CASTI CONNUBII

 

ENCÍCLICA DO PAPA PIO XI
SOBRE O MATRIMÔNIO CRISTÃO

Casti Connubii é uma encíclica promulgada pelo Papa Pio XI em 31 de dezembro de 1930. Reitera a santidade do matrimônio e proíbe aos católicos o uso de qualquer forma artificial de controle de natalidade e reafirma a proibição do aborto.

AOS VENERÁVEIS IRMÃOS, PATRIARCAS,  CARDEAIS, ARCEBISPOS, BISPOS E OUTROS SACERDOTES ORDINÁRIOS EM PAZ E COMUNHÃO COM A VISÃO APOSTÓLICA.

Veneráveis irmãos e filhos amados, eu vos saúdo e lhes abençoo com bênção apostólica. 
1. Como é grande a dignidade do vínculo matrimonial casto, Veneráveis Irmãos, isso se pode julgar a partir de que Cristo Nosso Senhor, Filho do Pai Eterno, tendo assumido a natureza do homem decaído, não apenas, com Seu amável desejo de nortear a redenção de nossa raça, ordenou-o de um modo especial como o princípio e fundamento da sociedade doméstica e, consequentemente, de todas as relações sexuais humanas, mas também elevou-as ao nível de um verdadeiro e grandioso sacramento da Nova Aliança, lhe restaurou a pureza original de sua instituição divina, e conformemente confiou toda a sua disciplina e cuidado à Sua esposa a Igreja.

2. Entretanto, para que entre os homens de todas as nações e idades, os frutos desejáveis dessa renovação do matrimônio possam ser obtidos, é necessário, antes de tudo, que as suas mentes sejam iluminadas com a doutrina de Cristo sobre o matrimônio; e, em seguida, que os esposos cristãos tenham a fraqueza de suas vontades fortalecidas pela interior graça de Deus, e que modelem toda a sua mentalidade e modo de agir em conformidade com essa lei pura de Cristo, para assim obterem verdadeira paz e felicidade para si mesmos e suas famílias.

3. Ainda, não apenas Nós, olhando com olhar paternal para o mundo universal a partir dessa Visão Apostólica como que de um mirante, mas vós também, Veneráveis Irmãos, vêem, e vendo, profundamente lamentam conosco que um grande número de homens, esquecidos do trabalho divino da redenção, ou totalmente ignoram ou sem vergonha alguma negam a grande santidade do matrimônio Cristão ou, por se apoiarem nos falsos princípios de uma nova e absolutamente perversa moralidade, muito frequentemente a esmagam sob seus pés. E, desde que esses erros perniciosos e tal moral depravada começaram a se espalhar mesmo entre os que têm fé e gradualmente vêm ganhando terreno, em nosso ofício de Vigários de Cristo sobre a terra - o Supremo Pastor e Professor - consideramos que seja Nosso dever levantar a voz para que o rebanho se mantenha longe de pastos venenosos e, enquanto ele estiver em Nós embasado, preservá-lo de dano.

4. Nós decidimos lhes falar, Veneráveis Irmãos, e por meio de Vós a toda a Igreja de Cristo e, de fato, a toda a humanidade, sobre a natureza e a dignidade do casamento Cristão, sobre as vantagens e benefícios que dele advém para a família e sociedade humanas, sobre os erros que se opõem a esse ponto crucial do ensinamento do Evangelho, sobre os vícios que se opõem à união conjugal, e por último, aos remédios que devem ser aplicados para resolvê-los. Ao fazê-lo, seguimos os passos de Nosso predecessor, Leão XIII, aqui bem lembrado, cuja encíclica Arcanum, publicada há 50 anos, Nós aqui confirmamos e fazemos Nossa, e ao mesmo tempo, desejamos expandir mais profundamente certos pontos que se fazem necessários dadas as circunstâncias dos nossos tempos, entretanto Declaramos que, muito longe de ter-se tornado obsoleta, esta retém sua plena força nos dias atuais.

5. E para começar com essa mesma Encíclica, a qual se concentra totalmente em reinvindicar a instituição divina do matrimônio, sua dignidade sacramental e sua estabilidade perpétua, reafirmo a doutrina imutável e fundamental de que o matrimônio não foi instituído nem restaurado pelo homem mas por Deus; não foi pelo homem que suas leis foram feitas para fortalecê-lo, confirmá-lo e elevá-lo, mas por Deus, o Autor da natureza, e por Cristo Nosso Senhor por Quem a natureza foi redimida, portanto essas leis não podem estar sujeitas a quaisquer decretos humanos ou pactos contrários mesmo que feitos pelos próprios esposos. Essa é a doutrina da Escritura Sagrada; essa é a tradição constante da Igreja Universal; essa é a solene definição do sagrado Concílio de Trento, que declara e estabelece a partir das palavras da Sagrada Escritura que é Deus o Autor da estabilidade perpétua do vínculo matrimonial, assim como de sua unidade e sua firmeza. 

6. Ainda embora o matrimônio seja, por sua natureza mais essencial, de instituição divina, o humano irá, também, adentrá-lo e nele atuar com a função mais nobre. Pois que cada matrimônio individual, visto que é uma união conjugal entre um homem e uma mulher, nasce apenas do livre consentimento de cada um dos esposos; e esse ato livre da vontade, através do qual cada parte entrega e aceita aqueles direitos particulares ao estado matrimonial é, portanto, necessário para a constituição do verdadeiro matrimônio, o qual não pode ser suprido por nenhum poder humano. Essa liberdade, no entanto, refere-se apenas à questão se as partes realmente desejam entrar em um matrimônio ou casar-se com essa pessoa em particular; mas a natureza do matrimônio é totalmente independente do livre-arbítrio do homem, de modo que aquele que contraiu matrimônio está, assim, sujeito às suas propriedades essenciais e às suas leis por Deus instituídas. Para o Doutor Angélico, quando escreve sobre a honra conjugal e sobre a prole que é o fruto do matrimônio, diz: "Essas coisas estão tão contidas no matrimônio pelo próprio pacto matrimonial que, se algo ao contrário foi expresso no consentimento que constitui o matrimônio tal não será um matrimônio verdadeiro."

7. Pelo matrimônio, portanto, as almas das partes contraentes se unem e entrelaçam mais diretamente e mais intimamente que seus corpos, e não por alguma afeição transitória a qual pode ser sentida pelo espírito, mas por um ato firme e deliberado da vontade; e a partir dessa união de almas por decreto divino nasce um vínculo indissolúvel. Por isso a natureza desse contrato, a qual é própria e peculiar a ele somente, faz com que seja totalmente diferente tanto da união que se dá entre animais, os quais nela entram por  puro instinto cego da natureza, no qual não há lugar nem para a razão nem para a livre vontade, quanto da união casual entre pessoas, a qual está muito longe daquelas uniões verdadeiras e honradas nascidas da vontade e não dispõe de nenhum dos direitos da vida familiar. 

8. Disto está claro que a autoridade legitimamente constituída tem o direito e, portanto, o dever de restringir, prevenir e punir todas aquelas uniões que se opõem à razão e à natureza; e desde que esta é uma matéria que flui da própria natureza humana, não menos certo é o ensinamento de Nosso predecessor, Leão XIII, aqui bem lembrado: "Para escolher um estado de vida não se duvida de que está em poder e na discrição de cada um preferir um ou outro: seja abraçar o conselho de virgindade dado por Jesus Cristo, seja vincular-se nos laços do matrimônio. Tirar do homem o direito natural e primário do matrimônio, para circunscrever da maneira que seja o fim último do matrimônio instituído desde o princípio pelo próprio Deus através das palavras "Crescei-vos e multiplicai-vos" está fora do poder das leis humanas.

9. Portanto a parceria sagrada do matrimônio é constituído ao mesmo tempo pela vontade de Deus e pela vontade do homem. De Deus vem a própria instituição do matrimônio, os fins para os quais foi instituído, as leis que o governam, as bênção que dele fluem; enquanto o homem, através da generosa rendição de sua própria pessoa feita para outra por toda a vida, torna-se, com a ajuda e a cooperação de Deus, o autor de cada matrimônio em particular, com os deveres e bênçãos a ele anexas por instituição divina.

10. Agora quando vimos explicar, Veneráveis Irmãos, quais são as bênçãos anexadas por Deus ao matrimônio verdadeiro, e o quão grandes elas são, nos ocorrem as palavras daquele ilustre Doutor da Igreja o qual comemoramos recentemente em Nossa Encíclica Ad salutem escrita na ocasião do décimo quinto centenário de sua morte: "Estas," diz Santo Agostinho,"são todas as bênçãos do matrimônio por causa de que o matrimônio é, em si, uma bênção; filhos, fé conjugal e o sacramento." E o modo como sob esses três princípios estão contidos um sumário esplêndido de toda a doutrina sagrada do matrimônio Cristão, o santo Doutor expressamente declara quando diz: "Por fé conjugal advém que não deve haver nenhuma relação carnal com outro homem ou mulher; concernente aos filhos, advém que as crianças devam ser geradas no amor, cuidadas com ternura e educadas em uma atmosfera religiosa; finalmente, em seu aspecto sacramental, advém que o vínculo matrimonial não deve ser quebrado e que marido e esposa, se separados, não devem se unir novamente a outrem, nem mesmo que pelo bem da prole. Isso é o que consideramos como a lei do matrimônio por meio da qual é embelezada a florescente natureza humana e o mal da incontinência é contido."

11. Assim, entre as bênçãos do matrimônio, a criança ocupa o primeiro lugar. E, de fato, o próprio Criador da raça humana, Que em Sua bondade deseja valer-se dos homens como Seus ajudantes na propagação da vida, ensinou isso quando, instituiu o matrimônio no Paraíso, Ele disse para nossos primeiros pais, e por meio deles a todos os esposos: "Crescei-vos e multiplicai-vos, e enchei a terra." Como Santo Agostinho admiravelmente deduz das palavras do apóstolo São Paulo a Timóteo quando diz: "O próprio Apóstolo é, portanto, testemunha de que o matrimônio existe por causa da geração de filhos: "Eu desejo", ele diz, "que moças jovens se casem." E, como se alguém lhe replicasse "Por quê?", ele imediatamente adiciona: "Para que tenham filhos e sejam mães de família"." 

12. Que grande bênção de Deus é essa, e como é grandiosa a bênção do matrimônio está claro se consideramos a dignidade humana e sua finalidade sublime. Porque o homem supera todas as outras criaturas visíveis simplesmente através da superioridade de sua natureza racional. Além disso, Deus deseja que o homem nasça não apenas para viver e encher a terra, mas muito mais para que sejam adoradores de Deus, para que O conheçam e desfrutem Dele para sempre no paraíso; e essa finalidade, desde que o homem é criado por Deus de modo maravilhoso para a ordem sobrenatural, supera tudo que olhos já viram, e ouvidos ouviram, e tudo o que já entrou no coração humano. Advém daí que é facilmente observável o quanto é grandioso, notável e o quanto provém da divina bondade o dom dos filhos que, como fruto do matrimônio, nos dá o onipotente poder de Deus através da cooperação daqueles unidos pelo vínculo matrimonial.

13. Mas os pais Cristãos precisam também compreender que são destinados não apenas a propagar e preservar a raça humana na terra, e também não apenas a educar algum tipo de adoradores do verdadeiro Deus, mas crianças que irão se tornar membros da Igreja de Cristo, mas criar concidadãos dos Santos, e membros da casa de Deus, para que os adoradores de Deus e de Nosso Salvador possam crescer diariamente.

14. Pois, apesar de que as esposas cristãs mesmo que santifiquem a si mesmas não podem transmitir a santificação para sua progenitura, nem, apesar de o próprio processo natural de gerar a vida tenha se tornado caminho de morte pelo qual o pecado original é transmitido para a posteridade, mesmo assim, elas participam, até certo ponto, nas bênçãos daquele primeiro casamento no Paraíso, desde que cabe a elas oferecer sua prole à Igreja para que por essa fertilíssima Mãe dos filhos de Deus eles possam ser regenerados na pia bastimal até a justificação sobrenatural e finalmente serem feitos membros vivos de Cristo, participantes da vida imortal, e herdeiros daquela glória eterna a que todos aspiramos desde o mais fundo de nossos corações.

15. Se uma mãe verdadeiramente cristã pesar bem essas coisas, ela certamente irá compreender com um senso de profunda consolação o que sobre ela falam as palavras de Nosso Salvador quando diz: "Uma mulher... quando ela trouxe uma criança à luz ela já não se lembra de nenhuma angústia, pois um filho foi dado ao mundo"; e, ao provar-se superior a todas as dores, cuidados e solicitudes de seu ofício materno com uma alegria mais justa e mais santa do que a da matrona romana, a mãe dos Gracchi, ela irá exultar no Senhor, coroada, como essas costumavam ser, com a glória de sua prole. Ambos, marido e esposa, entretanto, recebem essas crianças com alegria e gratidão das mãos de Deus e irão considerá-las talentos confiados por Deus, não apenas para serem empregados para proveito próprio ou para a comunidade terrena, mas para serem devolvidas para Deus com juros no dia do juízo.

16. A bênção da prole, entretanto, não se completa apenas pela mera geração, mas algo mais precisa ser adicionado, a saber, a educação apropriada da mesma. Pois o sapientíssimo Deus teria falhado em sua providência para com as crianças nascidas assim como para com a humanidade, se Ele não lhes tivesse dado àqueles a quem Ele confiou o poder e o direito de gerá-los, e também o poder e o direito de educá-las. Pois, ninguém se nega a ver que crianças são incapazes de prover plenamente para si mesmas, mesmo em matérias concernentes à vida natural, e muito menos naquelas pertencentes ao sobrenatural, mas requerem ser ajudadas, instuídas e educadas por outrem por muitos anos. Agora, é certo que tanto na lei da natureza quanto na lei de Deus esse direito e dever de educar seus filhos pertencem, em primeiro lugar, àqueles que os permitiu nascer, e a eles é proibido deixar inacabada a obra e, desse modo, expô-la a certa ruína. Mas, no matrimônio a providência foi feita de modo melhor possível para essa educação  dos filhos que é tão necessária, pois, desde que os pais estão unidos por um vínculo indissolúvel, o cuidado e a ajuda mútua de cada um estão sempre à mão.

17. Desde que, entretanto, nós temos falado plenamente em outros momentos sobre a educação cristã da juventude, vamos sintetizá-lo por meio de mais uma citação de Santo Agostinho: "No que se refere aos filhos está posto que eles devam ser gerados com amor e educados religiosamente - e isso é também expresso de modo suciento no Código do Direito Canônico - "A finalidade primária do matrimônio é a procriação e a educação dos filhos."

18. Não podemos nos omitir de pontuar que desde que a tarefa confiada aos pais pelo bem das crianças é de uma dignidade tão elevada e de tão grande importância, que todo uso da faculdade dada por Deus para a procriação de uma nova vida é direito e privilégio apenas do estado matrimonial, pela lei de Deus e da natureza, e tal deve ser confinado absolutamente dentro dos sagrados limites desse estado.

19. A segunda bênção do matrimônio a qual dissemos que foi mencionada por Santo Agostinho é a benção da honra conjugal que consiste na mútua fidelidade dos esposos in realizar o contrato matrimonial, para que o que pertence a uma das partes pela razão desse contrato sancionado por lei divina, não possa ser negado a ele ou permitido a uma terceira pessoa; nem possa ser concedido a nenhuma das partes nada que, sendo contrário aos direitos e leis de Deus e totalmente oposto à fé matrimonial, nunca poderá ser concedido. 

20. Portanto, a fé conjugal, ou honra, demanda, em primeiro lugar, a unidade completa do matrimônio a qual o Próprio Criador instituiu no princípio quando Ele desejou que o mesmo não fosse de outro modo que entre um homem e uma mulher. E, apesar de que, depois disso essa lei primordial foi, de certo modo, afrouxada por Deus, o Supremo Legislador, não há dúvidas de que a lei do Evangelho plenamente restaura aquela unidade perfeita e original, e revoga toda dispensa como mostram claramente as palavras de Cristo e os ensinamentos e atos constantes da Igreja. Com razão, entretanto, o sagrado Concílio de Trento solenemente declara: "Cristo Nosso Senhor muito claramente ensinou que nessa união apenas duas pessoas devem se unir quando Ele disse: "Entretanto eles não são mais dois, mas uma só carne."

21. Não apenas quis Cristo Nosso Senhor condenar qualquer forma de poligamia ou poliandria, como são chamadas, seja sucessivo ou simultâneo, e qualquer tipo de ato desonroso, mas, para que o sagrado vínculo do matrimônio possa ser guardado absolutamente inviolável, Ele proibiu tambem até pensamentos desejosos dessa natureza: "Mas eu vos digo, que quemquer olhe para uma mulher com luxúria já com ela cometeu adultério no coração." Tais palavras de Cristo Nosso Senhor não podem ser anuladas nem por consentimento de um dos parceiros do matrimônio pois elas expressam uma lei de Deus e da natureza a qual nenhum homem pode quebrar ou dobrar.

22. Agora, o contato sexual recíproco e familiar entre os esposos, se as bênçãos da fé conjugal devem brilhar com esplendor crescente, devem distinguir-se pela castidade para que marido e esposa apoiem-se mutuamente em todas as coisas com a lei de Deus e da natureza, e se esforcem sempre para seguir a vontade de seu sapientísssimo e santíssimo Criador com grande reverência para com a obra de Deus. 

23. Essa fé conjugal, entretanto, a qual está mais apta a ser chamada por Santo Agostinho de "fé de castidade" desabrocha mais livremente, mais belamente e de modo mais nobre, quando está enraizada no mais excelente solo, o amor do marido e da esposa, o qual permeia todas as tarefas da vida de casado e ocupa lugar de honra no matrimônio cristão. Pois a fé matrimonial demanda que marido e esposa estejam unidas em um amor especialmente santo e puro, não como os adúlteros amam, mas como Cristo amou a Igreja. Esse preceito o Apóstolo o estabeleceu quando disse: "Maridos, amai vossas esposas como Cristo amou a Igreja", essa Igreja a qual verdadeiramente Ele abraçou com um amor sem limites não para proveito próprio, mas buscando unicamente o bem de Sua esposa. O amor, então, do qual estamos falando não é baseado na luxúria do momento que passa, nem consiste apenas em palavras agradáveis, mas em profundo apego do coração o qual é expresso em ato, pois o amor se prova por feitos. Essa expressão exterior do amor no lar demanda não apenas ajuda mútua mas deve ir além; deve ter como seu propósito primeiro que homem e mulher ajudem-se cotidianamente a formar e aperfeiçoar a si mesmos na vida interior, para que sua parceria na vida possa avançar sempre mais e mais em virtude, e acima de tudo para que eles cresçam no verdadeiro amor a Deus e ao irmão, do qual de fato "depende toda Lei e os Profetas". Pois, todos os homens de cada condição, independentemente de qual honrosa caminhada da vida eles estejam, pode e deve imitar aquele exemplo mais perfeito de santidade colocado diante do homem por Deus, a saber Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, e, pela graça divina chegar aos cumes da perfeição, como foi provado pelo exemplo deixado por muitos santos.

24. A modelagem mútua de marido e esposa, esse esforço determinado de aperfeiçoar um ao outro, pode, em um sentido muito real, como ensina o Catecismo Romano, ser tida como a razão e o propósito principais do matrimônio, desde que o matrimônio seja visto não no sentido restritivo como instituído para a apropriada concepção e educação da criança, mas mais amplamente como a tessitura da vida como um todo e como mútuo intercâmbio e como partilha dele advinda. 

25. Por esse mesmo amor é necessário que todos os outros direitos e deveres do estado de casados sejam regulados como as palavras do Apóstolo: "O marido pague à sua mulher o que deve, e da mesma maneira também a mulher ao marido," (1Cor 7,3) expressa não apneas uma lei de justiça, mas de caridade.

26. A sociedade doméstica sendo confirmada, portanto, por esse vínculo de amor, é preciso que nela floresça aquilo que Santo Agostinho chamava de "hierarquia do amor". Essa hierarquia incluiu a primacia do marido em relação tanto à mulher quanto às crianças e à pronta submissão da mulher e sua voluntária obediência,  a qual o Apóstolo louva com as palavras: "Que as mulheres sejam submissas a seus maridos como ao Senhor, pois o homem é a cabeça da mulher, como Cristo é a cabeça da Igreja."

27. Essa submissão, entretanto, não nega ou tira a liberdade que tem a mulher tanto em vista de sua dignidade humana, quanto em vista do seu mais nobre ofício de esposa, mãe e companheira; nem implica que ela deve obedecer a cada pedido do marido se não está em harmonia com a reta razão ou com a dignidade devida à esposa; nem, profundamente, implica que a mulher deve ser posta em um nível com aqueles que na lei são chamados "menores", a quem não é costumeiro permitir livre exercício de direitos por causa de sua falta de maturidade para discernir, ou por causa de sua ignorância em assuntos humanos. Mas, é proibida aquela liberdade exagerada liberdade que não se importa com o bem da família; proibe que nesse corpo que é a família, o coração esteja separado da cabeça para grande detrimento de todo o corpo e está próximo o perigo da ruína. Pois o homem é a cabeça, a mulher é o coração, e como aquele ocupa o lugar de chefia no governo, então ela pode e deve clamar para si mesma o lugar de chefia no amor. 

28. Mais uma vez, essa sujeição da esposa ao marido pode variar em grau e modo de acordo com as diferentes condições pessoais, de lugar e de tempo. De fato, se o marido negligenciar seu dever, recai sobre a esposa tomar o seu lugar em direcionar a família. Mas a estrutura da família em sua lei fundamental, estabelecida e confirmada por Deus deve sempre e por toda parte ser mantida intacta.

29. Com grande sabedoria nosso predecessor Leão XIII, na encíclica sobre o matrimônio cristão anteriormente mencionada, ao falar sobre essa ordem que deve ser mantida entre o homem e sua esposa, ensina: "O homem é o dirigente da família, e a cabeça da mulher; mas porque ela é carne de sua carne e ossos de seus ossos, que ela seja sujeita e obediente ao homem, não como uma serva mas como uma companheira, para que em nada falte honra ou dignidade na obediência por ela prestada. Que a divina caridade seja o guia constante de sua relação mútua, tanto nele que manda quanto nela que obedece, desde que cada um ostenta a imagem, um de Cristo, e a outra da Igreja."

30. Estes, então, são os elementos que compõem a benção da fé conjugal: unidade, castidade, caridade, obediência nobre e honrada, que são ao mesmo tempo uma enumeração dos benefícios que foram conferidos a marido e esposa em seu estado marital, benefícios por meio dos quais a paz, a dignidade e a felicidade do matrimônio são seguramente preservadas e cultivadas. Pelo que não é supreendente que essa fé conjugal sempre foi posta entre as bençãos mais especiais e inestimáveis do matrimônio. 

31. Mas, esse acúmulo de benefícios se completa e coroa por aquela bênção do matrimônio cristão, que nas palavras de Santo Agostinho nós chamamos  de "sacramento", por meio do qual estão indicados tanto a indissolubilidade da união quanto a elevação e a sacralidade do contrato feito pelo próprio Cristo, em Pessoa, segundo os quais Ele fez do mesmo um eficaz sinal da graça.

32. Em primeiro lugar, Cristo, em Pessoa, enfatiza a indissolubilidade e a solidez do vínculo matrimonial quando Ele diz: "O que Deus uniu o homem não separe" e "Todo aquele que despedir a sua esposa e se casar com outra comete adultério, e aquele que se casou com aquela que foi deixada por seu marido comete adultério." 

33. E Santo Agostinho claramente coloca o que ele chama a bênção do matrimônio nessa indissolubilidade, quando diz: "No sacramento está previsto que o vínculo matrimonial não deva ser quebrado, e que um marido ou uma esposa, se separados, não devam se unir novamente mesmo que pelo bem dos filhos."

34. Essa estabilidade inviolável, embora nem sempre e na mesma medida e em todo caso, pertence a todo casamento verdadeiro, pois o que o Senhor diz: "O que Deus uniu o homem não separe", deve necessariamente inculir todos os matrimônios autênticos sem exceção, desde que se falou do matrimônio dos nossos primeiros pais, protótipo de cada matrimônio futuro. Portanto embora antes de Cristo o caráter sublime e a severidade da lei primária eram tão moderados que Moisés permitiu ao povo escolhido de Deus - devido a dureza de seus corações - que uma carta de divórcio pudesse ser dada em algumas circunstâncias, mesmo assim, Cristo, por virtude de Seu poder legislador supremo, cancelou essa concessão de grande liberdade e restaurou a lei primeira em sua integridade por aquelas palavras que não devem nunca ser esquecidas, "O que Deus uniu o homem não separe". Pelo que, nosso predecessor Pio VI, ao escrever ao Bispo de Agria, disse mais sabiamente: "Por isso está claro que o casamento, mesmo que no estado natural, e certamente, muito antes de ser elevado à condição de sacramento, foi instituído por Deus de tal modo que deverá manter consigo um vínculo perpétuo e indissolúvel, o qual não poderá, portanto, ser dissolvido por nenhuma lei civil. Logo, embora o elemento sacramental possa estar ausente de um casamento - como é o caso de descrentes - ainda em tal casamento, visto que é um casamento autêntico, deve permanecer - e de fato permanece - aquele vínculo perpétuo, que por direito divino está tão intimamente conectado com o matrimônio desde a sua primeira instituição, a qual não está sujeita a nenhum poder civil. E então, seja qual for o casamento, ou ele é um casamento autêntico, o qual traz consigo aquele vínculo permanente, que por direito divino é inerente a cada casamento autêntico; ou ele é contraído sem aquele vínculo perpétuo, e nesse caso não há casamento, mas uma união ilícita, oposta à natureza mema da lei divina, na qual não se deve entrar e em que não se deve permanecer."

35. E se essa estabilidade parece estar aberta à exceções, por mais rara que a exceção possa ser, como no caso de certos casamentos naturais entre descrentes, ou entre cristãos no caso daqueles casamentos que, apesar de válidos, não foram consumados, essa exceção não depende da vontade do homem nem de nenhum poder meramente humano, mas da lei divina, da qual a única guardiã e intérprete é a Igreja de Cristo. Entretanto, nem mesmo esse poder pode jamais afetar, por qualquer razão que seja, um matrimônio cristão, o qual é válido e foi consumado, pois está claro que aqui o contrato matrimonial tem sua consumação plena, portanto, pela vontade de Deus, há também a maior solidez e indissolubilidade, as quais não podem ser destruídas por nenhuma autoridade humana.

36. Se nós desejarmos como toda reverência nos questionar sobre a razão intima desse decreto divino, Veneráveis Irmãos, nós devemos facilmente vê-lo no significado místico do casamento cristão que é plena e perfeitamente realizado no casamento consumado entre cristãos. Pois, como diz o Apóstolo na sua Epístola aos Efésios o casamento entre cristãos relembra aquela mais que perfeita união que existe entre Cristo e a Igreja: "Esse é um grande mistério, que se refere a Cristo e a Igreja", cuja união, enquanto Cristo viver e a Igreja por meio Dele,  nunca pode ser dissolvido por nenhuma separação. E isso Santo Agostinho claramente declara nestas palavras: "Isto está confiado a Cristo e à Igreja, a qual, vivendo com Cristo que vive para sempre não poderá ser Dele divorciada. A observância desse sacramento é tal na Cidade de Deus... isto é, na Igreja de Cristo, que para gerar filhos casa-se com uma mulher, é errado abandonar a esposa que é estéril para assumir outra através de quem se poderá gerar filhos. Qualquer um que practicar tal ato é culpado de adultério, assim como se tivesse casado com outra, culpado não pela lei do dia, através da qual alguém troca de parceira, coisa permitida na lei mosaica por causa da dureza dos corações do povo de Israel; mas pela lei do Evangelho."

37. De fato, o quanto e quão importantes são os benefícios que fluem da indissolubilidade do matrimônio não escapam a ninguém que os considera mesmo que brevemente, seja para o bem dos esposos e dos filhos ou para o bem-estar da sociedade humana. Primeiramente, o marido e a esposa possuem uma garantia da resistência dessa estabilidade, requisito fundamental daquela doação generosa de suas pessoas e da íntima fraternidade de seus corações, já que o amor verdadeiro nunca se danifica. Além disso, uma forte proteção deve ser colocada em defesa de uma leal castidade contra incitação à infidelidade, nada disso deve ser encontrado seja no pensamento ou no ato; nenhum medo ansioso de que na adversidade ou na velhice o outro esposo viria a se provar infiel deve ser previsto e, em seu lugar, deve reinar uma calma atmosfera de segurança. Além disso, a dignidade de ambos, homem e mulher, é mantida e a ajuda mútua é mais satisfatoriamente assegurada, enquanto por meio do vínculo indissolúvel, sempre resistente, os esposos são advertidos continuamente a não se fiarem em coisas passageiras e a não servirem suas paixões, mas que eles devem procurar um para o outro o mais alto e durável bem, que eles entraram nessa parceria nupcial para serem dissolvidos apenas pela morte. Na educação e no treinamento dos filhos, que deve se estender por muitos anos, isso ocupa um lugar de valor, pois o peso grave e resistente desse ofício é mais facilmente suportado pela união dos esforços dos pais. Não há benefício maior confiado à sociedade humana como um todo. Pois a experiência ensina que a inquestionável estabilidade matrimonial é fonte fértil de vida virtuosa e de hábitos de integridade. Aonde essa ordem das coisas perpassa, a felicidade e o bem-estar da nação são seguramente guardados; o que as famílias e os indivíduos são, e também o que é o Estado, pois um corpo se define por suas partes. Por isso, tanto para o bem privado do marido, esposa e filhos quanto para o bem comum da sociedade humana, aquele que valentemente defende a inviolável estabilidade do matrimônio é digno de todo o bem.

38. Ao considerarmos os benefícios do Sacramento, além da solidez e da indissolubilidade, há também significados mais elevados indicados pela palavra "sacramento"; pois para os cristãos essa não é uma palavra vazia. Cristo, o Senhor, o qual instituiu e aperfeiçoou os santos sacramentos, ao elevar o matrimônio de seus fieis à dignidade de verdadeiro sacramento da Nova Aliança, fez dele sinal e fonte daquela graça peculiar e interior através da qual "o amor natural se aperfeiçoa, a união indissolúvel se confirma e se santificam o tanto o homem como a mulher." 

39. E desde que o consentimento matrimonial válido entre os fiéis foi constituído por Cristo como sinal da graça, a natureza sacramental está tão intimamente conectada ao vínculo matrimonial cristão que não pode haver autêntico matrimônio entre batizados "sem que seja de fato um sacramento."

40. É fato, portanto, que o fiel que, com intenção sincera, der tal consentimento, abre para si mesmo um tesouro de graça sacramental - a qual advém de um poder sobrenatural - para cumprir seus direitos e deveres fiel, santa e perseverantemente até a morte. Dado que esse sacramento não apenas faz aumentar a graça santificante, o princípio permanente da vida sobrenatural, naqueles que, não colocam obstáculo à graça, mas adicionam a ela dons particulares, disposições, sementes de graça por meio das quais são elevadas e aperfeiçoadas as capacidades naturais. Por esses dons, os esposos são assistidos não apenas para compreenderem, mas para conhecerem intimamente, aderirem firmemente, terem efetiva força de vontade e colocarem com sucesso em prática aqueles princípios que pertencem ao estado de casados, suas aspirações e deveres, e dar a eles com refinada cooperação da graça atual sempre que dela precisarem para cumprirem seus deveres de estado. 

41. Mesmo assim, desde que é uma lei da divina Providência na ordem natural que o homem não colha do fruto pleno dos Sacramentos, os quais ele recebe após a idade da razão a menos que ele coopere com a graça, a graça do matrimônio irá manter-se - em sua maior parte - um talento não aproveitado, escondido no campo a não ser que os esposos exercitem esses poderes sobrenaturais e cultivem e desenvolvam as sementes da graça que eles receberam. Se, portanto, ao fazer tudo o que está em seu alcance, eles cooperarem diligentemente, eles serão capazes de carregar com facilidade os fardos de seu estado e cumprir seus deveres. Por tal sacramento eles serão fortalecidos, santificados e, de certo modo, consagrados. Pois, como nos ensina Santo Agostinho, assim como pelo Batismo e pelas Ordens Sagradas um homem é separado e assistido seja para os deveres da vida cristã ou para o ofício presbiteral e nunca fica carente da ajuda sacramental, quase na mesma medida (apesar de não ser por meio de um caráter sacramental) o fiel que contraiu os laços do matrimônio nunca poderá ficar sem a ajuda da força agregadora do sacramento. De fato, como adiciona o Santo Doutor, mesmo aqueles que cometem adultério carregam consigo esse jugo sagrado, apesar de que, nesse caso, não como título da glória da graça mas por ignomínia de sua ação culposa, "assim como a alma por apostasia, retirando-se, como tal, do casamento com Cristo, mesmo que tenha perdido a sua fé, não perde o sacramento da fé que receberam na pia da regeneração."

42. Note-se que esses esposos, não limitados, mas adornados por esse vículo de ouro do sacramento, não impedido mas assistido, deve esforçar-se com todas as forças até o fim para que seu vínculo, não apenas por meio do poder e do simbolismo do sacramento, mas também por meio de seu espírito e modo de vida, possa estar e permanecer sempre como a imagem viva da mais fértil união entre Cristo e sua Igreja, a qual deve ser venerada como o símbolo sagrado do mais perfeito amor.

43. Todas essas coisas, Veneráveis Irmãos, vocês devem considerar com cuidado e ponderar com fé viva para que vejam com as verdadeiras luzes os benefícios extraordinários do matrimônio - filhos, fé conjugal e o sacramento. Ninguém pode deixar de admirar a divina Sabedoria, Santidade e Bondade que, enquanto respeita a dignidade e a felicidade de marido e esposa, proveu abundantemente para a conservação e propagação da raça humana por meio de uma união nupcial singular, casta e sagrada.

44. Quando consideramos a grande excelência do vínculo matrimonial, Veneráveis Irmãos, lamenta-se que, a cada dia mais, venhamos a testemunhar que essa instituição divina seja frequentemente desdenhada e degradada por todos os lados.

45. Por agora, infelizmente, de forma expressa e nada velada, sem pudor, todo o senso de vergonha é posto de lado, por palavras, escritos, produções teatrais de todo tipo, por ficção romântica, por novelas amorosas frívolas, pelo cinema, que enquadra de forma vívida as cenas, em transmissões por telefonia à rádio, em suma, por todas as invenções da ciência moderna, a santidade do matrimônio é pisoteada e ridicularizada; divórcio, adultério, todos os vícios de base são ou louvados ou pelo menos ilustrado em cores de tal modo que aparentem estar livre de infâmia e reprovação. Não faltam livros que ousam pronunciar a si mesmos como científicos, mas que estão, na verdade, vestidos com uma membrana de ciência para que possam mais facilmente insinuar suas ideias. As doutrinas defendidas nesses livros são ofertadas em promoção como produções de gênios modernos, daquele gênio que, ansioso apenas pela verdade, é considerado emancipado de todas as antiquadas e imaturas opiniões dos antigos; e entre essas opiniões antiguadas está a doutrina tradicional do matrimônio cristão.

46. Esses pensamentos são impantados em homens de todas as classes, ricos e pobres, patrões e empregados, letrados e iletrados, casados e solteiros, crentes e descrentes, velhos e jovens, mas para esses últimos, como presas fáceis, as piores armadilhas são colocadas.

47. Nem todos os apoiadores dessas novas doutrinas são levados aos extremos da luxúria descontrolada; há os que, tentando trilhar um caminho moderado, creem, ainda, que algo deve ser cedido, em nosso tempo, no que concerne aos preceitos da lei divina e natural. Mas esses, do mesmo modo, mais ou menos intencionalmente, são emissários do grande inimigo que está sempre a procura de plantar joio no meio do trigo. Nós, entretanto, a que o Pai apontou o Seu campo, nós a quem foi dado o mais sagrado ofício de cuidar para que a boa semente não seja sufocada pelo mato, cremos que podem se aplicar a nós as mais graves palavras do Espírito Santo com as quais o Apóstolo Paulo exortou seu bem amado Timóteo: "Seja vigilante... Exerça o vosso ministério... Pregue a palavra oportuna e inoportunamente, repreenda, apele, reprove com toda paciência e doutrina."

48. E assim, para que a armadilha do inimigo seja evitada, é preciso, antes de mais nada, que ela seja exposta; pois muito há para se ganhar com a denúncia dessas falácias em benefício dos desavisados, mesmo que prefiramos nem sequer nomear essas iniquidades "para nos santificarmos", entretanto, para o bem das almas não podemos permanecer todos em silêncio. 

 
49. Para começar desde a fonte desses males, seu princípio básico se assenta nisso: o matrimônio é repetidamente declarado como não tendo sido instituído pelo Autor da natureza nem elevado por Cristo Senhor à dignidade de verdadeiro sacramento, mas inventado por homens. Alguns, confidentemente afirmam que não encontraram evidência da existência do matrimônio na natureza ou em suas leis, mas consideram-no como mero meio de procriação e de - de um jeito ou de outro - de gratificação de um impulso; por outro lado, outros reconhecem que certos começos ou, como eram, sementes do verdadeiro vínculo matrimonial são encontradas no homem, pois que, a não ser que a humanidade tenha se mantido em unidade por alguma forma de vínculo permanente, a dignidade de marido e esposa e a finalidade natural de procriar e educar os filhos não teria recebido provisão satisfatória. Ao mesmo tempo, sustenta-se que, muito além dessa ideia primária, o matrimônio, por meio de várias causas concorrentes, foi inventado pela mente do homem, e estabelecido unicamente por sua vontade.

50. Quão deploráveis são tais errantes e o quão audaciosamente eles abadonam os caminhos da honestidade é evidente pelo o que já expusemos aqui, concernente à origem e natureza do vínculo matrimonial, seus propósitos e ao bem que lhe é inerente. A maldade desse ensinamento é facilmente visível a partir das consequências as quais seus defensores deduzem deles, precisamente, que as leis, instituições e costumes pelos quais o vínculo matrimonial é governado, desde que sua origem é unicamente da vontade do homem, estão sujeitas inteiramente a ele, portanto podem e devem ser estabelecidas, mudadas e abolidas de acordo com o capricho dos homens e as eminentes circunstâncias das questões humanas; que o poder criativo que está plantado na natureza é mais sagrado e mais amplo que o matrimônio - e deve ser exercido tanto dentro como fora dos limites do vínculo matrimonial e, uma vez que o propóstio do matrimônio seja colocado de lado, sugere-se que uma mulher libertina e fornicadora deva usufruir dos mesmos privilégios e direitos de uma casta esposa e mãe de família casada pela lei.

51. Armados desses princípios, alguns homens vão tão longe a ponto de compor novas espécies de uniões, apropriadas, como dizem, ao espírito moderno do homem e dos tempos, com suas várias novas formas de matrimônio que eles presumem chamar de "temporário", "experimental" e "parceria". Essas relaçõe sofe

 These offer all the indulgence of matrimony and its rights without, however, the indissoluble bond, and without offspring, unless later the parties alter their cohabitation into a matrimony in the full sense of the law.

52. Indeed there are some who desire and insist that these practices be legitimatized by the law or, at least, excused by their general acceptance among the people. They do not seem even to suspect that these proposals partake of nothing of the modern "culture" in which they glory so much, but are simply hateful abominations which beyond all question reduce our truly cultured nations to the barbarous standards of savage peoples.
53. And now, Venerable Brethren, we shall explain in detail the evils opposed to each of the benefits of matrimony. First consideration is due to the offspring, which many have the boldness to call the disagreeable burden of matrimony and which they say is to be carefully avoided by married people not through virtuous continence (which Christian law permits in matrimony when both parties consent) but by frustrating the marriage act. Some justify this criminal abuse on the ground that they are weary of children and wish to gratify their desires without their consequent burden. Others say that they cannot on the one hand remain continent nor on the other can they have children because of the difficulties whether on the part of the mother or on the part of family circumstances.
54. But no reason, however grave, may be put forward by which anything intrinsically against nature may become conformable to nature and morally good. Since, therefore, the conjugal act is destined primarily by nature for the begetting of children, those who in exercising it deliberately frustrate its natural power and purpose sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and intrinsically vicious.
55. Small wonder, therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness that the Divine Majesty regards with greatest detestation this horrible crime and at times has punished it with death. As St. Augustine notes, "Intercourse even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda, did this and the Lord killed him for it."[45]
56. Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin which surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.
57. We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care of souls, in virtue of Our supreme authority and in Our solicitude for the salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much more, that they keep themselves immune from such false opinions, in no way conniving in them. If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust, and let him take to himself the words of Christ: "They are blind and leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.[46]
58. As regards the evil use of matrimony, to pass over the arguments which are shameful, not infrequently others that are false and exaggerated are put forward. Holy Mother Church very well understands and clearly appreciates all that is said regarding the health of the mother and the danger to her life. And who would not grieve to think of these things? Who is not filled with the greatest admiration when he sees a mother risking her life with heroic fortitude, that she may preserve the life of the offspring which she has conceived? God alone, all bountiful and all merciful as He is, can reward her for the fulfillment of the office allotted to her by nature, and will assuredly repay her in a measure full to overflowing.[47]
59. Holy Church knows well that not infrequently one of the parties is sinned against rather than sinning, when for a grave cause he or she reluctantly allows the perversion of the right order. In such a case, there is no sin, provided that, mindful of the law of charity, he or she does not neglect to seek to dissuade and to deter the partner from sin. Nor are those considered as acting against nature who in the married state use their right in the proper manner although on account of natural reasons either of time or of certain defects, new life cannot be brought forth. For in matrimony as well as in the use of the matrimonial rights there are also secondary ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivating of mutual love, and the quieting of concupiscence which husband and wife are not forbidden to consider so long as they are subordinated to the primary end and so long as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.
60. We are deeply touched by the sufferings of those parents who, in extreme want, experience great difficulty in rearing their children.
61. However, they should take care lest the calamitous state of their external affairs should be the occasion for a much more calamitous error. No difficulty can arise that justifies the putting aside of the law of God which forbids all acts intrinsically evil. There is no possible circumstance in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully their duties and preserve in wedlock their chastity unspotted. This truth of Christian Faith is expressed by the teaching of the Council of Trent. "Let no one be so rash as to assert that which the Fathers of the Council have placed under anathema, namely, that there are precepts of God impossible for the just to observe. God does not ask the impossible, but by His commands, instructs you to do what you are able, to pray for what you are not able that He may help you."[48]
62. This same doctrine was again solemnly repeated and confirmed by the Church in the condemnation of the Jansenist heresy which dared to utter this blasphemy against the goodness of God: "Some precepts of God are, when one considers the powers which man possesses, impossible of fulfillment even to the just who wish to keep the law and strive to do so; grace is lacking whereby these laws could be fulfilled."[49]
63. But another very grave crime is to be noted, Venerable Brethren, which regards the taking of the life of the offspring hidden in the mother's womb. Some wish it to be allowed and left to the will of the father or the mother; others say it is unlawful unless there are weighty reasons which they call by the name of medical, social, or eugenic "indication." Because this matter falls under the penal laws of the state by which the destruction of the offspring begotten but unborn is forbidden, these people demand that the "indication," which in one form or another they defend, be recognized as such by the public law and in no way penalized. There are those, moreover, who ask that the public authorities provide aid for these death-dealing operations, a thing, which, sad to say, everyone knows is of very frequent occurrence in some places.
64. As to the "medical and therapeutic indication" to which, using their own words, we have made reference, Venerable Brethren, however much we may pity the mother whose health and even life is gravely imperiled in the performance of the duty allotted to her by nature, nevertheless what could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: "Thou shalt not kill:"[50] The life of each is equally sacred, and no one has the power, not even the public authority, to destroy it. It is of no use to appeal to the right of taking away life for here it is a question of the innocent, whereas that right has regard only to the guilty; nor is there here question of defense by bloodshed against an unjust aggressor (for who would call an innocent child an unjust aggressor?); again there is not question here of what is called the "law of extreme necessity" which could even extend to the direct killing of the innocent. Upright and skillful doctors strive most praiseworthily to guard and preserve the lives of both mother and child; on the contrary, those show themselves most unworthy of the noble medical profession who encompass the death of one or the other, through a pretense at practicing medicine or through motives of misguided pity.
65. All of which agrees with the stern words of the Bishop of Hippo in denouncing those wicked parents who seek to remain childless, and failing in this, are not ashamed to put their offspring to death: "Sometimes this lustful cruelty or cruel lust goes so far as to seek to procure a baneful sterility, and if this fails the fetus conceived in the womb is in one way or another smothered or evacuated, in the desire to destroy the offspring before it has life, or if it already lives in the womb, to kill it before it is born. If both man and woman are party to such practices they are not spouses at all; and if from the first they have carried on thus they have come together not for honest wedlock, but for impure gratification; if both are not party to these deeds, I make bold to say that either the one makes herself a mistress of the husband, or the other simply the paramour of his wife."[51]
66. What is asserted in favor of the social and eugenic "indication" may and must be accepted, provided lawful and upright methods are employed within the proper limits; but to wish to put forward reasons based upon them for the killing of the innocent is unthinkable and contrary to the divine precept promulgated in the words of the Apostle: Evil is not to be done that good may come of it.[52]
67. Those who hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty of public authority by appropriate laws and sanctions to defend the lives of the innocent, and this all the more so since those whose lives are endangered and assailed cannot defend themselves. Among whom we must mention in the first place infants hidden in the mother's womb. And if the public magistrates not only do not defend them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cried from earth to Heaven.[53]
68. Finally, that pernicious practice must be condemned which closely touches upon the natural right of man to enter matrimony but affects also in a real way the welfare of the offspring. For there are some who over solicitous for the cause of eugenics, not only give salutary counsel for more certainly procuring the strength and health of the future child - which, indeed, is not contrary to right reason - but put eugenics before aims of a higher order, and by public authority wish to prevent from marrying all those whom, even though naturally fit for marriage, they consider, according to the norms and conjectures of their investigations, would, through hereditary transmission, bring forth defective offspring. And more, they wish to legislate to deprive these of that natural faculty by medical action despite their unwillingness; and this they do not propose as an infliction of grave punishment under the authority of the state for a crime committed, not to prevent future crimes by guilty persons, but against every right and good they wish the civil authority to arrogate to itself a power over a faculty which it never had and can never legitimately possess.
69. Those who act in this way are at fault in losing sight of the fact that the family is more sacred than the State and that men are begotten not for the earth and for time, but for Heaven and eternity. Although often these individuals are to be dissuaded from entering into matrimony, certainly it is wrong to brand men with the stigma of crime because they contract marriage, on the ground that, despite the fact that they are in every respect capable of matrimony, they will give birth only to defective children, even though they use all care and diligence.
70. Public magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects; therefore, where no crime has taken place and there is no cause present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm, or tamper with the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of eugenics or for any other reason. St. Thomas teaches this when inquiring whether human judges for the sake of preventing future evils can inflict punishment, he admits that the power indeed exists as regards certain other forms of evil, but justly and properly denies it as regards the maiming of the body. "No one who is guiltless may be punished by a human tribunal either by flogging to death, or mutilation, or by beating."[54]
71. Furthermore, Christian doctrine establishes, and the light of human reason makes it most clear, that private individuals have no other power over the members of their bodies than that which pertains to their natural ends; and they are not free to destroy or mutilate their members, or in any other way render themselves unfit for their natural functions, except when no other provision can be made for the good of the whole body.
72. We may now consider another class of errors concerning conjugal faith. Every sin committed as regards the offspring becomes in some way a sin against conjugal faith, since both these blessings are essentially connected. However, we must mention briefly the sources of error and vice corresponding to those virtues which are demanded by conjugal faith, namely the chaste honor existing between man and wife, the due subjection of wife to husband, and the true love which binds both parties together.
73. It follows therefore that they are destroying mutual fidelity, who think that the ideas and morality of our present time concerning a certain harmful and false friendship with a third party can be countenanced, and who teach that a greater freedom of feeling and action in such external relations should be allowed to man and wife, particularly as many (so they consider) are possessed of an inborn sexual tendency which cannot be satisfied within the narrow limits of monogamous marriage. That rigid attitude which condemns all sensual affections and actions with a third party they imagine to be a narrowing of mind and heart, something obsolete, or an abject form of jealousy, and as a result they look upon whatever penal laws are passed by the State for the preserving of conjugal faith as void or to be abolished. Such unworthy and idle opinions are condemned by that noble instinct which is found in every chaste husband and wife, and even by the light of the testimony of nature alone, - a testimony that is sanctioned and confirmed by the command of God: "Thou shalt not commit adultry,"[55] and the words of Christ: "Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart."[56] The force of this divine precept can never be weakened by any merely human custom, bad example or pretext of human progress, for just as it is the one and the same "Jesus Christ, yesterday and today and the same for ever,"[57] so it is the one and the same doctrine of Christ that abides and of which no one jot or tittle shall pass away till all is fulfilled.[58]
74. The same false teachers who try to dim the luster of conjugal faith and purity do not scruple to do away with the honorable and trusting obedience which the woman owes to the man. Many of them even go further and assert that such a subjection of one party to the other is unworthy of human dignity, that the rights of husband and wife are equal; wherefore, they boldly proclaim the emancipation of women has been or ought to be effected. This emancipation in their ideas must be threefold, in the ruling of the domestic society, in the administration of family affairs and in the rearing of the children. It must be social, economic, physiological: - physiological, that is to say, the woman is to be freed at her own good pleasure from the burdensome duties properly belonging to a wife as companion and mother (We have already said that this is not an emancipation but a crime); social, inasmuch as the wife being freed from the cares of children and family, should, to the neglect of these, be able to follow her own bent and devote herself to business and even public affairs; finally economic, whereby the woman even without the knowledge and against the wish of her husband may be at liberty to conduct and administer her own affairs, giving her attention chiefly to these rather than to children, husband and family.
75. This, however, is not the true emancipation of woman, nor that rational and exalted liberty which belongs to the noble office of a Christian woman and wife; it is rather the debasing of the womanly character and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole family, as a result of which the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian. More than this, this false liberty and unnatural equality with the husband is to the detriment of the woman herself, for if the woman descends from her truly regal throne to which she has been raised within the walls of the home by means of the Gospel, she will soon be reduced to the old state of slavery (if not in appearance, certainly in reality) and become as amongst the pagans the mere instrument of man.
76. This equality of rights which is so much exaggerated and distorted, must indeed be recognized in those rights which belong to the dignity of the human soul and which are proper to the marriage contract and inseparably bound up with wedlock. In such things undoubtedly both parties enjoy the same rights and are bound by the same obligations; in other things there must be a certain inequality and due accommodation, which is demanded by the good of the family and the right ordering and unity and stability of home life.
77. As, however, the social and economic conditions of the married woman must in some way be altered on account of the changes in social intercourse, it is part of the office of the public authority to adapt the civil rights of the wife to modern needs and requirements, keeping in view what the natural disposition and temperament of the female sex, good morality, and the welfare of the family demands, and provided always that the essential order of the domestic society remain intact, founded as it is on something higher than human authority and wisdom, namely on the authority and wisdom of God, and so not changeable by public laws or at the pleasure of private individuals.
78. These enemies of marriage go further, however, when they substitute for that true and solid love, which is the basis of conjugal happiness, a certain vague compatibility of temperament. This they call sympathy and assert that, since it is the only bond by which husband and wife are linked together, when it ceases the marriage is completely dissolved. What else is this than to build a house upon sand? - a house that in the words of Christ would forthwith be shaken and collapse, as soon as it was exposed to the waves of adversity "and the winds blew and they beat upon that house. And it fell: and great was the fall thereof."[59] On the other hand, the house built upon a rock, that is to say on mutual conjugal chastity and strengthened by a deliberate and constant union of spirit, will not only never fall away but will never be shaken by adversity.
79. We have so far, Venerable Brethren, shown the excellency of the first two blessings of Christian wedlock which the modern subverters of society are attacking. And now considering that the third blessing, which is that of the sacrament, far surpasses the other two, we should not be surprised to find that this, because of its outstanding excellence, is much more sharply attacked by the same people. They put forward in the first place that matrimony belongs entirely to the profane and purely civil sphere, that it is not to be committed to the religious society, the Church of Christ, but to civil society alone. They then add that the marriage contract is to be freed from any indissoluble bond, and that separation and divorce are not only to be tolerated but sanctioned by the law; from which it follows finally that, robbed of all its holiness, matrimony should be enumerated amongst the secular and civil institutions. The first point is contained in their contention that the civil act itself should stand for the marriage contract (civil matrimony, as it is called), while the religious act is to be considered a mere addition, or at most a concession to a too superstitious people. Moreover they want it to be no cause for reproach that marriages be contracted by Catholics with non-Catholics without any reference to religion or recourse to the ecclesiastical authorities. The second point which is but a consequence of the first is to be found in their excuse for complete divorce and in their praise and encouragement of those civil laws which favor the loosening of the bond itself. As the salient features of the religious character of all marriage and particularly of the sacramental marriage of Christians have been treated at length and supported by weighty arguments in the encyclical letters of Leo XIII, letters which We have frequently recalled to mind and expressly made our own, We refer you to them, repeating here only a few points.
80. Even by the light of reason alone and particularly if the ancient records of history are investigated, if the unwavering popular conscience is interrogated and the manners and institutions of all races examined, it is sufficiently obvious that there is a certain sacredness and religious character attaching even to the purely natural union of man and woman, "not something added by chance but innate, not imposed by men but involved in the nature of things," since it has "God for its author and has been even from the beginning a foreshadowing of the Incarnation of the Word of God."[60] This sacredness of marriage which is intimately connected with religion and all that is holy, arises from the divine origin we have just mentioned, from its purpose which is the begetting and education of children for God, and the binding of man and wife to God through Christian love and mutual support; and finally it arises from the very nature of wedlock, whose institution is to be sought for in the farseeing Providence of God, whereby it is the means of transmitting life, thus making the parents the ministers, as it were, of the Divine Omnipotence. To this must be added that new element of dignity which comes from the sacrament, by which the Christian marriage is so ennobled and raised to such a level, that it appeared to the Apostle as a great sacrament, honorable in every way.[61]
81. This religious character of marriage, its sublime signification of grace and the union between Christ and the Church, evidently requires that those about to marry should show a holy reverence towards it, and zealously endeavor to make their marriage approach as nearly as possible to the archetype of Christ and the Church.
82. They, therefore, who rashly and heedlessly contract mixed marriages, from which the maternal love and providence of the Church dissuades her children for very sound reasons, fail conspicuously in this respect, sometimes with danger to their eternal salvation. This attitude of the Church to mixed marriages appears in many of her documents, all of which are summed up in the Code of Canon Law: "Everywhere and with the greatest strictness the Church forbids marriages between baptized persons, one of whom is a Catholic and the other a member of a schismatical or heretical sect; and if there is, add to this, the danger of the falling away of the Catholic party and the perversion of the children, such a marriage is forbidden also by the divine law."[62] If the Church occasionally on account of circumstances does not refuse to grant a dispensation from these strict laws (provided that the divine law remains intact and the dangers above mentioned are provided against by suitable safeguards), it is unlikely that the Catholic party will not suffer some detriment from such a marriage.
83. Whence it comes about not unfrequently, as experience shows, that deplorable defections from religion occur among the offspring, or at least a headlong descent into that religious indifference which is closely allied to impiety. There is this also to be considered that in these mixed marriages it becomes much more difficult to imitate by a lively conformity of spirit the mystery of which We have spoken, namely that close union between Christ and His Church.
84. Assuredly, also, will there be wanting that close union of spirit which as it is the sign and mark of the Church of Christ, so also should be the sign of Christian wedlock, its glory and adornment. Pois, aonde há diversidade de mentalidade, verdade e sentimento, o vínculo de união de mentes e corações está para ser quebrado, ou pelo menos enfraquecido. Disto advém o perigo de que o amor do homem e da mulher se esfrie e a paz e a felicidade da vida familiar, baseada como está na unidade dos corações, sejam destuídas.  Many centuries ago indeed, the old Roman law had proclaimed: "Marriages are the union of male and female, a sharing of life and the communication of divine and human rights."[63] But especially, as We have pointed out, Venerable Brethren, the daily increasing facility of divorce is an obstacle to the restoration of marriage to that state of perfection which the divine Redeemer willed it should possess.
85. The advocates of the neo-paganism of today have learned nothing from the sad state of affairs, but instead, day by day, more and more vehemently, they continue by legislation to attack the indissolubility of the marriage bond, proclaiming that the lawfulness of divorce must be recognized, and that the antiquated laws should give place to a new and more humane legislation. Many and varied are the grounds put forward for divorce, some arising from the wickedness and the guilt of the persons concerned, others arising from the circumstances of the case; the former they describe as subjective, the latter as objective; in a word, whatever might make married life hard or unpleasant. They strive to prove their contentions regarding these grounds for the divorce legislation they would bring about, by various arguments. Thus, in the first place, they maintain that it is for the good of either party that the one who is innocent should have the right to separate from the guilty, or that the guilty should be withdrawn from a union which is unpleasing to him and against his will. In the second place, they argue, the good of the child demands this, for either it will be deprived of a proper education or the natural fruits of it, and will too easily be affected by the discords and shortcomings of the parents, and drawn from the path of virtue. And thirdly the common good of society requires that these marriages should be completely dissolved, which are now incapable of producing their natural results, and that legal reparations should be allowed when crimes are to be feared as the result of the common habitation and intercourse of the parties. This last, they say must be admitted to avoid the crimes being committed purposely with a view to obtaining the desired sentence of divorce for which the judge can legally loose the marriage bond, as also to prevent people from coming before the courts when it is obvious from the state of the case that they are Iying and perjuring themselves, - all of which brings the court and the lawful authority into contempt. Hence the civil laws, in their opinion, have to be reformed to meet these new requirements, to suit the changes of the times and the changes in men's opinions, civil institutions and customs. Each of these reasons is considered by them as conclusive, so that all taken together offer a clear proof of the necessity of granting divorce in certain cases.
86. Others, taking a step further, simply state that marriage, being a private contract, is, like other private contracts, to be left to the consent and good pleasure of both parties, and so can be dissolved for any reason whatsoever.
87. Opposed to all these reckless opinions, Venerable Brethren, stands the unalterable law of God, fully confirmed by Christ, a law that can never be deprived of its force by the decrees of men, the ideas of a people or the will of any legislator: "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."[64] And if any man, acting contrary to this law, shall have put asunder, his action is null and void, and the consequence remains, as Christ Himself has explicitly confirmed: "Everyone that putteth away his wife and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."[65] Moreover, these words refer to every kind of marriage, even that which is natural and legitimate only; for, as has already been observed, that indissolubility by which the loosening of the bond is once and for all removed from the whim of the parties and from every secular power, is a property of every true marriage.
88. Let that solemn pronouncement of the Council of Trent be recalled to mind in which, under the stigma of anathema, it condemned these errors: "If anyone should say that on account of heresy or the hardships of cohabitation or a deliberate abuse of one party by the other the marriage tie may be loosened, let him be anathema;"[66] and again: "If anyone should say that the Church errs in having taught or in teaching that, according to the teaching of the Gospel and the Apostles, the bond of marriage cannot be loosed because of the sin of adultery of either party; or that neither party, even though he be innocent, having given no cause for the sin of adultery, can contract another marriage during the lifetime of the other; and that he commits adultery who marries another after putting away his adulterous wife, and likewise that she commits adultery who puts away her husband and marries another: let him be anathemae."[67]
89. If therefore the Church has not erred and does not err in teaching this, and consequently it is certain that the bond of marriage cannot be loosed even on account of the sin of adultery, it is evident that all the other weaker excuses that can be, and are usually brought forward, are of no value whatsoever. And the objections brought against the firmness of the marriage bond are easily answered. For, in certain circumstances, imperfect separation of the parties is allowed, the bond not being severed. This separation, which the Church herself permits, and expressly mentions in her Canon Law in those canons which deal with the separation of the parties as to marital relationship and co-habitation, removes all the alleged inconveniences and dangers.[68] It will be for the sacred law and, to some extent, also the civil law, in so far as civil matters are affected, to lay down the grounds, the conditions, the method and precautions to be taken in a case of this kind in order to safeguard the education of the children and the well-being of the family, and to remove all those evils which threaten the married persons, the children and the State. Now all those arguments that are brought forward to prove the indissolubility of the marriage tie, arguments which have already been touched upon, can equally be applied to excluding not only the necessity of divorce, but even the power to grant it; while for all the advantages that can be put forward for the former, there can be adduced as many disadvantages and evils which are a formidable menace to the whole of human society.
90. To revert again to the expression of Our predecessor, it is hardly necessary to point out what an amount of good is involved in the absolute indissolubility of wedlock and what a train of evils follows upon divorce. Whenever the marriage bond remains intact, then we find marriages contracted with a sense of safety and security, while, when separations are considered and the dangers of divorce are present, the marriage contract itself becomes insecure, or at least gives ground for anxiety and surprises. On the one hand we see a wonderful strengthening of goodwill and cooperation in the daily life of husband and wife, while, on the other, both of these are miserably weakened by the presence of a facility for divorce. Here we have at a very opportune moment a source of help by which both parties are enabled to preserve their purity and loyalty; there we find harmful inducements to unfaithfulness. On this side we find the birth of children and their tuition and upbringing effectively promoted, many avenues of discord closed amongst families and relations, and the beginnings of rivalry and jealousy easily suppressed; on that, very great obstacles to the birth and rearing of children and their education, and many occasions of quarrels, and seeds of jealousy sown everywhere. Finally, but especially, the dignity and position of women in civil and domestic society is reinstated by the former; while by the latter it is shamefully lowered and the danger is incurred "of their being considered outcasts, slaves of the lust of men."[69]
91. To conclude with the important words of Leo XIII, since the destruction of family life "and the loss of national wealth is brought about more by the corruption of morals than by anything else, it is easily seen that divorce, which is born of the perverted morals of a people, and leads, as experiment shows, to vicious habits in public and private life, is particularly opposed to the well-being of the family and of the State. The serious nature of these evils will be the more clearly recognized, when we remember that, once divorce has been allowed, there will be no sufficient means of keeping it in check within any definite bounds. Great is the force of example, greater still that of lust; and with such incitements it cannot but happen that divorce and its consequent setting loose of the passions should spread daily and attack the souls of many like a contagious disease or a river bursting its banks and flooding the land."[70]
92. Thus, as we read in the same letter, "unless things change, the human family and State have every reason to fear lest they should suffer absolute ruin."[71] All this was written fifty years ago, yet it is confirmed by the daily increasing corruption of morals and the unheard of degradation of the family in those lands where Communism reigns unchecked.
93. Thus far, Venerable Brethren, We have admired with due reverence what the all wise Creator and Redeemer of the human race has ordained with regard to human marriage; at the same time we have expressed Our grief that such a pious ordinance of the divine Goodness should today, and on every side, be frustrated and trampled upon by the passions, errors and vices of men.
94. It is then fitting that, with all fatherly solicitude, We should turn Our mind to seek out suitable remedies whereby those most detestable abuses which We have mentioned, may be removed, and everywhere marriage may again be revealed. To this end, it behooves Us, above all else, to call to mind that firmly established principle, esteemed alike in sound philosophy and sacred theology: namely, that whatever things have deviated from their right order, cannot he brought back to that original state which is in harmony with their nature except by a return to the divine plan which, as the Angelic Doctor teaches,[72] is the exemplar of all right order.
95. Wherefore, Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, attacked the doctrine of the naturalists in these words: "It is a divinely appointed law that whatsoever things are constituted by God, the Author of nature, these we find the more useful and salutary, the more they remain in their natural state, unimpaired and unchanged; inasmuch as God, the Creator of all things, intimately knows what is suited to the constitution and the preservation of each, and by his will and mind has so ordained all this that each may duly achieve its purpose. But if the boldness and wickedness of men change and disturb this order of things, so providentially disposed, then, indeed, things so wonderfully ordained, will begin to be injurious, or will cease to be beneficial, either because, in the change, they have lost their power to benefit, or because God Himself is thus pleased to draw down chastisement on the pride and presumption of men."[73]
96. In order, therefore, to restore due order in this matter of marriage, it is necessary that all should bear in mind what is the divine plan and strive to conform to it.
97. Wherefore, since the chief obstacle to this study is the power of unbridled lust, which indeed is the most potent cause of sinning against the sacred laws of matrimony, and since man cannot hold in check his passions, unless he first subject himself to God, this must be his primary endeavor, in accordance with the plan divinely ordained. For it is a sacred ordinance that whoever shall have first subjected himself to God will, by the aid of divine grace, be glad to subject to himself his own passions and concupiscence; while he who is a rebel against God will, to his sorrow, experience within himself the violent rebellion of his worst passions.
98. And how wisely this has been decreed St. Augustine thus shows: "This indeed is fitting, that the lower be subject to the higher, so that he who would have subject to himself whatever is below him, should himself submit to whatever is above him. Acknowledge order, seek peace. Be thou subject to God, and thy flesh subject to thee. What more fitting! What more fair! Thou art subject to the higher and the lower is subject to thee. Do thou serve Him who made thee, so that that which was made for thee may serve thee. For we do not commend this order, namely, 'The flesh to thee and thou to God,' but 'Thou to God, and the flesh to thee.' If, however, thou despisest the subjection of thyself to God, thou shalt never bring about the subjection of the flesh to thyself. If thou dost not obey the Lord, thou shalt be tormented by thy servant."[74] This right ordering on the part of God's wisdom is mentioned by the holy Doctor of the Gentiles, inspired by the Holy Ghost, for in speaking of those ancient philosophers who refused to adore and reverence Him whom they knew to be the Creator of the universe, he says: "Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves;" and again: "For this same God delivered them up to shameful affections."[75] And St. James says: "God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble,"[76] without which grace, as the same Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us, man cannot subdue the rebellion of his flesh.[77]
99. Consequently, as the onslaughts of these uncontrolled passions cannot in any way be lessened, unless the spirit first shows a humble compliance of duty and reverence towards its Maker, it is above all and before all needful that those who are joined in the bond of sacred wedlock should be wholly imbued with a profound and genuine sense of duty towards God, which will shape their whole lives, and fill their minds and wills with a very deep reverence for the majesty of God.
100. Quite fittingly, therefore, and quite in accordance with the defined norm of Christian sentiment, do those pastors of souls act who, to prevent married people from failing in the observance of God's law, urge them to perform their duty and exercise their religion so that they should give themselves to God, continually ask for His divine assistance, frequent the sacraments, and always nourish and preserve a loyal and thoroughly sincere devotion to God.
101. They are greatly deceived who having underestimated or neglected these means which rise above nature, think that they can induce men by the use and discovery of the natural sciences, such as those of biology, the science of heredity, and the like, to curb their carnal desires. We do not say this in order to belittle those natural means which are not dishonest; for God is the Author of nature as well as of grace, and He has disposed the good things of both orders for the beneficial use of men. The faithful, therefore, can and ought to be assisted also by natural means. But they are mistaken who think that these means are able to establish chastity in the nuptial union, or that they are more effective than supernatural grace.
102. This conformity of wedlock and moral conduct with the divine laws respective of marriage, without which its effective restoration cannot be brought about, supposes, however, that all can discern readily, with real certainty, and without any accompanying error, what those laws are. But everyone can see to how many fallacies an avenue would be opened up and how many errors would become mixed with the truth, if it were left solely to the light of reason of each to find it out, or if it were to be discovered by the private interpretation of the truth which is revealed. And if this is applicable to many other truths of the moral order, we must all the more pay attention to those things, which appertain to marriage where the inordinate desire for pleasure can attack frail human nature and easily deceive it and lead it astray; this is all the more true of the observance of the divine law, which demands sometimes hard and repeated sacrifices, for which, as experience points out, a weak man can find so many excuses for avoiding the fulfillment of the divine law.
103. On this account, in order that no falsification or corruption of the divine law but a true genuine knowledge of it may enlighten the minds of men and guide their conduct, it is necessary that a filial and humble obedience towards the Church should be combined with devotedness to God and the desire of submitting to Him. For Christ Himself made the Church the teacher of truth in those things also which concern the right regulation of moral conduct, even though some knowledge of the same is not beyond human reason. For just as God, in the case of the natural truths of religion and morals, added revelation to the light of reason so that what is right and true, "in the present state also of the human race may be known readily with real certainty without any admixture of error,"[78] so for the same purpose he has constituted the Church the guardian and the teacher of the whole of the truth concerning religion and moral conduct; to her therefore should the faithful show obedience and subject their minds and hearts so as to be kept unharmed and free from error and moral corruption, and so that they shall not deprive themselves of that assistance given by God with such liberal bounty, they ought to show this due obedience not only when the Church defines something with solemn judgment, but also, in proper proportion, when by the constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, opinions are prescribed and condemned as dangerous or distorted.[79]
104. Wherefore, let the faithful also be on their guard against the overrated independence of private judgment and that false autonomy of human reason. For it is quite foreign to everyone bearing the name of a Christian to trust his own mental powers with such pride as to agree only with those things which he can examine from their inner nature, and to imagine that the Church, sent by God to teach and guide all nations, is not conversant with present affairs and circumstances; or even that they must obey only in those matters which she has decreed by solemn definition as though her other decisions might be presumed to be false or putting forward insufficient motive for truth and honesty. Quite to the contrary, a characteristic of all true followers of Christ, lettered or unlettered, is to suffer themselves to be guided and led in all things that touch upon faith or morals by the Holy Church of God through its Supreme Pastor the Roman Pontiff, who is himself guided by Jesus Christ Our Lord.
105. Consequently, since everything must be referred to the law and mind of God, in order to bring about the universal and permanent restoration of marriage, it is indeed of the utmost importance that the faithful should be well instructed concerning matrimony; both by word of mouth and by the written word, not cursorily but often and fully, by means of plain and weighty arguments, so that these truths will strike the intellect and will be deeply engraved on their hearts. Let them realize and diligently reflect upon the great wisdom, kindness and bounty God has shown towards the human race, not only by the institution of marriage, but also, and quite as much, by upholding it with sacred laws; still more, in wonderfully raising it to the dignity of a Sacrament by which such an abundant fountain of graces has been opened to those joined in Christian wedlock, that these may be able to serve the noble purposes of wedlock for their own welfare and for that of their children, of the community and also for that of human relationship.
106. Certainly, if the latter day subverters of marriage are entirely devoted to misleading the minds of men and corrupting their hearts, to making a mockery of matrimonial purity and extolling the filthiest of vices by means of books and pamphlets and other innumerable methods, much more ought you, Venerable Brethren, whom "the Holy Ghost has placed as bishops, to rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood,"[80] to give yourselves wholly to this, that through yourselves and through the priests subject to you, and, moreover, through the laity welded together by Catholic Action, so much desired and recommended by Us, into a power of hierarchical apostolate, you may, by every fitting means, oppose error by truth, vice by the excellent dignity of chastity, the slavery of covetousness by the liberty of the sons of God,[81] that disastrous ease in obtaining divorce by an enduring love in the bond of marriage and by the inviolate pledge of fidelity given even to death.
107. Thus will it come to pass that the faithful will wholeheartedly thank God that they are bound together by His command and led by gentle compulsion to fly as far as possible from every kind of idolatry of the flesh and from the base slavery of the passions. They will, in a great measure, turn and be turned away from these abominable opinions which to the dishonor of man's dignity are now spread about in speech and in writing and collected under the title of "perfect marriage" and which indeed would make that perfect marriage nothing better than "depraved marriage," as it has been rightly and truly called.
108. Such wholesome instruction and religious training in regard to Christian marriage will be quite different from that exaggerated physiological education by means of which, in these times of ours, some reformers of married life make pretense of helping those joined in wedlock, laying much stress on these physiological matters, in which is learned rather the art of sinning in a subtle way than the virtue of living chastely.
109. So, Venerable Brethren, we make entirely Our own the words which Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, in his encyclical letter on Christian marriage addressed to the bishops of the whole world: "Take care not to spare your efforts and authority in bringing about that among the people committed to your guidance that doctrine may be preserved whole and unadulterated which Christ the Lord and the apostles, the interpreters of the divine will, have handed down, and which the Catholic Church herself has religiously preserved, and commanded to be observed by the faithful of every age."[82]
110. Even the very best instruction given by the Church, however, will not alone suffice to bring about once more conformity of marriage to the law of God; something more is needed in addition to the education of the mind, namely a steadfast determination of the will, on the part of husband and wife, to observe the sacred laws of God and of nature in regard to marriage. In fine, in spite of what others may wish to assert and spread abroad by word of mouth or in writing, let husband and wife resolve: to stand fast to the commandments of God in all things that matrimony demands; always to render to each other the assistance of mutual love; to preserve the honor of chastity; not to lay profane hands on the stable nature of the bond; to use the rights given them by marriage in a way that will be always Christian and sacred, more especially in the first years of wedlock, so that should there be need of continency afterwards, custom will have made it easier for each to preserve it. In order that they may make this firm resolution, keep it and put it into practice, an oft-repeated consideration of their state of life, and a diligent reflection on the sacrament they have received, will be of great assistance to them. Let them constantly keep in mind, that they have been sanctified and strengthened for the duties and for the dignity of their state by a special sacrament, the efficacious power of which, although it does not impress a character, is undying. To this purpose we may ponder over the words full of real comfort of holy Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who with other well-known theologians with devout conviction thus expresses himself: "The sacrament of matrimony can be regarded in two ways: first, in the making, and then in its permanent state. For it is a sacrament like to that of the Eucharist, which not only when it is being conferred, but also whilst it remains, is a sacrament; for as long as the married parties are alive, so long is their union a sacrament of Christ and the Church."[83]
111. Yet in order that the grace of this sacrament may produce its full fruit, there is need, as we have already pointed out, of the cooperation of the married parties; which consists in their striving to fulfill their duties to the best of their ability and with unwearied effort. For just as in the natural order men must apply the powers given them by God with their own toil and diligence that these may exercise their full vigor, failing which, no profit is gained, so also men must diligently and unceasingly use the powers given them by the grace which is laid up in the soul by this sacrament. Let not, then, those who are joined in matrimony neglect the grace of the sacrament which is in them;[84] for, in applying themselves to the careful observance, however laborious, of their duties they will find the power of that grace becoming more effectual as time goes on. And if ever they should feel themselves to be overburdened by the hardships of their condition of life, let them not lose courage, but rather let them regard in some measure as addressed to them that which St. Paul the Apostle wrote to his beloved disciple Timothy regarding the sacrament of holy Orders when the disciple was dejected through hardship and insults: "I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace which is in thee by the imposition of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sobriety."[85]
112. All these things, however, Venerable Brethren, depend in large measure on the due preparation remote and proximate, of the parties for marriage. For it cannot be denied that the basis of a happy wedlock, and the ruin of an unhappy one, is prepared and set in the souls of boys and girls during the period of childhood and adolescence. There is danger that those who before marriage sought in all things what is theirs, who indulged even their impure desires, will be in the married state what they were before, that they will reap that which they have sown;[86] indeed, within the home there will be sadness, lamentation, mutual contempt, strifes, estrangements, weariness of common life, and, worst of all, such parties will find themselves left alone with their own unconquered passions.
113. Let then, those who are about to enter on married life, approach that state well disposed and well prepared, so that they will be able, as far as they can, to help each other in sustaining the vicissitudes of life, and yet more in attending to their eternal salvation and in forming the inner man unto the fullness of the age of Christ.[87] It will also help them, if they behave towards their cherished offspring as God wills: that is, that the father be truly a father, and the mother truly a mother; through their devout love and unwearying care, the home, though it suffer the want and hardship of this valley of tears, may become for the children in its own way a foretaste of that paradise of delight in which the Creator placed the first men of the human race. Thus will they be able to bring up their children as perfect men and perfect Christians; they will instill into them a sound understanding of the Catholic Church, and will give them such a disposition and love for their fatherland as duty and gratitude demand.
114. Consequently, both those who are now thinking of entering upon this sacred married state, as well as those who have the charge of educating Christian youth, should, with due regard to the future, prepare that which is good, obviate that which is bad, and recall those points about which We have already spoken in Our encyclical letter concerning education: "The inclinations of the will, if they are bad, must be repressed from childhood, but such as are good must be fostered, and the mind, particularly of children, should be imbued with doctrines which begin with God, while the heart should be strengthened with the aids of divine grace, in the absence of which, no one can curb evil desires, nor can his discipline and formation be brought to complete perfection by the Church. For Christ has provided her with heavenly doctrines and divine sacraments, that He might make her an effectual teacher of men."[88]
115. To the proximate preparation of a good married life belongs very specially the care in choosing a partner; on that depends a great deal whether the forthcoming marriage will be happy or not, since one may be to the other either a great help in leading a Christian life, or, a great danger and hindrance. And so that they may not deplore for the rest of their lives the sorrows arising from an indiscreet marriage, those about to enter into wedlock should carefully deliberate in choosing the person with whom henceforward they must live continually: they should, in so deliberating, keep before their minds the thought first of God and of the true religion of Christ, then of themselves, of their partner, of the children to come, as also of human and civil society, for which wedlock is a fountain head. Let them diligently pray for divine help, so that they make their choice in accordance with Christian prudence, not indeed led by the blind and unrestrained impulse of lust, nor by any desire of riches or other base influence, but by a true and noble love and by a sincere affection for the future partner; and then let them strive in their married life for those ends for which the State was constituted by God. Lastly, let them not omit to ask the prudent advice of their parents with regard to the partner, and let them regard this advice in no light manner, in order that by their mature knowledge and experience of human affairs, they may guard against a disastrous choice, and, on the threshold of matrimony, may receive more abundantly the divine blessing of the fourth commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first commandment with a promise) that it may be well with thee and thou mayest be long-lived upon the earth."[89]
116. Now since it is no rare thing to find that the perfect observance of God's commands and conjugal integrity encounter difficulties by reason of the fact that the man and wife are in straitened circumstances, their necessities must be relieved as far as possible.
117. And so, in the first place, every effort must be made to bring about that which Our predecessor Leo Xlll, of happy memory, has already insisted upon,[90] namely, that in the State such economic and social methods should be adopted as will enable every head of a family to earn as much as, according to his station in life, is necessary for himself, his wife, and for the rearing of his children, for "the laborer is worthy of his hire."[91] To deny this, or to make light of what is equitable, is a grave injustice and is placed among the greatest sins by Holy Writ;[92] nor is it lawful to fix such a scanty wage as will be insufficient for the upkeep of the family in the circumstances in which it is placed.
118. Care, however, must be taken that the parties themselves, for a considerable time before entering upon married life, should strive to dispose of, or at least to diminish, the material obstacles in their way. The manner in which this may be done effectively and honestly must be pointed out by those who are experienced. Provision must be made also, in the case of those who are not self-supporting, for joint aid by private or public guilds.[93]
119. When these means which We have pointed out do not fulfill the needs, particularly of a larger or poorer family, Christian charity towards our neighbor absolutely demands that those things which are lacking to the needy should be provided; hence it is incumbent on the rich to help the poor, so that, having an abundance of this world's goods, they may not expend them fruitlessly or completely squander them, but employ them for the support and well-being of those who lack the necessities of life. They who give of their substance to Christ in the person of His poor will receive from the Lord a most bountiful reward when He shall come to judge the world; they who act to the contrary will pay the penalty.[94] Not in vain does the Apostle warn us: "He that hath the substance of this world and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him?"[95]
120. If, however, for this purpose, private resources do not suffice, it is the duty of the public authority to supply for the insufficient forces of individual effort, particularly in a matter which is of such importance to the common weal, touching as it does the maintenance of the family and married people. If families, particularly those in which there are many children, have not suitable dwellings; if the husband cannot find employment and means of livelihood; if the necessities of life cannot be purchased except at exorbitant prices; if even the mother of the family to the great harm of the home, is compelled to go forth and seek a living by her own labor; if she, too, in the ordinary or even extraordinary labors of childbirth, is deprived of proper food, medicine, and the assistance of a skilled physician, it is patent to all to what an extent married people may lose heart, and how home life and the observance of God's commands are rendered difficult for them; indeed it is obvious how great a peril can arise to the public security and to the welfare and very life of civil society itself when such men are reduced to that condition of desperation that, having nothing which they fear to lose, they are emboldened to hope for chance advantage from the upheaval of the state and of established order.
121. Wherefore, those who have the care of the State and of the public good cannot neglect the needs of married people and their families, without bringing great harm upon the State and on the common welfare. Hence, in making the laws and in disposing of public funds they must do their utmost to relieve the needs of the poor, considering such a task as one of the most important of their administrative duties.
122. We are sorry to note that not infrequently nowadays it happens that through a certain inversion of the true order of things, ready and bountiful assistance is provided for the unmarried mother and her illegitimate offspring (who, of course must be helped in order to avoid a greater evil) which is denied to legitimate mothers or given sparingly or almost grudgingly.
123. But not only in regard to temporal goods, Venerable Brethren, is it the concern of the public authority to make proper provision for matrimony and the family, but also in other things which concern the good of souls. just laws must be made for the protection of chastity, for reciprocal conjugal aid, and for similar purposes, and these must be faithfully enforced, because, as history testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound where the foundation on which they are established, which is the moral order, is weakened and where the very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.
124. For the preservation of the moral order neither the laws and sanctions of the temporal power are sufficient, nor is the beauty of virtue and the expounding of its necessity. Religious authority must enter in to enlighten the mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen human frailty by the assistance of divine grace. Such an authority is found nowhere save in the Church instituted by Christ the Lord. Hence We earnestly exhort in the Lord all those who hold the reins of power that they establish and maintain firmly harmony and friendship with this Church of Christ so that through the united activity and energy of both powers the tremendous evils, fruits of those wanton liberties which assail both marriage and the family and are a menace to both Church and State, may be effectively frustrated.
125. Governments can assist the Church greatly in the execution of its important office, if, in laying down their ordinances, they take account of what is prescribed by divine and ecclesiastical law, and if penalties are fixed for offenders. For as it is, there are those who think that whatever is permitted by the laws of the State, or at least is not punished by them, is allowed also in the moral order, and, because they neither fear God nor see any reason to fear the laws of man, they act even against their conscience, thus often bringing ruin upon themselves and upon many others. There will be no peril to or lessening of the rights and integrity of the State from its association with the Church. Such suspicion and fear is empty and groundless, as Leo XIII has already so clearly set forth: "It is generally agreed," he says, "that the Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, wished the spiritual power to be distinct from the civil, and each to be free and unhampered in doing its own work, not forgetting, however, that it is expedient to both, and in the interest of everybody, that there be a harmonious relationship. . . If the civil power combines in a friendly manner with the spiritual power of the Church, it necessarily follows that both parties will greatly benefit. The dignity of the State will be enhanced, and with religion as its guide, there will never be a rule that is not just; while for the Church there will be at hand a safeguard and defense which will operate to the public good of the faithful."[96]
126. To bring forward a recent and clear example of what is meant, it has happened quite in consonance with right order and entirely according to the law of Christ, that in the solemn Convention happily entered into between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, also in matrimonial affairs a peaceful settlement and friendly cooperation has been obtained, such as befitted the glorious history of the Italian people and its ancient and sacred traditions. These decrees, are to be found in the Lateran Pact: "The Italian State, desirous of restoring to the institution of matrimony, which is the basis of the family, that dignity conformable to the traditions of its people, assigns as civil effects of the sacrament of matrimony all that is attributed to it in Canon Law."[97] To this fundamental norm are added further clauses in the common pact.
127. This might well be a striking example to all of how, even in this our own day (in which, sad to say, the absolute separation of the civil power from the Church, and indeed from every religion, is so often taught), the one supreme authority can be united and associated with the other without detriment to the rights and supreme power of either thus protecting Christian parents from pernicious evils and menacing ruin.
128. All these things which, Venerable Brethren, prompted by Our past solicitude We put before you, We wish according to the norm of Christian prudence to be promulgated widely among all Our beloved children committed to your care as members of the great family of Christ, that all may be thoroughly acquainted with sound teaching concerning marriage, so that they may be ever on their guard against the dangers advocated by the teachers of error, and most of all, that "denying ungodliness and worldly desires, they may live soberly and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and Our Savior Jesus Christ."[98]
129. May the Father, "of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named,"[99] Who strengthens the weak and gives courage to the pusillanimous and fainthearted; and Christ Our Lord and Redeemer, "the Institutor and Perfecter of the holy sacraments,"[100] Who desired marriage to be and made it the mystical image of His own ineffable union with the Church; and the Holy Ghost, Love of God, the Light of hearts and the Strength of the mind, grant that all will perceive, will admit with a ready will, and by the grace of God will put into practice, what We by this letter have expounded concerning the holy Sacrament of Matrimony, the wonderful law and will of God respecting it, the errors and impending dangers, and the remedies with which they can be counteracted, so that that fruitfulness dedicated to God will flourish again vigorously in Christian wedlock.
130. We most humbly pour forth Our earnest prayer at the Throne of His Grace, that God, the Author of all graces, the inspirer of all good desires and deeds,[101] may bring this about, and deign to give it bountifully according to the greatness of His liberality and omnipotence, and as a token of the abundant blessing of the same Omnipotent God, We most lovingly grant to you, Venerable Brethren, and to the clergy and people committed to your watchful care, the Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Rome, in Saint Peter's, this 31st day of December, of the year 1930, the ninth of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XI
FONTE:h/ttp://www.vatican.va