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Princeps Pastorum Encyclical of Pope John XXIII November 28, 1959 To Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Prirnates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See. Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction. On the day when "the Prince of the Shepherds" (1) entrusted to Us His lambs and sheep, (2) God's flock, which dwells all over the earth, We responded to the sweet invitation of His love with a sense of Our unworthiness but with trust in His all-powerful assistance. And the magnitude, the beauty, and the importance of the Catholic Missions have been constantly on Our mind. (3) For this reason, We have never ceased to devote to them Our greatest solicitude and attention. And at the close of the first year marking the anniversary of Our reception of the triple Tiara, in the sermon which We delivered on that solemn occasion We mentioned as among the happiest events of Our Pontificate the day, October 10th, on which over four hundred missionaries gathered in the most holy Vatican Basilica to receive from Our hands the crucifix, image of Jesus Christ Crucified, before leaving for distant parts of the world to illumine them with the light of Christianity. Early Interest 2. The Most Provident Lord, in His secret and loving designs, willed that, in its very first years, Our priestly mission should be oriented toward the furthering of this cause; in fact, immediately after the conclusion of the First World War, Our predecessor Benedict XV called Us to Rome from Our diocese, so that We could devote Our zeal to the Pontifical Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, a function which We most willingly performed during four years of Our priestly life. We happily recall Whitsunday in 1922, the third centenary of the foundation of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which is especially entrusted with the task of carrying the beneficial light of the Gospel, and heavenly grace, to the farthest reaches of the earth. It was with great joy that We participated in the Congregation's centennial festivities on that day. 3. Also at the time Our predecessor Pius XII by word and example incited Us to give Our warmest support to missionary activities and projects. Just before the College of Cardinals was convened for the Conclave during which, by divine inspiration, he was chosen as the successor of St. Peter, he spoke the following words in Our presence: "We cannot expect anything greater or more beneficial from the new Vicar of Christ than these two most important things: that he will strive with all his might to propagate the doctrine of the Gospel among all men, and that he will bring peoples together in a spirit of true peace and strengthen them therein." (4) Subject of This Letter 4. With these and many other sweet memories in Our mind, and aware of the grave duties imposed upon the Supreme Shepherd of the flock of God, We would like, Venerable Brethren—seizing an occasion offered by that memorable Apostolic Letter, Maximum illud, (5) with which, forty years ago, Our predecessor Benedict XV furthered the cause of the Catholic missions by establishing new rules and enkindling the faithful with new zeal—We would like, We repeat, to speak to you with a fatherly heart, by means of this letter, on the necessity and hopes of extending God's kingdom to the many parts of the world where missionaries labor zealously, sparing no effort in order that new branches of the Church may grow and produce wholesome fruits. 5. Our predecessors Pius XI and Pius XII also issued decrees and exhortations to the furtherance of this cause, (6) which We confirmed with like authority and like charity when We issued Our first Encyclical Letter, Ad Petri Cathedram. (7) We think, however, and We feel sure that We will never do enough to carry out the wishes of the Divine Redeemer in this matter until all sheep are happily gathered in one fold under the leadership of one Shepherd. (8) A Cry for Help 6. When We turn Our mind and Our heart to the supernatural blessings of the Church that are to be shared with those people whose souls have not yet been suffused with the light of the Gospel, there appear before Our eyes either regions of the world where bountiful crops grow, thrive, and ripen, or regions where the labors of the toilers in God's vineyard are very arduous, or regions where the enemies of God and Jesus Christ are harassing and threatening to destroy Christian communities by violence and persecutions, and are striving to smother and crush the seed of God's word. (9) We are everywhere confronted by appeals to Us to ensure the eternal salvation of souls in the best way We can, and a cry seems to reach Our ears: "Help us!" (10) Innumerable regions have already been made fruitful by the sweat and blood of messengers of the Gospel "from every nation under heaven," (11) and native apostles, with the help of divine grace, are blossoming like new buds and are bringing forth saving fruits. We desire to reach those regions with Our words of praise and encouragement, and with Our affection. We also wish to give them Our instructions and admonitions, which are prompted by firm hope based on the infallible promise of Our Divine Master, that is contained in these words: "Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world." (l7) "Take courage, I have overcome the world." (l3) I 7. The First World War involved many countries all over the world and caused grievous losses to many individuals and nations. When it finally ended, Benedict XV's Apostolic Letter (l4) (which We mentioned above), like the exalted invitation of a fatherly voice, enflamed the souls of all Catholics to expand peacefully the Kingdom of God, the only one, We say, which can give and secure permanent peace and prosperity to all men, children of their Heavenly Father. From that time, during forty very active years, the works and undertakings of the heralds of the Gospel have been flourishing and producing increasingly abundant fruits every day; and the most noteworthy result is the fact that a local hierarchy and clergy have been increasingly developed in the mission areas. A Local Hierarchy 8. It is necessary that missionaries obey the words of Our immediate predecessor, Pius XII, to the effect that they "must constantly keep before their mind's eyes their ultimate goal, which is to establish the Church firmly in other countries, and subsequently to entrust it to a local hierarchy, chosen from their own people." (15) Therefore, this Apostolic See, abundantly and at the opportune time, has taken measures especially in recent times, to establish or re-establish a hierarchy in those areas in which local conditions favored the foundation of Episcopal Sees, and if possible, to place locally born prelates at their head. At any rate, it is well known that this has always been the principal and constant goal of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. It was an Apostolic Letter, however, which highlighted the importance and immediacy of the matter as never before. In this letter Our predecessor, Benedict XV, urgently reminded the authorities in charge of the missions to nurture carefully the vocations of those who felt the divine call to the priesthood in mission territories and to contribute to the quantitative and qualitative growth of that clergy which was called native. (Neither slight nor discrimination was intended by the word "native," or was ever expressed or implied by the language of the Roman Pontiffs and ecclesiastical documents.) Growth of Native Clergy 9. This exhortation of Benedict XV, which was repeated by Our predecessors Pius XI and Pius XII, with the help of God's divine Providence has had visible and copious results. We want you to join Us in rendering thanks to God for the fact that a numerous and elect legion of bishops and priests has arisen in the Mission territories, Our brethren and beloved sons, who fill Our heart with great expectations. If We cast even a cursory glance on the ecclesiastical situation in the areas which are entrusted to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, with the exception of those at present under persecution, We note that the first bishop of east Asian origins was consecrated in 1923, and the first vicars apostolic of African Negro descent were named in 1939. By 1959, We count 68 Asian and 25 African bishops. The remaining native clergy grew in number from 919 in 1918 to 5553 in 1957 in Asia, and during the same period in Africa from 90 in 1918 to 1811 in 1957. With such an admirable increase in the numbers of the clergy did the Lord of the harvest (l6) desire to reward adequately the labors and merits of those who zealously did mission work, either individually or in cooperation with many others, responding with a generous heart to the repeated exhortations of this Apostolic See. Mutual Exchange 10. It was, therefore, with good reason that Our predecessor Pius XII was able to affirm with satisfaction: "Once upon a time it seemed as though the life of the Church used to prosper and blossom chiefly in the regions of ancient Europe, whence it would flow, like a majestic river, through the remaining areas which, to use the Greek term, were considered almost the periphery of the world; today, however, the life of the Church is shared, as though by a mutual irradiation of energies, among all individual members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Not a few countries on other continents have long since outgrown the missionary stage, and are now governed by an ecclesiastical hierarchy of their own, have their own ecclesiastical organization, and are liberally offering to other Church communities those very gifts, spiritual and material, which they formerly used to receive." (l7) Encouraging Vocations 11. We wish especially to exhort the bishops and clergy of the new Christian communities to pray to God, and to conduct themselves in such a way that the priestly gift they are enjoying may grow in spiritual fruitfulness; in their talks with the people, as often as feasible they should praise the dignity, the beauty, and the merits of the priesthood, and, by so doing, they will induce all those whom God has chosen for this exalted honor to respond to the call with an open and generous heart. They should also cause the faithful entrusted to their care to pray to God for this cause, in unity of spirit with the whole Church, which, in response to the Divine Redeemer's exhortations, prays "the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest," (18) especially at the present time, when "the harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few."(19) Place of Foreign Missionaries 12. However, Christian communities to which missionaries still devote their zeal, although already governed by their own hierarchy, are still in need of the work of missionaries from other countries, either because of the vastness of the territory, or the increasing number of converts, or the multitude of those who have not yet benefited from the doctrine of the Gospel. To such missionaries, no doubt, apply these words of Our immediate predecessor: "These cannot be considered foreigners, for all Catholic priests who truly answer their vocation feel themselves native sons wherever they work, in order that the Kingdom of God may flourish and develop." (20) Let them therefore work united by the bond of that loving, brotherly, and sincere charity which mirrors the love they must feel toward the Divine Redeemer and His Church; and, in prompt and filial obedience to their Bishops, whom "the Holy Spirit placed . . . to rule the Church of God," (21) they must be "of one heart and one soul," (22) grateful to each other for the mutual cooperation and help; indeed, if they act in this manner, it should be apparent to everyone's eyes that they are the disciples of Him Who, in His own and most distinctive "new" commandments, exhorted all to a mutual and always increasing love. (23) II 13. Our predecessor Benedict XV, in his Apostolic Letter Maximum illud, especially exhorted Catholic mission authorities to mold and shape the minds and souls of the clergy selected from the local population, and to do so in such a way that their formation and education would turn out "perfect and complete in every respect." (24) "In fact," he wrote, "a native priest, having a place of birth, character, mentality, and emotional make-up in common with his countrymen, is in a privileged position for sowing the seeds of the Faith in their hearts: indeed, he knows much better than a stranger the ways of persuasion with them." (25) Personal Sanctification 14. Regarding the requirements of a perfect priestly formation and education, it is necessary that seminarians be induced, tactfully but firmly, to espouse those virtues which are the prime qualification of the priestly calling, "that is, the duty to achieve personal sanctification." (26) The newly-ordained native clergy of those countries must enter into pious competition with the clergy of those old dioceses which have long been producing priests in their midst who were such mirrors of virtue that they are proposed as examples to the clergy of the whole Church. In fact, it is through sanctity that priests can and must be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. (27) In other words, they can, especially by their sanctity, show their own countrymen and the whole world the beauty and the supernatural power of the Gospel; they can teach all men that a perfect Christian life is a goal toward which all of God's children must strive, struggling and persevering with all their strength, regardless of their place of birth, their walk of life, or the degree of civilization they enjoy. Native Teachers in Seminaries 15. Furthermore, Our fatherly soul harbors the happy hope that everywhere the local clergy will be able to select from among its ranks just and holy men capable of governing, forming, and educating their own seminarians. That is the reason why We are already instructing the bishops and the mission authorities to choose without hesitation from among the local clergy those priests who, for their exceptional virtue and wise actions, qualify as teachers in the local seminaries and are able to lead their students to sanctity. Adaptation to Locality 16. Furthermore, Venerable Brethren, as you well know, the Church has prescribed at all times that priests must prepare for their calling by means of a solid intellectual and spiritual education. Indeed, no one will doubt, especially in our time, that young people of all races and from all parts of the world are capable of absorbing such an education; this fact has already been clearly demonstrated. Without doubt, the formation to be given to this clergy must take into account the circumstances which obtain in different areas and nations. This extremely wise norm applies to all students for the priesthood; it is advisable that young seminarians never be "educated in places too far removed from human society," (28) because "once they step out into the world, they will have problems in dealing both with simple people and with intellectuals; this will often cause them to assume the wrong attitude toward the Christian population, or to regard the formation they received as a bad one." (29) Indeed, it is necessary that youths not only conform to the ideal of priestly spiritual perfection in everything, but also that they "gradually and prudently penetrate the mentality and feelings of the people" (30)—of the people, We repeat, whom they must enlight with the truth of the Gospel and lead to perfection of life, with the help of God's grace. Therefore, it is necessary that seminary superiors conform to this plan of training and education while yet welcoming those material and technical facilities which the genius of mankind has made the patrimony, as it were, of every civilization in order to insure an easier and better life and to preserve the bodily health and safety of mankind. Training for Responsibility 17. The formation of the local clergy, as Our same predecessor, Benedict XV, wrote, must enable them in compliance with the first requirement of their divine calling, "to assume rightly the rule of their people" (31)—to lead their people, by the influence of their teaching and their ministry, along the path to eternal salvation. To this end, We highly recommend that everyone, whether local or foreign, who contributes to the formation in question, do his conscientious best to develop in these students a sense of the importance and difficulty of their mission, and a capability for wisely and discreetly using the freedom allowed to them. This should be done so that they may be in a position to assume, quickly and progressively, all the functions, even the most important ones, pertaining to their calling, not only in harmonious cooperation with the foreign clergy, but also on an equal footing with them. (32) Indeed, this is the touchstone of the effectiveness of their formation, and will be the best reward for the efforts of all those who contributed to it. Missiology 18. Indeed, in considering all the elements pertaining not only to the right intellectual and spiritual formation of the students for the priesthood but also the needs and to the special mentality and emotional make-up of their own people, this Apostolic See has always recommended, both to the foreign and to the local clergy, that they should study the discipline of missiology. Our predecessor Benedict XV established chairs of this discipline in the Pontifical Urban Athenaeum of the Propagation of the Faith; (33) and Our immediate predecessor, Pius XII, remarked with satisfaction on the founding of the Institute of Missiology in the same university; "not a few faculties and chairs of missiology," he said, "have been established in Rome and in other places." (34) Therefore, in the curricula of the seminaries of mission countries, there will be no lack of studies pertaining to the various missiological disciplines, nor of technical training in all the practical skills which are considered useful for the future work of the clergy in those countries. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that thei |