Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-07-01
CHURCH UNITY.
Papal Encyclical Addressed to the
Cafl0lic RiAhOuk.

PapaI Encyclical Addressed to the
Catholic Bishops.
Pope Leo XIII has issued an encyclical
on church unity. Cardinal Gibbons made
the document public Monday. 1t is ad-
dressed to all bishops in communion with
the holy see at Rome.
Intent upon the work of bringing all to
the fold of Christ, the pope considers that
it would conduce to that end were he to set
before the peoples Of the Christian world
the ideal and examplar of the church as
divinely constituted, to which church all
are bound by Gods command to belong"
He goes on to say:
ut is obviously of the first Importance to
determine what Christ wished His church
to be. and what. in fact, He made 1t. Ac-
cording to this criterion. 1t is the unity of
the Christian Church which must necessar-
lily be considered. for 1t is certain that He
who founded 1t wished 1t to be one. The
mission of Christ was to save not some ma
tons or peoples only. but the whole human
race, without distinction Of time or place.
Hence. as the mission of His church was to
hand down through every age the blessing
of this salvation by the will of its founder,
1t is necessary that this church should be
one in all lands and at all times.
1T was necessary that there should be
another principle to insure union of minds
In the Christian church, and it is, conse-
quently, proper to inquire which of the
many means by which Christ our Lord
could have secured this unity He. in fact,
adopted.
1T is the duty" he continues, "of all fol-
lowers Of Christ not merely to accept His
doctrine generally, but to assent with their
entire mind to all and every point of it,
since it is unlawful to Withhold faith from
God, even In regard to one single point
Christ endowed His apostles with authority
like to His own. and promised that the
Spirit Of Truth should direct them. and re-
main with them forever, and because of
this commission, it is no more allowable to
repudiate one iota of the apostles teaching
than to reject any point of the doctrine of
Christ himself
This apostolic mission was intended for
the salvation of the whole human race,
and, consequently. must last to the end of
time. The magisterium Instituted by Christ
In His church was Gods will perpetuate,i
in the successors appointed by the apostles.
and in like manner the duty of accepting
and processing all that is thus taught is
also perpetual and immutable.' There is
nothing which the church, founded on these
principles, has been more careful to guard
than the integrity of the faith The faith
ers of the church are unanimous in consid-
ering as outside the Catholic communion
anyone who, in the least degree deviates
from even one point of the doctrine pro-
posed by the authoritative magisterium of
the church.
Besides being the guardian of the faith.
the church must afford the means of OBJ
tanning the salvation purchased by Christ.
The dispensation of the divine mysteries
was not granted by God indiscriminately
to all Christians, but to the apostles and
their successors, and in this way, according
to Gods providence, a duly constituted so.
ciety was formed out of the divided multi
tudes of peopes-one on faith, one in end.
one in the participation of the means
adopted TO the attainment of the end, and
one as subject to one and the same au-
thoritN."