''Dilectissima Nobis'' ("On Oppression of the Church of Spain") is an encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI on June 3, 1933, in which he decried persecution of the Church in Spain, citing the expropriation of all Church buildings, episcopal residences, parish houses, seminaries and monasteries. He protested "serious offenses committed against the Divine Majesty, with the numerous violations of His sacrosanct rights and with so many transgressions of His laws, We have sent to heaven fervent prayers asking God to pardon the offenses against Him".

History

The Republican government, which came to power in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1931, was strongly

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

by secularising education, prohibiting religious education in schools, and expelling the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

from the country. The

Spanish Constitution of 1931 The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was approved by the Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1931. It was the constitution of the Second Spanish Republic (founded 14 April 1931) and was in force until 1 April 1939. This was the second period of Spanis ...

was marked by what Catholics considered a deprivation of their rights. By law, the Church's properties became the property of the state, and the Church had to pay rent and taxes to the state to continue its use of those properties. In the Pope's words: "Thus the Catholic Church is compelled to pay taxes on what was violently wrenched from her". The encyclical also denounced the fact that religious vestments, liturgical instruments, statues, pictures, vases, gems and similar objects necessary for worship were expropriated as well. It condemned the expropriation of all private Catholic schools from religious orders, which were to reopen them as secular schools. Pope Pius XI, whose church faced similar persecutions in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and 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 ...

, called on Spanish Catholics to defend themselves against the persecution with all legal means. He had condemned similar destructive forces in the encyclical ''

Quas primas (from Latin: "In the first") was an encyclical of Pope Pius XI. Promulgated on December 11, 1925, it introduced the Feast of Christ the King. Purpose and content ''Quas primas'' followed Pius's initial encyclical, '' Ubi arcano Dei consilio'' ...

'' in 1925. The encyclical pointed to greed as a motivation for the theft of the Church's artistic treasures and indicated that the government showed no regard for the dignity of country's faithful and their attachment to the religious works of art. Although the government was heavily criticised, the Pope noted: "Universally known is the fact that the Catholic Church is never bound to one form of government more than to another, provided the Divine rights of God and of Christian consciences are safe". The encyclical called the acts of the Spanish government an "offence not only to Religion and the Church, but also to those declared principles of civil liberty on which the new Spanish regime declares it bases itself".

Notes

References

* (Online version Library of Iberian Resources online, Accessed May 30, 2007) * {{Authority control Papal encyclicals Documents of Pope Pius XI 1933 documents 1933 in Christianity June 1933 events History of Catholicism in Spain