Testem benevolentiae nostrae
Testem benevolentiae nostrae (witness of our benevolence [our affection]) is a papal letter from Pope Leo XIII. and dated January 22, 1899.
Leo XIII. addressed this letter to the Archbishop of Baltimore , James Gibbons and opposed the heresy and a so-called Americanism in the United States of America . This letter is subtitled: "Concerning New Opinions, Virtue, Nature and Grace with Regard to Americanism". This letter is sometimes referred to as the "Americanism Encyclical". This letter is not an encyclical , but a very personal papal letter addressed to the cardinal ; it can therefore be compared with a breve . Americanism was previously mentioned in Leo XIII's encyclical Longinqua . sentenced.
The Pope also refers to his encyclical Immortale Dei (1885), in which he referred to the real tasks of the state and governments . He recognizes the approach to the new times, but at the same time warns of a split in the American Church . He accuses Cardinal Gibbons of allowing too much democracy in the Church and reminds him of the danger of watering down the Church's faith through individualism and capitalism .