Not possumus

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Non possumus , completely Sine dominico non possumus is a Latin phrase meaning "We cannot" or, in the full version, "Without Sunday we cannot (live)".

Sine dominico non possumus

The quotation is used in the ecclesiastical field to emphasize the importance of the sanctification of Sunday with the celebration of the common worship and the Eucharist . During his interrogation by the Roman governor, emeritus, one of the martyrs of the holy books , with this answer, often quoted later, pointed out the necessity of the Eucharistic celebration, which he himself, like many other Christians, had celebrated for which he and his own despite the imperial prohibition Companions but had decided despite threats of torture and death sentence.

So Emperor Diocletian the Christians possession of their scriptures, the Sunday service with the Eucharist and the construction of buildings prohibited for their meetings, on offense was punishable by death.

In 2007 Libreria Editrice Vaticana published Sine Dominico non possumus! - Apostolic journey of Pope Benedict XVI. to Austria on the occasion of the 850th anniversary of the pilgrimage site Mariazell (September 7–9, 2007) = Without the celebration of Lord's Day we cannot live from Pope Benedict XVI. with ISBN 978-88-209-7980-5 .

Not possumus

In this short form, the quote can also be traced back to the Acts of the Apostles. There the apostles Simon Peter and John reject it in front of the high council with the words “We cannot possibly remain silent about what we have seen and heard” ( Acts 4:20  EU , Latin: “Non enim possumus quæ vidimus et audivimus non loqui " Acts 4.20  VUL ) from to refrain from preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus.

Another ecclesiastical use of the expression “Non possumus” is associated with Pope Leo the Great , who wrote to Bishop Rusticus of Narbonne in 448 : “quibus viventibus non communicavimus mortuis communicare non possumus” (translation: “we cannot in death to keep fellowship with those who were not in fellowship with us in life ”). Pope Clement VII used the quote, probably referring to Acts 4, 20, to reject the planned request of the English King Henry VIII to have the marriage with his wife Catherine of Aragon declared null and void. Thereafter it became the repeated rejection formula of the Roman Curia to counter demands that contradicted the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church .

In 1869 the book Non possumus by the evangelical pastor Adolphe Schaeffer (1826-1896) appeared in connection with disputes about the First Vatican Council at Librairie de Joel Cherbuliez in Paris .

In 1870 the three-volume novel Non possumus was published by Ernst Julius Günther in Leipzig and LW Schmidt in New York . by Eduard Fentsch (1814–1877), whom he published under his pseudonym "Frater Hilarius".

From 1870, “Non possumus” was the general name for the diplomatic strategy of Popes Pius IX. , Leo XIII. , Pius X. , Benedict XV. and Pius XI. regarding their relations with foreign powers after the "capture of Rome" (incorporation of the papal state into the emerging Italian nation-state, see Roman question ), in which the pontiff became a "prisoner in the Vatican" and decided to restrict his contacts with the outside world. This phase ended with the Lateran Treaty in 1929.

The Latin phrase Non possumus is also associated with the contemporary history of Poland . On May 8, 1953, Polish bishops sent a formal letter to the party leadership of the People's Republic of Poland , in which they declared their decisive “no” to the subordination of the Roman Catholic Church to the communist state. In return, the government imprisoned Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński .

In 1972 the poem Non possumus by the Romanian poet Marcel Gafton (1925–1987) was published by Cartea Româneasca in Bucharest.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article on Zenit.org: Pope proclaims the reputation of the martyrs of Abitene ( Memento of June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). See also the Lenten pastoral letter 2019 “When you come together as a congregation” by Cardinal Woelki , p. 2f.
  2. ↑ Sine Dominico non possumus! in the German National Library
  3. ^ Letter from Leo I to Rusticus von Narbonne
  4. ^ "Non possumus" in Meyer's Large Conversation Lexicon
  5. ^ Adolphe Schaeffer: Non possumus , Librairie de Joel Cherbuliez, Paris 1869, free online version
  6. ^ Eduard Fentsch: Non possumus. , Volume 1, Ernst Julius Günther and LW Schmidt, Leipzig and New York 1870, free online version
  7. ^ Eduard Fentsch: Non possumus. , Volume 2, Ernst Julius Günther and LW Schmidt, Leipzig and New York 1870, free online version
  8. ^ Eduard Fentsch: Non possumus. , Volume 3, Ernst Julius Günther and LW Schmidt, Leipzig and New York 1870, free online version
  9. ↑ Article on Pius IX.
  10. ^ Reference in the catalog of the German National Library