Sertum laetitiae

With the encyclical Sertum laetitiae ( bundle of joy ) Pope Pius XII. November 1, 1939, on the 150th anniversary of the installation of the first bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. For this reason he also writes to Archbishop of Boston Cardinal William Henry O'Connell , Archbishop of Philadelphia Cardinal Denis Joseph Dougherty, and all archbishops, bishops, and religious leaders of the United States of America .

150th anniversary

The Pope commemorates Pope Pius VI. who installed John Carroll as the first American bishop in Baltimore . This enthronement came at a very uncertain economic time, and the state of the United States was beset by a long war. George Washington , a friend of the Bishop of Baltimore, and John Carroll finally succeeded in laying the foundations of the Church. Already on the 100th anniversary Pope Leo XIII. in his encyclical Longinqua oceani extolled the advances made by the Church in America, Leo XIII. But also directed admonitions to those responsible.

Catholic Church in the United States

The current state of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is determined by Pius XII. numbered as follows: 19 ecclesiastical provinces; 115 dioceses ; almost 200 seminars and countless church buildings, schools and high schools, universities and hospitals, accommodation for the poor and asylum seekers. Furthermore, missionary associations and many societies have been founded in the USA that serve to spread the gospel . Here Pius XII remembers. of his October 1936 visit to the United States and praises the activities that have promoted the spread of the Faith since its inception . He has great hopes for the Catholic University of America . Pius XII. supports the wish of the American episcopate in Rome to set up a papal colleague for American seminary students.

Warnings and Admonitions

Pius XII. warns in this encyclical against the negative developments in American society, which include the spread of egoism , the addiction to pleasure, the vice of drunkenness, the costly fashion, the prevalence of crime and murder, the lust for power, the neglect of the poor and The sick, the breakdown of the family, the divorce, the birth control, the loss of authority and the breach of duty to the country and the people count. Once again he mentions Pope Leo XIII, who wrote about Christian marriage in his encyclical Arcanum divinae sapientia . Pius XII. In his exhortation exhorts the priests to prepare themselves well in the study of theology with a knowledge of humanity, so that in the years of preparation they would become familiar with the history of the Church and to exemplify the dogmas , church laws , sacraments , scriptures and liturgy in wisdom .

Earth goods and distribution of goods

Pius XII. declares that the roots of this teaching lay in the irrefutable demand,

"... namely that the goods that God created for mankind as a whole flow to all to the extent of equity according to the principles of justice and love."

The Pope also refers to the encyclical Quadragesimo anno by Pius XI. one and repeated:

“... every effort must be made that the families receive sufficient wages to meet their normal domestic needs. Should this social demand for the distribution of goods not be realized, reforms must be introduced that guarantee fair wages. It is a task of the trade unions to stand up for this right and to create rules for justice. The rules should consist of justice, honesty and adaptation of the norms. "

Especially this Leo XIII. demanded in his encyclical Rerum novarum , and he wanted the question of social reforms to be understood in accordance with the Gospel.

Freedom of assembly

Since human beings are by nature community-oriented, this gives rise to the right to freedom of assembly and association, warns Pius XII. on. People could shape the community formation they thought appropriate to achieve the goal they would have set for themselves. You could act from these communities of your own accord and on your own responsibility and guide them towards the desired goal.

literature

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

Web links

Text of the encyclical