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editPIUS, BISHOP
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD.
To preserve the perpetual memory of it.
The Church that our Saviour Jesus-Christ built on firm rock, and against which, according to the same Saviour's promise, the gates of hell shall never prevail, was so often attacked by enemies so terrible that, without this divine and unchanging promise, one would fear that it would entirely succumb, either by the force or lies of its persecutors. What started in past times has been renewed, and especially at the deplorable time when we live, a time which seems to be announced so many times by the apostles, there “will come from impostors going from heresy to heresy, while following their desires”. Everybody is aware of the large number of guilty men united in these difficult times against the Lord and Christ, and make every effort to mislead the faithful through the subtleties of a false and vain philosophy, and to tear them away from them the the centre of the Church, in the mad desire to ruin and reverse this same Church. To achieve this goal more easily, most of them formed into occult groups, secret sects, being helped by this method of associating to increase their plots and their perverse intentions.
A long time ago the Holy See, having discovered these sects, forcefully and courageously protested against them, and put forward on Good Friday the intentions which they formed against religion and civil society. It has for a long time excited the world's attention on this point, by bringing forth the vigilance necessary so that these sects could not try the execution of their guilty projects. It is still necessary to bemoan that the Holy See's zeal did not obtain the effects for a long time, and of that these perverse men did not desist from their group, from which originates every misfortune which we currently see. These men, whose pride swells unceasingly, dared to form new secret societies.
It is necessary to indicate here a lately formed group, which has spread through all Italy and in other lands, and which, although divided into several branches and bearing various names, depending on the circumstances, it is however really onegroup, through the same opinions and by its constitution. It is generally known as the Carbonari. They pretend to have a great and singular respect and zeal for the Catholic religion, and the doctrines and person of our Saviour Jesus-Christ, whom they sometimes audacitoulsly call their Grand-Master and the head of their group. But these speeches, which sound softer than oil, are other wise only features of which are selfishly used by these liars to more surely wound those which are not on their guard. They appear like lambs, but at the bottom they are devouring wolves.
Undoubtedly, the severe oath which, like the old Priscillians, they swear that at any time and in any circumstance they will not reveal whatever relates to the group to outsiders, or lower ranks; moreover, these secret and illegal meetings - like meetings of heretics. The mixing of people no matter what their religion, in their company, show enough, nevertheless it would not join to it other indices, which one should have no confidence in their speeches.
But it is necessary neither for conjectures, nor of evidence, to carry about their speeches the judgement which We have just stated. Their books printed, in which one finds what is observed in their meetings, and especially in those of the higher ranks, their catechisms, their statutes, other documents authentic and very worthy of faith, and testimonys of those which, after having given up this company, revealed of them with the magistrates the artifices and the errors; all proves that the purpose of Carbonari are mainly to propagate the indifference as regards religion, most dangerous of all the systems; to give to each one absolute freedom to be made a religion according to its inclinations and its ideas; to profane and soil the Passion of the Saver by some their culprits ceremonies; to scorn the sacraments of the Church (to which they appear by a horrible sacrilege to substitute some of them invented by them), and even the mysteries of the catholic religion; finally, to reverse this Apostolic Seat counters which, animated of a very particular hatred because of the primacy of this Pulpit (S. Aug. Epist. 43), they weave the blackest plots and most hateful.
The precepts of morals which the company of Carbonari gives are not less guilty, as these same documents prove it, though it is highly praised to require its sectateurs whom they love and practise charity and the other virtues, and abstain from very vice. Thus it supports the pleasure of the directions openly; thus it teaches that it is allowed to kill those which would reveal the secrecy about which We spoke higher; and though Pierre, the prince of the apostles, recommends to the Christians “to subject himself for God, with any human creature which it established above them, either with the king, as being the first in the State, or with the magistrates, as being the envoys of the king, etc” (Ep. I. course. II, towards. 13) and though the holy apostle Paul orders that “any man would be subjected to more raised powers,” (Romanian. course. III, v. 14) however this company teaches that it is allowed to excite revolts to strip of their power the kings and all those which order, to which it gives to the abusive name tyrants.
Such are the dogmas and precepts of this company, as so much of others which are in conformity there. From there these attacks made lately in Italy by Carbonari, attacks which afflicted the honest and pious men so much. We thus who are made up the guard of the house of Israel, which is holy Église; We who, by Our pastoral load, must take care that the herd of the Lord, who divinement was divinement entrusted to Us, does not test any damage, We think that, in a so serious cause, it is impossible for Us to abstain from repressing the efforts sacrileges of this company. We are also struck example of Our predecessors, of happy memory, Clément XII and Benoit XIV, of which one, by its constitution In eminenti of April 28, 1738, and the other, by its Providas constitution of May 18, 1751, condemned and prohibited the company De' Liberi Muratori or of the Freemasons, or the companies indicated by other names, according to the difference of the languages and of the countries, companies which were perhaps the origin of that of Carbonari or which to certainly were used him as model; and though We already expressly prohibited this company by two edicts left Our Chancery State, We think, our predecessor following the example of, that severe sorrows must solemnly be issued against the company, especially since Carbonari claim that they cannot be included/understood in the two constitutions of Clement XII and Benoit XIV, nor to be subjected to the sorrows which are carried there.
Consequently, after having heard a congregation chosen among Our Worthy Brothers the Cardinals, and on the opinion of this congregation, as well as Our own movement, and according to an unquestionable knowledge of the things and a blackberry deliberation, and by the plenitude of the apostolic capacity, We stop and issue that the aforesaid company of Carbonari, or some other name that it is called, must be condemned and prohibited, like its meetings, affiliations and conventicules, and let us condemn We it and prohibit by Our present constitution, which must always remain in force.
This is why We recommend rigorously, and under the terms of obedience due to the Saint Sits, all the Christians in general, and each one in particular, whatever their state, their rank, their condition, their order, their dignity and their preeminence, as well with the laymen as with the ecclesiastics, secular and regular; We recommend to them, say us, to abstain from attending, under some pretext that it is, the company of Carbonari or propagating it, supporting it, receiving it or hiding it at home or elsewhere, affiliating there, there to take some rank, providing him the capacity and the means of meeting some share, of delivering opinions and helps to him, of openly supporting it or in secrecy, directly or indirectly, by oneself or others, or in some manner that is, or to insinuate, advise, persuade with others to be made receive in this company, to help it and support it; finally, We recommend to them to abstain from entirely all that relates to this company, of its meetings, affiliations and conventicules, under penalty of the excommunication, which will incur all those which would contravene the present constitution, and of which nobody will be able to receive the discharge that Us, or of the Romain Pontiff then existing, unless it is not with the article of death.
We order to them moreover, under the same sorrow of the excommunication, reserved for Us and to the Roman Pontiffs Our successors, to denounce with the Bishops or the appropriate authority all those which they would know to be member of this company or to have soaked in some of the plots about which We spoke.
Lastly, more effectively to push back any danger of error, We condemn and We proscribe what Carbonari name their catechisms, their books where is writing what occurs in their assemblies, their statutes, their codes, all the books written for their defense, either printed, or handwritten, and defend with all the faithful ones, under the same sorrow of excommunication, reading or keeping any of these books, ordering to them at the same time to deliver them all to the ordinary authorities and the others which have the right to receive them.
We want that one adds to the copies of present even printed, signed hand of a public notary, and sealed seal of a person made up in ecclesiastical dignity, the same faith that one would add to present, if they were represented or shown in original.
That it is thus allowed no man of enfreindre or to oppose, by a bold company, this Bubble of Our confirmation, restoration, approval, commission, invocation, requisition, decree and will. If somebody is enough bold to try it, that it knows that it will incur the indignation of God the Almighty, and the happy apostles S. Pierre and S. Paul.
Given in Rome, close Holy-Marie-Major, on September 13, of the Incarnation of Our Lord millet eight hundred blackjack, the twenty-second year of Our Pontificate.