Sancta Dei civitas

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The first known mission encyclical Sancta Dei civitas (“God's Holy City”) by Pope Leo XIII. was published on December 3, 1880 and is subtitled: About the Mission Societies . It is considered the basis for further encyclicals, apostolic letters and decrees . With Ad gentes , the Second Vatican Council passed its own decree on the missionary activity of the Church .

introduction

In the mission encyclical, Leo XIII. the holy city of God as a place which the Church represents and which is not restricted by any borders. Its founder, God, authorized the church to "expand the space of its hut and the hides of its tents."

Carrier of missionary work

The main bearers of the missionary work are therefore primarily the clergy and the consecrated people . This mission encyclical also addresses the role of the laity . Leo XIII. explains about the mission of the layperson:

"You, who help with your donations and your prayers, have an additional role to play in the expansion of the kingdom of God."

Mission order

Leo XIII. exhorts the bishops to devote themselves diligently and ambitiously to this task. A special focus should be the own diocese so that it can grow daily and increase in faith. The ministers should emphatically use their authority to promote Christianity . Leo XIII. warns, however, against competitive thinking in societies and explains his concern about “the schools of the East”, which are less about God's salvation than about the spread of doctrine and false doctrines. In addition, he denounces liberalism , which could lead to resentment and distribution struggles in societies. He warns against fraudsters who wanted to use the mission in the “wrong order” to oppose the church, but also tried to exploit the people. This is not to be combined with the true mandate for apostolic mission, but is reprehensible and dishonorable.

Exhortation for missionary work

In the final exhortation , he demands that the bread should be shared with the people, because then the harvest would be plentiful. He stresses that it is the duty of all venerable brothers to show pious efforts to benefit and to propagate the faith. He exhorts all people active in the apostolic mission to stand up for the spread of the faith. They should defend themselves against filth and vice, and not succumb to the barbarism and wild manners of civilized life.

literature

  • Carl Andresen , Georg Denzler : dtv - Dictionary of Church History , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich, May 1982, ISBN 3-423-03245-6
  • Rudolf Fischer-Wolpert, do you know? - Lexicon of religious and ideological questions, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, 3rd expanded edition 1982, ISBN 3-7917-0738-8
  • Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau, 2006, ISBN 3-451-29078-2
  • Texts on Catholic social doctrine, the social circulars of the popes and other church documents , published by the Federal Association of the Catholic Workers' Movement in Germany - KAB, Ketteler-Verlag, Bornheim, 1992, INSBN 3-927494-01-1; Verlag Butzon & Bercker, Kevelaer, 1992, ISBN 3-7666-9789-7

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