CHURCH_DOCUMENT
Vehementer Nos
Document of the Catholic Church
Vehementer Nos was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius X on 11 February 1906. He denounced the French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State enacted two months earlier. He condemned its unilateral abrogation of the Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon I and Pope Pius VII that had granted the Catholic Church a distinctive status and established a working relationship between the French government and the Holy See. The title of the document is taken from its opening words in Latin, which mean "We with vehemence".
body Excerpt
DILECTIS FILIIS NOSTRIS FRANCISCO MARIAE S. R. E. PRESB. CARD. RICHARD ARCHIEPISCOPO PARISIENSI VICTORI LUCIANO S. R. E. PRESB. CARD. L COT ARCHIEPISCOPO BURDIGALENSI PETRO HECTORI S. R. E. PRESB. CARD. COULLI ARCHIEPISCOPO LUGDUNENSI IOSEPHO GUILELMO S. R. E. PRESB. CARD. LABOUR ARCHIEPISCOPO RHEDONENSI CETERISQUE VENERABILIBUS FRATRIBUS ARCHIEPISCOPIS ET EPISCOPIS ATQUE UNIVERSO CLERO ET POPULO GALLIAE Vehementer Nos esse sollicitos et praecipuo quodam dolore angi, rerum vestrarum causa, vix attinet dicere; quando ea perlata lex est, quae quum pervetustam civitatis vestrae cum Apostolica Sede necessitudinem violenter dirimit, tum vero indignam miserrimamque Ecclesiae in Gallia conditionem importat. Gravissimum sane facinus, idemque, ob ea quae civili societati allaturum est aeque ac religioni detrimenta, omnibus bonis deplorandum. Quod tamen nemini arbitramur inopinatum accidisse, qui quidem postremis temporibus, quemadmodum sese adversus Ecclesiam rei publicae moderatores gererent, attendent. Vobis certe nec subitum accidit nec novum, Venerabiles Fratres; quibus ipsis testibus, christiana instituta plagas tam multas tamque magnas, alias ex aliis, accepere publice.
key Themes
- Catholic Church in France
document Type
encyclical
issuing Authority
Pius X
issued Date
1906-02-11
canonical Url
http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/la/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_11021906_vehementer-nos.html