''Ad Apostolorum principis'' (29 June 1958) is an

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and the Church in China. It describes systematic

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

s of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

and faithful and the attempts of the government to establish a patriotic Catholic Church, independent of Rome.

Background

The Catholic Church in China prospered in the early 20th century, despite many obstacles. A hierarchy was established in China, opening many opportunities. But after the Communist victory in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, the Christian communities were destroyed and the missionaries expelled. Many bishops, priests, and religious men and women, together with many of the faithful, were imprisoned, sent to re-education camps, underwent torture and

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

s. Pope Pius XII issued in 1952 the encyclical Cupimus Imprimis, in which he accused the persecutors and defended the Church, "a stranger to no people on earth, much less hostile to any" against the accusation of being against the people of China. In 1954, he published another Encyclical Letter, ''

Ad Sinarum gentem ''Ad Sinarum gentem'', issued on October 7, 1954, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the Chinese people on the super-nationality of the Church. Background The encyclical is written against the background of continued persecution of Christians ...

'', in which he refuted accusations made against Catholics in China, stating that they are loyal and faithful to their country.

Present problems

Since that time, the Church in China underwent even more difficulties. A "patriotic" Catholic movement is forced by every means on all the faithful A movement for patriotism and peace, who can be against that, asks Pius, is in reality just a fraud. This association aims primarily at making Catholics gradually embrace the tenets of atheistic

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

. All are forced to approve and participate and those bishops, priests, religious men, nuns, and the faithful in considerable numbers, who do not participate, are already in prison; Priests, religious men and women, ecclesiastical students, and faithful of all ages are forced to attend courses and an almost endless series of lectures and discussions, lasting for weeks and months, in order to weaken the strength of mind and will, by a kind of psychic coercion. Under such circumstances, every Christian should cast aside all doubt and calmly and firmly repeat the words with which Peter and the other Apostles answered the first persecutors of the Church: "We must obey God rather than men."

Illegal consecrations

Pius speaks out against those, who elect and appoint bishops of their own political willing, without any consultation with the Holy See. Many such elections have been held contrary to all Church laws. Some priests have rashly dared to receive Episcopal consecration, despite the public and severe warning of the Apostolic See. He declares, that "bishops who have been neither named nor confirmed by the

Apostolic See An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism the phrase, preceded by the definite article and usually capitalized, refers to the S ...

but who, on the contrary, have been elected and consecrated in defiance of its express orders, enjoy no powers of teaching or of jurisdiction since

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

passes to bishops only through the Roman Pontiff" Acts requiring the power of Holy Orders which are performed by ecclesiastics of this kind, though they are valid as long as the consecration conferred on them was valid, are yet gravely illicit, that is, criminal and sacrilegious. Consequently, for illegal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

s, an

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

reserved specialissimo modo to the Apostolic See has been established which is automatically incurred by the consecrator and by anyone who has received consecration irresponsibly conferred.''Ad Apostolorum principis'' 48

Prayers and hope

In cordial, emotional words, the Pope assures his bishops, priests and faithful of his daily commemoration during his morning mass and comforts them:

References

* ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'', Roma, Vaticano, 1939, 1951 * ''Ad Apostolorum principis'', ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'', AAS, 1958, 601

Footnotes

External links

''Ad Apostolorum principis''
full text of English translation on the Vatican website {{Persecution of Christians Catholic Church in China Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII Persecution of Catholics during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII Religious persecution by communists June 1958 events 1958 in Christianity