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nuncios, partly by epistles and decrees issued by different congregations of cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and partly by his two papal briefs which he addressed to the Archbishops of Gnesna and Mohilow. Afterwards Leo XII., our predecessor of happy memory, assailed those same designs of the Bible Societies in his Encyclical Letter, addressed to all the dignitaries of the Catholic world, on the 5th May, 1824; and the same thing was again done by our immediate predecessor of equally happy memory, Pius VIII., in his Encyclical Letter, issued the 24th May, 1829. We, too, who with far inferior merit have succeeded to his place, have not omitted to exercise our apostolical solicitude upon the same object, and among other things have taken steps to recall to the memory of the faithful the rule formerly enacted concerning translations of the Scripture into the vulgar tongues.

"We have, however, great cause to congratulate you, Venerable Brethren, that, at the impulse of your own piety and wisdom, and confirmed by the above letters of our predecessors, you have never neglected when necessary to admonish the Catholic flock to beware of the snares laid for them by the Bible Societies. From these efforts of the bishops, in conjunction with the solicitude of this supreme see of Peter, it has resulted, under the Lord's blessing, that certain incautious Catholics who were imprudently encouraging Bible Societies, seeing through the fraud, immediately withdrew from them; and the remainder of the faithful have continued nearly untouched by the contagion which threatened them from that quarter.

"Meanwhile the biblical sectaries were possessed with the confident hope of acquiring great credit, by inducing in any manner unbelievers to make a profession of the Christian name by means of reading the Holy Scriptures published in their own tongue, innumerable copies of which they caused to be

distributed through their countries, and even to be forced on the unwilling, by means of missionaries, or agents in their employ. But these men thus endeavouring to propagate the Christian name contrary to the rules instituted by Christ himself, found themselves almost always disappointed, with the exception that they were able sometimes to create new impediments to Catholic priests, who, proceeding to these nations with a commission from the holy see, spared no exertions to beget new sons to the Church, by the preaching of the word of God, and the administration of the sacraments, prepared even to shed their blood amidst the most exquisite torments for the salvation of the heathen, and as a testimony to the faith.

"Amidst these sectaries, thus frustrated in their hopes, and reviewing with sorrowful hearts the immense amount of money already spent in publishing and fruitlessly distributing their Bibles, some have lately appeared, who, proceeding upon a somewhat new plan, have directed their machinations towards making their principal assault on the minds of the Italians, and of the citizens of our very city. In fact, from intelligence and documents lately received, we have ascertained that several persons of different sects met last year at New York in America, and on the 12th of June formed a new society, entitled "The Christian Alliance," + to be increased by new members from every nation, or by auxiliary societies, whose common design shall be to introduce religious liberty, or rather an insane desire of indifference in religion, among the Romans and other Italians. For they acknowledge that for several centuries, the institutions of the Roman and Italian race have had such

* "[The manner in which popish missionaries have accommodated their religion to heathen prejudices, and the merely nominal profession required of their so-called converts, have been fully exposed.]'

↑ "The rules of this society fully show the exaggerations and misstatements here made.'

great and general influence, that there has been no great movement in the world, which has not begun from this holy city; a fact which they trace not to the establishment here, by the Divine disposal, of the supreme see of Peter, but to certain remnants of the ancient dominion of the Romans, lingering in that power which, as they say, our predecessors have usurped. Accordingly, being resolved to confer on all the nations liberty of conscience, or rather of error, from whence as from its proper source political liberty will also flow, with an increase of public prosperity, in their sense of the word, they feel they can do nothing, unless they make some progress among the Italians and citizens of Rome; intending afterwards to make great use among other nations of their authority and assistance. This object they feel sure of attaining, from the circumstance that so many Italians reside in various places throughout the world, and afterwards return in considerable numbers to their own country; many of whom, being influenced already of their own accord with the love of change, or being of dissolute habits, or being afflicted with poverty, may without much trouble be tempted to give their name to the society, or at least to sell their services to it. Their whole aim, then, is directed to procuring the assistance of such persons in every direction, transmitting hither by their means mutilated Italian Bibles, and secretly depositing them in the hands of the faithful; distributing also at the same time other mischievous books and tracts, intended to alienate the mind of the readers from their allegiance to the Church and this holy see, composed by the help of those same Italians, or translated by them from other authors into the language of the country. Among these they principally point out the History of the Reformation, by Merle d'Aubigné, and the Memoirs of the Reformation in Italy, by John Cric [John M'Crie]. The probable character of this whole class of books may be inferred

from this circumstance, that it is a law of the Society, with regard to select committees for the choice of books, that there shall never be two individuals of the same religious sect upon any one of them.

“‘As soon as this news reached us, we could not but be deeply pained at the consideration of the danger with which we learned that the sectaries menaced the security of our holy religion, not merely in places remote from this city, but even at the very centre of Catholic unity. For though there is not the slightest cause for fear that the see of Peter should ever fail* upon which the Lord Jesus Christ has built the impregnable foundation of his Church, we must not for that reason cease from maintaining its authority; nay, our very office of the supreme apostolate reminds us of the severe account which the Divine Chief Shepherd will require of us for any tares sown by the enemy while we slept, which may grow up in the Master's field; and for the blood of any sheep entrusted to us which by our fault may have perished.

"Having, therefore, taken into our council several cardinals of the holy Roman Church, and having gravely and maturely weighed the whole matter, with their concurrence we have decided to issue this epistle to you, Venerable Brethren, in which, as respects all the aforesaid Bible Societies, already reprobated by our predecessors, we again with apostolical authority condemn them; and by the same authority of our supreme apostolate, we reprobate by name and condemn the aforesaid new society of the "Christian Alliance," constituted last year at New York, and other associations of the same sort, if any have joined it, or shall hereafter join it. Hence be it known, that all such persons will be guilty of a grave crime

“ ́ [The ultimate state of papal Rome is prophetically and fully set forth in that Book which it seeks to conceal; see especially Revelation xviii.]'

before God and the Church, who shall presume to give their name, or lend their help, or in any way to favour any of the said societies. Moreover we confirm and by apostolical authority renew the aforesaid directions already issued concerning the publication, distribution, reading, and retention of books of the Holy Scripture translated into the vulgar tongues; while with respect to other works, of whatever author, we wish to remind all persons that the general. rules and the decrees of our predecessors, prefixed to the Index of Prohibited Books, are to be abided by; and consequently, not only are those books to be avoided which are by name included in the same Index, but those also to which the aforesaid general directions refer.*

"Called as you are, Venerable Brethren, to participate in our solicitude, we urgently bid you in the Lord to announce and explain, as place and time permit, to the people entrusted to your pastoral care, this our apostolic judgment and commands; and to endeavour to turn away the faithful sheep from the above society of the "Christian Alliance" and its auxiliaries, as also from all other Bible Societies, and from all communication with them. At the same time it will also be your duty to seize out of the hands of the faithful,† not only Bibles translated into the vulgar tongue, published contrary to the above directions of the Roman pontiffs, but also proscribed or injurious books of every sort, and thus to provide that the faithful may be taught by your monitions and authority, what sort of pasture they should consider salutary to them, and what noxious and deadly." Meanwhile, Venerable Brethren, apply yourselves daily more and more to the preaching

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* 66 6 [The Index wholly prohibits many books written by the best writers of the Roman Catholic Church, and also all translations of the Scriptures, without notes, even by Romish prelates. I'

↑ “[The reader will particularly notice this.]'

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