Summary of Quanta Cura
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Being taught a great
lesson by the Italian Liberals using their superior military strength, Pope
Pius IX (Pio Nono) turned to his spiritual weapons with the promulgation of Quanta Cura and Syllables of error on the 8th day of December, 1864.
With this, he condemned the whole ideology of liberalism found in his own age.
He effectively squelched the liberal Catholics and hardened the Church in its
long-standing state of siege with regards to modern liberal secular culture. This
important papal document was sent to all the bishops of the Catholic world “in
order that these same bishops may have before their eyes all the errors and
pernicious doctrines which he [Pius IX] has reprobated and condemned.”
It is on this note that
I would give my understanding on this document Quanta Cura, noting also its influence on the environment of its
existence and even on my own definite environment.
2.0 AN INDEPTH APPRECIATION OF THE DOCUMENT QUANTA CURA
Pope Pius IX points out
at the errors found with the Liberalist group of his time. He appeals to all
Christian faithful most especially the bishops to see this call as a corporate
mission which rest on him as the Vicar of Christ with a duty to protect the
Church against wiles of heresies, erroneous ideologies and things contrary to
morals. In unity with his predecessors, all are bound specially vested on him
as leader, to defend and care for the soul from the pernicious and nefarious
enterprises of wicked men who set to inflict confusion under the guise of
justice and liberation. The pope considers them as slaves of corruption,
wanting to raze down the foundation of the Catholic religion and of civil
society. He consequently noted the evils of this liberalism (naturalism),
condemning it outrightly. Below are the noted principles condemned by Pio Nono
in Quanta Cura. He condemns:
·
That liberty of conscience and worship
is each man’s personal right, which ought to be legally proclaimed; and
asserted in every rightly constituted society; and that a right resides in the
citizens to an absolute liberty, which should be restrained by no authority
whether ecclesiastical or civil.[1]
·
That the Church should be separated from
the state.
·
That the citizens may be able openly and
publicly to manifest and declare any of their ideas whatever, either by word of
mouth, by the press, or in any other way.[2]
·
That the will of the public is supreme
and disregard any other law, human or divine.[3]
·
That in the political order accomplished
facts, from the very circumstance that they are accomplished, have the force of
right.[4]
·
That permission should be refused to
citizens and to the Church, whereby they may openly give alms for the sake of
Christian charity.[5]
·
That
the law should be
abrogated whereby on
certain fixed days servile
works are prohibited
because of God's worship; and
on the most
deceptive pretext that the
said permission and
law are opposed to the
principles of the
best public economy.[6]
·
That domestic society or the
family derives the whole
principle of its existence
from the civil
law alone; and, consequently, that on civil law alone depend
all rights of parents
over their children,
and especially that of
providing for education.[7]
·
That
the Church's laws
do not bind
in conscience unless when
they are promulgated
by the civil power; that acts and decrees of the Roman Pontiffs,
referring to religion and the Church, need the
civil power's sanction
and approbation.[8]
·
That
the ecclesiastical power is not by divine right distinct from, and
independent of, the civil power, and that such
distinction and independence
cannot be preserved without the
civil power's essential rights being
assailed and usurped
by the Church.[9]
·
That the state has a right to take the
property of the Church and the religious orders.
Having definitely
condemned, reprobated and proscribed these liberalist and modernist view, he
declares 1865 a year of Jubilee so that the Catholic faithful may pray for
disappearance of those errors.
3.0 EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
The tonality of this
encyclical depicts the circumstances surrounding its promulgation. It is very
obvious that some of them have lost their authenticity at the present moment.
At the same time, the encyclical helped in the revival of the Papacy which was
bemoaned by reformation. There is a greater stability and respect of the papacy
which came to climax at first Vatican Council. Although, absolute or extreme
liberalism is very abhorrent to the divine magisterial teaching of the Church,
moderate forms can offer good insight to the Church as seen in Vatican II
appropriation of their benefits. One can now talk about liberation theology as
a product of Liberalism.
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