damnis illatis, eam, si fieri posset, evertere impie commoliuntur.

Nos profecto pro ministerii Nostri munere, Apostolicam vocem attol lentes, gravissima a Matritensi Gubernio Ecclesiæ inflicta vulnera publice lamentari non prætermisimus; actaque omnia a civili potestate contra ipsius Ecclesiæ jura et leges edita plane nulla et irrita declaravimus. Omni præterea doloris significatione atrocissimas injurias ac calamitates Venerabilibus Fratribus illius Regni Episcopis et sacris utriusque cleri personis irrogatas, nec non abominationem in loco sancto constitutam, et ecclesiastica bona sacrilege direpta, divendita, et publico ærario adjudicata vehementer conquesti sumus; in memoriam una simul, revocantes pœnas ac censuras, quas Apostolicæ Constitutiones et Ecumenica Concilia ipso facto incurrendas iis infligunt, qui talia facinora patrare non reformidant. Atque hoc Apostolici Nostri muneris officium semel et iterum obeundum curavimus binis Allocutionibus ad VV. FF. NN. S. R. E. Cardinales habitis in Consistorio calendis Februarii Anno 1836, et calendis Martii Anno 1841: quas quidem typis edi jussimus, ut silicet Apostolicæ Nostræ solicitudinis ac reprobationis publicum illudque perenne monumentum existeret.

In eam sane spem erigebamur fore, ut Nostra hæc vox, quæ ex afflictissimo communis omnium fidelium Patris corde erumpebat, exaudiretur; utque iteratis Nostris monitis ac expostulationibus dura istiusmodi contra Catholicam Religionem persecutio cessaret. Hac certe de causa dies

boisterous ocean, venting forth their disordered thoughts, wage a most cruel war against Christ and his Saints. Having brought the greatest losses on the Catholic religion, they now attempt, in their impiety, to subvert it could that but be effected.

We, in the accomplishment of the duties of our ministry raising our Apostolic voice, have not ceased mourning publicly the wounds inflicted on the Church by the Government of Madrid, and denouncing as null and void all those ordinances of the civil power which have been directed against the rights and laws of this Church. We have, moreover, with every demonstration of grief, vehemently lamented the atrocious injuries and evils which have been inflicted on our venerable brethren, the bishops of that kingdom, and on the sacred persons of the clergy of both orders; and we have seen, with sorrow, abomination set up in the holy place, and ecclesiastical property sacrilegiously robbed, sold, and turned over to the public treasury. At the same time, we did not omit to recal to memory the penalties and censures which the Apostolical constitutions and the Ecumenical councils pronounce, ipso facto, against those who dare to commit such crimes. We have fulfilled-in the two Allocutions addressed to our venerable brethren, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, assembled in the Consistories held on the Calends of February, 1836, and on those of March, 1841-that duty which our apostolical charge imposed on us. We have even ordered them to be printed, so that that monument of our Apostolic solicitude and reprobation might publicly and perpetually exist.

We had indulged in the hope that the words which had emanated from the afflicted heart of the common Father of the faithful would be heard, and that through our reiterated admonitions and expostulations an end would be put to the fierce persecution of the Catholic religion. Prostrate,

noctesque ad Crucifixi pedes provoluti plurimas inter lacrimas et gemitus humilitate cordis Nostri orare nunquam intermisimus, ut pro immensa sua misericordia laboranti Hispanicæ Nationi adjutricem dexteram porrigere, et errantibus, ut in viam possent redire justitiæ, veritatis suæ lumen ostendere vellet. At inscrutabili divino judicio nullus adhuc spei Nostræ respondit eventus: immo vero ita per vastissimas eas regiones mala in dies augeri conspicimus, ut Catholicæ Religioni extremum veluti excidium palam intentetur. Silentio enim prætereuntes alia permulta satis explorata, quæ contra sanctissimas Ecclesiæ leges atque hujus Apostolicæ Sedis jura recentissime decreta, vel etiam perfecta ibidem sunt, eo sceleris deventum esse dolemus, ut diobolica sane malatia execrabilis lex supremis Regni Comitiis proposita fuerit, in id potissimum tendens ut legitima ecclesiastica auctoritas omnino tollatur, impiaque statuatur opinio, laicam potestatem supremo suo jure Ecclesiæ ipsi ejusque rebus dominari.

Et quidem ea in lege constituitur, ab Hispanica gente nullam hujus Apostolicæ Sedis rationem habendam ; omnem cum ipsa communicationem pro quibusvis ecclesiasticis gratiis, indultis, concessionibus intercipiendam, eosque omnino puniendos qui hujusmodi præscripto adversentur. Item sancitur, ut literæ Apostolicæ aliaque rescripta ab Sancta eadem Sede profecta, quin ex Hispania fuerint petita, non solum minime serventur, omnique careant effectu; verum etiam ab iis, ad quos pervenerint, civili auctoritati brevissimo temporis intervallo denuncientur, ut per eam dein Gubernio tradantur, pœna quoque in hujusce præscriptionis violatores statuta. Præterea decernitur matrimonii impedimenta Regni Episcopis fore subjecta, donec civilium legum codex inter matrimonii contractum et sacramentum discrimen ponat; neque ullam de religiosis re

night and day, at the feet of Christ crucified, we never ceased in the humility of our heart and midst frequent tears and groans, to beseech that, in the plentitude of His mercy, He would deign to stretch out a helping hand to the Spanish nation in its difficulties, and to manifest to those who were in error the light of His truth, so that they might return to the paths of justice. But, by the impenetrable judgment of God, no event has, as yet, responded to our hopes; on the contrary, we behold the evils increasing throughout those vast regions to such an extent, that the Catholic religion is publicly menaced with utter destruction. Without making mention here of very many other decrees which have been levelled against the most holy laws of the Church and the rights of this Apostolical See, we grieve to find crime arrived to such a height that it has proposed, with truly diabolical malice, an execrable law in the supreme assembly of the kingdom, to do away altogether with all lawful ecclesiastical authority, and has set up the impious principle that the civil power should, in its own supreme right, hold sway over the Church and

its affairs.

In effect it is determined by that law, that the Spanish nation is to take no heed of this Apostolic See; that all communication with it, in respect to ecclesiastical favours, indulgences, and concessions, is to be cut off, and that those who resist that law shall be severely punished. It is likewise enacted, that the letters Apostolic, and other documents from the Holy See, shall not only be left unregarded and considered of no avail (unless they be demanded by Spain), but shall be, without delay, denounced by those who may receive them, to the civil authorities, who are to transmit them to the Government, a penalty being decreed against the violators of this statute. It is, moreover, ordained, that the impediments to matrimony shall be submitted to the jurisdiction of the bishops of the kingdom, until a code of civil laws shall establish a distinction

bus causam ad Hispania Romam mitte posse, et nullo unquam tempore vel Nuntium vel hujus Sanctæ Sedis Legatum illic admissum iri cum potestate gratias sive dispensationes, licet gratuitas, concedendi. Quid plura! Excluditur plane sacratissimum Romani Pontificis jus confirmandi vel rejiciendi Episcopos in Hispania electos; atque adeo exilii pœna mulctantur tum Presbyteri ad aliquam Episcopalem Ecclesiam designati, qui ab Sancta hac Sede vel confirmationem, vel Apostolicas litteras petierint, tum Metripolotani qui Pallium ab ipsa postulaverint. Post hæc mirum profecto, quod ipse Romanus Pontifex tanquam Ecclesiæ Centrum haberi ea in lege asseratur: cum quo tamen communicationi locus non relinquitur, nisi intercedente venia atque inspectione Gubernii.

In hac igitur tanta Catholicæ Religionis per Hispaniam perturbatione ingravescentia ibidem mala, quantuin in Nobis est, compescere, Nostramque opem carissimis illis Fidelibus, qui jamdiu supplices ad Nos tendunt manus, ferre summopere cupientes, Prædecessorum Nostrorum exemplo statuimus ad universæ Ecclesiæ preces confugere, et omnium Catholicorum pietatem erga afflictam Nationem illam studiosissime excitare. Et certe cum nemo possit ab hujus tristitiæ participatione secerni, atque in tanto Religionis et Fidei discrimine una cunctis dolendi sit causa; una pariter omnium_juvandi ratio esse debet. Itaque dum Nostris hisce litteris questus expostulationesque in memoratis Allocutionibus editas renovamus et confirmamus, actaque omnia a Matritens Gubernio contra Ecclesiæ Sanctæque hujus Sedis jura et dignitatem hactenus gesta, et in primis propositam nuper legem reprobamus, abrogamus, nulliusque roboris fore edicimus, singulos VV. FF. Patriarchas, Primates, Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, qua late patet catholicus orbis, gratiam et com

between the contract and the sacrament of marriage; that no cause relating to religious affairs can be referred from Spain to Rome; and that for the future no nuncio nor legate from the Holy See can be admitted into Spain with the power of granting dispensations or favours, even gratuitous. More yet remains to be told! The most sacred right of the Roman pontiff to confirm or reject the election of bishops in Spain is abolished, and exile is the lot of those priests, who, on being appointed to some epis. copal church, seek to be confirmed by the Holy See, or ask for letters therefrom. The same punishment awaits the metropolitans who solicit the Pallium. It is astonishing that, after such ordinances, the Roman Pontiff should be declared, in those very laws, the centre of the Church, although no communication with him is allowed, unless through the good pleasure and under the inspection of the Govern

ment.

Desirous of checking as far as in us lies, the evils which are on the increase throughout Spain, in consequence of the disturbance of the Catholic religion, and eager to afford our assistance to our beloved and faithful children, who, for so long a time, have stretched out to us their suppliant hands, we have determined, after the example of our predecessors, to have recourse to the prayers of the universal Church, and most zealously excite, in favour of that afflicted nation, the piety of all Catholics. And as no one can, assuredly, be a stranger to that common affliction, and as there is the same cause of grief for all in this so great danger for religion and faith, so ought there to be equally but one motive for rendering assistance. And whilst we repeat and confirm in these present letters those complaints and griefs which have been already set forth in the allocutions above referred to; and whilst we reprove, abrogate, and declare null and void, not only all those decrees already enacted, by the Government of Madrid, against the Church and the rights and

munionem cum hac Apostolica Sede habentes, pro ea qua in Domino unum summus caritate proque ea fide qua in unum corpus coalescimus, etiam atque etiam hortamur, ut, suas cum Nostris miscentes lacrimas, divinam flectere iram, et Omnipotentis Dei misericordiam pro infelici Hispanica Natione implorare unanimiter contendant, commissumque sibi clerum ac populum ad assiduas in idipsum preces enixe studeant inflammare. Volumus vero atque mandamus, ut singuli intra Pontificiam Nostram Ditionem VV. FF. Archiepiscopi et Episcopi in propriis diocesibus, ea ratione qua magis in Domino expedire censuerint, publicas ad misericordiarum Patrem obsecrationes peragendas curent, ut propter Filii sui sanguinem, qui pro omnibus effusus est, in Hispaniæ Regno tentationis dies abbrevientur. Utque facilius Deus inclinet aures suas ad preces Nostras, suppliciter omnes adeant Deiparam Virginem potentissimam Ecclesiæ auxiliatricem, nostrumque omnium amantissimam matrem, et fidissimam Hispaniæ patronam: suffragia insuper petant Principis Apostolorum, quem Christus Ecclesiæ suæ petram constituit, adversus quam portæ inferi non prævalebunt; itemque Cælitum omnium eorum præsertim qui Hispaniam virtute, sanctitate, prodigiis magnopere illustrarunt. Quo autem singuli cujusque ordinis, gradus, et conditionis fideles ferventiore caritate atque uberiore cum fractu orationibus et obsecrationibus instent, cœlestium munerum thesauros liberali manu proferre decrevimus. Hinc plenariam in forma Jubilæi concedimus Indulgentiam, lucrandam ab omnibus Christi fidelibus, qui sacramentali confessione rite expiati ac sanctissima Eucharistia refecti solemnibus supplicationibus, proprii cujusque Ordinarii arbitrio statuendis, tribus saltem vicibus interfuerint, et in Ecclesia ab ipsis Ordinariis designanda ter intra quindecim dies supradicta de causa ferventer oraverint.

dignities of this Holy See, but also in a particular manner the law recently proposed, we most strenuously exhort our venerable brethren the patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops— wherever the Catholic world extends in the name of that charity whereby we are one in the law, and by that with which unites us in one body, to endeavour to turn away the Divine wrath, and mingling their tears with ours, unanimously to implore the mercy of an Omnipotent God for the unfortunate Spanish nation. We desire also, that they would strenuously induce the clergy and people entrusted to them to earnestly pray for the same object. We also wish, and hereby exhort our venerable brethren the archbishops and bishops in all the dioceses of our Pontifical states, to see that public prayers be addressed to the Father of Mercy, in order that, through the merits of Christ Jesus, whose blood was shed for all, the days of trial for Spain may be shortened. And in order that God may the more readily hear our prayers, let all address their supplications to his Virgin Mother, the most powerful auxiliary of the Church, the tender mother of all, and the most faithful patron of Spain; let them also invoke the aid of the Prince of the Apostles, whom Christ has constituted the rock of his Church, against which hell's 's gates shall not prevail, and let them also have recourse to all the saints, more especially to those who have shed a lustre on Spain by their virtues, sanctity, and miracles. In order that the faithful of all ranks, grades, and conditions, may with more fervent charity, and with more abundant fruit redouble their prayers, we have resolved to proffer with a liberal hand the treasures of celestial grace! We have, therefore, granted a plenary indulgence, in the form of a jubilee, to all those faithful servants of Christ Jesus, who being duly purified by the sacrament of confession, and nourished with the most holy Eucharist, shall assist, three times at least, at the solemn prayers which may be fixed by each ordinary, at his own choice, and

Futurum sane confidimus, ut Angeli pacis, habentes phiales aureas et thuribulum aureum in manu sua, fervidas humilesque Nostras et totius Ecclesiæ pro Hispania preces offerant super altare aureum Domino utque Ipse, qui dives est in miserationibus, benigno eas vultu excipiens, Nostris et communibus fidelium votis annuere velit, ac simul perficere, ut in dextera sua et brachio fortitudinis suæ inibi tandem aliquando, destructis adversitatibus et erroribus, Sancta Mater Ecclesia a tantis calamitatibus respiret, atque ea pace et libertate fruatur, qua Christus ipsam donavit.

Ut vero hæ Nostræ Litteræ omnibus facilius innotescant, nec quisquam ipsarum ignorantiam allegare possit, volumus ac jubemus eas ad valvas Basilicæ Principis Apostolorum et Cancellariæ Apostolicæ, nec non Curiæ Generalis in Monte Citatorio, ac in Acie Campi Floræ de Urbe per aliquem ex cursoribus Nostris, ut moris est, publicari, illarumque exempla ibidem affixa relinqui.

Datum Romæ apud Sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris die XXII Februarii Anno MDCCCXLII Pontificatus Nostri Anno XII.

A. CARD. LAMBRUSCHINI.

who shall thrice fervently pray, with the same intention, within fifteen days, in the place of worship appointed by such ordinaries.

Most firmly do we hope that the Angels of Peace who carry in their hands the phials and the censers of gold, will offer to the Lord, on the altar of gold, our humble prayers and those of the Church in favour of Spain, and that he who is rich in mercy, receiving those supplications with a benignant countenance, will deign to favour the common prayers, both of ourself and the faithful, and to decree that our Holy Mother, the Church, being freed by the right arm of His force from all adversities and errors, may breathe freely after so many calamities, and may enjoy that peace and liberty wherewith Christ endowed her.

In order that these our letters may be noted by all, and that no one may plead ignorance thereof, we desire and ordain that they be publicly read, as is the custom, before the doors of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, of those of the Apostolical Chancery, as well as of the general court on the Mount Citario, and on the Campo di Flora, by one of our heralds-it being ordained also that copies of the same letters be affixed and left there.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, under the ring of the Fisherman, the 22d day of February, 1842, and the twelfth of our Pontificate.

A. CARD. LAMBRUSCHINI.