Paternae

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Paternae (Latin: our " fatherly " care) is an encyclical from Pope Leo XIII. , which he published on September 18, 1899 and with which he addressed the Brazilian episcopate . He describes the “formation of the clergy in Brazil”.

Foundation of seminaries

At the beginning he recalled the encyclical “ Litteras a vobis ” (1894) on the clergy in Brazil and expressed his joy that the number of seminaries in Brazil had increased. After these successful beginnings, it was now time to build their own separate houses for the seminary students, in which they should live and live with their own rules and laws. As a basis, he recommends the rules of St. Charles Borromeo and refers to the seminaries in Europe . He calls on the Brazilian bishops to adopt the European system in order to improve the protection of the young clergy through a corresponding law.

State press and administration

Leo XIII. calls for the design and distribution of Catholic magazines to be accelerated, the style should be sharper and literary expression should be awakened. In addition, however, an attempt must be made to help more Catholics gain state offices, because the spoken word is more useful than the written word. But, he also says, state offices should be won wisely. The Pope rejects the active participation of priests in the parties, justifying this by stating that it would be undignified for clerics to take part in the political struggle and, through their administration of the state, incite rebellion and disagreement, and it would also damage priestly authority .

Financial support

The training of the young priests should not fail due to financial hardship, therefore each diocese should first set up its own fund with which the priest training is to be financed. Furthermore, the Pope suggests a financial equalization between North and South America, but first of all requests self-financing by the Catholics in Brazil, which must be promoted before all other financing measures.

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