''Acerba animi'' (Latin, "Of harsh souls"; also called ''On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico'') is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on 29 September 1932, to denounce the continued persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. It was the second of three encyclicals concerning persecution in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, including '' Iniquis afflictisque'' (1926) and '' Firmissimam constantiamque'' (1937).Philippe Levillai
The Papacy: An Encyclopedia
p. 1208, 2002 Routledge The Mexican government at the time was engaging in violently

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

persecution of the Church, and the Pope harshly criticised the government for its past and current abuse of the Church and its faithful and chided the government for not only violating its promises to the Church made in the recent cessation of the Catholic uprising, the

Cristero War The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...

, but expanding the persecution.''Acerba animi'', paragraph 3

Substance of the Encyclical

The Pope criticized the state's continued persecution noting that the Mexican people had been "so long harassed by grievous persecutions". The Pope stated that the

articles of the

Mexican constitution The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

were "seriously derogatory to the most elementary and

inalienable rights Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', '' fundamental'' an ...

of the Church and of the faithful" and that both he and his predecessor had endeavored to avoid their application by the Mexican government. The Pope chided the Mexican government for breaking its promise not to apply the anticlerical provisions, just shortly after making those promises in writing to the Holy See. The letter noted the recent history of Mexico where a "rigorous application was given to Article 130 of the Constitution" which due to its "extreme hostility to the Church as may be seen from Our Encyclical Iniquis afflictisque" caused the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

to protest, leading to " avy penalties" for those who did not comply with the "deplorable article". The Pope recalls that the government of Plutarco Calles then enacted a law which allowed the states to regulate the number of priests in their territory. The "despotism" of the "Government hostile to the Catholic" and its "intolerant" acts led the Bishops of Mexico to suspend public worship, after which they were nearly all banished to watch from abroad the

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

of their priests and flock. The persecution led to the rebellion known as the Cristero War. The letter allows that the See "did not forbear to encourage with word and counsel the lawful Christian resistance of the priests and the faithful" The Pope noted that the government's indications that it was not averse to coming to an agreement gave some hope, even though the same government had a recent history of breaking its promises. Thus when the government indicated in 1929 that it did not by application of the anticlerical provisions of the constitution intend to destroy what the government called the "identity of the Church" nor to ignore its hierarchy, the Holy See agreed to relent, allowing the resuming of public worship, with the understanding that the Church would not accept the government regulation of worship, nor cease protest against, nor to combat it. Nonetheless, the government again broke its promises as "faithful Catholics continued to be penalized and imprisoned", exiled Bishops were not allowed to return and more were exiled "without any semblance of legality".''Acerba animi'', paragraph 8 In violation of promises, in many diocese, seized property, including churches, seminaries, Bishops' residences were not returned and "priests and laymen who had steadfastly defended the faith were abandoned to the cruel vengeance of their adversaries". The government continued to spur antireligious, socialist and

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

education in the schools and to gradually eliminate priests in the country by severely regulating their numbers, noting that Michoacán had only one priest for every 33,000 faithful, Chiapas one for every 60,000, and Vera Cruz only one for every 100,000. The government continued to close seminaries and exhibit an intention to destroy the Church. The persecution differed little for that going on in the

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

at the time. The Pope stated that "any restriction whatever of the number of priests is a grave violation of divine rights", urging the "Bishops, the clergy, and the Catholic laity to continue to protest with all their energy against such violation, using every legitimate means.". (Paragraph 20 makes it clear that "legitimate means" did not include renewed rebellion.) As a remedy the letter especially urged that "the priests with their proved spirit of abnegation render ever more intense their sacred ministry, particularly among the young and the common people, striving to carry on a work of persuasion and of charity especially among the enemies of the Church, who combat her because they do not know her."''Acerba animi'', paragraph 19 It also urged "instituting and furthering to an ever greater extent

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, I ...

",''Acerba animi'', paragraph 20 "recourse to the Sacraments, sources of

grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

and strength, and instruction in the truth of the faith. Rejecting further rebellion, the letter counseled laymen to "the closest union with the Church and the Hierarchy, manifesting it by their docility to her teachings and directions".

Reception and ramifications

The reaction of the government was hostile; the President at the time, Abelardo Rodriguez, called the encyclical "insolent and defiant."Sherman, John W.
The Mexican right: the end of revolutionary reform, 1929-1940
p. 35-36, Greenwood Publishing 1997 Some rebellious faithful did not heed the encyclical either, renewing hostilities with guerrilla action, deviating from the lack of rebellion from 1929-1931. On the other hand, substantial efforts were made to comply, in the least overtly political way possible, the goals of Acción Católica Mexicana (Mexican Catholic Action – ACM):

* 1. To again place
Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
in the middle of the family school and society * 2. To combat by all just and legal means anti-Christian civilization. * 3. To repair by the same means the grave disorders in our society. * 4. To reestablish the principle that human authority is representative of that of God.Sherman, John W.
The Mexican right: the end of revolutionary reform, 1929-1940
p. 36, Greenwood Publishing 1997

Still, during most of the ''Maximato'' membership was not high and action was limited.

References

External links

''Acerba animi''
{{Authority control Encyclicals of Pope Pius XI 1932 in Christianity 1932 documents September 1932 events History of Catholicism in Mexico