just. This was the manner in which they endeavored to elude
the authority and the weight of the apostolic constitutions of
Clement XII and Benedict XIV, as well as of Pius VII and Pius IX.
10 Yet, in the very society itself, there were to be found men
who unwillingly acknowledged that the Roman Pontiffs had acted
within their right, according to the Catholic doctrine and discipline.
The Pontiffs received the same assent, and in strong terms, from
many princes and heads of governments, who made it their business
either to delate the masonic society to the apostolic see, or of
their own accord by special enactments to brand it as pernicious,
as, for example, in Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Bavaria,
Savoy, and other parts of Italy.
7. But, what is of highest importance, the course of events has
demonstrated the prudence of Our predecessors. For their provident
and paternal solicitude had not always and every where the result
desired; and this, either because of the simulation and cunning
of some who were active agents in the mischief, or else of the
thoughtless levity of the rest who ought, in their own interest,
to have given to the matter their diligent attention. In consequence,
the sect of Freemasons grew with a rapidity beyond conception in
the course of a century and a half, until it came to be able, by
means of fraud or of audacity, to gain such entrance into every
rank of the State as to seem to be almost its ruling power. This
swift and formidable advance has brought upon the Church, upon
the power of princes, upon the public well-being, precisely that
grievous harm which Our predecessors had long before foreseen.
Such a condition has been reached that henceforth there will be
grave reason to fear, not indeed for the Church -- for her foundation
is much too firm to be overturned by the effort of men -- but for
those States in which prevails the power, either of the sect of
which we are speaking or of other sects not dissimilar which lend
themselves to it as disciples and subordinates.
8. For these reasons We no sooner came to the helm of the Church
than We clearly saw and felt it to be Our duty to use Our authority
to the very utmost against so vast an evil. We have several times
already, as occasion served, attacked certain chief points of teaching
which showed in a special manner the perverse influence of Masonic
opinions. Thus, in Our encyclical letter, Quod Apostolici Muneris,
We endeavored to refute the monstrous doctrines of the socialists
and communists; afterwards, in another beginning "Arcanum," We
took pains to defend and explain the true and genuine idea of domestic
life, of which marriage is the spring and origin; and again, in
that which begins "Diuturnum," 11 We described the ideal
of political government conformed to the principles of Christian
wisdom, which is marvelously in harmony, on the one hand, with
the natural order of things, and, in the other, with the well-being
of both sovereign princes and of nations. It is now Our intention,
following the example of Our predecessors, directly to treat of
the masonic society itself, of its whole teaching, of its aims,
and of its manner of thinking and acting, in order to bring more
and more into the light its power for evil, and to do what We can
to arrest the contagion of this fatal plague.
9. There are several organized bodies which, though differing
in name, in ceremonial, in form and origin, are nevertheless so
bound together by community of purpose and by the similarity of
their main opinions, as to make in fact one thing with the sect
of the Freemasons, which is a kind of center whence they all go
forth, and whither they all return. Now, these no longer show a
desire to remain concealed; for they hold their meetings in the
daylight and before the public eye, and publish their own newspaper
organs; and yet, when thoroughly understood, they are found still
to retain the nature and the habits of secret societies. There
are many things like mysteries which it is the fixed rule to hide
with extreme care, not only from strangers, but from very many
members, also; such as their secret and final designs, the names
of the chief leaders, and certain secret and inner meetings, as
well as their decisions, and the ways and means of carrying them
out. This is, no doubt, the object of the manifold difference among
the members as to right, office, and privilege, of the received
distinction of orders and grades, and of that severe discipline
which is maintained.
Candidates are generally commanded to promise -- nay, with a special
oath, to swear -- that they will never, to any person, at any time
or in any way, make known the members, the passes, or the subjects
discussed. Thus, with a fraudulent external appearance, and with
a style of simulation which is always the same, the Freemasons,
like the Manichees of old, strive, as far as possible, to conceal
themselves, and to admit no witnesses but their own members. As
a convenient manner of concealment, they assume the character of
literary men and scholars associated for purposes of learning.
They speak of their zeal for a more cultured refinement, and of
their love for the poor; and they declare their one wish to be
the amelioration of the condition of the masses, and to share with
the largest possible number all the benefits of civil life. Were
these purposes aimed at in real truth, they are by no means the
whole of their object. Moreover, to be enrolled, it is necessary
that the candidates promise and undertake to be thenceforward strictly
obedient to their leaders and masters with the utmost submission
and fidelity, and to be in readiness to do their bidding upon the
slightest expression of their will; or, if disobedient, to submit
to the direst penalties and death itself. As a fact, if any are
judged to have betrayed the doings of the sect or to have resisted
commands given, punishment is inflicted on them not infrequently,
and with so much audacity and dexterity that the assassin very
often escapes the detection and penalty of his crime.
10. But to simulate and wish to lie hid; to bind men like slaves
in the very tightest bonds, and without giving any sufficient reason;
to make use of men enslaved to the will of another for any arbitrary
act; to arm men's right hands for bloodshed after securing impunity
for the crime -- all this is an enormity from which nature recoils.
Wherefore, reason and truth itself make it plain that the society
of which we are speaking is in antagonism with justice and natural
uprightness. And this becomes still plainer, inasmuch as other
arguments, also, and those very manifest, prove that it is essentially
opposed to natural virtue. For, no matter how great may be men's
cleverness in concealing and their experience in lying, it is impossible
to prevent the effects of any cause from showing, in some way,
the intrinsic nature of the cause whence they come. "A good
tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree produce good fruit." 12
Now, the masonic sect produces fruits that are pernicious and of
the bitterest savor. For, from what We have above most clearly
shown, that which is their ultimate purpose forces itself into
view -- namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and
political order of the world which the Christian teaching has produced,
and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with
their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from
mere naturalism.
11. What We have said, and are about to say, must be understood
of the sect of the Freemasons taken generically, and in so far
as it comprises the associations kindred to it and confederated
with it, but not of the individual members of them. There may be
persons amongst these, and not a few who, although not free from
the guilt of having entangled themselves in such associations,
yet are neither themselves partners in their criminal acts nor
aware of the ultimate object which they are endeavoring to attain.
In the same way, some of the affiliated societies, perhaps, by
no means approve of the extreme conclusions which they would, if
consistent, embrace as necessarily following from their common
principles, did not their very foulness strike them with horror.
Some of these, again, are led by circumstances of times and places
either to aim at smaller things than the others usually attempt
or than they themselves would wish to attempt. They are not, however,
for this reason, to be reckoned as alien to the masonic federation;
for the masonic federation is to be judged not so much by the things
which it has done, or brought to completion, as by the sum of its
pronounced opinions.
12. Now, the fundamental doctrine of the naturalists, which they
sufficiently make known by their very name, is that human nature
and human reason ought in all things to be mistress and guide.
Laying this down, they care little for duties to God, or pervert
them by erroneous and vague opinions. For they deny that anything
has been taught by God; they allow no dogma of religion or truth
which cannot be understood by the human intelligence, nor any teacher
who ought to be believed by reason of his authority. And since
it is the special and exclusive duty of the Catholic Church fully
to set forth in words truths divinely received, to teach, besides
other divine helps to salvation, the authority of its office, and
to defend the same with perfect purity, it is against the Church
that the rage and attack of the enemies are principally directed.
13. In those matters which regard religion let it be seen how
the sect of the Freemasons acts, especially where it is more free
to act without restraint, and then let any one judge whether in
fact it does not wish to carry out the policy of the naturalists.
By a long and persevering labor, they endeavor to bring about this
result -- namely, that the teaching office and authority of the
Church may become of no account in the civil State; and for this
same reason they declare to the people and contend that Church
and State ought to be altogether disunited. By this means they
reject from the laws and from the commonwealth the wholesome influence
of the Catholic religion; and they consequently imagine that States
ought to be constituted without any regard for the laws and precepts
of the Church.
14. Nor do they think it enough to disregard the Church -- the
best of guides -- unless they also injure it by their hostility.
Indeed, with them it is lawful to attack with impunity the very
foundations of the Catholic religion, in speech, in writing, and
in teaching; and even the rights of the Church are not spared,
and the offices with which it is divinely invested are not safe.
The least possible liberty to manage affairs is left to the Church;
and this is done by laws not apparently very hostile, but in reality
framed and fitted to hinder freedom of action. Moreover, We see
exceptional and onerous laws imposed upon the clergy, to the end
that they may be continually diminished in number and in necessary
means. We see also the remnants of the possessions of the Church
fettered by the strictest conditions, and subjected to the power
and arbitrary will of the administrators of the State, and the
religious orders rooted up and scattered.
15. But against the apostolic see and the Roman Pontiff the contention
of these enemies has been for a long time directed. The Pontiff
was first, for specious reasons, thrust out from the bulwark of
his liberty and of his right, the civil princedom; soon, he was
unjustly driven into a condition which was unbearable because of
the difficulties raised on all sides; and now the time has come
when the partisans of the sects openly declare, what in secret
among themselves they have for a long time plotted, that the sacred
power of the Pontiffs must be abolished, and that the papacy itself,
founded by divine right, must be utterly destroyed. If other proofs
were wanting, this fact would be sufficiently disclosed by the
testimony of men well informed, of whom some at other times, and
others again recently, have declared it to be true of the Freemasons
that they especially desire to assail the Church with irreconcilable
hostility, and that they will never rest until they have destroyed
whatever the supreme Pontiffs have established for the sake of
religion.
16. If those who are admitted as members are not commanded to
abjure by any form of words the Catholic doctrines, this omission,
so far from being adverse to the designs of the Freemasons, is
more useful for their purposes. First, in this way they easily
deceive the simple-minded and the heedless, and can induce a far
greater number to become members. Again, as all who offer themselves
are received whatever may be their form of religion, they thereby
teach the great error of this age -- that a regard for religion
should be held as an indifferent matter, and that all religions
are alike. This manner of reasoning is calculated to bring about
the ruin of all forms of religion, and especially of the Catholic
religion, which, as it is the only one that is true, cannot, without
great injustice, be regarded as merely equal to other religions.
17. But the naturalists go much further; for having, in the highest
things, entered upon a wholly erroneous course, they are carried
headlong to extremes, either by reason of the weakness of human
nature, or because God inflicts upon them the just punishment of
their pride. Hence it happens that they no longer consider as certain
and permanent those things which are fully understood by the natural
light of reason, such as certainly are -- the existence of God,
the immaterial nature of the human soul, and its immortality. The
sect of the Freemasons, by a similar course of error, is exposed
to these same dangers; for, although in a general way they may
profess the existence of God, they themselves are witnesses that
they do not all maintain this truth with the full assent of the
mind or with a firm conviction. Neither do they conceal that this
question about God is the greatest source and cause of discords
among them; in fact, it is certain that a considerable contention
about this same subject has existed among them very lately. But,
indeed, the sect allows great liberty to its votaries, so that
to each side is given the right to defend its own opinion, either
that there is a God, or that there is none; and those who obstinately
contend that there is no God are as easily initiated as those who
contend that God exists, though, like the pantheists, they have
false notions concerning Him: all which is nothing else than taking
away the reality, while retaining some absurd representation of
the divine nature.
18. When this greatest fundamental truth has been overturned or
weakened, it follows that those truths, also, which are known by
the teaching of nature must begin to fall -- namely, that all things
were made by the free will of God the Creator; that the world is
governed by Providence; that souls do not die; that to this life
of men upon the earth there will succeed another and an everlasting
life.
19. When these truths are done away with, which are as the principles
of nature and important for knowledge and for practical use, it
is easy to see what will become of both public and private morality.
We say nothing of those more heavenly virtues, which no one can
exercise or even acquire without a special gift and grace of God;
of which necessarily no trace can be found in those who reject
as unknown the redemption of mankind, the grace of God, the sacraments,
and the happiness to be obtained in heaven. We speak now of the
duties which have their origin in natural probity. That God is
the Creator of the world and its provident Ruler; that the eternal
law commands the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that
it be disturbed; that the last end of men is a destiny far above
human things and beyond this sojourning upon the earth: these are
the sources and these the principles of all justice and morality.
If these be taken away, as the naturalists and Freemasons desire,
there will immediately be no knowledge as to what constitutes justice
and injustice, or upon what principle morality is founded. And,
in truth, the teaching of morality which alone finds favor with
the sect of Freemasons, and in which they contend that youth should
be instructed, is that which they call "civil," and "independent," and "free," namely,
that which does not contain any religious belief. But, how insufficient
such teaching is, how wanting in soundness, and how easily moved
by every impulse of passion, is sufficiently proved by its sad
fruits, which have already begun to appear. For, wherever, by removing
Christian education, this teaching has begun more completely to
rule, there goodness and integrity of morals have begun quickly
to perish, monstrous and shameful opinions have grown up, and the
audacity of evil deeds has risen to a high degree. All this is
commonly complained of and deplored; and not a few of those who
by no means wish to do so are compelled by abundant evidence to
give not infrequently the same testimony.
20. Moreover, human nature was stained by original sin, and is
therefore more disposed to vice than to virtue. For a virtuous
life it is absolutely necessary to restrain the disorderly movements
of the soul, and to make the passions obedient to reason. In this
conflict human things must very often be despised, and the greatest
labors and hardships must be undergone, in order that reason may
always hold its sway. But the naturalists and Freemasons, having
no faith in those things which we have learned by the revelation
of God, deny that our first parents sinned, and consequently think
that free will is not at all weakened and inclined to evil. 13
On the contrary, exaggerating rather the power and the excellence
of nature, and placing therein alone the principle and rule of
justice, they cannot even imagine that there is any need at all
of a constant struggle and a perfect steadfastness to overcome
the violence and rule of our passions.
Wherefore we see that men are publicly tempted by the many allurements
of pleasure; that there are journals and pamphlets with neither
moderation nor shame; that stage-plays are remarkable for license;
that designs for works of art are shamelessly sought in the laws
of a so-called realism; that the contrivances of a soft and delicate
life are most carefully devised; and that all the blandishments
of pleasure are diligently sought out by which virtue may be lulled
to sleep. Wickedly, also, but at the same time quite consistently,
do those act who do away with the expectation of the joys of heaven,
and bring down all happiness to the level of mortality, and, as
it were, sink it in the earth. Of what We have said the following
fact, astonishing not so much in itself as in its open expression,
may serve as a confirmation. For, since generally no one is accustomed
to obey crafty and clever men so submissively as those whose soul
is weakened and broken down by the domination of the passions,
there have been in the sect of the Freemasons some who have plainly
determined and proposed that, artfully and of set purpose, the
multitude should be satiated with a boundless license of vice,
as, when this had been done, it would easily come under their power
and authority for any acts of daring.
21. What refers to domestic life in the teaching of the naturalists
is almost all contained in the following declarations: that marriage
belongs to the genus of commercial contracts, which can rightly
be revoked by the will of those who made them, and that the civil
rulers of the State have power over the matrimonial bond; that
in the education of youth nothing is to he taught in the matter
of religion as of certain and fixed opinion; and each one must
he left at liberty to follow, when he comes of age, whatever he
may prefer. To these things the Freemasons fully assent; and not
only assent, but have long endeavored to make them into a law and
institution. For in many countries, and those nominally Catholic,
it is enacted that no marriages shall be considered lawful except
those contracted by the civil rite; in other places the law permits
divorce; and in others every effort is used to make it lawful as
soon as may be. Thus, the time is quickly coming when marriages
will be turned into another kind of contract -- that is into changeable
and uncertain unions which fancy may join together, and which the
same when changed may disunite.
With the greatest unanimity the sect of the Freemasons also endeavors
to take to itself the education of youth. They think that they
can easily mold to their opinions that soft and pliant age, and
bend it whither they will; and that nothing can be more fitted
than this to enable them to bring up the youth of the State after
their own plan. Therefore, in the education and instruction of
children they allow no share, either of teaching or of discipline,
to the ministers of the Church; and in many places they have procured
that the education of youth shall he exclusively in the hands of
laymen, and that nothing which treats of the most important and
most holy duties of men to God shall be introduced into the instructions
on morals.
22. Then come their doctrines of politics, in which the naturalists
lay down that all men have the same right, and are in every respect
of equal and like condition; that each one is naturally free; that
no one has the right to command another; that it is an act of violence
to require men to obey any authority other than that which is obtained
from themselves. According to this, therefore, all things belong
to the free people; power is held by the command or permission
of the people, so that, when the popular will changes, rulers may
lawfully be deposed and the source of all rights and civil duties
is either in the multitude or in the governing authority when this
is constituted according to the latest doctrines. It is held also
that the State should be without God; that in the various forms
of religion there is no reason why one should have precedence of
another; and that they are all to occupy the same place.
23. That these doctrines are equally acceptable to the Freemasons,
and that they would wish to constitute States according to this
example and model, is too well known to require proof. For some
time past they have openly endeavored to bring this about with
all their strength and resources; and in this they prepare the
way for not a few holder men who are hurrying on even to worse
things, in their endeavor to obtain equality and community of all
goods by the destruction of every distinction of rank and property.
24. What, therefore, sect of the Freemasons is, and what course
it pursues, appears sufficiently from the summary. We have briefly
given. Their chief dogmas are so greatly and manifestly at variance
with reason that nothing can be more perverse. To wish to destroy
the religion and the Church which God Himself has established,
and whose perpetuity He insures by His protection, and to bring
back after a lapse of eighteen centuries the manners and customs
of the pagans, is signal folly and audacious impiety. Neither is
it less horrible nor more tolerable that they should repudiate
the benefits which Jesus Christ so mercifully obtained, not only
for individuals, but also for the family and for civil society,
benefits which, even according to the judgment and testimony of
enemies of Christianity, are very great. In this insane and wicked
endeavor we may almost see the implacable hatred and spirit of
revenge with which Satan himself is inflamed against Jesus Christ.--
So also the studious endeavor of the Freemasons to destroy the
chief foundations of justice and honesty, and to co-operate with
those who would wish, as if they were mere animals, to do what
they please, tends only to the ignominious and disgraceful ruin
of the human race.
The evil, too, is increased by the dangers which threaten both
domestic and civil society. As We have elsewhere shown, 14 in marriage,
according to the belief of almost every nation, there is something
sacred and religious; and the law of God has determined that marriages
shall not be dissolved. If they are deprived of their sacred character,
and made dissoluble, trouble and confusion in the family will be
the result, the wife being deprived of her dignity and the children
left without protection as to their interests and well being.--
To have in public matters no care for religion, and in the arrangement
and administration of civil affairs to have no more regard for
God than if He did not exist, is a rashness unknown to the very
pagans; for in their heart and soul the notion of a divinity and
the need of public religion were so firmly fixed that they would
have thought it easier to have a city without foundation than a
city without God. Human society, indeed for which by nature we
are formed, has been constituted by God the Author of nature; and
from Him, as from their principle and source, flow in all their
strength and permanence the countless benefits with which society
abounds. As we are each of us admonished by the very voice of nature
to worship God in piety and holiness, as the Giver unto us of life
and of all that is good therein, so also and for the same reason,
nations and States are bound to worship Him; and therefore it is
clear that those who would absolve society from all religious duty
act not only unjustly but also with ignorance and folly.
25. As men are by the will of God born for civil union and society,
and as the power to rule is so necessary a bond of society that,
if it be taken away, society must at once be broken up, it follows
that from Him who is the Author of society has come also the authority
to rule; so that whosoever rules, he is the minister of God. Wherefore,
as the end and nature of human society so requires, it is right
to obey the just commands of lawful authority, as it is right to
obey God who ruleth all things; and it is most untrue that the
people have it in their power to cast aside their obedience whensoever
they please.
26. In like manner, no one doubts that all men are equal one to
another, so far as regards their common origin and nature, or the
last end which each one has to attain, or the rights and duties
which are thence derived. But, as the abilities of all are not
equal, as one differs from another in the powers of mind or body,
and as there are very many dissimilarities of manner, disposition,
and character, it is most repugnant to reason to endeavor to confine
all within the same measure, and to extend complete equality to
the institutions of civil life. Just as a perfect condition of
the body results from the conjunction and composition of its various
members, which, though differing in form and purpose, make, by
their union and the distribution of each one to its proper place,
a combination beautiful to behold, firm in strength, and necessary
for use; so, in the commonwealth, there is an almost infinite dissimilarity
of men, as parts of the whole. If they are to be all equal, and
each is to follow his own will, the State will appear most deformed;
but if, with a distinction of degrees of dignity, of pursuits and
employments, all aptly conspire for the common good, they will
present the image of a State both well constituted and conformable
to nature.
27. Now, from the disturbing errors which We have described the
greatest dangers to States are to be feared. For, the fear of God
and reverence for divine laws being taken away, the authority of
rulers despised, sedition permitted and approved, and the popular
passions urged on to lawlessness, with no restraint save that of
punishment, a change and overthrow of all things will necessarily
follow. Yea, this change and overthrow is deliberately planned
and put forward by many associations of communists and socialists;
and to their undertakings the sect of Freemasons is not hostile,
but greatly favors their designs, and holds in common with them
their chief opinions. And if these men do not at once and everywhere
endeavor to carry out their extreme views, it is not to be attributed
to their teaching and their will, but to the virtue of that divine
religion which cannot be destroyed; and also because the sounder
part of men, refusing to be enslaved to secret societies, vigorously
resist their insane attempts.
28. Would that all men would judge of the tree by its fruit, and
would acknowledge the seed and origin of the evils which press
upon us, and of the dangers that are impending! We have to deal
with a deceitful and crafty enemy, who, gratifying the ears of
people and of princes, has ensnared them by smooth speeches and
by adulation. Ingratiating themselves with rulers under a pretense
of friendship, the Freemasons have endeavored to make them their
allies and powerful helpers for the destruction of the Christian
name; and that they might more strongly urge them on, they have,
with determined calumny, accused the Church of invidiously contending
with rulers in matters that affect their authority and sovereign
power. Having, by these artifices, insured their own safety and
audacity, they have begun to exercise great weight in the government
of States; but nevertheless they are prepared to shake the foundations
of empires, to harass the rulers of the State, to accuse, and to
cast them out, as often as they appear to govern otherwise than
they themselves could have wished. In like manner, they have by
flattery deluded the people. Proclaiming with a loud voice liberty
and public prosperity, and saying that it was owing to the Church
and to sovereigns that the multitude were not drawn out of their
unjust servitude and poverty, they have imposed upon the people,
and, exciting them by a thirst for novelty, they have urged them
to assail both the Church and the civil power. Nevertheless, the
expectation of the benefits which was hoped for is greater than
the reality; indeed, the common people, more oppressed than they
were before, are deprived in their misery of that solace which,
if things had been arranged in a Christian manner, they would have
had with ease and in abundance. But, whoever strive against the
order which Divine Providence has constituted pay usually the penalty
of their pride, and meet with affliction and misery where they
rashly hoped to find all things prosperous and in conformity with
their desires.
29. The Church, if she directs men to render obedience chiefly
and above all to God the sovereign Lord, is wrongly and falsely
believed either to be envious of the civil power or to arrogate
to herself something of the rights of sovereigns. On the contrary,
she teaches that what is rightly due to the civil power must be
rendered to it with a conviction and consciousness of duty. In
teaching that from God Himself comes the right of ruling, she adds
a great dignity to civil authority, and on small help towards obtaining
the obedience and good-will of the citizens. The friend of peace
and sustainer of concord, she embraces all with maternal love;
and, intent only upon giving help to mortal man, she teaches that
to justice must be joined clemency, equity to authority, and moderation
to lawgiving; that no one's right must be violated; that order
and public tranquility are to he maintained; and that the poverty
of those are in need is, as far as possible, to be relieved by
public and private charity. "But for this reason," to
use the words of St. Augustine, "men think, or would have
it believed, that Christian teaching is not suited to the good
of the State; for they wish the State to be founded not on solid
virtue, but on the impunity of vice." 15 Knowing these things,
both princes and people would act with political wisdom, 16 and
according to the needs of general safety, if, instead of joining
with Freemasons to destroy the Church, they joined with the Church
in repelling their attacks.
30. Whatever the future may be, in this grave and widespread evil
it is Our duty, venerable brethren, to endeavor to find a remedy.
And because We know that Our best and firmest hope of a remedy
is in the power of that divine religion which the Freemasons hate
in proportion to their fear of it, We think it to be of chief importance
to call that most saving power to Our aid against the common enemy.
Therefore, whatsoever the Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors have
decreed for the purpose of opposing the undertakings and endeavors
of the masonic sect, and whatsoever they have enacted to enter
or withdraw men from societies of this kind, We ratify and confirm
it all by our apostolic authority: and trusting greatly to the
good will of Christians, We pray and beseech each one, for the
sake of his eternal salvation, to be most conscientiously careful
not in the least to depart from what the apostolic see has commanded
in this matter.
31. We pray and beseech you, venerable brethren, to join your
efforts with Ours, and earnestly to strive for the extirpation
of this foul plague, which is creeping through the veins of the
body politic. You have to defend the glory of God and the salvation
of your neighbor; and with the object of your strife before you,
neither courage nor strength will be wanting. It will be for your
prudence to judge by what means you can best overcome the difficulties
and obstacles you meet with. But, as it befits the authority of
Our office that We Ourselves should point out some suitable way
of proceeding, We wish it to be your rule first of all to tear
away the mask from Freemasonry, and to let it be seen as it really
is; and by sermons and pastoral letters to instruct the people
as to the artifices used by societies of this kind in seducing
men and enticing them into their ranks, and as to the depravity
of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts. As Our predecessors
have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any
reason whatsoever join the masonic sect, if he values his Catholic
name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them. Let no
one be deceived by a pretense of honesty. It may seem to some that
Freemasons demand nothing that is openly contrary to religion and
morality; but, as the whole principle and object of the sect lies
in what is vicious and criminal, to join with these men or in any
way to help them cannot be lawful.
32. Further, by assiduous teaching and exhortation, the multitude
must be drawn to learn diligently the precepts of religion; for
which purpose we earnestly advise that by opportune writings and
sermons they be taught the elements of those sacred truths in which
Christian philosophy is contained. The result of this will be that
the minds of men will be made sound by instruction, and will be
protected against many forms of error and inducements to wickedness,
especially in the present unbounded freedom of writing and insatiable
eagerness for learning.
33. Great, indeed, is the work; but in it the clergy will share
your labors, if, through your care, they are fitted for it by learning
and a well-turned life. This good and great work requires to be
helped also by the industry of those amongst the laity in whom
a love of religion and of country is joined to learning and goodness
of life. By uniting the efforts of both clergy and laity, strive,
venerable brethren, to make men thoroughly know and love the Church;
for, the greater their knowledge and love of the Church, the more
will they be turned away from clandestine societies.
34. Wherefore, not without cause do We use this occasion to state
again what We have stated elsewhere, namely, that the Third Order
of St. Francis, whose discipline We a little while ago prudently
mitigated, 16 should be studiously promoted and sustained; for
the whole object of this Order, as constituted by its founder,
is to invite men to an imitation of Jesus Christ, to a love of
the Church, and to the observance of all Christian virtues; and
therefore it ought to be of great influence in suppressing the
contagion of wicked societies. Let, therefore, this holy sodality
be strengthened by a daily increase. Amongst the many benefits
to be expected from it will be the great benefit of drawing the
minds of men to liberty, fraternity, and equality of right; not
such as the Freemasons absurdly imagine, but such as Jesus Christ
obtained for the human race and St. Francis aspired to: the liberty,
We mean, of sons of God, through which we may be free from slavery
to Satan or to our passions, both of them most wicked masters;
the fraternity whose origin is in God, the common Creator and Father
of all; the equality which, founded on justice and charity, does
not take away all distinctions among men, but, out of the varieties
of life, of duties, and of pursuits, forms that union and that
harmony which naturally tend to the benefit and dignity of society.
35. In the third place, there is a matter wisely instituted by
our forefathers, but in course of time laid aside, which may now
be used as a pattern and form of something similar. We mean the
associations of guilds of workmen, for the protection, under the
guidance of religion, both of their temporal interests and of their
morality. If our ancestors, by long use and experience, felt the
benefit of these guilds, our age perhaps will feel it the more
by reason of the opportunity which they will give of crushing the
power of the sects. Those who support themselves by the labor of
their hands, besides being, by their very condition most worthy
above all others of charity and consolation, are also especially
exposed to the allurements of men whose ways lie in fraud and deceit.
Therefore, they ought to be helped with the greatest possible kindness,
and to be invited to join associations that are good, lest they
be drawn away to others that are evil. For this reason, We greatly
wish, for the salvation of the people, that, under the auspices
and patronage of the bishops, and at convenient times, these gilds
may be generally restored. To Our great delight, sodialities of
this kind and also associations of masters have in many places
already been established, having, each class of them, for their
object to help the honest workman, to protect and guard his children
and family, and to promote in them piety, Christian knowledge,
and a moral life. And in this matter We cannot omit mentioning
that exemplary society, named after its founder, St. Vincent, which
has deserved so well of the lower classes. Its acts and its aims
are well known. Its whole object is to give relief to the poor
and miserable. This it does with singular prudence and modesty;
and the less it wishes to be seen, the better is it fitted for
the exercise of Christian charity, and for the relief of suffering.
36. In the fourth place, in order more easily to attain what We
wish, to your fidelity and watchfulness We commend in a special
manner the young, as being the hope of human society. Devote the
greatest part of your care to their instruction; and do not think
that any precaution can be great enough in keeping them from masters
and schools whence the pestilent breath of the sects is to be feared.
Under your guidance, let parents, religious instructors, and priests
having the cure of souls use every opportunity, in their Christian
teaching, of warning their children and pupils of the infamous
nature of these societies, so that they may learn in good time
to beware of the various and fraudulent artifices by which their
promoters are accustomed to ensnare people. And those who instruct
the young in religious knowledge will act wisely if they induce
all of them to resolve and to undertake never to bind themselves
to any society without the knowledge of their parents, or the advice
of their parish priest or director.
37. We well know, however, that our united labors will by no means
suffice to pluck up these pernicious seeds from the Lord's field,
unless the Heavenly Master of the vineyard shall mercifully help
us in our endeavors. We must, therefore, with great and anxious
care, implore of Him the help which the greatness of the danger
and of the need requires. The sect of the Freemasons shows itself
insolent and proud of its success, and seems as if it would put
no bounds to its pertinacity. Its followers, joined together by
a wicked compact and by secret counsels, give help one to another,
and excite one another to an audacity for evil things. So vehement
an attack demands an equal defense-namely, that all good men should
form the widest possible association of action and of prayer. We
beseech them, therefore, with united hearts, to stand together
and unmoved against the advancing force of the sects; and in mourning
and supplication to stretch out their hands to God, praying that
the Christian name may flourish and prosper, that the Church may
enjoy its needed liberty, that those who have gone astray may return
to a right mind, that error at length may give place to truth,
and vice to virtue. Let us take our helper and intercessor the
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, so that she, who from the moment of
her conception overcame Satan may show her power over these evil
sects, in which is revived the contumacious spirit of the demon,
together with his unsubdued perfidy and deceit. Let us beseech
Michael, the prince of the heavenly angels, who drove out the infernal
foe; and Joseph, the spouse of the most holy Virgin, and heavenly
patron of the Catholic Church; and the great Apostles, Peter and
Paul, the fathers and victorious champions of the Christian faith.
By their patronage, and by perseverance in united prayer, we hope
that God will mercifully and opportunely succor the human race,
which is encompassed by so many dangers.
38. As a pledge of heavenly gifts and of Our benevolence, We lovingly
grant in the Lord, to you, venerable brethren, and to the clergy
and all the people committed to your watchful care, Our apostolic
benediction.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the twentieth day of April, 1884,
the sixth year of Our pontificate.
LATIN TEXT: Acta Leonis, 4: 43-70; Acta Sanctae Sedis, 16:417-33.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION: The Church Speaks to the Modern World, ed.
by Etienne Gilson (Image Books, 1954), 117-39.
REFERENCES:
1. De cit. Dei, 14, 28 (PL 41, 436).
2. Ps. 82:24.
3. Const. In Eminenti, April 24, 1738.
4. Const. Providas, May 18, 1751.
5. Const. Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo, Sept. 13, 1821.
6. Const. given March 13,1825.
7. Encyc. Traditi, May 21,1829.
8. Encyc. Mirari, August 15,1832.
9. Encyc. Qui Pluribus, Nov. 9, 1846; address Multiplices
inter, Sept. 25,1865, etc.
10. Clement XII (1730-40); Benedict XIV (1740-58); Pius VII
(1800-23); Pius IX (1846-78).
11. See nos. 79, 81, 84.
12. Matt. 7:18.
13. Trid., sess. vi, De justif., c. 1. Text of the Council
of Trent: ''tametsi in eis (sc. Judaeis) liberum arbitrium minime
extinctum esset, viribus licet attenuatum et inclinatum.
14. See Arcanum, no. 81.
15. Epistola 137, ad Volusianum, c. v, n. 20 (PL 33, 525).
16. The text here refers to the encyclical letter Auspicato
Concessum (Sept. 17, 1882), in which Pope Leo XIII had recently
glorified St. Francis of Assisi on the occasion of the seventh
centenary of his birth. In this encyclical, the Pope had presented
the Third Order of St. Francis as a Christian answer to the social
problems of the times. The constitution Misericors Dei Filius (June
23, 1883) expressly recalled that the neglect in which Christian
virtues are held is the main cause of the evils that threaten societies.
In confirming the rule of the Third Order and adapting it to the
needs of modern times, Pope Leo XIII had intended to bring back
the largest possible number of souls to the practice of these virtues.
COMMENTARIES:
"Di alcuni documenti poco noti dimostranti ci\'98 che della
setta massonica definisce la recente enciclica Humanum genus." Civilt\'88
Cattolica, ser. 12, 6 (7 maggio 1884), 406-15.
"The late encyclical and the English Masons." Tablet,
63 (May 3, 1884), 681.
Meschler, Moritz. "Die p\'8apstliche Enzyklika Humanum genus." Stimmen
aus Maria Laach, 27 (1884), 113-34.
"Mirabili effetti dell'enciclica papale Humanum genus contro
la massoneria." Civilt\'88 Cattolica, ser. 12, 6 (27 maggio
1884), 525-35.
"Ottimo provvedimento del santo padre riguardante i frammassoni." Civilta
Cattolica, ser. 12, 7 (26 giugno 1884), 35-45.
The pope and Freemasonry." Ave Maria,
20 (December 13, 1884), 993-94.
"Pope Leo and the Freemasons." Dublin
Review, 95 (July, 1884), 144-65
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