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IN PLURIMIS
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on May 5, 1888.
To the Bishops of Brazil,
Amid the many and great demonstrations of affection which from almost all
the peoples of the earth have come to Us, and are still coming to Us, in
congratulation upon the happy attainment of the fiftieth anniversary of Our
priesthood, there is one which moves Us in a quite special way. We mean one
which comes from Brazil, where, upon the occasion of this happy event,
large numbers of those who in that vast empire groan beneath the yoke of
slavery, have been legally set free. And this work, so full of the spirit
of Christian mercy, has been offered up in cooperation with the clergy, by
charitable members of the laity of both sexes, to God, the Author and Giver
of all good things, in testimony of their gratitude for the favor of the
health and the years which have been granted to Us. But this was specially
acceptable and sweet to Us because it lent confirmation to the belief,
which is so welcome to Us, that the great majority of the people of Brazil
desire to see the cruelty of slavery ended, and rooted out from the land.
This popular feeling has been strongly seconded by the emperor and his
august daughter, and also by the ministers, by means of various laws which,
with this end in view. have been introduced and sanctioned. We told the
Brazilian ambassador last January what a consolation these things were to
Us, and We also assured him that We would address letters to the bishops of
Brazil in behalf of these unhappy slaves.
2. We, indeed, to all men are the Vicar of Christ, the Son of God, who so
loved the human race that not only did He not refuse, taking our nature to
Himself, to live among men, but delighted in bearing the name of the Son of
Man, openly proclaiming that He had come upon earth "to preach deliverance
to the captives"[1] in order that, rescuing mankind from the worst slavery,
which is the slavery of sin, "he might re-establish all things that are in
heaven and on earth,"[2] and so bring back all the children of Adam from the
depths of the ruin of the common fall to their original dignity. The words
of St. Gregory the Great are very applicable here: "Since our Redeemer, the
Author of all life, deigned to take human flesh, that by the power of His
Godhood the chains by which we were held in bondage being broken, He might
restore us to our first state of liberty, it is most fitting that men by
the concession of manumission should restore to the freedom in which they
were born those whom nature sent free into the world, but who have been
condemned to the yoke of slavery by the law of nations."[3] It is right,
therefore, and obviously in keeping with Our apostolic office, that We
should favor and advance by every means in Our power whatever helps to
secure for men, whether as individuals or as communities, safeguards
against the many miseries, which, like the fruits of an evil tree, have
sprung from the sin of our first parents; and such safeguards, of whatever
kind they may be, help not only to promote civilization and the amenities
of life, but lead on to that universal restitution of all things which our
Redeemer Jesus Christ contemplated and desired.
3. In the presence of so much suffering, the condition of slavery, in which
a considerable part of the great human family has been sunk in squalor and
affliction now for many centuries, is deeply to be deplored; for the system
is one which is wholly opposed to that which was originally ordained by God
and by nature. The Supreme Author of all things so decreed that man should
exercise a sort of royal dominion over beasts and cattle and fish and fowl,
but never that men should exercise a like dominion over their fellow men.
As St. Augustine puts it: "Having created man a reasonable being, and after
His own likeness, God wished that he should rule only over the brute
creation; that he should be the master, not of men, but of beasts." From
this it follows that "the state of slavery is rightly regarded as a penalty
upon the sinner; thus, the word slave does not occur in the Bible until the
just man Noe branded with it the sin of his son. It was sin, therefore,
which deserved this name; it was not natural."[4]
4. From the first sin came all evils, and specially this perversity that
there were men who, forgetful of the original brotherhood of the race,
instead of seeking, as they should naturally have done, to promote mutual
kindness and mutual respect, following their evil desires began to think of
other men as their inferiors, and to hold them as cattle born for the yoke.
In this way, through an absolute forgetfulness of our common nature, and of
human dignity, and the likeness of God stamped upon us all, it came to pass
that in the contentions and wars which then broke out, those who were the
stronger reduced the conquered into slavery; so that mankind, though of the
same race, became divided into two sections, the conquered slaves and their
victorious masters. The history of the ancient world presents us with this
miserable spectacle down to the time of the coming of our Lord, when the
calamity of slavery had fallen heavily upon all the peoples, and the number
of freemen had become so reduced that the poet was able to put this
atrocious phrase into the mouth of Caesar: "The human race exists for the
sake of a few."[5]
5. The system flourished even among the most civilized peoples, among the
Greeks and among the Romans, with whom the few imposed their will upon the
many; and this power was exercised so unjustly and with such haughtiness
that a crowd of slaves was regarded merely as so many chattels--not as
persons, but as things. They were held to be outside the sphere of law, and
without even the claim to retain and enjoy life. "Slaves are in the power
of their masters, and this power is derived from the law of nations; for we
find that among all nations masters have the power of life and death over
their slaves, and whatever a slave earns belongs to his master."[6] Owing to
this state of moral confusion it became lawful for men to sell their
slaves, to give them in exchange, to dispose of them by will, to beat them,
to kill them, to abuse them by forcing them to serve for the gratification
of evil passions and cruel superstitions; these things could be done,
legally, with impunity, and in the light of heaven. Even those who were
wisest in the pagan world, illustrious philosophers and learned
jurisconsults, outraging the common feeling of mankind, succeeded in
persuading themselves and others that slavery was simply a necessary
condition of nature. Nor did they hesitate to assert that the slave class
was very inferior to the freemen both in intelligence and perfection of
bodily development, and therefore that slaves, as things wanting in reason
and sense, ought in all things to be the instruments of the will, however
rash and unworthy, of their masters. Such inhuman and wicked doctrines are
to be specially detested; for, when once they are accepted, there is no
form of oppression so wicked but that it will defend itself beneath some
color of legality and justice. History is full of examples showing what a
seedbed of crime, what a pest and calamity, this system has been for
states. Hatreds are excited in the breasts of the slaves, and the masters
are kept in a state of suspicion and perpetual dread; the slaves prepare to
avenge themselves with the torches of the incendiary, and the masters
continue the task of oppression with greater cruelty. States are disturbed
alternately by the number of the slaves and by the violence of the masters,
and so are easily overthrown; hence, in a word, come riots and seditions,
pillage and fire.
6. The greater part of humanity were toiling in this abyss of misery, and
were the more to be pitied because they were sunk in the darkness of
superstition, when in the fullness of time and by the designs of God, light
shone down upon the world, and the merits of Christ the Redeemer were
poured out upon mankind. By that means they were lifted out of the slough
and the distress of slavery, and recalled and brought back from the
terrible bondage of sin to their high dignity as the sons of God. Thus, the
Apostles, in the early days of the Church, among other precepts for a
devout life taught and laid down the doctrine which more than once occurs
in the Epistles of St. Paul addressed to those newly baptized: "For you are
all the children of God by faith, in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as
have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew, nor
Greek; there is neither bond, nor free; there is neither male nor female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus."[7] "Where there is neither Gentile nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor
free. But Christ is all and in all."[8] "For in one Spirit were we all
baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and
in one Spirit we have all been made to drink."[9] Golden words, indeed, noble
and wholesome lessons, whereby its old dignity is given back and with
increase to the human race, and men of whatever land or tongue of class are
bound together and joined in the strong bonds of brotherly kinship. Those
things St. Paul, with that Christian charity with which he was filled,
learned from the very heart of Him who, with much surpassing goodness, gave
Himself to be the brother of us all, and in His own person, without
omitting or excepting any one, so ennobled men that they might become
participators in the divine nature. Through this Christian charity the
various races of men were drawn together under the divine guidance in such
a wonderful way that they blossomed into a new state of hope and public
happiness; as with the progress of time and events and the constant labor
of the Church the various nations were able to gather together, Christian
and free, organized anew after the manner of a family.
7. From the beginning the Church spared no pains to make the Christian
people, in a matter of such high importance, accept and firmly hold the
true teachings of Christ and the Apostles. And now through the new Adam,
who is Christ, there is established a brotherly union between man and man,
and people and people; just as in the order of nature they all have a
common origin, so in the order which is above nature they all have one and
the same origin in salvation and faith; all alike are called to be the
adopted sons of God and the Father, who has paid the self-same ransom for
us all; we are all members of the same body, all are allowed to partake of
the same divine banquet, and offered to us all are the blessings of divine
grace and of eternal life. Having established these principles as
beginnings and foundations, the Church, like a tender mother, went on to
try to find some alleviation for the sorrows and the disgrace of the life
of the slave; with this end in view she clearly defined and strongly
enforced the rights and mutual duties of masters and slaves as they are
laid down in the letters of the Apostles. It was in these words that the
Princes of the Apostles admonished the slaves they had admitted to the fold
of Christ. "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to
the good and gentle, but also to the froward."[10] "Servants, be obedient to
them that are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in
the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ. Not serving to the eye, but as
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With a good
will serving as to the Lord, and not to men. Knowing that whatsoever good
thing any man shall do, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he
be bond or free."[11] St. Paul says the same to Timothy: "Whosoever are
servants under the yoke, let them count their masters worthy of all honor;
lest the name of the Lord and his doctrine be blasphemed. But they that
have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are
brethren, but serve them the rather, because they are faithful and beloved,
who are partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort."[12] In like
manner he commanded Titus to teach servants "to be obedient to their
masters, in all things pleasing, not gainsaying. Not defrauding, but in all
things showing good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior in all things.[13]
8. Those first disciples of the Christian faith very well understood that
this brotherly equality of all men in Christ ought in no way to diminish or
detract from the respect, honor, faithfulness, and other duties due to
those placed above them. From this many good results followed, so that
duties became at once more certain of being performed, and lighter and
pleasanter to do, and at the same time more fruitful in obtaining the glory
of heaven. Thus, they treated their masters with reverence and honor as men
clothed in the authority of Him from whom comes all power. Among these
disciples the motive of action was not the fear of punishment or any
enlightened prudence or the promptings of utility, but a consciousness of
duty and the force of charity. On the other hand, masters were wisely
counseled by the Apostle to treat their slaves with consideration in return
for their services: "And you, masters, do the same things unto them,
forbearing threatenings; knowing that the Lord both of them and you is in
heaven, and there is not respect of persons with Him."[14] They were also
told to remember that the slave had no reason to regret his lot, seeing
that he is "the freeman of the Lord," nor the freeman, seeing that he is
"the bondman of Christ,"[15] to feel proud, and to give his commands with
haughtiness. It was impressed upon masters that they ought to recognize in
their slaves their fellow men, and respect them accordingly, recognizing
that by nature they were not different from themselves, that by religion
and in relation to the majesty of their common Lord all were equal. These
precepts, so well calculated to introduce harmony among the various parts
of domestic society, were practiced by the Apostles themselves. Specially
remarkable is the case of St. Paul when he exerted himself in behalf of
Onesimus, the fugitive of Philemon, with whom, when he returned him to his
master, he sent this loving recommendation: "And do thou receive him as my
own bowels, not now as a servant, but instead of a servant a most dear
brother. . . And if he have wronged thee in anything, or is in thy debt,
put that to my account."[16]
9. Whoever compare the pagan and the Christian attitude toward slavery will
easily come to the conclusion that the one was marked by great cruelty and
wickedness, and the other by great gentleness and humanity, nor will it be
possible to deprive the Church of the credit due to her as the instrument
of this happy change. And this becomes still more apparent when we consider
carefully how tenderly and with what prudence the Church has cut out and
destroyed this dreadful curse of slavery. She has deprecated any
precipitate action in securing the manumission and liberation of the
slaves, because that would have entailed tumults and wrought injury, as
well to the slaves themselves as to the commonwealth, but with singular
wisdom she has seen that the minds of the slaves should be instructed
through her discipline in the Christian faith, and with baptism should
acquire habits suitable to the Christian life. Therefore, when, amid the
slave multitude whom she has numbered among her children, some, led astray
by some hope of liberty, have had recourse to violence and sedition, the
Church has always condemned these unlawful efforts and opposed them, and
through her ministers has applied the remedy of patience. She taught the
slaves to feel that, by virtue of the light of holy faith, and the
character they received from Christ, they enjoyed a dignity which placed
them above their heathen lords, but that they were bound the more strictly
by the Author and Founder of their faith Himself never to set themselves
against these, or even to be wanting in the reverence and obedience due to
them. Knowing themselves as the chosen ones of the Kingdom of God, and
endowed with the freedom of His children, and called to the good things
that are not of this life, they were able to work on without being cast
down by the sorrows and troubles of this passing world, but with eyes and
hearts turned to heaven were consoled and strengthened in their holy
resolutions. St. Peter was addressing himself specially to slaves when he
wrote: "For this is thanksworthy, if for conscience towards God a man
endure sorrows, suffering wrongfully. For unto this you are called; because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow
his steps."[17]
10. The credit for this solicitude joined with moderation, which in such a
wonderful way adorns the divine powers of the Church, is increased by the
marvelous and unconquerable courage with which she was able to inspire and
sustain so many poor slaves. It was a wonderful sight to behold those who,
in their obedience and the patience with which they submitted to every
task, were such an example to their masters, refusing to let themselves be
persuaded to prefer the wicked commands of those above them to the holy law
of God, and even giving up their lives in the most cruel tortures with
unconquered hearts and unclouded brows. The pages of Eusebius keep alive
for us the memory of the unshaken constancy of the virgin Potamiana, who,
rather than consent to gratify the lusts of her master, fearlessly accepted
death, and sealed her faithfulness to Jesus Christ with her blood. Many
other admirable examples abound of slaves, who, for their souls' sake and
to keep their faith with God, have resisted their masters to the death.
History has no case to show of Christian slaves for any other cause setting
themselves in opposition to their masters of joining in conspiracies
against the State.
Thence, peace and quiet times having been restored to the Church, the holy
Fathers made a wise and admirable exposition of the apostolic precepts
concerning the fraternal unanimity which should exist between Christians,
and with a like charity extended it to the advantage of slaves, striving to
point out that the rights of masters extended lawfully indeed over the
works of their slaves, but that their power did not extend to using
horrible cruelties against their persons. St. Chrysostom stands pre-eminent
among the Greeks, who often treats of this subject, and affirms with
exulting mind and tongue that slavery, in the old meaning of the word, had
at that time disappeared through the beneficence of the Christian faith, so
that it both seemed, and was, a word without any meaning among the
disciples of the Lord. For Christ indeed (so he sums up his argument), when
in His great mercy to us He wiped away the sin contracted by our birth, at
the same time healed the manifold corruptions of human society; so that, as
death itself by His means has laid aside its terrors and become a peaceful
passing away to a happy life, so also has slavery been banished. Do not,
then, call any Christian man a slave, unless, indeed, he is in bondage
again to sin; they are altogether brethren who are born again and received
in Christ Jesus. Our advantages flow from the new birth and adoption into
the household of God, not from the eminence of our race; our dignity arises
from the praise of our truth, not of our blood. But in order that that kind
of evangelical brotherhood may have more fruit, it is necessary that in the
actions of our ordinary life there should appear a willing interchange of
kindnesses and good offices, so that slaves should be esteemed of nearly
equal account with the rest of our household and friends, and that the
master of the house should supply them, not only with what is necessary for
their life and food, but also all necessary safeguards of religious
training. Finally, from the marked address of Paul to Philemon, bidding
grace and peace "to the church which is in thy house,"[18] the precept should
be held in respect equally by Christian masters and servants, that they who
have an intercommunion of faith should also have an intercommunion of
charity.[19]
11. Of the Latin authors, we worthily and justly call to mind St. Ambrose,
who so earnestly inquired into all that was necessary in this cause, and so
clearly ascribes what is due to each kind of man according to the laws of
Christianity, that no one has ever achieved it better, whose sentiments, it
is unnecessary to say, fully and perfectly coincide with those of St.
Chrysostom.[20] These things were, as is evident, most justly and usefully
laid down; but more, the chief point is that they have been observed wholly
and religiously from the earliest times wherever the profession of the
Christian faith has flourished. Unless this had been the case, that
excellent defender of religion, Lactantius, could not have maintained it so
confidently, as though a witness of it. "Should any one say: Are there not
among you some poor, some rich, some slaves, some who are masters; is there
no difference between different persons? I answer: There is none, nor is
there any other cause why we call each other by the name of brother than
that we consider ourselves to be equals; first, when we measure all human
things, not by the body but by the spirit, although their corporal
condition may be different from ours, yet in spirit they are not slaves to
us, but we esteem and call them brethren, fellow workers in religion."[21]
12. The care of the Church extended to the protection of slaves, and
without interruption tended carefully to one object, that they should
finally be restored to freedom, which would greatly conduce to their
eternal welfare. That the event happily responded to these efforts, the
annals of sacred antiquity afford abundant proof. Noble matrons, rendered
illustrious by the praises of St. Jerome, themselves afforded great aid in
carrying this matter into effect; so that as Salvian relates, in Christian
families, even though not very rich, it often happened that the slaves were
freed by a generous manumission. But, also, St. Clement long before praised
that excellent work of charity by which some Christians became slaves, by
an exchange of persons, because they could in no other way liberate those
who were in bondage. Wherefore, in addition to the fact that the act of
manumission began to take place in churches as an act of piety, the Church
ordered it to be proposed to the faithful when about to make their wills,
as a work very pleasing to God and of great merit and value with Him.
Therefore, those precepts of manumission to the heir were introduced with
the words, "for the love of God, for the welfare or benefit of my soul."[22]
Neither was anything grudged as the price of the captives, gifts dedicated
to God were sold, consecrated gold and silver melted down, the ornaments
and gifts of the basilicas alienated, as, indeed, was done more than once
by Ambrose, Augustine, Hilary, Eligius, Patrick, and many other holy men.
13. Moreover, the Roman Pontiffs, who have always acted, as history truly
relates, as the protectors of the weak and helpers of the oppressed, have
done their best for slaves. St. Gregory himself set at liberty as many as
possible, and in the Roman Council of 597 desired those to receive their
freedom who were anxious to enter the monastic state. Hadrian I maintained
that slaves could freely enter into matrimony even without their masters'
consent. It was clearly ordered by Alexander III in the year 1167 to the
Moorish King of Valencia that he should not make a slave of any Christian,
because no one was a slave by the law of nature, all men having been made
free by God. Innocent III, in the year 1190, at the prayer of its founders,
John de Matha and Felix of Valois, approved and established the Order of
the Most Holy Trinity for Redeeming Christians who had fallen into the
power of the Turks. At a later date, Honorius III, and, afterwards, Gregory
IX, duly approved the Order of St. Mary of Help, founded for a similar
purpose, which Peter Nolasco had established, and which included the severe
rule that its religious should give themselves up as slaves in the place of
Christians taken captive by tyrants, if it should be necessary in order to
redeem them. The same St. Gregory passed a decree, which was a far greater
support of liberty, that it was unlawful to sell slaves to the Church, and
he further added an exhortation to the faithful that, as a punishment for
their faults, they should give their slaves to God and His saints as an act
of expiation.
14. There are also many other good deeds of the Church in the same behalf.
For she, indeed, was accustomed by severe penalties to defend slaves from
the savage anger and cruel injuries of their masters. To those upon whom
the hand of violence had rested, she was accustomed to open her sacred
temples as places of refuge to receive the free men into her good faith,
and to restrain those by censure who dared by evil inducements to lead a
man back again into slavery. In the same way she was still more favorable
to the freedom of the slaves whom, by any means she held as her own,
according to times and places; when she laid down either that those should
be released by the bishops from every bond of slavery who had shown
themselves during a certain time of trial of praiseworthy honesty of life,
or when she easily permitted the bishops of their own will to declare those
belonging to them free. It must also be ascribed to the compassion and
virtue of the Church that somewhat of the pressure of civil law upon slaves
was remitted, and, as far as it was brought about, that the milder
alleviations of Gregory the Great, having been incorporated in the written
law of nations, became of force. That, however, was done principally by the
agency of Charlemagne, who included them in his "Capitularia," as Gratian
afterwards did in his "Decretum."[23] Finally, monuments, laws, institutions,
through a continuous series of ages, teach and splendidly demonstrate the
great love of the Church toward slaves, whose miserable condition she never
left destitute of protection, and always to the best of her power
alleviated. Therefore, sufficient praise or thanks can never be returned to
the Catholic Church, the banisher of slavery and causer of true liberty,
fraternity, and equality among men, since she has merited it by the
prosperity of nations, through the very great beneficence of Christ our
Redeemer.
15. Toward the end of the fifteenth century, at which time the base stain
of slavery having been nearly blotted out from among Christian nations,
States were anxious to stand firmly in evangelical liberty, and also to
increase their empire, this apostolic see took the greatest care that the
evil germs of such depravity should nowhere revive. She therefore directed
her provident vigilance to the newly discovered regions of Africa, Asia,
and America; for a report had reached her that the leaders of those
expeditions, Christians though they were, were wickedly making use of their
arms and ingenuity for establishing and imposing slavery on these innocent
nations. Indeed, since the crude nature of the soil which they had to
overcome, nor less the wealth of metals which had to be extracted by
digging, required very hard work, unjust and inhuman plans were entered
into. For a certain traffic was begun, slaves being transported for that
purpose from Ethiopia, which, at that time, under the name of "La tratta
dei Negri," too much occupied those colonies. An oppression of the
indigenous inhabitants (who are collectively called Indians), much the same
as slavery, followed with a like maltreatment.
16. When Pius II had become assured of these matters without delay, on
October 7, 1462, he gave a letter to the bishop of the place in which he
reproved and condemned such wickedness. Some time afterwards, Leo X lent,
as far as he could, his good offices and authority to the kings of both
Portugal and Spain, who took care to radically extirpate that abuse,
opposed alike to religion, humanity, and justice. Nevertheless, that evil
having grown strong, remained there, its impure cause, the unquenchable
desire of gain, remaining. Then Paul III, anxious with a fatherly love as
to the condition of the Indians and of the Moorish slaves, came to this
last determination, that in open day, and, as it were, in the sight of all
nations, he declared that they all had a just and natural right of a
threefold character, namely, that each one of them was master of his own
person, that they could live together under their own laws, and that they
could acquire and hold property for themselves. More than this, having sent
letters to the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, he pronounced an interdict
and deprival of sacraments against those who acted contrary to the
aforesaid decree, reserving to the Roman Pontiff the power of absolving
them.[24]
17. With the same forethought and constancy, other Pontiffs at a later
period, as Urban VIII, Benedict XIV, and Pius VII, showed themselves strong
asserters of liberty for the Indians and Moors and those who were even as
yet not instructed in the Christian faith. The last, moreover, at the
Council of the confederated Princes of Europe, held at Vienna, called their
attention in common to this point, that that traffic in Negroes, of which
We have spoken before, and which had now ceased in many places, should be
thoroughly rooted out. Gregory XVI also severely censured those neglecting
the duties of humanity and the laws, and restored the decrees and statutory
penalties of the apostolic see, and left no means untried that foreign
nations, also, following the kindliness of the Europeans, should cease from
and abhor the disgrace and brutality of slavery.[25] But it has turned out
most fortunately for Us that We have received the congratulations of the
chief princes and rulers of public affairs for having obtained, thanks to
Our constant pleadings, some satisfaction for the long-continued and most
just complaints of nature and religion.
18. We have, however, in Our mind, in a matter of the same kind, another
care which gives Us no light anxiety and presses upon Our solicitude. This
shameful trading in men has, in- deed, ceased to take place by sea, but on
land is carried on to too great an extent and too barbarously, and that
especially in some parts of Africa. For, it having been perversely laid
down by the Mohammedans that Ethiopians and men of similar nations are very
little superior to brute beasts, it is easy to see and shudder at the
perfidy and cruelty of man. Suddenly, like plunderers making an attack,
they invade the tribes of Ethiopians, fearing no such thing; they rush into
their villages, houses, and huts; they lay waste, destroy, and seize
everything; they lead away from thence the men, women, and children, easily
captured and bound, so that they may drag them away by force for their
shameful traffic. These hateful expeditions are made into Egypt, Zanzibar,
and partly also into the Sudan, as though so many stations. Men, bound with
chains are forced to take long journeys, ill supplied with food, under the
frequent use of the lash; those who are too weak to undergo this are
killed; those who are strong enough go like a flock with a crowd of others
to be sold and to be passed over to a brutal and shameless purchaser. But
whoever is thus sold and given up is exposed to what is a miserable rending
asunder of wives, children, and parents, and is driven by him into whose
power he falls into a hard and indescribable slavery; nor can he refuse to
conform to the religious rites of Mahomet. These things We have received
not long since with the greatest bitterness of feeling from some who have
been eyewitnesses, though tearful ones, of that kind of infamy and misery;
with these, moreover, what has been related lately by the explorers in
equatorial Africa entirely coincides. It is indeed manifest, by their
testimony and word, that each year 400,000 Africans are usually thus sold
like cattle, about half of whom, wearied out by the roughness of the
tracks, fall down and perish there, so that, sad to relate, those traveling
through such places see the pathway strewn with the remains of bones.
19. Who would not be moved by the thought of such miseries. We, indeed, who
are holding the place of Christ, the loving Liberator and Redeemer of all
mankind, and who so rejoice in the many and glorious good deeds of the
Church to all who are afflicted, can scarcely express how great is Our
commiseration for those unhappy nations, with what fullness of charity We
open Our arms to them, how ardently We desire to be able to afford them
every alleviation and support, with the hope, that, having cast off the
slavery of superstition as well as the slavery of man, they may at length
serve the one true God under the gentle yoke of Christ, partakers with Us
of the divine inheritance. Would that all who hold high positions in
authority and power, or who desire the rights of nations and of humanity to
be held sacred, or who earnestly devote themselves to the interests of the
Catholic religion, would all, everywhere acting on Our exhortations and
wishes, strive together to repress, forbid, and put an end to that kind of
traffic, than which nothing is more base and wicked.
20. In the meantime, while by a more strenuous application of ingenuity and
labor new roads are being made, and new commercial enterprises undertaken
in the lands of Africa, let apostolic men endeavor to find out how they can
best secure the safety and liberty of slaves. They will obtain success in
this matter in no other way than if, strengthened by divine grace, they
give themselves up to spreading our most holy faith and daily caring for
it, whose distinguishing fruit is that it wonderfully flavors and develops
the liberty "with which Christ made us free."[26] We therefore advise them to
look, as if into a mirror of apostolic virtue, at the life and works of St.
Peter Claver, to whom We have lately added a crown of glory.[27] Let them
look at him who for fully forty years gave himself up to minister with the
greatest constancy in his labors, to a most miserable assembly of Moorish
slaves; truly he ought to be called the apostle of those whose constant
servant he professed himself and gave himself up to be. If they endeavor to
take to themselves and reflect the charity and patience of such a man, they
will shine indeed as worthy ministers of salvation, authors of consolation,
messengers of peace, who, by God's help, may turn solicitude, desolation,
and fierceness into the most joyful fertility of religion and civilization.
21. And now, venerable brethren, Our thoughts and letters desire to turn to
you that We may again announce to you and again share with you the
exceeding joy which We feel on account of the determinations which have
been publicly entered into in that empire with regard to slavery. If,
indeed, it seemed to Us a good, happy, and propitious event, that it was
provided and insisted upon by law that whoever were still in the condition
of slaves ought to be admitted to the status and rights of free men, so
also it conforms and increases Our hope of future acts which will be the
cause of joy, both in civil and religious matters. Thus the name of the
Empire of Brazil will be justly held in honor and praise among the most
civilized nations, and the name of its august emperor will likewise be
esteemed, whose excellent speech is on record, that he desired nothing more
ardently than that every vestige of slavery should be speedily obliterated
from his territories. But, truly, until those precepts of the laws are
carried into effect, earnestly endeavor, We beseech you, by all means, and
press on as much as possible the accomplishment of this affair, which no
light difficulties hinder. Through your means let it be brought to pass
that masters and slaves may mutually agree with the highest goodwill and
best good faith, nor let there be any transgression of clemency or justice,
but, whatever things have to be carried out, let all be done lawfully,
temperately, and in a Christian manner. It is, however, chiefly to be
wished that this may be prosperously accomplished, which all desire, that
slavery may be banished and blotted out without any injury to divine or
human rights, with no political agitation, and so with the solid benefit of
the slaves themselves, for whose sake it is undertaken.
22. To each one of these, whether they have already been made free or are
about to become so, We address with a pastoral intention and fatherly mind
a few salutary cautions culled from the words of the great Apostle of the
Gentiles. Let them, then, endeavor piously and constantly to retain
grateful memory and feeling towards those by whose council and exertion
they were set at liberty. Let them never show themselves unworthy of so
great a gift nor ever confound liberty with license; but let them use it as
becomes well ordered citizens for the industry of an active life, for the
benefit and advantage both of their family and of the State. To respect and
increase the dignity of their princes, to obey the magistrates, to be
obedient to the laws, these and similar duties let them diligently fulfill,
under the influence, not so much of fear as of religion; let them also
restrain and keep in subjection envy of another's wealth or position, which
unfortunately daily distresses so many of those in inferior positions, and
present so many incitements of rebellion against security of order and
peace. Content with their state and lot, let them think nothing dearer, let
them desire nothing more ardently than the good things of the heavenly
kingdom by whose grace they have been brought to the light and redeemed by
Christ; let them feel piously towards God who is their Lord and Liberator;
let them love Him, with all their power; let them keep His commandments
with all their might; let them rejoice in being sons of His spouse, the
Holy Church; let them labor to be as good as possible, and as much as they
can let them carefully return His love.
Do you also, Venerable Brethren, be constant in showing and urging on the
freedmen these same doctrines; that, that which is Our chief prayer, and at
the same time ought to be yours and that of all good people, religion,
amongst the first, may ever feel that she has gained the most ample fruits
of that liberty which has been obtained wherever that empire extends.
23. But that that may happily take place, We beg and implore the full grace
of God and motherly aid of the Immaculate Virgin. As a foretaste of
heavenly gifts and witness of Our fatherly good will towards you, Venerable
Brethren, your clergy, and all your people, We lovingly impart the
apostolic blessing.
Given at St. Peter's, in Rome, the fifth day of May, 1888, the eleventh of
Our pontificate.
ENDNOTES:
1. Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:19.
2. Eph. 1:10.
3. Epist., lib. 6, ep. 12 (PL 77, 803C-804A).
4. "De civ. Dei," 19, 15 (PL 41, 643).
5. Lucan, "Phars." 5, 343.
6. Justinian, "Inst.," lib. I, tit. 8, n. I; in "Corpus jurs civilis" (4th
ed., Berlin, Weidmann, 1886) Vol. 1, p. 3.
7. Gal. 3:26-28.
8. Col. 3:11.
9. I Cor. 12:13.
10. I Peter 2:18.
11. Eph. 6:5-8.
12. I Tim. 6: 1-2.
13. Titus 2:9-10.
14. Eph. 6:9.
15. I Cor. 7:22.
16. Philemon 12, 18.
17. I Peter 2:19-21.
18. Philemon 2.
19. John Chrysostom, "Hom. in Lazar." (PG 58, 1039); "Hom. xix in ep. l ad
Cor." (PG 61,157-158); "Hom. l in ep. ad Phil." (PG 62, 705).
20. "De Jacob et de vita beata," cap. 3 (PL 14, 633A-636A); "De patr.
Joseph," cap. 4 (PL 16, 680C-682B); "Exhort. Virgin.," cap. 1. (PL 16,
351A-352B).
21. "Divin. Instit.," lib. 5, cap. 16 (PL 6, 599A-600A).
22. Clement of Rome, I "Ep. ad Cor.," cap. 55 (PG 1, 319A).
23. Gratian, "Decretum," Part 1, dist. 54; ed. E. Friedberg, Vol. 1, cols.
206-214.
24. Paul III (1534-49), "Veritas ipsa" (June 2, 1559).
25. Gregory XVI (1831-46), "In Supremo Apostolatus Fastigio" (Dec. 3,
1837).
26. Gal. 4:31.
27. St. Peter Claver (1581-1654), joined the Society of Jesus in 1602; in
1610, he went to Cartagena, then the main slave market of the New World,
and for forty-four years devoted himself to missionary work. He had
declared his intention to remain "the slave of the Negroes" for his entire
life and, in point of fact, is said to have baptized over 300,000 of them.
He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on January 15, 1888.
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