Il fermo proposito

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Il fermo proposito ( Italian : “ The firm intention ” ... with which we took over our office ) is an encyclical written in Italian by Pope Pius X. It is dated June 11, 1905 and has the subtitle: “To the bishops Italy addressed to the establishment and development of Catholic action , a lay organization that promotes the Catholic Annunciation in the secular world "( Diretta ai Vescovi d'Italia per l'istituzione e lo sviluppo dell'Azione Cattolica, associazione laica per la propaganda Cattolica religiosa nel mondo profano ).

With this encyclical, which is also known as the “Pentecost Cyclical”, the Pope takes up a long phase of the Catholic-political conflict in Italy . He revisits the political activity of Catholic Italians and lays down some basic rules. He gives way to the ban, his predecessor Pius IX. and Leo XIII. to participate in elections to parliament and declares that if Catholic participation is expressly for the benefit of society, the bishops could grant a dispensation . In doing so, however, it must be clearly in the foreground "that the salvation of souls and the highest interests of your churches are at stake and you receive dispensation" .

It was expressly the intention of this encyclical to leave the Catholic activity, which Pius X. called "azione" - synonymous with action or activity - firmly in the hands of the Pope and subordinate it to the leadership of the bishops.

The encyclical does not take up the question of the establishment of a Catholic party in Italy, which was then controversial among Italian Catholics (and bishops) . In other utterances, Pius X did not rule them out either, but at the same time refused that they should bear Christian or Catholic emblems . The Vatican's position was formulated as follows: “Absence from the elections is established as a general rule. The prudence of the bishops can, in individual cases, allow an exception by allowing voter participation where the election of an anti-clerical is seriously threatened ” . Exclusive Catholic candidacies were not allowed, however, the formula was: “Catholic MPs - yes; Deputy Catholics - no ”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Papal documents on the Vatican website: Italian text of the encyclical
  2. ↑ Il fermo proposito , No. 18 and No. 19.