BX
2380
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1958 ___
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
Studies in Sacred TheologyNo. 104

PRIESTLY STUDIES

IN

MODERN PAPAL TEACHINGS
A DISSERTATION

submitted to the Faculty of the School of Sacred Theology
of The Catholic University of America

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology
by
REV. CHRISTOPHER LIND, O. S. B., S. T. L.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS
WASHINGTON, D. C.
1958

ΊΊ

This dissertation has been approved by the Reverend

M(

Alfred G Rush, G SS. R-, S. T. D., as Director, and by

Reverend Francis J. Connell, G SS. R., S. T. D., and Rev­

subn

erend Rotnaeus W. O’Brien, O. Cann., S. T. D., as readers.

1

THI

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
Studies in Sacred Theology
No. 104

PRIESTLY STUDIES
IN

MODERN PAPAL TEACHINGS
A DISSERTATION
submitted to the Faculty of the School of Sacred Theology
of The Catholic University of America

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology
by
REV. CHRISTOPHER LIND, O. S. B., S. T. L.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS
WASHINGTON, D. G
1958

Copyright, 1958, by
The Catholic University of America Press, Inc.

Imprimi potest:

* Patrick M. O'Brien, O. S. B.,
Abbot.

Nihil obstat:

Alfred C. Rush, C. SS. R., S. T. D.,
Censor Deputatus.

Imprimatur:

5· Thomas A. Boland, S. T. D.,
Archbishop of Newark.

June 26, 1956.

Βχ
1^58

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
BY ST. ANTHONY GUILD PRESS, PATERSON, N. J.

INTRODUCTION
Contemporary treatises on the priesthood have not been remiss in
proclaiming the priest’s obligation to continue his studies after ordina­
tion. Moreover, in support of their contention, the authors of such
works do not fail to refer to the teachings of recent Popes who
have treated of this subject. But in none of these treatises can one
find a detailed presentation of, or a commentary upon, those modem
papal documents which express and particularize the priest’s moral
obligation to post-ordination studies. Such a presentation and com­
mentary was the precise end aimed at by the writer of this dissertation.
The importance of such a treatment of sacerdotal studies rests
primarily on the importance of the authoritative teachings of the
Popes on any moral duty, whether these teachings be expressed
through the Pontiffs’ use of their ordinary or their extraordinary teach­
ing authority. Secondarily, in an era when, perhaps more than ever
before, the apostles of the forces of both good and evil seek to gain
adherents to their respective causes by winning intelligences with the
power of learning, a consideration of the recent papal teachings on
priestly studies makes it evident that the obligation to such learning
is based on a real and current necessity.
The term "priestly studies” as contained in the title of this dis­
sertation is intended to signify the intellectual effort made to acquire
any theoretical or practical knowledge pertinent and beneficial to the
dignity and exercise of the sacerdotal office. By "modem papal teach­
ings” is meant the body of teachings originating either directly from
the Pontiffs ruling the Church from St. Pius X to Pope Pius XII, or
indirectly issued by them inasmuch as they approved the documents
on priestly studies formulated by the various ecclesiastical commissions
or sacred congregations. It must be noted, however, that in addition
to these papal documents, and in order to draw from them their full
signification, Sacred Scripture and studies devoted to the priesthood
were used after the manner of a commentary.
The first chapter of the dissertation considers those modem papal
teachings that speak of the general obligation a priest has to continue
Elis studies by reason of the role of doctor which he possesses within
and dependent upon the Church whose minister he is. The second
v

VI

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

and third chapters are devoted to examining the content of those papal
documents that particularize this general obligation by viewing it in
terms of the various tasks a priest may be called upon to fulfill either
in the pastoral ministry or in the fields of religious and secular edu­
cation. The final chapter studies the teachings of the Holy See that
concern themselves with bringing priestly learning into a relationship
with priestly holiness. The present printed work represents the first
two chapters and the conclusion of the complete typewritten disserta­
tion accessible at the library of the Catholic University of America.
The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Rev. Alfred
Rush, C. SS. R., S. T. D., for the many hours of enthusiastic assistance
given throughout the course of this study by means of direction and
criticism. He wishes also to express special thanks to the Very Rev.
Francis J. Connell, C. SS. R., S. T. D., and the Rev. Romaeus O’Brien,
O. Carm., J. G D., who graciously acted as readers of the manuscript.
To the monks of St. Mary’s Abbey, and in particular to the Right
Rev. Patrick M. O’Brien, Abbot, this work is offered in grateful
appreciation.

INTROD

Chapter
THE

Chapter
THE

Chapter
THE

Chapter
LEAF
CONCLl

BIBLIOC

LIST OF

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. v

Chapter I
THE PRIEST AS DOCTOR................................................... 1

Chapter II
THE PRIEST IN THE PASTORAL MINISTRY

...

38

Chapter III
THE PRIEST AS EDUCATOR......................................

Chapter IV
LEARNING AND PRIESTLY HOLINESS...................
CONCLUSION

................................................................................ 86

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................ 88

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................. 97

VITA................................................................................................... 98

INDEX................................................................................................... 99

νπ

Chapter I
THE PRIEST AS DOCTOR
The obligation of a priest to continue his study of sacred doctrine
is based fundamentally upon the position he holds within the Church
as a teacher of the faithful. But since this part of the priest’s sacer­
dotal office is received from and exercised for and within the Church,
any examination of it must be made in the light of the Church’s divine
commission to teach.
Prior to His ascent into Heaven, Christ gave to His Apostles in
perpetuity the command and the power to teach His doctrine to all
men.1 All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you
all days, even unto the consummation of the world.2
His Holiness Pope Pius XII has presented us with a succinct com­
mentary on this divine commission of the Church to teach: "Whether
it be the law written on the heart, that is, the natural law, or the truths
and precepts of supernatural revelation, the Divine Redeemer has put
both into the hands of the Church as a moral treasure of humanity,
in order that she might preach them to all creatures, illustrate and trans­
mit them from one generation to another, intact and defended from
every contamination and error.”3
With reference to the Church’s actual exercise of this mission to
teach the truths divinely entrusted to her, Pius XI stated:

The Church of Christ, depository and infallible guardian of divine
revelation ... pours out the treasures of heavenly truth; she preaches
Him who is the true light that enlightens every man who comes
into the worlds she sows with divine bounty that seed which is
small and worthless to the profane eyes of the world. ...
Amid all aberrations devised by the human mind infatuated with
a false emancipation from every law and restraint, and amid the
terrible corruptions of human malice, the Church of God rises up
like a bright lighthouse, warning by the clearness of its beam every
deviation to right or left from the way of truth, and pointing out
to one and all the right course that should be followed.5
1

2

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

But within this Church, who has the right and duty to give their
voices to teaching the message Christ entrusted to her? Relative to
this question, Pope Pius XII, in an address delivered on the occasion
of the canonization of St. Pius X, reminded Bishops that since Christ
sent His Apostles as He had been sent by the Father,6 that is, to teach
all nations everything they had heard from Him,7 it follows that the
Apostles are by divine right the true doctors and teachers of the Church.
"Besides the lawful successors of the Apostles, namely, the Roman
Pontiff for the universal Church and the Bishops for the faithful en­
trusted to their care,8 there are no other teachers divinely constituted
in the Church of Christ.’’?
The Pontiff, however, proceeded to note:

Both the Bishops and, first of all, the Supreme Teacher and Vicar
of Christ on earth, may associate others with themselves in their
work of teacher, and use their advice; they delegate to these the
faculty to teach (either by special grant or because of an office
conferred upon them).10 Those who are so called are teachers
not in their own name, but by reason of the mandate which they
have received from the lawful teaching authority. Their faculty
always remains subject to that authority, nor is it ever exercised in
its own right or independently.11
In the papal period under consideration Pius XII does not stand
alone in testifying to the traditional doctrine that teaching within the
Church is an office pertaining to the episcopacy. In his encyclical letter
Humani Generis Redemptionem, Benedict XV explained this episcopal
prerogative at length:

For the office of preaching is from the teaching of Trent, "a pre­
rogative of Bishops.”12 And the Apostles, whose successors the
Bishops are, considered it as something peculiarly theirs. St. Paul
writes: For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the
Gospel.13 And the other Apostles were of the opinion that: It is
not desirable that we should forsake the word of God and serve at
tables.'* But although preaching is properly the duty of Bishops,
nevertheless, since they cannot always and everywhere discharge it
in person, distracted as they are by the many cares accompanying
the government of their churches, they must of necessity satisfy
their obligation through others. Wherefore it cannot be doubted

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The Priest as Doctor

3

that all those who, in addition to the Bishops, are thus engaged,
are employed in the performance of an episcopal duty. Let this
then be the first law laid down: that no one may on his own
responsibility undertake the office of preaching. In order to fulfill
that duty, everyone must have a lawful mission, which can be con­
ferred by the Bishop alone. And how are men to preach unless
they be sent?1'’ Now the Apostles were sent and sent by Him
who is the Supreme Shepherd and Guardian of our souls;16 so,
too, were the seventy-two first disciples; even St. Paul himself,
although constituted by Christ a chosen vessel to carry His name
before nations and kings,17 entered upon his apostolate only after
the elders, in obedience to the command of the Holy Spirit — Set
apart for Me Saul... unto the work18 — had sent him forth with
an imposing of hands. The same practice was constantly followed
in the early days of the Church. For all without exception, both
those who distinguished themselves in the priestly Order like
Origen, and those who later on were raised to the episcopate, like
Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and the more
ancient Doctors of the Church, undertook the office of preaching
with the sanction and authority of their Bishops.19
This subordination of priests to their Bishops in the ministry of
the word is clearly attested to in the Church’s Code of Canon Law.
Canon 1327 states that the office of preaching the Catholic faith has
been entrusted chiefly to the Roman Pontiff for the universal Church,
and to Bishops for their own dioceses. Bishops are obliged to preach
the Gospel personally unless they are prevented from doing so by some
lawful reason; and they should moreover use, for properly fulfilling
this office, not only pastors, but other suitable preachers as well.20
According to canon 1328, no one is permitted to exercise the office
of preaching unless he has received a mission from his lawful superior,
either by a special faculty, or by receiving an office to which the func­
tion of preaching is attached according to canon law.21

It is evident, then, that priests do not teach by their own right.
They participate in the episcopal mission of evangelization in their
ministry of the word. They have to be delegated by the Bishop, and,
as Abbé Hasseveldt notes, "It is in this sense that the authorization
to preach should be understood. When a priest preaches in the pres­
ence of a Bishop, he kneels first before him to ask his blessing.”22
Moreover, this authorization which makes it lawful for a priest to teach

4

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

the truths of the faith includes a constant subordination to and de­
pendence upon the Bishop. What Pius XII said of the lay theologian
applies with equal force to the priest fulfilling the magisterial part of
his sacerdotal ministry; that is, "There never has been, there is not
now, and there never will be in the Church a lawful teaching author­
ity... withdrawn by God from the authority, guidance and watchful­
ness of the sacred teaching authority. In fact, the very denial of sub­
mission offers a convincing proof and criterion that.. . those who thus
speak and act are not guided by the Spirit of God and of Christ.”25
The position in the Church which the priest holds as a teacher
being thus established from a consideration of papal documents, the
next question to be treated of is the degree to which the priest is ob­
liged to carry out this magisterial part of his sacerdotal ministry. In
reply to this question we contend that the priest’s role as doctor is, for
those engaged in any way in the care of souls, a grave and primary
obligation both in virtue of the dignity inherent in the priestly office
and in virtue of the direct relationship which that office has to the
body of the faithful.
First, the priest has a grave and primary obligation to teach by
virtue of the dignity inherent in his sacerdotal office. The priest is an
ambassador of Christ, a minister of Christ,24 a dispenser of the mys­
teries of God. On behalf of Christ, we are acting as ambassadors.1^
Let a man so account us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mys­
teries of God.16 "The priest,” comments Pius XI, "is the minister of
Christ, as an instrument in the hands of the Divine Redeemer, so that
He can continue the work of redemption in all its world-embracing
universality and divine efficacy — that work that wrought so wondrous
a transformation in the world.”27 After speaking of the manner in
which the priest fulfills his ministerial office by administering the sacra­
ments, this Vicar of Christ proceeds to say: "The Catholic priest is
a minister of Christ and dispenser of the mysteries of God in another
way, that is, by the ministry of the word,1» a right which is inaliénable;
it is a duty which cannot be disallowed, for it is imposed by Jesus
Christ Himself: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,...
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you1? The Church
of Christ, depository and infallible teacher of divine revelation, by
means of her priests, pours out the treasures of heavenly tmt-h "w

The Priest as Doctor

5

Pope Benedict XV, in his encyclical Humani Generis Redemptionem,
presents a strong argument from reason showing why a priest’s min­
istry must include this ministry of the word. This Pontiff points out
that, in order to lead men to obey His commands to win eternal life,
Christ, once He had wrought the redemption of the human race by
His death, "used no other means than the voice of His heralds, whose
work it was to announce to all mankind what they had to believe and
do in order to be saved.” Pope Benedict further recalls that it was
the preaching of the Apostles that renewed the face of the earth; and
by that preaching the religion of Christ turned men from error and
won their hearts to virtue. "Wherefore,” he says, "since by God’s
good pleasure things are preserved through the same causes by which
they were brought into being, it is evident that the preaching of the
wisdom taught by the Christian religion is the means divinely em­
ployed to continue the work of eternal salvation.__ ”31 In other words,
the priest, as a minister of Christ, is meant to continue Christ’s work
not after his own way of thinking, but according to the mind of the
Savior: He charged us to preach to the people?2
Starting with the priest’s obligation to prolong Christ's work as
His ambassador and minister, one can derive a second argument for
his obligation to teach, and this from the pronouncements of the same
Pontiff, Benedict XV. In his discourse to parish priests and Lenten
preachers given on February 10, 1921, the Pope noted that Christ said
that He came to the world so that men might have life and have it
more abundantly.33 "The life to which the Divine Master was alluding
in this passage quoted from St. John,” said the Pontiff, "was obviously
that of the spirit. But the life of the spirit consists in knowing and
understanding truth, in knowing and loving the good. Consequently,
the same Divine Teacher could turn to His Eternal Father and say,
This is life eternal, that they may know You to be the true God, and
Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.”34 Therefore, as Christ came
into the world so that through His teachings the world might have
the life of truth, so too, a priest, as a minister of Christ obliged to
prolong His redemptive work, must give testimony to the same truth
by teaching. I am the light of the world, said the Savior.35 This is
why I was bom, and why I have come into the world, to bear witness
to the truth?6 As the Father has sent Me, 1 also send you?2

6

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

But in addition to being an ambassador or a minister of Christ
and a dispenser of the mysteries of God, a priest also stands as a
mediator between God and man, an office whose perfect fulfillment
obliges him to function as a teacher. It is true that there is one mediator
between God and man, Himself man, Christ Jesus,38 but, as St. Thomas
teaches: "Nothing, however, prevents many others from being media­
tors under a certain aspect, that is, dispositively and ministerially.”39
Now the office of a mediator is to join those between whom he stands,
and the relationship between this function and the priestly office of
teaching was proposed by Pope Benedict XV when he asked: "But do
not those who join the minds of men to God by dispelling errors and
illuminating these minds with rays of truth co-operate efficaciously for
joining men and God?”40
Secondly, the priest is obliged to teach by virtue of the direct rela­
tionship which his sacerdotal office has to the body of the faithful.
In his first encyclical letter, E Supremi Apostolatus, St. Pius X stated
that religious instruction is the principal means for restoring the king­
dom of God in souls. The saint lamented:

How many there are who hate Christ and detest the Church and
the Gospel more through ignorance than through malice! Con­
cerning these people it may well be said: These men deride what­
ever they do not know.41 This is the case not only among the
poorer or lower classes who are more easily led astray, but even
among the cultured classes who have been well educated. The
result is that great numbers lose their faith. The more ignorance
prevails, the greater is the havoc wrought by unbelief. For this
reason, Christ commanded the Apostles: Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations.42
In Acerbo Nimis, the same Pontiff again decried the fact that a
large number of Christians are ignorant of the truths necessary for
salvation, and among these people he included "those especially who
do not lack culture or talents, but indeed possess an abundant knowl­
edge regarding the things of the world, yet five rashly and imprudently
with respect to the things of religion."43 He then recalled that St
Paul himself "places the foundation of holiness and sound morals
upon a knowledge of divine things — which holds in check evil de­

The Priest as Doctor

7

sires: See to it, therefore, brethren, that you walk with care: not as un­
wise but as wise.... Therefore, do not become foolish, but understand
what the will of the Lord is.”44
St. Pius, however, does not content himself merely with pointing
out the prevailing ignorance concerning religious truths. He proceeds
to say:
Consider who has the obligation to dispel this most harmful ignor­
ance and to impart in its place the knowledge that is wholly indis­
pensable. There can be no doubt, Venerable Brethren, that this
most important duty rests upon all those who are pastors of souls.
Upon them, by the command of Christ, there rests the obligation
of knowing and feeding the flock committed to their care; and to
feed implies, first of all, to teach. I will give you pastors accord­
ing to My own heart, God promised through Jeremias, and they
shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine4'1 Hence the Apostle
Paul said: Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the
Gospel,46 thereby indicating that the first duty of all those who
are entrusted in any way with the government of the Church is to
instruct the faithful in the things of God.... Here, then, Venerable
Brethren, it is well to emphasize and to insist that for a priest
there is no duty more grave nor obligation more binding than diis.47
To the possible objection that these words of the Pope have refer­
ence to diocesan priests only, it is well to avert to the fact that in
the same encyclical St. Pius reminds priests that "the Christian people
expect from them knowledge of the divine law, and it was for this
purpose that they were sent by God. And they shall seek the law
at his mouth; because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.48 Thus the
Bishop, speaking to the candidates for the priesthood in the ordination
ceremony, says: 'Let your teaching be a spiritual remedy for God s
people; may they be worthy fellow workers of our order; and thus
meditating day and night on His law, may they believe what they read
and teach what they shall believe.’ ”4’

Then the next sentence of the Pontiff is, 'If there is no priest to
whom these words are not applicable (italics mine), do they not apply
with much greater force to those who possess the title and authority
of parish priests, and who, by virtue of their rank and by virtue of a
special contract, hold the office of pastors of souls?"50

8

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

From these words we can argue that the obligation of doctor is ap­
plicable to all priests, diocesan or religious, and for the religious who
is not ex officio engaged in the parish ministry, the actual application
of the obligation is greater or less according to the degree or extent
that he is called upon to share in apostolic work. This contention is
borne out by these words which Pope Pius XI directed specifically to
the religious clergy in his apostolic letter Unigenitus Dei Filius: "For
how can he lack that solid doctrine, since the Christian people expect
from his mouth the words of salvation because he is the legate of the
Lord of knowledge,51 the minister and teacher of the New Law, the
salt of the earthy1 and the light of the world?™ Therefore they should
tremble as often as, ignorant and unskilled, they approach their sacred
ministry.”54
As did St. Pius X, so too has Pope Pius XII frequently stressed
the priest’s obligation to teach, in virtue of the relationship which the
sacerdotal office has to the spiritual needs of the faithful.55 Monsignor
Fenton has summed up the Pontiffs mind in this matter in the follow­
ing observation:

One special theme runs through all the Holy Father’s discourses
to the parish priests and the Lenten preachers of the Eternal City.
Time and time again the Vicar of Christ exhorts these men to do
their utmost to dispel the ignorance about the true religion so
prevalent in our own day. With the gift of understanding he has
received from his Divine Master, the Vicar of Christ is keenly
aware of the fact that now more than ever before an ignorance of
God’s revealed teaching involves a frightful danger to salvation....
Pope Pius XII has authoritatively called attention to the fact that
it is the business and the responsibility of the priests in the paro­
chial ministry to defend the cause of Christ against those forces
which seek to deprive Him of souls for whose salvation He suf­
fered and died. Through God’s power, the verbum reconciliationis
and the ministerium reconciliationis are in their hands. Through
accurate and effective instruction, through their salvific contact with
every individual and family confided to their care, they can play a
dominant part in the victory of the Church militant.56
The papal teachings thus far considered with reference to the
priest’s obligation to teach are well confirmed by the pastoral epistles
of St. PauL The Church, entrusted with the truth that is the revela-

The Priest as Doctor
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9

tion of Christ, is the pillar and mainstay of the truths by instructing
the faithful and transmitting Christ’s doctrine to them. As Father
Spicq has noted, this function is so important that "salvation is synony­
mous with knowledge of the truth. God, writes St. Paul, wishes all
men to he saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."™ Con­
sequently, St. Paul insists upon the obligation of the priest to teach:
But the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, hut be gentle towards
all, ready to teach.™ I charge thee, in the sight of God and Christ
Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead by His coming and by
His kingdom, preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season;
reprove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and teaching.60 Father Spicq’s
commentary on this last citation from St. Paul well crystallizes the
Apostle’s mind on the obligation of a priest to teach:

These are the last words St. Paul wrote, the last order he prescribed,
and they sum up all the precepts and counsels he gave to Timothy.
The Apostle’s testament, his last will, is to exhort his disciple to
devote himself to preaching. The tenses of the verbs and the con­
text imply that this office is to continue until the end of time.
St. Paul assumed its obligations during his lifetime; his successors
will have to continue his work after his departure. The priest,
according to St. Paul, has for his essential role the preaching of
the word of God, instructing the faithful.61

By way of summarizing what has thus far been said concerning the
position as a teacher which the priest holds in the Church and his
obligation to fulfill this role, one can do no better than to cite Pope
Pius Xi’s encyclical letter against atheistic communism, Divini Redemp­
toris. Herein he prescribed the remedies necessary for effectively com­
bating this evil, and then proclaimed:
Jesus Christ, our Divine King, has chosen and constituted priests
as the first-line ministers and messengers for accomplishing the
salutary work we have described.... Theirs is the duty, assigned
to them by a special vocation, under the direction of their Bishops
and in filial obedience to the Vicar of Christ on earth, of con­
stantly keeping aflame in the world the torch of faith, and of
filling the hearts of the faithful with that supernatural trust which
has aided the Church to fight and win so many other battles in

10

Priestly Studies in Modem Papal Teachings
the name of Christ: This is the victory which overcomes the
world, our faith.61

It must be noted, however, that in order to present the priest’s
obligation to continue his studies, a recognition of his dignity and
duty as a teacher does not suffice. Beyond this, there must be deter­
mined the area within which the priest, by virtue of his priesthood,
can be called upon to fulfill his magisterial role, for the very vastness
of this area will serve to emphasize the depth with which he must
penetrate and apply the truths of revelation. But inasmuch as the
priest is an instrument whereby the Church exercises her ministry of
the word, it follows that his field of teaching will ministerially be as
broad as hers. Thus in order to determine within what fields the priest
may or must act as a teacher of the truths entrusted by Christ to His
Church and proclaimed by her through her living teaching authority,
modem papal documents must be considered in order to set forth
their content concerning those subjects with which the Church may
concern herself in fulfilling her divinely established teaching mission.
A study of these documents reveals that the Pontiffs acknowledge
a distinction between the direct and the indirect object of the Church’s
magisterial power. The first or direct object embraces everything that
can have an immediate bearing on the sanctification of souls, the
extension and increase of the kingdom of God on earth, the propaga­
tion of revealed truth, the exercise of Christian virtues as well as the
practice of corporal and spiritual works of mercy.6* But this is not
to say that the Church may not raise her authoritative teaching voice
concerning those things which lie outside these spiritual goods. St.
Pius X has said:
Over and above spiritual goods, however, there are many goods
of the natural order over which the Church has no direct mission,
although they flow as a natural consequence of her divine mission.
The light of Catholic revelation is so great that it diffuses itself
most brilliantly on every science. The force of the evangelical
counsels is so powerful that it strengthens and more firmly estab­
lishes the precepts of the natural law. The efficacy of the doctrine
and morality taught by Jesus Christ is so limitless that providen­
tially it sustains and promotes the material welfare of the individ­
ual, the family, and society.64

The Priest as Doctor

11

Then speaking of the motto he selected to guide him during his
pontificate, St. Pius X proclaimed, "To re-establish all things — not in
any haphazard way, but in Christ; and the Apostle adds, both those
in the heavens and those on the earth.65 To re-establish all things in­
cludes not only what properly pertains to the divine mission of the
Church in leading souls to God, but also what we have already ex­
plained as flowing from that divine mission, namely, Christian civili­
zation in each and every one of the elements composing it”66
In an encyclical letter directed to the hierarchy of Germany, Singu­
lari Quadam, this same Pope again took up the question of the Church's
teaching authority in things temporal:

We first of all declare that all Catholics have a sacred and in­
violable duty, both in private and in public life, to obey and
firmly adhere to and fearlessly profess the principles of Catholic
truth enunciated by the teaching authority of the Catholic Church.
In particular, We mean those principles which Our Predecessor
has wisely laid down in his encyclical letter Rerum Novarum....
These are fundamental principles: No matter what the Christian
does, even in the realm of temporal goods, he cannot ignore the
supernatural good. Rather, according to the dictates of Christian
philosophy, he must order all things to the ultimate end, namely,
the Highest Good. All his actions, insofar as they are morally
good or bad, that is to say, whether they agree or disagree with the
natural and divine law, are subject to the judgment and jurisdiction
of the Church.67

As St. Pius X defended the Church’s magisterial authority in
temporal affairs by proclaiming her right to teach authoritatively re­
garding economic questions, so too did Pius XI rely upon this same
authority to defend "the inalienable right as well as the indispensable
duty of the Church to watch over the entire education of her children
in all institutions, public or private, not merely in regard to the re­
ligious instruction therein given, but in regard to every other branch
of learning and every regulation insofar as they have a necessary
relationship with religion and morality.”68
Forceful though were the teachings of his predecessors concerning
the right and authority of the teaching Church in temporal matters,
attitudes prevalent in his own time caused Pope Pius XII to take

12

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

up this doctrine once again. He made known that he was aware of
those attitudes and tendencies of mind which expressed themselves
in the claim: "We are perfectly willing to see and to listen to Bishops
and priests in their churches, and regarding matters within their
authority, but in places of official and public business, where matters
of this life are dealt with and decided, we have no wish to see them
or to listen to what they say. For there it is we laymen, and not the
clergy — no matter of what rank or qualification — who are the law­
ful judges.”69
To this error that seeks to restrict the Church’s magisterial author­
ity solely to those matters within the realm of the spiritual, Pope Pius
XII replied with the following traditional doctrine: "The power of
the Church is not bound by limits of 'matters strictly religious’ .. .,
but the whole matter of the natural law, its foundation, its interpreta­
tion, its application, insofar as their moral aspects extend, are within
her power. For the keeping of the natural law, by God’s intent, has
reference to the road by which man must approach his supernatural
end. But on this road the Church is man’s leader and guide in what
concerns this supernatural end.’’70
The Pope proceeds to state that there are social and political prob­
lems, not strictly religious, but which nevertheless fall within the scope
of the Church s teaching authority because these problems can and do
hinder man in the attainment of his ultimate goal. To maintain that
these and like problems lie outside the field of morals and thus are,
or can be, outside that authority established by God to see to a just
order and to direct men to their final end, is a contradiction of both
truth and common sense. The Church is to tend to these things "not
only in secret, within the walls of the church and sacristy, but also in
the open, on the housetops (to use the Lord’s words),71 in the front
line, in the midst of the struggle that rages between truth and error,
virtue and vice, between the ’world’ and the kingdom of God, be­
tween the prince of this world and Christ its Savior.”72
The scope of the Church’s magisterial power as proclaimed in these
papal teachings flows from the very purpose for which Chnst estab­
lished His Church: to guide and direct men to their ultimate end.
What Billot wrote of the Church’s teaching authority in matters
political is valid for her teaching position in all matters temporal:

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The Priest as Doctor

13

For as it is fitting that the body be subject to the soul and tem­
poral things be referred to and subordinated to the eternal, so it
was necessary that in the Church of Christ political power be sub­
ject to the sacerdotal and thus be directed by it to eternal beati­
tude, be amended and corrected by it should political power be
turned from that end. Indeed, this teaching has been so constantly
and so unanimously understood by theologians, so solemnly con­
firmed by the usage and practice of even ecumenical councils, that
the contrary opinion, as Bellarmine bears witness, must be termed
more of an ancient heresy than an opinion.7*
Now precisely because "The Church of Christ, depository and
infallible teacher of divine revelation, by means of her sacred min­
isters, pours out the treasures of heavenly truth,” and because "the
Church exercises her ministry of the word through her sacred ministers
in the various grades of the hierarchy,”74 it follows that the fields
wherein the priest may be called upon to teach and uphold Christian
truths will be no less than those wherein we have seen the Church
has a right and duty to exercise her magisterial authority. Thus Pope
Pius XII could say:

The object of the preaching of the Faith is Christian doctrine, that
is to say, revelation with all the truths contained therein, with all
the foundations and notions it presupposes, with all the conse­
quences it has upon the moral conduct of man confronted with
it in domestic and social life, in public as well as political life.
Religion and moral in their strict union constitute an indivisible
whole; and the moral order, the commandments of God are
equally valid for all fields of human activity without exception;
the end where these fields meet pertains also to the mission of the
Church and thus also to the words of the priest, to his teaching,
his admonitions, his counsels to the faithful entrusted to his care.75

In other words, where human activity is involved, morality is in­
volved, and morality falls within the scope of the Church’s teaching
power exercised through her priests. Because of this, Pius XII could
proceed to note the following principles:
1. It is a right, and at the same time an essential duty of the
Church to instruct the faithful by spoken and written word, from

14

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

the pulpit or by other conventional means, about everything that
concerns faith and morals, in order to obviate what is incompatible
with its own teaching and indeed not admissible for Catholics,
whether this treats of philosophical or religious systems, or of the
aims proposed by their opponents, or of the moral conceptions
regarding the life of individuals or the community....
4. The priest... is a minister of the Church and has a mission
that, as we have already inferred, embraces the entire sphere of
the religious and moral duties of the faith, and in the fulfillment
of which he himself is able and is even obliged to give under this
aspect advice and instructions regarding even public life.76

From all this, the complexity of the priest’s teaching mission can
readily be seen; there is no field wherein he may not be called upon
to direct the guiding light of Christian truths. The Church has pro­
claimed moral teachings regarding economics, politics, marriage, edu­
cation, medical practices and research, juridical proceedings and con­
sequent penalties, to cite but a few fields wherein she has lawfully ex­
ercised her magisterial power. More and more is the priest called
upon to have at least a general acquaintance with these teachings. As
Bishop Stockums remarked: The pastoral ministry in town and coun­
try is growing more complex with each passing year, as the economic
needs of the people increase; the menace to faith and morals from
socialism, communism, and an excessive rationalism is daily becoming
more ominous; the hostility of a militant atheism to all things Chris­
tian is mounting steadily. These grave problems must be met and
solved by the clergy, and specifically by the clergy engaged in the
care of souls.”77
So far, then, in our consideration of papal statements referring to
the priest as a teacher, two points stand out: first, the priest who is in
any way engaged in the care of souls possesses the grave and primary
obligation to teach, and secondly, in the actual fulfillment of this role
dependently upon episcopal authority, the priest has both the right
and the duty to direct the light of Christ’s teachings into all fields of
human activity where religious and moral duties are in question, be
these fields domestic or social, public or political.
A further examination of modern papal documents on the subject
of the priest as a teacher presents us with a consequent conclusion;
namely, if the priest is to fulfill his role of teacher of the doctrine

The Priest as Doctor
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15

of Christian revelation as this is proclaimed by the authoritative magis­
terial power of the Church, he is required to possess an adequate
knowledge of this doctrine. "Who indeed,” said St. Pius X. "will
deny that knowledge should be joined to holiness in the life of the
priest? For the lips oj the priest shall keep knowledge.™ The Church
demands this knowledge from those who are to be ordained to the
priesthood. Why? Because the Christian people expect from them
knowledge of the divine law, and it was for this purpose that they
were sent by God. And they shall seek the law at his mouth, because
he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.”'’9 "For the Catholic priest,” ex­
plained Pius XI, "has received from Jesus Christ the office and com­
mission of teaching truth: Make disciples of all nations.60 He is set
up as the teacher in Israel.81 But how can he teach, unless he himself
possesses knowledge?”82
Further and more detailed testimony of the priest’s obligation to
possess knowledge precisely because of his office as teacher is not
wanting in the papal documents that are the object of our study. In
a letter to the hierarchy of Czechoslovakia, Pope Benedict XV wrote:
You know, Venerable Brethren, how necessary it is that a priest,
who ought to instruct others in the doctrine of Christ, possess that
doctrine accurately learned and fully understood; without doubt,
it is this knowledge that makes him a true light of the world and
enables him to exercise correctly and conscientiously that office
which the Church has entrusted to him, the teaching of truth
among Christian people.... Because of this, in letters and docu­
ments of this Holy See which treat of the clergy, it is frequently
mentioned that a priest, as an ambassador, as a minister of Christ,
as a dispenser of the mysteries of God, cannot suitably fulfill his
most sacred office unless he be rightly equipped with a knowledge
of sacred and divine things, and unless he possess abundantly that
piety which alone can make him a man of God. Indeed, it is
necessary that he stand in firm possession of truth and virtue, so
that he may be free from every error and vice, because if "he lacks
either of the two either on account of an evil life or on account
of ignorance, no small danger threatens him and those over whom
he is placed.”83

In this document, Pope Benedict XV was intent on showing that
knowledge in a priest is indispensable if he is to function as the light

16

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

of the world. That the Pontiff saw fit to set forth this traditional
teaching to the Bishops of Czechoslovakia at this particular time
(1921) has special significance. For prior to World War I, the Czech
intelligentsia was influenced by philosophical rationalism, while the
working masses were increasingly falling under the spell of atheistic
socialism. The University of Prague became the center of an anti­
Catholic effort. Here, the chief protagonist against Catholicism was
Professor Masaryk, who taught that Catholicism was a thing which
had been surpassed. "Masaryk’s attitude towards Catholicism was, for
the Czech intelligentsia, authoritative. A Catholic college-educated
intelligentsia was almost non-existent. High schools and undergraduate
teaching were characterized by an inept education, owing to the de­
ficiency of the majority of catechists.”84
The end of the war saw the formation of the Czechoslovak state,
but the war years had only served to increase the anti-Catholic torrent.
Consequently with Masaryk as President of the new post-war state, a
new campaign against the Faith threw a pall of darkness over the
people so effectively that in less than three years (1919-1921) about
1,388,000 Czechs apostatized.85

Charged as the Ruler of Christendom with the responsibility of
rescuing his flock from this darkness of error and sin, the Pope called
upon the Czechoslovak hierarchy to make certain that their priests
were sufficiently equipped with a knowledge of divine things so that
they could aptly respond to their vocation as the light of the world.
For this Pontiff was not unaware of what his predecessor St. Gregory
the Great had taught:
This unfitness of pastors is rebuked by the voice of the Truth,
through the Prophet, when it said: The Shepherds themselves
knew no understanding.9^ Again, the Lord denounces them, saying:
And they that held the law knew Me notfit Therefore, the Truth
complains of not being known by them....
This unfitness of the pastors does, in truth, often accord with the
deserts of their subjects, because, even if the former have not the
light of knowledge, through their own fault, it is due to a severe
judgment that through their ignorance they, too, who follow,
should stumble.

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The Priest as Doctor

17

It is, therefore, for this reason that the Truth in person says in
the Gospel: If a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a
pit.36 Consequently, the Psalmist in his ministry as Prophet, but
not as expressing a wish, says: Let their eyes be darkened that they
see not, and their back bend Thou down always.69 For those per­
sons are "eyes” who, set in the forefront of the highest dignity,
have undertaken the duty of showing the way, while those who
follow on and are attached to them are termed the "back.” When,
then, the eyes are blinded, the back is bent, for when those who
go before lose the light of knowledge, certainly those who follow
are bowed down in carrying the burden of their sins.90
This same relationship of necessity which exists between priestly
learning and the adequate fulfillment of a priest’s office as teacher,
was expressed by the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church
in the following preface to a decree concerning the education of the
clergy in patriarchal territories:
But it must not be forgotten that upon each priest there falls the
most grave duty of preaching and teaching the divine truth, ac­
cording to the words: You are the salt of the earth; .. . you are the
light of the world;91 truly this is a most grave duty which if it is
wrong to neglect, nevertheless cannot be fulfilled unless priests
possess a treasure of knowledge and very great virtues.
For if in other states of life, as in the case of lawyers, magistrates
and medical doctors, there are required many years of study in the
respective subjects and the attaining of the prescribed doctorate,
and if even those who pursue manual skills require long prepara­
tions before they may exercise their art, then there is need for even
longer and greater training for the ministers of Christ because of
the sublime dignity of the priesthood, and secondly, because of
the very heavy burden joined to it, the rule of souls for whom
the priest must render an account to Christ.
Truly priests cannot think that those who have the office of nour­
ishing with the word of life, of teaching truth, of guiding and
establishing souls redeemed by Christ along the ways of justice
and charity, can be less learned and less prepared than those who
have undertaken only the care of bodies and earthly things.92
It is true that the intellectual training specifically required for the
priesthood has its beginnings in the seminary. But an investigation

18

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teackings

of the papal legislation and admonitions issued during the pontificates
from St. Pius X to Pius XII that treat of the training to be given to
seminarians does not fall within the scope of this dissertation. Ours is
rather the task of showing that just as modem papal teachings con­
vincingly demonstrate the priest’s obligation to teach the truths of
Christ and to bring the guiding light of these truths into many and
diversified fields, so too, these same authoritative documents attest to
and give reason for a concomitant duty flowing from and related to
the magisterial office of a priest. This duty incumbent upon every
priest as a teacher is that of continuing his learning after his ordination
to the priesthood.
It is in the encyclical letter Ad Catholici Sacerdotii that one finds
what has become an almost classical expression of the priest’s obliga­
tion to prolong his sacred studies even after he leaves the seminary.
"The priest..., even though greatly occupied with the labors and
cares of his office, should resume, according to his abilities, a deeper
and more profound study of theology; with the help of the knowledge
received in the seminary, he should daily acquire a better understanding
of the sacred sciences so that he may become more and more qualified
for teaching and guiding souls.”93
A similar pronouncement of this obligation which a priest has to
continue his studies is contained in the following passage from Pius
XIFs encyclical letter Sertum Laetitiae:
Therefore, we exhort priests that their knowledge of things divine
and human be wide and deep; that they be not content with the
intellectual knowledge acquired in youth; that they attentively
study the law of the Lord, whose words are purer than silver; that
they continually relish and enjoy the chaste delights of Sacred
Scripture; that with the passing of the years they study more deeply
the history of the Church, its dogmas, its sacraments, its laws, its
writings, its liturgy, its language, so that they may advance in
virtue, in culture and in wisdom.94

The duty to which these Pontiffs directed the attention of the clergy
is one for which provision has been made in the Church’s Code of
Canon Law. According to canon 129, after receiving the priesthood
clerics must not cease their studies.9’ Canon 130, § 1, legislates that

The Priest as Doctor

19

after finishing their course of studies, all priests, even though they
have received a parochial or canonical benefice, shall, every year for
at least three years, unless they are exempted therefrom for a just
cause by the Ordinary of the place, be examined in the manner to be
determined by the said Ordinary, in various subjects of the sacred
sciences which shall have been duly designated in advance.96 Canon
590 binds religious to a similar examination for five years.97 More­
over, canon 131 obliges all priests, regardless of the length of time
since their ordination, to continue their sacred studies by means of
diocesan conferences or written papers.98 The advantages of such con­
ferences were recognized at an early period, for as far back as the
ninth century monthly pastoral conferences were held in certain parts
of France. In the sixteenth century such conferences were introduced
into Italy by St. Charles Borromeo."

It is evident, then, that the priest’s obligation to continue his
learning has been proclaimed in unequivocal terms by both the per­
sonal statements of the Pontiffs and the common law of the Church.
Yet the objection might be raised that the intellectual requirements
of a candidate for Orders have been traditionally set forth in the
following principle: the candidate for Orders must have "as much
knowledge as suffices for his direction in the activity of that Order ...,
more or less, according as his office is of greater or lesser extent, so
that those who are placed over others and receive the care of souls
know things pertaining to the doctrine of faith and morals, and that
others know whatever concerns the exercise of their Order.”100
From this it would follow that the very fact that he has received
the Order of priesthood testifies that a priest possesses the debita
scientia required for fulfilling his sacerdotal ministry. Therefore, con­
tinued study, though advisable, is not obligatory.
In reply to this objection, we contend that even though there is
granted the presumption that a newly ordained priest possesses the
intellectual competency required for the reception of the priesthood,
and possesses this to a high degree, the very nature of theology de­
mands that he pursue his study of it. For, as Monsignor Fenton has
noted:

20

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

Sacred theology is a science that can be designated as truly super­
natural, if we judge it from the point of view of the realities with
which it deals. Considered, however, in the light of the way in
which it is acquired and increased, it must be classified among the
natural branches of human learning.... Like any other naturally
acquired science, sacred theology will wither and die in the man
who fails to cultivate it. Hence the priest who would fail to con­
tinue a serious study of sacred theology after his ordination would
soon find himself deprived, through his own fault, of even the
basic elements of his own professional science.101

Worthy of special note, however, is the fact that when the Popes
speak of the priest’s obligation to continue his studies, they do not
argue from the necessity for the mere preservation of knowledge ac­
quired in the seminary. As we have already shown, Pius XI called
for a more profound understanding of the sacred sciences,102 while
his successor, Pius XII, has urged priests,
. with the passing of years
[to] study more deeply the history of the Church, its dogmas, its sacra­
ments, its laws, its writings, its liturgy, its language.”103 It is an in­
crease in priestly learning that concerns these Popes, rather than a
mere preservation of it, and two other passages from their teachings
will, when the one is considered in the light of the other, serve to
bring to the fore the general reason for their mind on this matter.

In Ad Catholici Sacerdotii, Pope Pius XI said :

The priest should clear away from men’s minds the mass of preju­
dices and misunderstandings which the deceits of adversaries have
piled up; the modem mind is most eager for the truth and the
priest should be ready to point it out with serene frankness; there
are souls still hesitating and distressed by doubts; these the priest
should inspire and encourage, and guide safely and confidently
to the port of faith, faith accepted by both head and heart; error
makes its onslaughts, arrogant and persistent, and priests should
know how to meet them with a defense that is vigorous and active,
yet solid and unruffled.104
In Menti Nostrae, Pope Pius XII directed the following words to
the clergy of the world:

JILL1-1
—- —

The Priest as Doctor
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Because we are priests of Christ, we must labor with all our
strength, even as He did, to see that the fruits of His Redemption
be most efficaciously applied to every soul.... We must make every
effort to lead back to Christian principles those brethren who have
strayed through error or been blinded by passions, to enlighten
nations with the light of Christian doctrine, to guide them accord­
ing to Christian norms, and to form in them more Christian con­
sciences, and, lastly, to urge them to struggle zealously for the
triumph of truth and justice.105

The first text above, quoted from Pius XI, summarizes the task
of a priest as a teacher; the second, that of Pius XII, states the manner
in which the priest must labor for the fulfillment of this priestly duty,
that is, with all his strength and with every effort. But if he is so to
acquit this magisterial part of his sacred ministry, "The priest should
have full grasp of the teachings on Catholic faith and morals; he
should know how to present them to others, and be able to give the
faithful the reasons for the dogmas, laws and observances of the
Church of which he is the minister.”106

Here these Pontiffs ask for something more from their priests than
the bare minimum of knowledge which they are gravely obliged to
acquire and possess before undertaking the ministry of the word.
Rather do they urge that priests perfect their knowledge of sacred
things so that they may fulfill their ministry with greater efficacy. In
the words of Pius XI, "Whether they teach, preach, sit in the sacred
tribunal of penance to strengthen souls, whether they be sent on holy
missions, speak with people concerning daily life, will not this
manifold exercise of their sacred ministry have greater strength and
efficacy the more they manifest their ability by reflecting the highest
learning?”107
The importance of priestly learning for greater efficacy in the
priest’s exercise of his teaching office becomes apparent if one con­
siders the instrumental role which the priest plays as a teacher of
Christian truths. The priest’s role as a minister is a twofold one: he
is a minister of the sacraments and a minister of the word of God.
Now "the unworthiness of the minister does not make void the sacra­
ments he administers, since the sacraments derive their efficacy from
the Blood of Christ, independently of the sanctity of the instrument;

22

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

or as scholastic language expresses it, these instruments of eternal sal­
vation work their effect ex opere operato.”108 But when a priest acts
in the capacity of the minister of the word, the situation is not quite
the same. As Cardinal Suhard noted, "In the exercise of the sacra­
mental power, one may speak of Christ as substituting Himself for
His ministers. Here, one should rather speak of co-operation. The
priest’s human acts, in co-operation with grace, operate to influence
and convert the faithful.”'θ’ And his acts of teaching will be in­
fluenced by the degree to which he himself has penetrated the truths
which he is trying to present to others.
But there is still another reason why the Pontiffs insist on con­
tinued studies for a priest so that he may fulfill his teaching office
with greater efficacy. St. Pius X recalled that "the priest is not one
who can be good or bad in himself alone. ... For whoever becomes
a priest is a priest, not for himself alone but for others: for every
high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in the things
pertaining to God."1'0 Pius XI boasted that "All the good that Chris­
tian civilization has brought into the world is due, at least remotely,
to the word and works of the Catholic priesthood.”111 And speaking
of his priests, Pius XII said, "Not only do they procure and com­
municate Christ's grace to the members of His Mystical Body, but
they also contribute to nourishing the growth of the Mystical Body,
because they must ever give the Church new sons, bring them up,
educate them and guide them.”112 Thus we may say that continued
studies are important for the priest because the general well-being of
the Church is important. As St. Gregory the Great taught, the Church,
the Ark of the New Testament, is carried by the hands of her teachers
and doctors, who must ever be prepared by studying the word of God
to lift up this Ark without hesitation or delay.11»

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REFERENCES TO CHAPTER I
1. Tout en ayant des traits communs avec les autres sociétés, l’Église s’en
distingue par des caractéristiques spéciales. — 1. La première de ces caracté­
ristiques est la fin toute surnaturelle de l’Église, qui est de continuer la mission
de Jésus-Christ sur la terre et de conduire ainsi les âmes au salut éternel....
Cette fin sublime est expressément indiquée par Jésus-Christ donnant à ses
apôtres, à perpétuité, tout ses pouvoirs, avec la charge d’enseigner intégrale­
ment sa doctrine. E. Dublanchy, "Église,” DTC, 4 (Paris: Librairie Letouzey
et Ané, 1939), c. 2110.
2. Matt. 28:18-20.
3. Pope Pius XII. Radio message La conscienza cristiana come oggetto della
educazione, March 23, 1952: Ambedue, sia la legge scritta nel cuore, ossia la
legge naturale, sia la verità e i precetti della rivelazione soprannaturale, il
Redentore Gesù ha rimesso, corne tesoro morale della umanità, nelle mani della
sua Chiesa, affinchè essa le predichi a tutte le creature, le illustri e la trasmetta,
intatte e difese da ogni contaminazione ad errore, dall' una all’ altra generazione.
Discorsi e radiomessaggi, 14 (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1952), 21.
4. John 1:9.
5. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: lesu Christi Ecclesia,
divinae Revelationis custos ac magistra falli nescia, caelestium veritatum the­
sauros quacumque per sacrorum administros propagat, illum praedicans, qui est
lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum (Io. 1:9);
ac semen illud divina largitate profundit, parvulum equidem humanaeque sapien­
tiae despectum.... In variis erroribus, quos hominum mens peperit, exlege effrenataque licentia tumens, in prodigatis moribus, quos miserrime humana nequitia
invexit, tamquam turris nocturnis ignibus cursum navium regens erigitur Ecclesia
Dei; quae porro omnem hinc illinc a veritate declinationem reprobat, quaeque
singulis universis sequendam recto itinere viam indicat. AAS, 28 (1936), 15-16.
6. See John 20:21.
7. See Matt. 28:19-20.
8. Episcopi quoque, licet singuli vel etiam in Conciliis particularibus con­
gregati infallibilitate docendi non polleant, fidelium tamen suis curis commis­
sorum, suo auctoritate Romani Pontificis, veri doctores seu magistri sunt Codex
luris Canonici (Westminster: Newman Book Shop, 1944), can. 1326.
9. Pope Pius XII. Allocution Si Diligis, May 31, 1954: Christus Dominus
veritatem, quam e caelis attulit Apostolis et per ipsos eorum successoribus con­
credidit; Apostolos sicut ipse fuit missus a Patre (Io. 20:21), misit ut docerent
omnes gentes omnia quaecumque ipsi a Domino audierant (cfr. Matt. 28:19-20).
Apostoli igitur iure divino sunt in Ecclesia statuti veri doctores seu magistri.
Praeter Apostolorum autem legitimos successores, scilicet Romanum Pontificem
pro universa Ecclesia, Episcopos vero pro fidelibus suis curis commissis (cfr. can.
1326), alii magistri iure divino in Ecclesia Christi non habentur. AAS, 46
(1954), 314.

23

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

10. Nemini ministerium praedicationis licet exercere, nisi e legitimo Supe­
riore missionem receperit, facultate peculiariter data, vel officio collate, cui ex
sacris canonibus praedicandi munus inhaereat. Codex luris Canonici, can. 1328.
11. Pope Pius XII. Allocution Si Diligis, May 31, 1954: At tum ipsi
(Episcopi), tum in primis Supremus in Ecclesia Magister atque Christi in terris
Vicarius, alios arcessere possunt suos in magistri munere operis socios consiliariosve, quibus facultatem (sive peculiariter sive ob collatum officium) [cfr. can.
1328] docendi delegent. Qui ad docendum ita vocantur, in Ecclesia proprie
non nomine suo, neque titulo scientiae theologicae, magistros agunt, sed vi mis­
sionis quam a legitimo Magisterio receperunt, eorumque facultas manet semper
huic subiecta neque umquam fit sui iuris, seu nulli potestati obnoxia. AAS, 46
(1954), 314-15.

12. Sess. 24, De reformatione, c. 4, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplis­
sima collectio, J. D. Mansi, 33 (Paris, 1902), 159.
13- 1 Cor. 1:17.
14. Acts 6:2.
15. Rom. 10:15.
16. 1 Peter 2:25.
17. Acts 9:15.
18. Acts. 13:2.
19- Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Humani Generis Redemptionem: Etenim
praedicationis munus, ex Tridentinae Synodi doctrina, "Episcoporum praecipuum
est" (Sess. 24, De ref. c. 4). Apostoli quidem, quorum in locum successere
Episcopi, hoc maxime suarum partium esse duxerunt Ita Paulus: Non enim
misit me Christus baptizare, sed evangelizare (1 Cor. 1:17). Ceterorum autem
Apostolorum ea fuit sententia: Non est aequum nos derelinquere verbum Dei,
et ministrare mensis (Acta 6:2). Etsi autem proprium id est Episcoporum,
tamen, quoniam variis distenti curis in suarum gubernatione ecclesiarum, nec
semper nec usque quaque ipsi per se possunt, necesse est etiam per alios huic
officio satisfaciant. Quare in hoc munere quicumque praeter Episcopos versantur,
dubitandum non est quin, episcopali fungentes officio versentur. Haec igitur
prima lex sanciatur, ut munus praedicationis sua sponte suscipere liceat nemini;
sed ad illud exsequendum cuivis opus sit missione legitima, quae, nisi ab
Episcopo, dari non potest: Quomodo praedicabunt, nisi mittantur? (Rom. 10:15)
Missi sunt enim Apostoli et ab Eo missi qui summus est Pastor et Episcopus
animarum nostrarum (1 Petr. 2:25); missi septuaginta duo illi discipuli; ipseque
Paulus, quamvis constitutus iam a Christo vas electionis ut nomen eius coram
gentibus et regibus portaret (Acta 9:15), tum demum iniit apostolatum quum
seniores. Spiritus Sancti mandato Segregate mihi Saulum in opus (Evangelii)
(Acta 13:2), obtemperantes, eum cum impositione manuum dimisissent. Id
quod primis Ecclesiae temporibus perpetuo usitatum est. Omnes enim, vel qui
in sacerdotum ordine eminebant, ut Origenes, et qui postea ad episcopatum
evecti sunt, ut Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus, ut loannes Chrysostomus, ut Augusti-

The Priest as Doctor
Supecui ex
1328.
1 ipsi
terris
insili■ can.
oprie
misnper
, 46
Mis­

ai
n
e

1

25

nus ceterique Doctores Ecclesiae veteres, sese ex sui quisque Episcopi auctoritate
ad praedicandum contulerunt. AAS, 9 (1917), 307-308.
20. § 1. Munus fidei catholicae praedicandae commissum praecipue est Ro­
mano Pontifici pro universa Ecclesia, Episcopis pro suis dioecesibus. § 2. Episcopi
tenentur officio praedicandi per se ipsi Evangelium, nisi legitimo prohibeantur
impedimento; et insuper, praeter parochos, debent alios quoque viros idoneos
in auxilium assumere ad huiusmodi praedicationis munus salubriter exsequendum.
Codex luris Canonici, can. 1327.
21. See footnote 10.
22. The Church, A Divine Mystery, tr. W. Storey (Chicago: Fides, 1954),
203.
23. Pope Pius XII. Allocution Si Diligis, May 31, 1954: Nunquam nempe
fuit neque est neque umquam erit in Ecclesia legitimum laicorum magisterium,
quod a Deo auctoritati, ductui, vigilantiae sacri Magisterii fuerit subtractum;
immo ipsa subrectionis negatio evincens exhibet argumentum et iudicium: ... ita
loquentes et agentes non duci Spiritu Dei et Christi. AAS, 46 (1954), 317.
24. The Council of Trent declared: Dominus Noster lesus Christus e terra
ascendens ad coelos, sacerdotes suipsius vicarios reliquit. Sess. 14, c. 5, Sacrorum
Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, J. D. Mansi, 33 (Paris, 1902), 94.
25. 2 Cor. 5:20.
26. 1 Cor. 4:1.
27. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Minister Christi sacerdos:
divini igitur Redemptoris quasi instrumentum est, ut mirabilem eius operam,
quae superna efficacitate universum hominum convictum redintegrans, eum ad
excellentiorem cultum traduxit, per tempora persequi valeat. AAS, 28 (1936),
10.
28. Acts 6:4.
29. Matt. 28:19-20.
30. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Huc accedit quod sacerdos
minister est Christi ac dispensator mysteriorum Dei (1 Cor. 4:1), eo etiam
ministerio verbi (Acta 6:4), iure nempe, quod abalienari non potest, itemque
demandato sibi ab Redemptore officio, quod praetermitti nequit: Euntes docete
omnes gentes..., docentes eos servare quaecumque mandavi vobis (Matt.
18:19-20). lesu Christi Ecclesia, divinae Revelationis custos ac magistra falli
nescia, caelestium veritatum thesauros quaecumque per sacrorum administros
propagat. AAS, 28 (1936), 15.
31. Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Humani Generis Redemptionem: Humani
generis Redemptionem lesus Christus in ara Crucis moriendo cum consummasset,
velletque adducere homines ut, suis praeceptis obtemperando, compotes fierent
aeternae vitae, non alia usus est via quam suorum voce praeconum qui, quae ad
salutem credenda faciendaque essent, hominum universitati denuntiarent. Placuit
Deo per stultitiam praedicationis salvos facere credentes (1 Cor. 1:21). Elegit
igitur Apostolos, quibus cum per Spiritum Sanctum dona infudisset tanto muneri
consentanea, Euntes, inquit, in mundum universum praedicate Evangelium

26

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

(Marc. 16:15). Quae quidem praedicatio faciem orbis terrae renovavit Nam,
si Fides Christiana mentes hominum a multiplici errore ad veritatem, animosque
a sordibus vitiorum ad omnium virtutum excellentiam convertit, profecto ipsius
praedicationis ope convertit: fides ex auditu, auditus autem per verbum Christi
(Rom. 10:17). Quapropter, quoniam, Dei nutu, iisdem causis quibus procreatae
sunt, res conservantur, patet praedicationem Christianae sapientiae ad continuan­
dum aeternae salutis opus divinitus adhiberi. AAS, 9 (1917), 305-6.
32. Acts 10:42.
33. John 10:10.
34. Pope Benedict XV. Allocution to pastors and Lenten preachers of
Rome, Feb. 7, 1921: Infatti ii Verbo di Dio, fattosi carne, disse apertamente di
sè che venne al mondo affinchè gli uomini avessero la vita e 1’avessero abbondante: Ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant (Ιο. 10:10). La vita,
cui accennava il divino Maestro nella lezione referita da san Giovanni, era evidentemente quello dello spirito. Ma la vita dello spirito consiste nel conoscere
e nel!’ intendere la verita, consiste nel conoscere e nell’ amare il bene. Ne segue
la stesso divino Maestro poteva rivolgersi al suo aetemo Padre e dire: Haec est
vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum Deum verum, et quem misisti, lesum
Christum (Io. 17:3). ΛΛ5, 13 (1921), 94.
35. John 8:12.
36. Ibid., 18:37.
37. Ibid., 20:21.
38. 1 Tim. 2:6.
39. Respondeo dicendum quod mediatoris officium proprie est coniungere
eos inter quos est mediator: nam extrema uniuntur in medio. Unire autem
homines Deo perfective quidem convenit Christo, per quem homines reconcili­
antur Deo.... Et ideo solus Christus est perfectus Dei et hominum mediator,
inquantum per suam mortem humanum genus Deo reconciliavit.... Nihil tamen
prohibet aliquos alios secundum quid dici mediatores inter Deum et hominem:
prout scilicet cooperantur ad unionem hominum cum Deo dispositive vel ministerialiter. Summa Theol., 3, q. 26, art. 1, c (Rome: Marietti, 1948).
40. Pope Benedict XV. Allocution to pastors and Lenten preachers of Rome,
March 3, 1919: 11 sacerdote, infatti, è mediatore fra Dio e gli uomini. San
Tommaso spiega la parola dell Apostolo unns est mediator Dei et hominum,
homo Christus lesus (1 Tim. 2:6), insegnando che solo a Christo si addice
essere mediatore semplicemente e perfettivamente, simpliciter et perfective;
laonde soggiunge che nulla vieta esservi altri mediatori subordinate i quali
esercitino la mediazione fra Dio e gli uomini in maniera dispositiva o ministeriale: "nihil tamen prohibet multos alios esse secundum quid mediatores, ... sci­
licet ... dispositive et ministerialiter” ( 3, q. 26, art. 1 ). All’ officio del mediatore,
dice ancora 1’Angelico, propriamente appartiene il congiugnere e Γunire coloro
fra i quali è mediatore. Ma ali' unione fra l’uomo e Dio non coopéra efficacemente colui il quale a Dio congiunge la menti degli uomini, dissipandone gli
errori e illuminandole coi raggi della verita? AAS, II (1919), 113.

The Priest as Doctor

27

41. Jude 1:10.
42. St. Pius X. Encycl. E Supremi Apostolatus : Quot plane sunt qui Chri­
stum oderunt, qui Ecclesiam, qui Evangelium horrent ignoratione magis quam
pravitate animi ! de quibus iure dixeris: quaecumque quidem ignorant, blasphe­
mant (lud. 1:10). Idque non in plebe solum reperire est aut in infima multi­
tudine, quae ideo in errorem facile trahitur; sed in excultis etiam ordinibus
atque adeo in iis, qui haud mediocri eruditione ceteroqui polleant. Hinc porro
in plerisque defectus fidei. Non enim dandum est, scientiae progressibus extingui fidem, sed verius inscita; ut idcirco ubi maior sit ignorantia, ibi etiam
latius pateat fidei defectio. Quapropter Apostolis a Christo mandatum est:
Euntes, docete omnes gentes (Matt 28:19). Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 1
(Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1905), 11.
43. Pius X. Encyl. Acerbo Nimis Nobis, Venerabiles Fratres, quamvis
cetera non respuamus, iis maxime assentiendum videtur, quorum iudicio et
praesens animorum remissio ac veluti imbecillitas, quaeque inde gravissima
oriuntur mala, ex divinarum ignoratione rerum praecipue sunt repetanda. ...
Et re quidem vera, aetate hac nostra esse quamplurimos in Christiano populo, qui
in summa ignoratione eorum versentur, quae ad salutem aeternam nosse oportet
communes, eaque pro dolor ! non iustae, sunt querimoniae. Quum vero Christia­
num dicimus populum, non plebem tantum aut sequioris coetus homines signi­
ficamus, qui saepenumero aliquam ignorantiae excusationem ex eo admittunt
quod immitium dominorum imperio cum pareant vix sibi suisque temporibus
servire queunt; sed illos etiam et maxime, qui etsi ingenio cultuque non carent
profana quidem eruditione affatim pollent ad religionem tamen quod attinet
temere omnino atque imprudenter vivunt. Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 70.
44. St Pius X. Paulus quidem apostolus... at vero sanctimoniae huic ac
pudori cupiditatum moderatori, divinarum rerum sapientiae fundamentum posuit:
Videte itaque fratres, quomodo caute ambuletis: non quasi insipientes, sed ut
sapientes.... Propterea nolite fieri imprudentes, sed intelligentes quae sit volun­
tas Dei (Ephes. 5:15 sqq.). Ibid.
45. Jer. 3:15.
46. 1 Cor. 1:17.
47. St Pius X. Encyd. Acerbo Nimis: lam ulterius inquirendum venit cuius
demum sit perniciosissimam hanc ignorantiam cavere mentibus, adeoque neces­
saria animos imbuere. Quae res, Venerabiles Fratres, nullam habet dubitationem:
gravissimum namque id munum ad omnes pertinet quotquot sunt animarum
pastores. Hi sane, ex Christi praecepto, creditas sibi oves agnoscere tenentur ac
pascere; pascere autem hoc primum est docere; Dabo vobis, sic nempe Deus per
Teremiam promittebat pastores iuxta cor meum, et pascent vos scientia et doctrina
(1er. 3:15). Unde et Apostolus Paulus aiebat: Non ... misit me Christus bapti­
zare, sed evangelizare (1 Cor. 1:17), indicans videlicet primas eorum partes, qui
regendae aliquo modo Ecclesiae sunt positi, esse in instituendis ad sacra fideli­
bus. ... Hic tamen praestat Venerabiles Fratres, hoc unum consectari atque

28

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

urgere, nullo sacerdotem quemlibet graviori teneri, nullo arctiori nexu obligari.
Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 74-75.

48. Mal. 2:7.
49. St. Pius X. Encycl. Acerbo Nimis: Labia .. . sacerdotis custodient scien­
tiam (Mal. 2:7). Atque illam reapse severissime Ecclesia requirit in iis qui
sint sacerdotio initiandi. Quorsum id vero? Quia scilicet ab eis divinae legis
notitiam Christiana plebs expectat; illosque ad eam impertiendam destinet Deus:
Et legem requirent ex ore eius: quia angelus Domini exercituum est (Ibid.).
Quamobrem Episcopus, in sacra initione, sacerdotii candidatos alloquens: "Sit,”
inquit, "doctrina vestra spiritualis medicina populo Dei; sint providi cooperatores
ordinis nostri; ut in lege sua die ac nocte méditantes, quod legerint credant,
quod crediderint doceant.” Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 75.

50. St. Pius X. Quod si nemo est sacerdos, ad quem haec non pertineant,
quid porro de illis censebimus, qui, nomine ac potestate curionum aucti, ani­
marum rectoris munere, vi dignitatis et quodam pacto inito, funguntur? Ibid., 76.
51. 1 Kings 2:3.
52. Matt. 5:13.
53. Ibid., 5:14.
54. Pope Pius XI. Apostolic letter Unigenitus Dei Filius: Quo enim pacto
solida is doctrina careat. e cuius ore, cum sit Domini scientiarum (1 Reg. 2:3)
legatus, novi Foederis administer et doctor, sal terrae (Matt. 5:13) et lux mundi
(Matt. 5:14), verba salutis Christianus populus praestolatur? Sibi igitur metuant
quotquot ad ministeria sacra rudes imperitique accedunt. AAS, 16 (1924), 137.

The Apostolic Constitution Sedes Sapientiae, as well as the General Statutes
annexed to it, were promulgated after the completion and defense of this dis­
sertation. Both of these documents contain a detailed development of Pope Pius
XITs teaching that "The ministry which the members of the various States of
Perfection exercise in the Church, each according to his vocation, be it preaching
to the people, the Christian education of children and adolescents, the adminis­
tration of the sacraments, particularly Penance, missionary work in pagan lands,
spiritual direction, or finally the daily round of social relations with the people,
can in no form produce abundant and lasting fruit unless the religious them­
selves possess a ready and clear knowledge of sacred doctrine and by unremitting
study continue to cultivate it.” Sedes Sapientiae, official English text, ed. 2, n. 29.
55. In his discourse to pastors and Lenten preachers in 1945, Pope Pius XII
spoke at length of the supernatural life and the God-bestowed means for growth
in it. He then continued with: "Sono queste verita potenti, è questa una realtà
sovrumana, pronta e capace di penetrare, colmare. perfezionare 1'uomo intero.
Ma quando noi guardiamo l’umanità che si circonda e ci domandiamo se essa è
disposta ed atta a ricevere in sè quella realtà, pur troppo la riposta per mold non
pud essere affermativa. Il mondo sopronnaturale è loro divenuto estraneo, non
dice loro piû nulla; è come se gli organi spirituali della conoscenxa di cosi alte

The Priest as Doctor
sligiri.

scien'3 qui
legis
Jeus;
iJ.).
Sit,"
rores
!aat,

int,
mi76.

to

)
It

t

29

e salutari veriti fossero in loro atrofizzati o morti. ... £ vostro dovere, diletti
figli, non meno nella predicazione quaresimale che in tutto 1'esercizio del sacro
ministerio, di rieducare i fedeli a una più viva conscienza, a una più piena intelligenza, a una più giusta stima della grazia e dei divini Sacramenti." AAS,
37 (1945), 35.
56. "The Holy Father’s Discourses,” AER, 120 (March, 1949), 286.
57. 1 Tim. 3:15.
58. The Mystery of Godliness, tr. Jex Martin (Chicago: Fides, 1954), 75;
1 Tim. 2:4.
59. 2 Tim. 2:24.
60. Ibid., 4:1-2.
61. Op. cit., 94.
62. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Divini Redemptoris: Sicut ad salutare hujuscemodi
ubique terrarum perficiendum opus, quod dicendo hactenus persecuti sumus, ita
ad remedia, quae praecise docuimus, morbis adhibenda, effectores ac ministros
Christus lesus sacerdotes suos in primis elegit atque constituit. His namque
munus, peculiari Dei numine, mandatum quidem est, οζ sacris Pastoribus usu
ducibus ac Christi in terris Vicario modestissime studioseque obsecuti, ardentem
fidei faciem universo hominum generi nullo non tempore praeferant, simulque
illam catholicis viris supernam spem perpetuo iniiciant, qua Ecclesia nisa semper,
tot retulit victorias quot proelis Christi causa commisit: Haec est victoria quae
vincit mundum, fides nostra (1 Io. 5:4). AAS, 29 (1937), 97.
63. St Pius X. Encycl. Il Ferma Proposito: Vastissimo è il campo dell azione
cattolica, la quale per se medesima non esclude assolutamente nulla di quanto,
in qualsiasi modo, diretto od indiretto, appartiene alia divina missione della
Chiesa. Di leggieri si riconosce la nécessita del concorso individuate a tant’
opera, non solo per la santificazione delle anime nostre, ma anche per diffondere
e sempre meglio dilatare il Regno di Dio negli individui, nelle famiglie e nella
società, procurando ciascuno, secundo le proprie forze, il bene del prossimo con
la diffusione della verità rivelata, con I’esercizio delle virtù cristiane e con le
opere di carità o di misericordia spirituale e corporale. Pii X Pontificis Maximi
Acta, 2, 114.
The terms direct and indirect objects of the Church’s teaching authority are
here employed in a sense distinct from the primary and secondary objects of her
infallible magisterium. Van Noort offers the following clarification: "Infallibilitatis objectum primarium sunt omnes et singulae veritates religiosae in fontibus
revelationis formaliter contentae.... Infallibilitatis objectum secundarium sunt
omnes res, quae cum deposito revelationis ita cohaerent, ut nisi circa eas judicium
absolute certum proferri possit, ipsa revelatio periclitetur.... Potestatem di­
rectam in aliquam rem ille habet, cui res per se, seu ex natura sua subjicitur;
et ita temporalia directe subsunt ei, cui incumbit providere felicitati temporali,
i. e, principi. Potestatem indirectam ille habet, cui res subjicitur per accidens
tantum, np. propter connexionem cum re nobiliori, quae directe ejus curae sub­
jacet. Vindicando itaque ecclesiae potestatem indirectam in temporalia, id unum

30

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

asserimus: ecclesiam judicare posse de rebus temporalibus, quando et quatenus
illae cum bono spirituali connectuntur, a. v. in quantum necessarium est, ut
Ecclesia proprio fini, saluti np. animarum consulere possit." De Ecclesia Christi
(Hilversum: Brand, 1932), ed. 5, nn. 86-87; n. 217.
64. St. Pius X. Oltre a questi perô v’è un gran numero di beni appartenenti
ali’ ordine naturale, a cui la missione della Chiesa non è direttamente ordinata,
ma che pure sgorgano dalla medesima, quasi naturale sua consequenza. Tanta
è la luce della rivelazione cattolica, che si dififonde vivissima su ogni scienza;
tanta la forza delle massime evangeliche, che i precetti della legge naturale si
radicano più sicuri ed ingagliardiscono; tanta infine Γefficacia della verita e della
morale insegnate da Gesù Cristo, che lo stesso benessere materiale degli individui,
della famiglia e della société umana si trova prowidenzialmente sostenuto e
promosso. Ibid., 115.
65. Eph. 1:10.
66. St. Pius X. Encycl. Il Ferma Proposito: Ristorare ogni cosa, non in
quasivoglia modo, ma in Christo; quae in caelis, et quae in terra sunt, in ipso
(Eph. 1:10) soggiunge ΓApostolo; ristorare in Cristo, non solo ciô che appartiene propriamente alia divina missione della Chiesa di condurre le anime a
Dio, ma anche cid, che come abbiamo spiegato, da quella divina missione spontaneamente deriva, la civiltà cristiana nel complesso di tutti e singoli gli elementi
che la constituiscono. Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2 (1907), 117.
67. St. Pius X. Encycl. Singulari Quadam: Itaque primo loco edicimus catho­
licorum omnium officium esse et quidem in consuetudine vitae tum privata tum
communi et publica sancte inviolateque servandum, tenere firmiter profiterique
non timide cristianae veritatis principia. Ecclesiae catholicae magisterio tradita,
ea praesertim quae Decessor Noster sapientissime in Encyclicis Litteris Rerum
Nororum exposuit... .Videlicet quidquid homo Christianus agat, etiam in ordine
rerum terrenarum, non ei licere bona negligere quae sunt supra naturam, immo
oportere, ad summum bonum, tamquam ad ultimum finem, ex Christianae sapien­
tiae praescriptis, omnia dirigat; omnes autem actiones eius, quatenus bonae aut
malae sunt in genere morum, id est cum iure naturali et divino congruunt aut
discrepant, iudicio et iurisdictioni Ecclesiae subesse. AAS, 4 (1912), 658.
68. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ditini Illius Magistri: Est praeterea Ecclesiae et
ius, quod abdicare, et officium, quod deserere nequit, pro tota vigilandi educa­
tione, qualiscumque filiis suis, scilicet fidelibus, in institutis vel publicis vel pri­
vatis impertitur, non modo quod attinet ad religiosam, quae ibidem tradatur,
doctrinam, sed etiam quod ad quamlibet aliam disciplinam rerumve ordinationem
quatenus cum religione morumque praeceptis aliquid habeant necessitudinis.
AAS, 22 (1930), 56.
69. Pope Pius XII. Allocution Magnificate Dominum Mecum, Nov. 2,
1954: Et primo sane nunc animadvertuntur habitus mentis et propensiones, quae
potestatem Episcoporum — Romano Pontifice haud excepto — prout ipsi pastores
sunt gregis sibi concrediti, cohibere et circumscribere praesumunt.. . Breviter,

The Priest as Doctor

31

hic cogitandi habitus in publicis sermonibus nonnullorum laicorum catholicorum,
etiam qui celso munere funguntur, interdum significatur, cum dicunt: "Episcopos
et sacerdotes, libenter videmus, audimus in Templis, in iurisdictionibus eorum;
at in foris publicis et in publicis aedibus, in quibus res huius vitae et terrae
aguntur et decernuntur, eos videre et eorum vocem audire nolumus. Inibi enim
nos laid — nequaquam autem clerici, cuiusvis dignitatis et gradus — sumus legi­
timi indices.” AAS, 46 (1954), 671.

70. Pope Pius XII: Ecclesiae potestas nequaquam "rerum stricte religiosa­
rum,” uti loqui solent, finibus continetur, sed tota quoque legis naturalis materia,
institutio, interpretatio, applicatio, quatenus moralis earum ratio attenditur, in
eius sunt potestate. Observatio enim legis naturae ex Dei ordinatione spectat ad
viam, qua homo ad finem suum supra naturam tendere debet. lam vero Ecclesia
est hac in via, ad finem quod attinet supra naturam, hominum dux et custos.
Ibid., 6ΊΙ-6Ί2.

71. Matt. 10:27.
72. Pope Pius XII. Allocution Magnificate Dominum Mecum, Nov. 2, 1954:
Haec fuit mens, haec sunt verba Sancti Pii X in eius Epistola Encyclica Singulari
Quadam (AAS, 4 [1912], 658-59) "__ Causam socialem controversiasque ei
causae subiectas ... non mere oeconomicae esse naturae, proptereaque eius modi,
quae componi, posthabita Ecclesiae auctoritate, possint, quum contra verissimum
sit eam (quaestionem socialem) moralem in primis et religiosam esse, ob eamque
rem ex lege morum potissimum et religionis iudicio dirimendum.”... Quin
imtno, etiam extra ordinem socialem occurrunt quaestiones, non stricte "religiosae,'·
de rebus politicis sive ad singulas sive ad omnes nationes pertinentibus, quae
ordinem ethicum attingunt, conscientias gravant, adeptionem finis ultimi haud
levi periculo exponere possunt et persaepe exponunt.... Veritati rerum, quin
etiam ipsi rectae rationi contradicit qui asserit haec, quae memoravimus, aliaque
permulta eiusdem generis esse extra ordinem ethicum, ideoque esse, vel saltem
esse posse extra potestatem Auctoritatis a Deo statutae, ut provideat iusto ordini,
ut ducat et dirigat conscientias et actiones hominum recta via ad eorum finem
ultimum; non sane in abscondito solum, intra parietes Templi et sacrarii, sed
etiam, et multo magis, palam, nuntians super tecta (ut verbis Domini utamur)
[cfr. Matt. 10:27], in ipsa acie, in media pugna saeviente inter veritatem et
errorem, inter virtutem et vitium, inter "mundum” et regnum Dei, inter prin­
cipem huius mundi et mundi Salvatorem Christum. AAS, 46 (1954), 672-3.
73. Nam sicut aequum est, corpus animae subiici, et temporalia ad sempi­
terna referri, eisque subordinari, ita necessarium erat ut in Christi Ecclesia
politica potestas sacerdotali esset subiecta, ut ab ea in aeternam beatitudinem
dirigeretur, et sicubi ab eo fine deflecteret, emendaretur ac corrigeretur. Haec
denique sunt quae tam constanti, tamquam unanimi theologorum sensu semper
retenta sunt, et Pontificum praesertim atque oecumenicorum etiam conciliorum
usu et praxi tam solemniter firmata, ut opinio contraria, Bellarmino teste, non

32

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

tam opinio quam haeresis antiqua dicenda sit De Ecclesia Christi, 2 (Rome:
Universitatis Gregorianae, 1929), ed. 3, 78-9.
74. Pope Pius XI. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: lesu Christi Ecclesia, divinae
Revelationis custos ac magistra falli nescia, caelestium veritatum thesauros qua­
cumque per sacrorum administros propagat ... iamvero Ecclesia sibi concreditum
ministerium verbi per sacrorum administros perficit quos quidem, in variis
ecclesiasticae hierarchiae ordinibus constitutos, quocumque gentium mittit ut
indefatigabiles illius veritatis praecones exstent. ... AAS, 28 (1936), 15-16.
75. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers of
Rome, March 16, 1946: L’oggetto della predicazione della fede è la dottrina
cattolica, vale a dire, la rivelazione coo tutte la verita che essa contiene, con
tutti i fondamenti e le nozioni che presuppone, coo tutte le consequenze che essa
porta per la condotta morale dell’ uomo, di fronte a se stesso, nella vita do­
mestica e sociale, neela viu pubblica, anche politica. Religione e morale nello
loro stretta union constituiscono un tutto indivisibile; e Γordine morale, i commandamenti di Dio valgono equalmente per tutti i campi dell’ attivitl umana,
senza eccezione alcuna; fin dove questi giungono, si estende anche la missione
della Chiesa, e percio anche la parola del sacerdote, il suo iosegnamento, le sue
ammooizioni, i suoi consigli ai fedeli affidati allé sue cure. AAS, 38 (1946),
186-87.
76. Pope Pius XII. 1°. E un diritto, e al tempo stesso un dovere essenziale
della Chiesa di instruire i fedeli, con la parola e con gli scritti, dal pulpito o
nelle altre forme consuete, intorno a tutto ciô che concerne la fede e i constumi,
owero che è mconciliabile con la sua propria dottrina, e quindi inammisibile
per i cattolici, sia che si tratti di sistemi filosofici o religiosi, o degli scopi che
si propongooo i loro fautori, o delle loro concezioni morali riguardanti la vita
cost dei singoli come della communita ... 4°. Il sacerdote ... è ministro della
Chiesa ed ha una missione, che, come abbiamo già accennato, si estende a tutta
la cerchia dei doveri religiosi e morali dei fedeli, e neil’ adempimento della
quale egli stesso puo essere quindi obbligato a dare, sotto quell’ aspetto, consigli
o instruzioni riguardanti anche la vita pubblica. Ibid., 187-188.
77. The Priesthood, tr. Joseph W. Grundner (St. Louis: Herder, 1947), 96.
78. Mai. 2:7.
79. See footnote 49, above.
80. Matt. 28:19.
81. John 3:10.
82. Pope Pius XI. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Ille [sacerdos], cum a Christo
lesu officium munusque acceperit docendi veritatem: Docete... omnes gentes
(Matt. 28:19), magister in Israel (Io. 3:10) constituitur.... Atqui, quomodo
poterit doctrinam cum ceteris communicare, si eadem instructus ornatusque non
ait? AAS. 28 (1936), 33.
83. Pope Benedict XV. Letter to Czechoslovakian hierarchy, Nov. 50, 1921:
Probe nostis. Venerabiles Fratres, quam necessarium sit sacerdoti, qui debet in
Christi doctrina erudire ceteros, eam habere penitus perceptam planeque cogni­

The Priest as Doctor

33

tam: quae cognitio efficit nimirum ut ipse vere lux mundi exsistat et, quod ei ab
Ecclesia demandatum est in populo christiano magisterium veritatis, illud rite
sancteque exerceat. .. Quapropter in huius Apostolicae Sedis litteris documen­
tisque de clero illud crebro occurit, non posse sacerdotem, ut legatum, ut mini­
strum Christi, ut dispensatorem mysteriorum Dei, se suo sanctissimo muneri
praestare parem, nisi Christianae doctrinae et idonee sit sacrarum divinarumque
rerum scientia instructus, et ea copia pietatis abundet, qua demum is homo Dei
efficitur. Etenim necesse est sic eum in veritatis virtutisque possessione constare,
ut ab omni vel errore vacet vel vitio: quod si "utramvis in partem sive ob vitae
improbitatem sive ob imperitiam propenderit, haud leve periculum tum ipsi,
tum iis quibus praeest, imminet.” (S. Greg. Naz., Oratio apolog. de fuga sua,
n. 14). AAS, 15 (1921), 555.
84. J. Pechachelc, "Catholic Social and Political Movements in Czechoslova­
kia,” Church and Society, Catholic Social and Political Thought and Movements
1789-1950, ed. by J. N. Moody (New York: Arts, Inc., 1953), 640.
85. Ibid., 641.
86. Is. 56:11.
87. Jer. 2:8.
88. Matt. 15:14.
89. Ps. 68:24.
90. Pastorum imperitia voce Veritatis increpatur, cum per Prophetam dicitur:
Ipsi pastores ignoraverunt intelligentiam (Isai. 56:11). Quos rursum Dominus
detestatur, dicens: Et tenentes legem nescierunt me (1er. 2:8). Et nesciri ergo
se ab eis Veritas quaeritur, et nescire se principatum nescientium protestatur. ...
Quae nimirum Pastorum saepe imperitia meritis congruit subjectorum, quia
quamvis lumen scientiae sua culpa exigente non habeant, districto tamen judicio
agitur, ut per eorum ignorantiam hi etiam qui sequuntur offendant. Hinc namque
in Evangelio per semetipsam Veritas dicit: Si caecus caeco ducatum praebeat,
ambo in foveam cadunt (Matt. 15:14). Hinc Psalmista non optantis animo, sed
prophetantis ministerio denuntiat dicens: Obscurentur oculi eorum ne videant, et
dorsum illorum semper incurva (Ps. 68:24). Oculi quippe sunt, qui in ipsa
honoris summi facie positi, providendi itineris officium susceperunt: quibus hi
nimirum qui subsequenter inhaerent, dorsa nominantur. Obscurantis ergo oculis
dorsum flectitur, qui cum lumen scientiae perdunt qui praeeunt. Regula Pasto­
ralis, c. 1 (PL 77, 15).
91. Matt. 5:13, 14.
92. Sacra Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali. Decree De recta cieri orientalis
institutione in territoriis patriarchalibus: Neque vero praetereundum est cuique
sacerdoti gravissimum officii munus incumbere praedicandi ubique atque docendi
divinam veritatem, iuxta illud vos estis sal terrae, vos estis lux mundi (Matt.
5:13-14): gravissimum profecto munus, quod si omittere nefas est, adimpleri
tamen quidem non potest nisi sacerdotes scientiae thesauro ac virtutibus eximiis
sint praediti. Quod si in ceteris vitae institutis, utpote iurisperiti, magistratus,
medici, etc., per plures annos opportunis disciplinarum studiis est incumbere.

34

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

praescriptamque lauream oportet adipisci, immo si vel manualium artium cultores,
antequam artem exerceant, diuturna indigent praeparatione, multo sane diutur­
niore ac diligentiore instituto opus est Christi administris, tum ob sublimem
sacerdotii dignitatem, tum denique ob eidem adnexum gravissimum pondus,
regimen scilicet animarum, de quibus Christo ob iisdem ratio est reddenda.
Neque reapse cogitari possunt sacerdotes — quibus officium est pascere verbo
vitae, veritatem docere, dirigere atque firmare per vias iustitiae ex caritatisque
animas a Christo redemptas — minus docti ac parati quam ii, qui corporum
solummodo rerumve terrenarum curam susceperint. AAS, 32 (1940), 153.

93. Pope Pius XI. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Sacerdos. .. etsi sui muneris
occupationibus curisque distentus, altiora pro viribus gravioraque Theologiae
studia repetat, atque adeo illius adiumentis doctrinae, quam in Seminario hausit,
uberiorem cotidie addat sacrarum disciplinarum eruditionem, qua quidem magis
magisque ad condonandum animosque regendos idoneus evadat. (Cfr. Codex
luris Canonici, c. 129.) AAS, 28 (1936), 34.

94. Pope Pius XII. Encycl. Sertum Laetitiae: Quo tanta nocumenta absce­
dant, id potissimum confert, si divinae veritatis plenitudo singulorum mentibus
affulgeat et populis integre innotescat via salutis. Quam ob rem enixe sacerdotes
hortamur, ut divinarum humanarumque rerum scientia abundent; ne contenti
vivant scientia iuvenili hausta aetate; legem Domini, cuius eloquia argento sunt
puriora, attento animo considerent; continenter gustent delibentque castas Sacra­
rum Scripturarum delicias; Ecclesiae res gestas, dogmata, sacramenta, iura, prae­
scripta, ritus, sermonem altius, tabentibus annis, pervestigent, ut tum virtute tum
veri ornatu et instructu crescant. AAS, 31 (1939), 641.
95. Clerici studia, praesertim sacra, recepto sacerdotio, ne intermittant; et in
sacris disciplinis solidam illam doctrinam a maioribus traditam et communiter ab
Ecclesia receptam sectentur, devitantes profanas vocum novitates et falsi nominis
scientiam. Codex luris Canonici, can. 129.
96. Expleto studiorum curriculo, sacerdotes omnes, etsi beneficium paroeciale
aut canorucale consecuti, nisi ab Ordinario loci ob iustam causam fuerint exempti,
examen singulis annis saltem per integrum triennium in diversis sacrarum scien­
tiarum disciplinis, antea opportune designatis, subeant secundum modum ab
eodem Ordinario determinandum. Ibid., can. 130, η. 1.

97. Religiosi sacerdotes, iis tantum exceptis qui a Superioribus maioribus
gravem ob causam fuerint exempti, aut qui vel sacram theologiam, vel ius cano­
nicum vel philosophiam scholasticam doceant, post absolutum studiorum curricu­
lum, quotannis, saltem per quinquennium, a doctis gravibusque patribus exami­
nentur in variis doctrinae sacrae disciplinis antea opportune designatis. Ibid.,
can. 590.
98. § 1. In civitate episcopali et in singulis vicariatibus foraneis saepius in
anno, diebus arbitrio Ordinarii loci praestituendis, conventus habeantur, quos
collationes seu conferentia: vocant, de re morali et liturgica; quibus addi possunt
aliae exercitationes, quas Ordinarius opportunas iudicaverit ad scientiam et pieta-

The Priest as Doctor
res,
nrem
us,

la.
bo
□e
m
is

e
·>
s

35

tern clericorum promovendam. § 2. Si conventus haberi difficile sit, resolutae
quaestiones scriptae mittantur, secundum normas ab Ordinario statuendas. § 3. Con­
ventui interesse, aut, deficiente conventu, scriptam casuum solutionem mittere
debent, nisi a loci Ordinario exemptionem antea expresse obtinuerint, tum omnes
sacerdotes saeculares, tum religiosi licet exempti curam animarum habentes et
etiam, si collatio in eorum domibus non habeatur, alii religiosi qui facultatem
audiendi confessiones ab Ordinario obtinuerunt. Ibid., can. 131.
99. Neque antiquis temporibus, v. g., saeculo nono, in Gallia penitus ignotae
fuerunt conferentiae pastorales singulis mensibus (calendis) celebrandae....
Nostra aetate... sunt conferentiae pastorales vel collationes morales, quae prin­
cipaliter ad fines asceticos et pastorales saeculo decimo sexto ab a. 1565 per
S. Carolam inter clericos saeculares introductae ex Italia etiam in alias regiones
propagatae sunt. Ius Canonicum, Francisco X. Wernz, Petro Vidal, tom. 2, "De
Personis," ed 3 (Rome: Universitatis Gregorianae, 1943), n. 136.
100. Ad hoc quod ordinis officium exequatur, oportet quod habeat tantum
de scientia quae sufficiat ad hoc quod dirigatur in actum ordinis illius. Et ideo
etiam talis scientia requiritur... plus vel minus secundum quod ad plura vel
pauciora se eius officium extendit; ut scilicet illi qui aliis praeponuntur curam
animarum suscipientes, sciant ea quae ad doctrinam fidei et morum pertinent, et
alii sciant ea quae ad exeeutionem sui ordinis spectant Summa Theol., suppi.,
q. 36, a. 2, c (Rome: Marietti, 1948). See Codex luris Canonici, can. 974, n. 4.
101. "Learning in the Diocesan Priesthood," AER, 117 (July, 1947), 52-53102. See footnote 93, above.
103. See footnote 94, above.
104. Pope Pius XI. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Debet praeterea sacerdos prae­
judicatas falsasque opinationes, quas aggeserit adversariorum simultas, e men­
tibus arcere; aetatis huius hominibus, veritatis appetentissimis, eamdem serena
praebere sinceritate; incertos adhuc animos, vel dubitatione laborantes, erigere,
confirmare, et ad securum illius catholicae fidei portum, quam edocti fortiter
amplectantur, tuto fidenterque adducere; pertinacibus denique protervi erroris
incursionibus strenuum opponere animosumque pectus ac non perturbatam solidamque virtutem. AAS, 28 (1936), 34.
105. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Cum lesu Christi
sacerdotes simus, eo contendamus oportet, ut quam ipse egit, hominum redemptio
validissimam in singulorum animos vim exserat.... Enitendum nobis est ut
fratres, vel a recto itinere aberrantes, vel cupidinum obcaecatos caligine, ad Chri­
stiana praecepta reducamus; ut populos Christianae doctrinae luce collustremus,
Christianis regamus normis et Christianorum officiorum conscientia penitus in­
formemus; ut denique omnes incitemus ad veritatis et iustitiae animose certanda
certamina. AAS, 42 (1950), 699.
106. Pope Pius XI. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Necesse igitur est sacri ordinis
virum omnes de catholica fide deque moribus disciplinas ita callere, ut easdem
ceteris proponere queat, itemque dogmata, leges Ecclesiaeque cultum, cuius ad­
minister exsistit, christifidelibus explanare possit. AAS, 28 (1936), 34.

36

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

107. Pope Pius XI. Apostolic letter Unigenitus Dei Filius: Sive ii docent
sive contionantur, sive animis expiandis pro tribunali poenitentiae sedent, sive
in sacras expeditiones dimittuntur, sive cum populo in cotidiana vitae consuetu­
dine sermocinantur, nonne multiplex ista ministerii sacri exercitatio eo plus
habitura est roboris atque efficacitatis, quo maiore eruditionis summa niteant ac
polleant? AAS, 16 (1924), 137.
108. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Siquidem exploratum
omnino est administri indignitatem sacramentorum vim non attingere, quae ex
sacratissimo lesu Christi sanguine, non ex sacerdotum sanctitate, suam repetunt
efficacitatem; ea scilicet aeternae salutis instrumenta, ut theologicae disciplinae
verbis utamur, "ex opere operato” actionem suam exserunt. AAS, 28 (1936),
19-20.
109. Priests among Men, tr. Lucien Bégin, Carol Jackson, and J. Lemontague,
Integrity reprint, no date.
110. St. Pius X. Exhortation Haerent Animo: Etenim non eiusmodi est
sacerdos, qui bonus malusve uni sibi queat; sed eius ratio et habitus vitae sane
quantum habet consequentis effectus in populum. ... Quicumque enim sacerdotio
potitur, eo non sibi tantum, sed aliis potitur: Omnis namque Pontifex ex homi­
nibus assumptus, pro hominibus constituitur in iis, quae sunt ad Deum (Hebr.
5:1). Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 4, 239.
111. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Quaelibet beneficia,
quae civilis christiani nominis cultus in hominum societatem induxit, ex catholici
sacerdotii institutione atque opera, tamquam ex remoto saltem eorum principio
proficiscuntur. AAS, 28 (1926), 18.
112. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Ipsi enim non
modo lesu Christi vitam et gratiam mystici eius Corporis membris conciliant,
cum iisdemque communicant, sed etiam ad eiusdem mystici Corporis fovendum
incrementum conferunt, cum novos continentur debeant Ecclesiae filios donare,
eosque educere, excolere, moderari. AAS, 42 (1950), 675.
113. Hinc Moysi Dominus de portanda arca praecipit dicens: Facies quatuor
circulos aureos, quos pones per quatuor arcae angulos, faciesque vectes de lignis
sethim, et operies auro, inducesque per circulos, qui sunt in arcae lateribus, ut
portetur in eis, qui semper erunt in circulis, nec unquam extrahentur ab eis
(Exod. 25:12). Quid per arcam, nisi sancta Ecclesia figuratur? Cui quatuor
circuli aurei per quatuor angulos jubentur adiungi; quia in eo per quatuor mundi
partes dilatata tenditur, procul dubio quatuor sancti Evangelic libris accincta
praedicatur. Vectesque de lignis sethim fiunt, qui eisdem ad portandum circulis
inseruntur- quia fortes perseverantesque doctores velut imputribilia ligna quae­
rendi sunt, qui instructioni sacrorum voluminum semper inhaerentes sanctae
Ecclesiae unitatem denuntient, et quasi intromissi circulis arcam portent. Vectibus
quippe artam portare, est bonis doctoribus sanctam Ecclesiam ad rudes infidelium
mentes praedicando deducere.. .. Qui nimirum necesse est ut qu· ad officium
praedicationis excubant, a sacrae lectionis studio non recedant. Ad hoc namque
vectes esse in circulis semper iubentur. ut. cum portari arcam opportunitas exigit.

de introrr
spiritale
quaerat d
ut doctori
mora elet
Ecclesiae
poscenti i
dicat: Ut
recedant.

The Priest as Doctor

37

de intromittendis vectibus portandi tarditas nulla generetur: quia videlicet, cum
spiritale aliquid a subditis pastor inquiritur, ignominiosum valde est, si time
quaerat dicere, cum quaestionem debet enodare. Sed circulis vectes inhaereant,
ut doctores semper in suis cordibus eloquia sacra méditantes testamenti arca sine
mora elevent, si quidquid necesse est, protinus docent. Unde bene primus pastor
Ecclesiae pastores ceteros admonet dicens: Parati semper ad satisfactionem omni
poscenti vos rationem de ea, quae in vobis est, spe (1 Petr. 3:15). Ac si aperte
dicat: Ut ad portandum arcam nulla mora praepediat, vectes e circulis nunquam
recedant. Regula Pastoralis, 1:11 (PL 77, 49-50).

Chapter II
THE PRIEST IN THE PASTORAL MINISTRY

In the light of papal teachings from St. Pius X to Pius XII, the
preceding chapter considered the priest’s obligation to continue his
studies as one consequent upon his duty to teach the truths of Christ.
But the office of priest as teacher is not distinct from the office of
priest as pastor; the former is contained within the latter as a part is
contained within the whole, for as St. Pius X taught, by the com­
mand of Christ, there rests upon pastors of souls "the obligation of
knowing and feeding the flock committed to their care; and to feed
implies, first of all, to teach.”1 Therefore, in order to give a more
precise determination to the priest’s obligation to continue his studies
in virtue of his office as teacher, those papal documents will be con­
sidered that refer to the priest’s magisterial role as it is exercised speci­
fically in the care of souls.
One such particular determination is that if the parish priest is
to be an efficient teacher of Christ’s message, he must strive to in­
crease his knowledge not only of Christian truths, but also of the
Christian people who have been entrusted to his care. In an address
to the pastors and Lenten preachers of Rome in 1953, Pope Pius XII
warned: Like a good shepherd, the good parish priest should know
all his sheep. — ”2 During a similar allocution given two years earlier,
the Pontiff spoke of the family relationship that should exist between
parishioners and their parishes; he then proceeded to say to his priests:
"But this evidently supposes an exact knowledge of your parish, street
by street, house by house, a sure view of religious conditions, of new
problems and needs of the people who dwell within your territory."5
In his Lenten talk of 1955 the Pontiff was particularly insistent upon
the priest’s obligation to shepherd the composite group known as the
parish, and warned against superficiality in estimating the condition
of the parish and the needs of souls therein. He termed superficiality
"a criterion or approximation whose disastrous effects are found in
all fields, not excluding that of the apostolate.”
To obviate this defect, the Pope called for "a statistical effort made
with seriousness, exacting realism, and quiet impartiality.”4 "This,”
38

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

te
s

c

39

he said, "will guarantee a right understanding of the needs of a parish
and its people, thus prompting the best kind of care for them.”5
By way of example of a superficial knowledge of the condition of
one’s parish, Pope Pius XII noted that a pastor can be quite pleased
with the fact that many of his people attend Mass on Sundays and
feast days. But the Pontiff went on to say that before a pastor feels
completely satisfied, he should "calculate with sufficient precision the
number of those who are obliged to come and have not done so.
We are certain that frequently an accurate accounting would hold un­
pleasant surprises for a priest who is concerned with souls.”6
After treating of the possibility of similar deceptions regarding
attendance at religious instructions for children and adults, and the
performance of the Easter duty, the Pope proceeded to say that once
the pastor has arrived at accurate figures, he must then analyze the
causes of the negligence of his parishioners. He stressed that "identi­
fication of the evil is not yet a diagnosis, without which one cannot
speak of a good prognosis, and still less of an adequate cure.”7
What the Vicar of Christ here asks from priests engaged in pas­
toral activities is that their ministry be based on a realistic knowledge
and analysis of the current state of their parish. This in turn pre­
supposes a statistical study of the parish census in order to determine
the weaknesses and needs of the people. The importance of such a
study will not be underestimated if it is remembered that a pastor is
bound by virtue of his office to exercise the care of souls towards
all his parishioners who are not lawfully exempt.9 However, unless
he either directly or through his curates acquires and constantly
possesses a true picture of the state of his parish, his parish ministra­
tions will neither extend themselves to the whole of his flock nor
will they be an adequate reply to the individual needs of the souls
composing it Not irrelevant, then, is De Coninck’s observation that
the people in a parish fall into three groups. First, there is the pusillus
grex, the small flock that is fervent, assiduous in the fulfillment of its
duties, and generous in an active participation in all parish functions.
Secondly, there are those in whom religion arouses but little enthu­
siasm. "They are content with those religious practices strictly necessary,
nor, on the other hand, have they any great scruples concerning
possible failures if these serve to benefit their interests or pleasures.”’

40

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

Finally, there are the indifferent who have reduced the practice of the
Faith to Baptism, First Communion, Matrimony, and Christian burial
Consequently, "it is necessary to say that pastoral activity can be
'efficient’ only if it is inspired by the true state of the parish. Self­
deceptions are always very possible and always very detrimental....
The modern pastor in a large parish is probably always a light in the
darkness. But still it is necessary that he obtain a clear idea of the
density of the darkness and understand it in order to be cognizant of
the absolute necessity of being the light, and of being it for this
particular group.”10
In addition to this need for a priest to know his people in order
to recognize, analyze, and prescribe for their wants, there is another
reason for him to heed the Pope’s exhortation that the shepherd of
souls know his flock: such a knowledge will enable him to orientate
his teaching ministry to the mentality of his people. Speaking of the
need for priests to make themselves comprehensible in teaching, Pius
XII said, In proposing and bringing up questions, in leading discus­
sions, they (priests) must adapt their words to the mentality of their
era and to prudent good will·”11

It is true, of course, that the priest’s study of the sacred sciences
will always be of first importance for the efficacious fulfillment of his
magisterial role. Yet the basic rules of pedagogy enabled Father Quinn
to observe:

Scarcely less important but much more difficult to acquire, is a
knowledge of the mentality of those to whom he must teach the­
ology. He must know the literature which modem men are read­
ing, he must know their hobbies, their daily work, their relations
with one another, their problems and anxieties. All these things
effect their reception of the great truths of religion, and out of this
atmosphere are derived those living examples without which ab­
stract truth can never be appreciated by the human mind.12
Relevant to the importance of this adaptation for a fruitful teach­
ing ministry, it is worthy of note that Pope Pius XII departed from
a traditional discipline of his predecessors when he spoke of the ad­
visability of allowing seminarians to come into closer contact, gradu­
ally and prudently, with the judgments and tastes of the people, so

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry
: the
rial.
be
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the
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of
his
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41

that after Holy Orders the newly ordained might not feel themselves
disorientated in their ministry, "a thing that would not only be harm­
ful to their souls, but also injure the efficacy of their priestly work.”13
The need for a priest to possess a thorough knowledge of his flock
takes on ever greater importance when he is laboring for the care
of souls in the mission fields. Modern papal teachings stress the neces­
sity for the missionary to know the mentality as well as the native
culture of the people to whom he is endeavoring to bring the message
of Christ. In the encyclical letter Summi Pontificatus, on the function
of the state in the modem world, Pope Pius XII reminded missionaries
that they were to continue the tradition of their predecessors of every
age by "persevering research carried out with laborious study,... in
order to facilitate a deeper and more appreciative insight into the vari­
ous civilizations and to utilize their good qualities to make less difficult
and render more fruitful the preaching of the Gospel of Christ."14
The Pontiff's exhortation can well be understood in the light of
the truth that the missionary is a bearer of the divine message that
gives answer to all questions that perturb the human spirit. The
Church depends upon her missionaries "to translate into the manifold
dialects of the various nations this answer which God first spoke in­
telligibly to the Jews through the mouth of Christ.” If the missionary
is to carry out his trust efficiently, "he must make Christ understand­
able to all nations, must consequently study and understand the
'language’ of the people of his mission — not only their spoken
language, but even more the language of their heart and soul, the lan­
guage of their religious and cultural concepts.”15
This same conclusion obliging a missionary priest to study the
mentality and native culture of his flock can be reached by linking
the following teachings of Pope Pius XII: the first from Evangelii
Praecones, on promoting Catholic Missions, and the second from a
discourse to the native clergy:
The Church from the beginning down to our own time has always
followed this wise practice: let not the Gospel on being introduced
into any new land destroy or extinguish whatever its people pos­
sess that is naturally good, just or beautiful. For the Church, when
she calls people to a higher culture and better way of life under
the inspiration of the Christian religion does not act like one who

42

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

recklessly cuts down and uproots a thriving forest. No, she grafts
a good scion upon the wild stock that it may bear a crop of more
delicious fruit.16
The great goal of the missions is to establish the Church in the
new lands, and there to be so deeply rooted that one day it can
live and flourish without the help of the labors of foreign mis­
sionaries.17

In both these statements, the Pontiff, while speaking of the estab­
lishment of the Church in missionary lands, utilizes what Masson
terms "une comparison 'végétale.’ ”18 There is more to this comparison
than first meets the eye. If the Church is to be rooted in its new
fields, it must extract all the good it finds there, and "osmose" this
good into its higher form of life. The following is Masson’s develop­
ment of this comparison to its conclusion:

As the tree, in its vital action, assimilates the elements of its sur­
roundings ..., takes and transfers them into a higher form of life,
so the Church... must proceed with her vital action, taking to
herself all the human treasure of the countries which she evangel­
izes, evaluating it, tasting it, and refining the better elements....
The Church should be nourished in the same surroundings in
which she is established. For this... it is necessary that the apos­
tle himself, having come from a foreign land and serving as a
visible instrument of this vital exchange, be also truly rooted in
his field of work. The encyclical [Evangelii Praecones] reminds
him, therefore, that he must consider the country he is going to
evangelize as a second fatherland and love it with all due charity.
He must not seek his own advantage, nor his Institute’s, nor his
native country’s; he must identify himself more and more with
his new people. To accomplish this, he has to acquire a profound
knowledge of them, and this by studying their geography, history,
ethnography, language. In brief, he must be rooted in this land,
through his whole spirit, his whole heart, his whole life.1’

It must be conceded that such an intellectual training should have
its beginnings in the seminary before one enters into the mission
fields. But here Cooper's observation is pertinent: "Most of the in­
dispensable knowledge of ways and customs of pagan peoples must...
be gathered fresh from the field after the missionary has arrived in
his district. There is no long-distance method of acquiring this knowl-

R et-

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

43

edge nor can any secondhand account take the place of personal ex­
perienced observation.”20
Although the priest’s knowledge of his flock is important for an
efficacious pastoral ministry, no one will deny the fact that he cannot
be content with a knowledge of his people, their mentality and their
spiritual needs; these souls "should be nourished with the life-giving
food of 'the ministers of the word.’ ”21 The encyclical Acerbo Nimis
gives a clear exposition of the special manner whereby priests en­
gaged in the care of souls are obliged to exercise the magisterial part
of their pastoral office, and thus it may be used as a guide to specify
the principal fields in which they must continue their learning.
After having deplored the religious ignorance of many of the
faithful, St. Pius X recalls in this encyclical the prescriptions of the
Council of Trent which decreed that the first and most important
work of pastors of souls is the instruction of the faithful.22 He noted
that Pope Benedict XIV in his Apostolic Constitution Etsi Minime
give a more detailed determination to the prescriptions of Trent by
stating: "Two chief obligations have been imposed by the Council
of Trent on those who have the care of souls: first, that of preaching
the things of God to the people on feast days; and secondly, that
of teaching the rudiments of faith and of divine law to the youth and
to others who need such instruction. ”25

Commenting upon these words of Pope Benedict, St. Pius said:
Here the wise Pontiff rightly distinguishes between these two
duties, one of which is commonly known as the explanation of
the Gospel, and the other the teaching of Christian doctrine. Per­
haps there are some who, wishing to lessen their labors, would
believe that the homily (on the Gospel) can take the place of the
catechetical instruction. But for one who reflects a moment, such
is obviously impossible. The sermon on the holy Gospel is ad­
dressed to those who should have already received knowledge of
the elements of the Faith. You may speak of it as bread broken
for adults. Catechetical instruction, on the other hand, is that milk
which the Apostle Peter wished the faithful to desire in all sim­
plicity like newborn babes.24

44

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

The recommendations and prescriptions of the Council of Trent,
of Pope Benedict XIV, and of St. Pius X, were used as a basis for
the complete formulation of the rights and duties of pastors in the
matter of catechetical instruction. Canon 1329 states that in particular
pastors of souls have a peculiar and very grave obligation to take care
of the catechetical instruction of Catholic people. According to canon
1330, the pastor must give such instruction in order to prepare chil­
dren for the proper reception of Penance, Confirmation, and First
Communion.25 Bouscaren adds that "The Third Council of Baltimore26
urged that this duty be performed by the pastor or his assistants in
person, and moreover that they frequently visit both the parochial
school classes in catechism and Sunday school classes which are not
being taught by priests.”26» Canon 1331 regulates that, after First
Communion, the catechetical instruction of children should remain
the object of special concern for the pastor.27 Finally, canon 1332
legislates that on Sundays and feast days of obligation, at an hour
which he judges best for good attendance, the pastor must explain
the catechism to adults in language which they can understand.28
In the light of this legislation, it must be maintained that the
pastor’s obligation to teach the catechism is one that binds him directly
by ecclesiastical law, and indirectly by divine law inasmuch as he
participates in the work of the episcopal office.29 Jansen elaborates
upon this obligation in the following words:
Some obligations are so proper to the pastor that he cannot dele­
gate them to his assistants, unless he himself is legitimately im­
peded from fulfilling them personally; other duties do not bind
so vigorously that he cannot delegate them. Of the former, the
responsibility of directing and organizing parish classes in Christian
doctrine is a part. Therefore, the assistants, as indicated above,
cannot assume this task without the permission of the pastor; and
neither can the pastor delegate this office, unless he is legitimately
impeded from fulfilling it30

However, when so delegated for this work, assistants are obliged
to fulfill it in virtue of charity, obedience to their superiors, and
justice, the latter demanding, by way of an implicit contract, a be­
stowal of service in exchange for emoluments received.31

e
s
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c

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

45

The obligation of a parish priest to teach catechism being thus
established and qualified, it follows that further and particularized
study is demanded from him if he is to render himself sufficiently
apt for completing this task. For although St. Pius X urged priests
to preserve simplicity in the teaching of catechism, he nevertheless
offered the following admonition:
We do not, however, wish to give the impression that this studied
simplicity in imparting this kind of instruction does not require
labor and meditation — rather does it demand both, more than
any other kind of preaching. It is much easier to find a preacher
capable of giving a long and elaborate discourse than a catechist
who can impart a catechetical instruction which is praiseworthy in
every detail. No matter what natural faculty a person may have
in ideas and language, let him always remember that he will never
be able to teach fruitfully Christian doctrine to children or to
adults without first giving himself to very careful study and prepa­
ration. They are mistaken who claim that, because of the inex­
perience and lack of training of the people, the work of catechizing
can be done in a slipshod fashion. On the contrary, the less edu­
cated the hearers, the more zeal and diligence must be used to
adapt the sublime truths to their untrained minds; these truths,
indeed, far surpass the natural understanding of the people, yet
must be known by all — the uneducated and the cultured — in
order that they may arrive at eternal happiness.32
Lest it be objected that these words of the Pontiff were directed
solely to lay catechists and not to priests with seminary training,
there is offered the following quotation taken from an address of
Pope Pius XII to parish priests and Lenten preachers: "You yourself
should personally teach the catechism, at least for the higher courses,
and you should take care that your words are solid, clear, interesting,
alive, warm, adapted to the intelligence and to the spiritual needs of
your listeners.33
It is the mind of these Popes, therefore, that if a catechetical in­
struction is to reach those for whom it is intended, it cannot be im­
provised. On the contrary, it must be the fruit of intellectual effort.
This is true even if one already possesses the necessary theological
knowledge, for as Father Lebacq observed: "It is not very easy to
separate the truths which we have received in theology from the

46

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

abstract formulas, from the scholastic garb in which we have learned
them, in order to adapt them to the young minds which we have to
form. But without this necessary adaptation, the most sublime virtues
and those most fruitful for life appear either as empty words or as
things without understandable or forceful reality.”54
Now this work and preparation necessary for the adaptation of
theology to the capacities and exigencies of untrained minds involves
the utilization of methods best suited for crystallizing abstract truths
into concrete realities. This contention is borne out by a letter of the
Sacred Congregation of the Council wherein it is stated that cateche­
tical instructions should be carried out "with an exacting diligence,
by using all those means which eminent catechists have so accurately
indicated and illustrated.”55 Moreover, as Archbishop Barbieri indi­
cated at the International Catechetical Congress held in Rome in 1950,
"Any catechetical teaching is entirely frustrated when method is lacking
in its performance.” The Archbishop further explained that the failure
to employ catechetical methods results in boredom for the students,
so that even though they may commit the truths of faith to memory,
it can scarcely be said that they really know them.56
But such a use of adequate methods demands from a priest not
only a study of them in the seminary, but also an increasing knowl­
edge of the constant progress being made in their development, a
progress that owes much to the application of psychological findings
to the science of pedagogy. Moreover, he must evaluate his own ex­
periences as well as the experiences of others attained from past efforts.
To these things Pius XII exhorted his priests when he said:
A catechist would be fully guilty of self-deception and would
sadly err were he of the opinion that for an uneducated group of
listeners, a superficial and meager knowledge of things is sufficient.
Quite the contrary is true. If, by his office, he is obliged to pro­
pose all those things which are the principal parts of faith, then
he is also held to adapt these things for all minds and unlearned
intellects. Wherefore, he ought to understand correctly the doc­
trine of psychology so that he may evaluate their intelligence by
a just judgment; he should also expend much labor so that he
may adapt himself suitably to their necessities. Of no less im­
portance is the next thing that we have to say. Experience gives

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

:o
;s

47

great proof that in order that a doctor may learn he must learn
without ceasing. Not slothfully, not carelessly or in a disorderly
manner, let him diligently prepare and compose his words, both
with respect to their matter and their form, being guided either
by fortunate or unfortunate experiences, so that these may be
used for furthering the art of catechetics.37

From these teachings of St. Pius X, the Congregation of the
Council, and from those of Pope Pius XII, the study required of a
priest, if he is to be efficient in the teaching of catechism, assumes a
threefold form: a proximate preparation for the actual instruction, a
continued investigation of tried and proved methods, and an analysis
of past experiences. Each of these phases of study has its own im­
port for the good of the individual souls concerned as well as for
the good of the Christian religion. With respect to the good of
souls, the Sacred Congregation of the Council noted in the decree
Provido Sane that the science of catechetics, when rightly handled and
illustrated, "leaves almost nothing to be desired for rendering to the
faithful a certain and firm norm for correct belief and conduct.”38
As for the good of religion, experience attests to De Coninck’s ob­
servation "that the clumsiness, the pedagogical incompetencies amassed
by priest catechetists are one of the causes for dissatisfaction with
religion. Perhaps one succeeds in putting some texts into heads, but
above all, one succeeds in driving home the persuasion that nothing
is more boring than religion.”3?
However, the priest engaged in the care of souls will not fulfill
his magisterial role primarily through catechetics. His general obli­
gation to teach receives its principal and most specific determination
in his duty to preach, a duty which modern papal documents correlate
with his obligation to continue his studies. As for the preaching
office of the priest, the Code of Canon Law is explicit in particularizing
this general obligation. Canon 1344 obliges pastors to preach the
customary homily to the people on Sundays and other days of obli­
gation throughout the year, particularly at the Mass which is usually
best attended. Worthy of special note is the fact that the pastor
may not habitually satisfy this obligation by proxy, except for a just
cause approved by the Ordinary.40 Thus the pastor’s obligation here
is both personal and real.41 Canon 2382 provides penalties for the

48

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

neglect of this duty, even to the privation of office, which would argue
that if this neglect were prolonged it would constitute a grave sin.42
Canon 1345 recommends that at the Masses attended by the faithful
on feast days of obligation, there should be given a brief explanation
of the Gospel or some part of Christian doctrine. However, if the
Ordinary of the place has prescribed this or given directions for it,
this recommendation becomes an obligation for all priests, not only
the secular clergy, but religious also, even exempt, in their own
churches.43 According to the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore,
a five-minute explanation of the Gospel must be given at all Sunday
and holyday Masses, even during the summer, while regular sermons
must be preached at the parish or principal Mass.44 Canon 1346
makes provision for other sermons during Lent, and if the Ordinary
sees fit, during Advent.45
Such in brief is the legislation of the Church with respect to the
priest’s duty to preach to the faithful entrusted to his care. But to
relate the priest’s duty to preach with his obligation to continue his
learning, it is necessary to distinguish between fulfilling the law accord­
ing to its letter and fulfilling it according to its spirit. The spirit that
animates the Church’s legislation on the obligation of a priest to preach,
the spirit that gives this legislation its direction and is at the same
time its raison d’être, is that the word of the priest be "the faithful
echo and re-echo of the tvord of God, which is living and efficient
and keener than any two-edged sword.”^ In other words, in deter­
mining the particular occasions at which a priest must fulfill his magis­
terial role by preaching, the Church looks for and has a right to
expect certain salutary effects capable of being produced by the min­
istry of the word. Pius XI forcefully summarized these effects in the
following paragraphs from his encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii:
He [the priest] brings home to young and old the fleeting nature
of the present life, the perishableness of earthly goods, the value
of spiritual goods and the immortal soul, the severity of divine
judgment, the spotless holiness of the divine gaze that reads the
hearts of all, the justice of God which will render to everyone ac­
cording to his conductNothing is more efficacious than these
and other teachings for moderating the feverish search for pleasure
and the uncontrolled greed for worldly goods that debase so much

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry
le
12

il
n
e

F

49

of modern life and spur on the different classes of modern society
to fight one another like enemies, instead of helping one another
like friends....
The experience of twenty centuries fully and admirably reveals
the power of good of the word of the priest. Being the faithful
echo and re-echo of the word of God which is living and efficient
and keener than any two-edged sword, it too reaches into the
division of the soul and spirit;*3 it awakens heroism of every kind,
in every class and place, and inspires the self-forgetting deeds of
the most generous hearts.49

Now although these are the effects which the Church intends
when she specifies in detail the times when the priest engaged in
the care of souls must preach, they are not produced ex opere operato,
a fact noted in the previous chapter. Moreover, as Pope Benedict
XV charged when speaking of the efficacy of the sword that is the
word of God: "Has long use dulled the keen edge of this weapon?
No, if that weapon does not everywhere produce its effect, the blame
must be laid on the ministers of the Gospel who do not handle it as
they should.”50 Thus there is the possibility of a priest culpably failing
to fulfill his obligation as a preacher despite the fact that he may be
abiding by the letter of the Church’s law by addressing his people on
the occasions specified by legislation. An investigation of modem
papal teachings will show that if a priest is to be free from this guilt
of frustrating God’s word, he must both possess learning and con­
tinue his pursuit of it.
In his encyclical letter Humani Generis Redemptionem, Benedict
XV reminded his brethren in the episcopacy that, "By decree of the
Council of Trent, Bishops are permitted to select for this office only
those who are fit, that is, those who can exercise the ministry of
preaching with profit to souls.”51 After recalling Trent’s decree that
the Bishop is not to permit anyone to preach unless he is of ap­
proved virtue and learning, this Pontiff proceeds to the following
conclusion:
Therefore it is the duty of the Bishop long and thoroughly to
examine those whom he intends to entrust with the function of
preaching, that he may find out the nature and extent of their
learning and holiness. If anyone acts carelessly or negligently in

50

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

this duty, he clearly ofiends in a grievous matter, and on him will
fall the responsibility of the errors which the untrained preacher
may spread, or of the scandal and bad example which the unworthy
one may give.52

In the practical norms issued by the Sacred Consistorial Congre­
gation in pursuance of Humani Generis Redemptionem, the Ordinary’s
obligation to approve for preaching only those possessing the required
learning is again specified as a grave one: "Ordinaries are bound by
a grave obligation in conscience not to give anyone permission to
preach unless they are satisfied beforehand of his piety, learning and
fitness. ... ”’5
Canon 1340 regulates that the local Ordinaries are bound by a
grave obligation in conscience not to grant the faculty or permission
to preach without having first satisfied themselves of the candidate’s
moral character and also, by examination according to canon 877, § 1,
of his sufficient training. It further legislates that if, after the granting
of the faculty of permission, the Ordinary or superior learn that the
preacher has not the necessary qualifications, he is obliged to revoke
it; doubts in this matter must be settled by certain proof, even if this
should require a new examination.54 Beste notes that by "necessary
qualifications” must be understood, among other things, both learning
and delivery.”
These texts suffice for showing the Church's mind on the relation­
ship between learning and the apt fulfillment of the pastoral office of
preaching. The matter involved is a grave one, for otherwise the cited
legislation could not speak of the Bishops’ having a grave obligation
in conscience not to grant anyone permission to preach until they have
satisfied themselves beforehand of his learning. But the question of
special concern here is: does the priest adequately fulfill this grave
obligation to possess the learning necessary for the exercise of his
preaching office solely by the completion of his seminary training?
A further examination of papal teachings will serve to show that this
is not the case.
In the already cited norms of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation,
the following provisions are made for further study on the part of the
priest called by vocation to preach:

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The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

51

19. Since sacred things are to be treated sacredly, no one must
undertake to preach unless he has made due proximate preparation
by study and prayer.
38. The Ordinaries shall see to it that the initial training which
the men have received in the seminaries or houses of study be
perfected even after the reception of sacred Orders.
40. Finally, the Ordinaries may prescribe that their clerics should,
for a certain number of years, undergo every year in the Curia, an
oral and written examination in preaching, in whatever way they
deem best, conformably to the prescriptions of the Code as re­
gards the annual examination of clerics after their ordination to
the priesthood. (See c. 130.)56
This relationship between further study for a priest and his role as
a preacher is attested to by the personal statements of the Pontiffs
referring to preaching, wherein one finds special emphasis placed on
the priestly study of evangelical teachings. Implicitly the need for
such a study is contained in the following passage that forms a part
of one of Benedict XV’s discourses to parish priests and Lenten
preachers :

The Divine Savior clearly told the Apostles and, in their person,
all future ministers of His Church: As the Father has sent Me,
I also send youM And in order to indicate how His mission
should be pursued, Jesus Christ, who had come into the world,
He said, in order to hear witness to the truth,™ added these words:
Preach the Gospel.™
Thus one easily understands that Christ, who had called Himself
the light of the world60 in the most strict and proper sense of the
term, was also able in His infinite goodness, to call "lights of the
world” even those who with Him and for Him had the mission
of spreading the light of truth through the word: You are the
light of the world.61 But who cannot see that the better preacher
is he who continues more conformably the work of Jesus Christ,
or who conforms himself most faithfully to His precept?
The Divine Teacher has said to His sacred ministers: Preach the
Gospel; and this word of Christ, perfect in itself and needing no
commentary, signified that a true preacher would be he who an­
nounced in the required manner the whole Gospel and nothing
but the Gospel.62

52

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

According to this Pontiff’s teaching, it is Christ’s command that
the object of the priest’s preaching be the Gospel. Implied in this
mission, however, is the duty to make an assiduous study of the Gospel
a part of the priestly life. Further instructions of the Pontiffs leave
no doubt about this obligation. In his encyclical letter Spiritus Paraclitus, Pope Benedict XV declared:
The chief value of the Bible is for fulfilling the ministry of the
Divine word in a holy and fruitful manner. On this point it is a
pleasure to illustrate from Jerome what We Ourselves said in
Our encyclical on preaching the word of God, entitled Humani
Generis [Redemptionem]. How forcefully and insistently Jerome
urges on priests a diligent reading of the Bible if they would
worthily teach and preach! Their words will have neither value
nor weight nor any power to touch men’s souls unless they are
"formed” by Holy Scriptures: "Let a priest’s speech be seasoned
with the Bible,”6’ for "the Scriptures are a trumpet that stirs us
with a mighty voice and penetrates to the soul of them that be­
lieve,”64 and "nothing so strikes home as an example taken from
the Bible.”65

On September 30, 1943, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino
Afflante Spiritu, which dealt with the most opportune way to promote
Biblical studies. As Gruenthaner commented, "The nucleus from
which the doctrine of the encyclical springs is contained in its opening
sentence: 'Under .the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, the Sacred
Writers composed the books which God, in accordance with His
paternal love, wished to bestow as a gift, for teaching, for reproving,
for correcting, for instructing in justice, that the man of God may be
perfect, equipped for every good work.’ "&> On the basis of this text,
and as if wishing to prolong the encyclical of his predecessor Benedict
XV, Pope Pius XII restated in these words the priest’s obligation to
study the Scriptures in view of his preaching office:
Let priests, therefore, who are bound by their office to procure the
eternal salvation of the faithfuL after they themselves have perused
by diligent study the sacred pages and made them their own by
prayer and meditation, assiduously distribute the heavenly treasures
of the divine word by sermons, homilies and exhortations; let them

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The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

53

confirm Christian doctrine by sentences from the Sacred Books
and illustrate it by outstanding examples from sacred history and
in particular from the Gospel of Christ our Lord.67

Such is the manner, then, in which Pius XII makes the text cited
from St. Paul bear on the priest’s obligation to study the written word
of God. A further examination of this Pauline passage will serve both
as a commentary upon and a confirmation of the papal pronouncements
concerning the priest’s study of the Bible. The pertinent text reads
in full:
But do thou continue in the things that thou hast learned and
that have been entrusted to thee, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them. For from thy infancy thou hast learned the Sacred
Writings, which are able to instruct thee unto salvation by the
faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God
and useful for teaching, for reproving, for correcting, for instruct­
ing in justice: that the man of God may be perfect, equipped for
every good work.68

In commenting upon the phrase, equipped for every good work,
Foster contends: "Study of the Scriptures is an obligation upon pastors
if they are to carry out their duties effectively and fruitfully.”69
Father Spicq’s explanation of this same text is a detailed elabora­
tion of the priest's obligation, as a preacher, to study the Bible:

Above all, the Holy Scriptures are the foundation of the Faith and
the source of preaching; they are not airy notions more or less
changeable and confidential, but texts, holy and sacred documents,
for they were written by God. Whence their singular effective­
ness. ... The preacher is to use the sacred texts in his office of
teaching. His entire role is to give voice to the divine word which
has been consigned in the Holy Books and which priests, as heralds
who proclaim a message already prepared, have the mission of
making heard throughout all human generations.70

From this, there follows as a consequence the truth contained
in the words, that the man of God may be perfect, equipped for
every good work, a consequence which Father Spicq explains in the
following terms:

54

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

The Holy Books are destined first of all for the priest, and, as it
were, written especially for him, as if a priest without the Bible
was unthinkable; since his ministry would no longer have any
meaning if he had not the word of God to preach.__ If he knows
his Bible perfectly, if he uses it abundantly, he will be an accom­
plished man, without defect; or better, he will be perfectly adapted
for his task, able to face all his obligations. The Greek term artios
means, in effect, "who fits well, well adjusted, well proportioned,
apt for”; it has here a moral nuance, but one which is less con­
cerned for the individual perfection of Timothy than with the
proper formation of the minister of Christ and his "adequate"
aptitude for the ministry.71
The papal statements concerning preaching and the study of the
Bible are thus founded on this contention of St. Paul’s: for the priest,
the study of the Bible is a condition for efficacy in his preaching min­
istry. He cannot effectively dispense the word of God if he him­
self be not permeated with that word. Father Spicq proceeds to de­
velop this argument by saying:

Every preacher, before teaching, must himself be instructed. The
priest will not cease until he has read and reread his Bible, until
he has mastered its teachings and attained to understanding. By
recommending these things to the brethren, thou wilt be a good
minister of Christ Jesus, nourished with the words of faith and
of the good doctrine which thou hast attained.71 One cannot pre­
tend to be a good and true minister of Christ unless one’s mind
is continually nourished by the word of God, which is a kind of
food. Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that
comes forth from the mouth of God.™ "Just as we are obliged
to take nourishment each day, thus we continue always to receive
the words of faith, constantly nourishing ourselves. What is
the meaning of entrephomenos? Ruminating, returning frequently
to the same things, meditating on them always, for this is now
common food.’’74 Thanks to this understanding and this persever­
ing practice of the Bible, the priest will be in a position to in­
struct others.7’
As for the position which the further study of theology holds in
a priest’s preparation for preaching, the papal sources are less explicit

than when speaking of the study of Sacred Scripture. However, a cor­

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

55

relating of texts referring to the truths to be preached and the manner
in which they are to be presented will manifest that the Pontiffs ex­
hort priests to an ideal whose fulfillment depends upon a doctrinal
formation unattainable apart from a further study of theology.
In his encyclical Humani Generis Redemptionem, Pope Benedict
XV quoted the words of St. Peter Damian to recall that a preacher’s
"words should be filled with spiritual doctrine. ... The preacher who
discharges the office of preaching should cause showers of heavenly
wisdom to fall from his lips.... ”76 Pope Pius XII specified the con­
tent of this "heavenly wisdom" when he said:

Preach, dear sons, speak of the Son of God made man and sacri­
ficing Himself upon Calvary for the salvation of mankind. Speak
to man of his high origin and his fall; it is to raise them up again
that the Son of God descended from the heavens; speak of God
living in three distinct persons in the unity of His eternal nature,
a wise and omnipotent God, God the creator, redeemer, sanctifier,
God who rewards those who believe in Him and love Him, with
a reward that exceeds every desire, with a happiness like to His
own, and with the sight of Him face to face, not in the darkness
of faith, but in the brilliant manifestation of His eternal glory
and magnificence. These things are the fundamental truths of the
profession of our Faith, truths which reveal to us the goal of our
lives here below, truths without whose light man resembles those
sages who do not follow a path, but go along without knowing
where they are going.77

The preacher, then, is not to feed his flock with what St. Pius X
stigmatized as the "air of foolish, lightheaded men,”78 but, instead,
with solid doctrine. Furthermore, it is incumbent upon the preacher
to proffer this solid nourishment in a form that is both digestible and
unadulterated: "Take care, then," Pius XII admonished, "to explain
the truth in a way that it may be perfectly understood and appreciated,
in a language always clear and never ambiguous, avoiding those super­
fluous and dangerous variations which easily change the substance of
the truth.”79
But if the preacher is to accomplish this ideal so well summarized
in St. Augustine’s familiar formula, "Make the truth plain, make the
truth pleasing, make the truth moving,”80 he must studiously labor to

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

fulfill Pius Xi’s admonition to the clergy: "to penetrate deeply the
truths of faith.”81 This penetration of the truths of faith cannot be
attained apart from a continued study of theology, wherein is contained
a systematized study of revelation. For this reason, de Rhodez could
write:
The art of teaching clearly and placing dogmas within the com­
prehension of all presupposes a solid knowledge of theology. In
a sense, the preacher ought to know his theology better than one
who is a theologian by profession. A superficial verbal knowledge
or even a purely conceptual one is not sufficient for the preacher;
under the words and the concepts, he must grasp the living reali­
ties, the eternal truths, if he wishes to give them to the faithful
in concepts suitable for them. He must be sufficiently the master
of his science so as to be no longer the slave of the words or
formulas through which he has studied it.82
All this is to say that if the preacher is to teach solid doctrine
with the clarity necessary for comprehension, he must by theological
studies seek to sound the depths of the divine truths contained therein.
This alone can render the priest adequate to the task of drawing from
these doctrines milk for children and more solid food for grown men.
The force of this argument for the obligation of a preacher to
continue his study of theology finds its completion in a principle laid
down by St. Bernard and utilized by Pope Benedict XV in his en­
cyclical Humani Generis Redemptionem: "If you are wise, be a reser­
voir, not a conduit; that is, be full yourself of what you preach and
do not think it enough to pour it out for others.”8* This principle
for the preacher was recognized centuries ago by St. Gregory the
Great, and an impressive explanation of it has been given by Bishop
Hedley in his commentary upon St. Gregory’s Regula Pastoralis:

Let me mention a fourth principle laid down for priests by St
Gregory on the subject of studies and learning. It is this — that
the pastor should know far more than he is ever likely to be called
upon to impart. Moses, says the Holy Doctor, when he came
down from the mountain — from his secret interview with God —
veiled the shining of his face from the multitude. That is to say
that the pastor does not pour out to people the hidden things

uri
ma
floc
be

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

57

of his inmost knowledge.... St. Gregory is of the opinion that a
pastor who speaks too learnedly or deeply to his people may easily
do them harm. . . . Yet St. Gregory takes it for granted that, how­
ever carefully a pastor should adapt himself to an audience that
may be unprepared for what is too deep, he himself must always
possess what he calls the alta, the "strong meat,”84 the occulta
mysteria, the subtiliora, of heavenly things, which he should have
acquired by study and meditation. A man may have to spend his
life in preaching to laboring people and catechizing children, but
he would make a great mistake if he cared not to learn more than
they would be required to know,... because no man can impart
knowledge unless he stands above it — just as you cannot describe
a valley until you have climbed on to the hill that overlooks it.85
In addition to the work of preaching, modern papal teachings
urge the parish priest to another form of magisterial activity that de­
mands continued learning from him: the activity of defending his
flock against error. This pastoral role and the initial steps that must
be taken to fulfill it were described by Pius XII when he said:
You are pastors of flocks. The parish which Jesus has entrusted
to you through us is also a flock, and you must be the pastor.
Now the work of a pastor, hence the work of each of you, must
be, first of all, to defend it against thieves. Every flock is infil­
trated by thieves and robbers who desire to make it a field for
their thievery. When they draw near to the flock and secretly
penetrate therein, they have but one goal — to plunder and create
havoc — for does not the thief come to steal, to slaughter, to
destroy?86
First of all, you must strive to single out and recognize the thieves,
while taking care that you do not allow yourself to be guided by a
certain simplicity that would direct your attention, your precau­
tions, against one section only. As in the large world of the
universal Church, so in the small world of the parish, the "enemy”
appears as one, but it is many....
Other enemies or, if you wish, the same "enemy” under different
forms and guises, will have to be uncovered. They often appear
as lambs, in sheep’s clothing.6'1 Thus it will be necessary to do
one’s best so that the faithful may be able to recognize them by
their works, by their plants — that is, those which for their own
sake they plant and grow in the field of God — as well as by the
fruit that ripens on such plants: a fructibus eorum.66

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

The obvious truth in the Pope’s warning is that if the priest is
to fulfill that part of his pastoral ministry obliging him to defend
his flock against errors, he must first be able to recognize falsity.
"Falsehood being constantly mingled with truth, it is a question of
personal safety for the priest, as well as of integrity in the discharge
of his duty that he be able to recognize falsity.”89 It is true that
seminary training equips a priest to recognize and refute the more
blatant departures from truth in matters of faith and morals. Never­
theless, the very multiplicity and complexity of the areas wherein
moral and dogmatic truths operate, contribute to the possibility of a
priest erring in his judgment of what is right and what is wrong, what
is prudent or imprudent, what is beneficial or harmful. If such were
not the case, Pius XII would not have had reason to complain:

We believe you are already aware that among priests, especially
among those less equipped with doctrine and of less strict lives,
a certain spirit of novelty is infiltrating in an ever-growing and
more disturbing manner. ...
The age in which we live suffers from serious errors indeed:
philosophical systems are born and die without improving morals
in any way; one beholds monstrosities of art which even pretend
to call themselves Christian; standards of government in many coun­
tries are aimed at the personal interests of individuals rather than
the common prosperity of all; methods of living and economic
and social relations lay snares for honest men rather than for the
cunning. From this it follows, almost naturally, that there are
not lacking in our times priests infected in some way by this con­
tagion, who imbibe opinions and follow a manner of life, even
in their dress and in the care of their person, alien to both their
dignity and their mission; priests who allow themselves to be led
astray by the desire for novelty, whether it be in their preaching
to the faithful or in combating the errors of adversaries; priests
who by doing these things, not only weaken their own faith but
also compromise the good name and efficacy of their ministry.90
The possibility of a priest and his ministry being thus infected
with error is neither remote nor surprising if one considers, as did
Pope Pius XII, the nature of the truths involved and the nature of
the priest who is to be their apostle:

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

59

The truths that have to do with God and the relations between
God and men completely surpass the sensible order and demand
self-surrender and self-abnegation in order to be put into practice
and to influence practical life. Now the human intellect, in gaining
the knowledge of such truths, is hampered both by the activity
of the senses and the imagination, and by evil passions arising from
original sin. Hence men easily persuade themselves in such matters
that what they do not wish to believe is false or at least doubtful.’1

Consequently, if a priest is to be continually equipped for keeping
himself and his flock free from error by being able to recognize its
forms and guises, he cannot rely exclusively upon his own private
judgment nor solely upon the amount of theological learning acquired
in the seminary. Even if a priest were to do the unlikely and retain
without further study the theology absorbed in the seminary, the nature
of the truths involved and his own psychological make-up militate
against his always discerning the true from the false in the remote
consequences and applications of this theology without further inves­
tigation of approved authors. Moreover, as a herald of the Church, the
priest is obliged to sentire cum Ecclesia not only with regard to the­
ological principles but also with respect to their application to con­
temporaneous problems and dangers. "Let your activities be inspired
by and remain faithful to the prescriptions of this Apostolic See and
the directives of the Bishops,” Pius XII enjoined.92 But for a priest's
judgments to be thus unwaveringly consonant with the mind of the
Church, it is required that he put forth that intellectual activity neces­
sary for familiarizing himself with her current authoritative pronounce­
ments. Without this constant attention to the voice of the Church
whose minister he is, it is impossible for him to render to the Church
that faithful and exact obedience characterized by Pius XI as flowing
from a heart desirous of studying papal teachings in order to grasp
them with greater comprehension so that they may be carried out with
perfect and loving fidelity.93 One would have to make but a brief
survey of the many occasions on which Pope Pius XII warned against
the subtle guises assumed by those who would lead astray or plunder
the members of the fold of Christ in order to see how easily a priest
not enlightened by current papal pronouncements, might in the dark­
ness of his ignorance mistake noxious error for salutary truth.

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

But the priest employed in the pastoral ministry cannot be satis­
fied with the mere recognition of error in the midst of his people;
the perfect fulfillment of his pastoral office demands that he use all
his resources to combat every deviation from the truth. "We would...
warn the priest,” said St. Pius X, "that... he must uproot the seeds
of error, and plant those of truth; he must take care and watch lest
the enemy sow cockle over them.”94 Pope Pius XI also taught that,
"The first and obvious duty the priest owes to the world about him
is service to truth, the whole truth, the unmasking and the refutation
of error in whatever form or disguise it conceals itself.”95 And here,
too, papal teachings proclaim a relationship between this particular
pastoral function and the priest’s obligation to acquire learning. In
the exhortation Menti Nostrae, Pius XII indicated this obligation in
the following passage:

It must be added that the priest who is the salt of the earth and the
light of the worlds must labor with the greatest of effort for the
defense of the Faith by preaching the Gospel of Christ and con­
futing the doctrinal errors opposed to it, which are now being dis­
seminated by every possible means among the people. But these
errors cannot be efficaciously fought if the unassailable principles
of Catholic philosophy and theology are not thoroughly known.97
A still clearer testimony of the relationship between priestly studies
and the priest’s defense of the Faith is found in the Apostolic letter
Unigenitus Dei Filius, on the studies of religious:
Our faith, according to the very fitting saying of Tertullian, at
times has but one desire: that it be not condemned by one who
does not know it.98 Let there also be recalled the words of St.
Jerome: "Sanctity joined to ignorance is of profit to oneself; as
much as it builds up the Church of Christ by the testimony of a
virtuous life, so much does it harm it when it is incapable of re­
pelling the attacks of its adversaries. ... It is the function of the
priest to reply concerning the Faith when questioned about it.”99
It pertains to the priest, secular or religious, not only to diffuse
Catholic doctrine, but also to bring it within the comprehension of
intellects and to defend it. It contains in itself all the arguments
suitable for convincing and for refuting; moreover, however little
it may be exposed with clarity, it has the power to draw to itself

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

61

the undisciplined spirits of prejudices. This is a fact that did not
escape the doctors of the Middle Ages; under the direction of
Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, they worked with all their
power to acquire a very vast theological culture so that they might
communicate it to those about them.100

In Ad Catholici Sacerdotii, Pope Pius XI repeated the substance
of the above statement on the relationship between priestly learning
and the efficacious defense of the Faith against ignorance:

The priest should have a full grasp of the Catholic teaching on
faith and morals; he should know how to present it to others and
be able to explain to the faithful the reasons for the dogmas, laws
and observances of the Church of which he is the minister. With
the light of his teaching and holiness the priest must dispel the
ignorance concerning religion... that still clouds the minds of
many. Never was more fitting than today the warning of Tertullian: "Hoc unum gestit interdum (veritas), ne ignorata damne­
tur— Truth at times has but one desire: that it be not condemned
by one who does not know it.”101

Emphasized in these papal teachings is the fact that the primary
weapon to be employed by the priest in the defense of Christian truth,
is Christian truth itself. The priest engaged in the care of souls will
meet those whom grace has brought to inquire about the Faith whose
interpreter he is meant to be. Without a full grasp of Catholic teach­
ing on faith and morals that can result only from a continued study
of the sacred science of theology, the priest runs the risk of giving
to the inquirer what Melchior Cano termed "ineptis rationibus” for
the dogmas, laws and observances of the Church of which he is a
minister.102 The sad consequences that can follow from such intel­
lectual ineptitude are obvious: truth is condemned, rejected, or even
ridiculed without ever having been heard. Moreover, the priest en­
gaged in the pastoral ministry will find himself called upon to defend
truth against error within his flock as well as outside it. The likeli­
hood of such a situation is not remote; within a parish it is not too
unusual to meet some who fit this description given by St. John Chry­
sostom: "There are some individuals who are driven by a rash curi­
osity to a kind of study which can do them no good and which can­

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

not possibly succeed because it encounters incomprehensible mysteries.
Others there are who demand of God explanations for His judgments,
and wear themselves out in fruitless efforts to sound this unfathom­
able abyss.... ”103
It would be a dangerous procedure for a priest to face these
pseudo-intellectuals with authority that is unaccompanied by a thor­
ough grasp of the principles involved. To again cite St. John Chrysos­
tom: "If in the presence of such a disorder a priest tries simply to
use his authority in order to silence those indiscreet searchers after
wisdom, he will acquire a reputation for arrogance and incompetence.
Hence he must be provided with solid learning if he is to escape such
grave accusations and rescue men from the path of ruin.”104
The papal statements concerning the relationship between priestly
learning and the defense of the Faith are thus not without relevancy
for the priest engaged in the work of the pastoral ministry. For a
priest to seek to answer doubts without utilizing further study of the
sacred sciences to dispel the uncertainties that may exist within his
own mind is to lay himself open to the charge of ignorance. "For
they call a man ignorant,” said St. John Chrysostom, "not only when
a man is unskilled in the arts of profane literature, but also when he
is unable to defend true doctrine.”105 Moreover, as Heston has
remarked:

In such circumstances he [the priest} will very naturally be in­
wardly conscious of his limitations. Then, because he realizes that
the prestige and authority of his position are at stake, he will at­
tempt to put on a false front by resorting to specious arguments,
empty phrases and blustering refutations. In all this he will be
unaware that his manner only accentuates his ignorance....
This point cannot be emphasized too strongly, particularly in
modern times when the ever-increasing number of educated per­
sons creates new problems of intellectual approach for the priest
who desires to manifest the treasures of divine revelation.106
Further specification and emphasis is placed on the priest’s obli­
gation to continue his learning by means of those papal documents
that refer to the pastoral role of confessor. The duty of a priest to
exercise this part of his sacerdotal ministry is clearly formulated in

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63

the Code of Canon Law. The first paragraph of canon 892 states
that pastors and others to whom the care of souls has been entrusted
by virtue of office, must, by the grave obligation of justice, either
themselves or through others, hear the confessions of the faithful
subject to them and as often as reasonably requested to do so. The
second paragraph of the same canon declares that in urgent necessity
all confessors are bound by the obligation of charity to hear the con­
fessions of the faithful, and in danger of death, all priests.107
But the Code of Canon Law, in addition to clarifying the priest’s
obligation to hear confessions, also points to the importance of priestly
learning for the approved confessor. Thus canon 877, § 1, regulates
that local Ordinaries and religious superiors may not grant jurisdiction
or permission for the hearing of confessions to any but those who
have been found qualified through an examination, unless the the­
ological knowledge of the priest in question is manifest in some other
way. The second paragraph states that if, after granting jurisdiction
or permission, they should prudently doubt whether the priest previ­
ously tested by them continues to be qualified, they should require
him to submit to another test, even though he should be a pastor or
canon penitentiary.108
However, the need for a priest to further his studies of moral
theology in particular, even after he has attained approval for hearing
confessions, is emphasized in a special way if one considers, as did
Pius XII, what the faithful have a right to expect from the confessor:

The faithful desire good confessors, possessed of solid and thoughtfilled doctrine, who indicate to them with clearness the distinctions
between what is licit and illicit, and who, without imposing bur­
dens or obligations which are not necessary, come to their aid when
justice requires it or charity counsels it — prudent confessors....
Show yourselves, dear sons, worthy of such a high ministry.109

The intellectual competency that contributes towards making a
priest "worthy of such a high ministry” has been summarized as
follows:

This competent learning consists in the knowledge of that which
is required for the confessor to be able to solve, promptly and by

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings
himself, the cases ordinarily presented to him. For the more diffi­
cult or rarer cases, this knowledge, if it is not entirely clear, will
at least cause doubts to arise which will lead him to suspend his
judgment until he has studied the case more thoroughly, or sought
advice from one better qualified than he.110

Far from justifying a neglect of further study, this principle pre­
sumes that in time of doubt the priest will seek to acquire a greater
understanding of the content and application of those principles neces­
sary for the solution of the doubt involved. Nor is the occurrence of
such doubts a rarity, for as Ortolan has observed: "The questions are
sometimes so complex, the cases are so varied and sometimes infre­
quently presented; there are so many positive laws and decrees of
every type, old and new, which can be very easily forgotten when
not used daily.”111
Moreover, it must be noted that it would be dangerously erroneous
for a priest to shirk the study of moral theology on the plea that he
already possesses episcopal approbation. "Episcopal approbation sup­
poses knowledge but it does not supply it.”112 And even if the re­
quired knowledge were possessed at the time the Ordinary originally
granted a priest jurisdiction to administer the sacrament of Penance,
St. Alphonsus’ dictum and the reason for it would still be valid: "No
confessor ought to lay aside the study of moral theology; for inas­
much as this science involves so many things that are diverse and
unlike, many things, although they were read at one time, slip from
the mind with the passing of time.”115
In addition to these reasons that make continued learning indis­
pensable for the confessor if he is to serve the faithful in the manner
described above by Pius XII, there is still another one indicated by
Pius XI when he said:
But since moral theology in our days, perhaps more so than ever
before has been called upon to bear the light of its beneficent
principles, of its directions, in matter so important and in a field
so vast, what are the things so great, what are the political, social,
economic problems so many, what are all the public struggles of
the classes, of labor, of capital, what are these things if not new
immense fields where moral theology is called upon to speak its

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65

word, to make known its good influence, if all is not to be reduced
to the struggle of brute force?114

Thus the contemporary era and its current problems involving
morals constantly offer a new challenge to the "clarity and firmness
of judgment” demanded from the priest in the sacred tribunal.115
This new challenge brings with it new problems for study, a situation
recognized and elaborated upon by Jombart when he wrote:
One cannot be content with reviewing moral theology in the
writings of former times. In an era when everything changes so
quickly, many questions are raised which our predecessors did not
know, and we smile at some of their preoccupations of former
times. In the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century, eccle­
siastical authority has given many official decisions in moral matters,
and formulated much in canonical legislation that no confessor is
permitted to ignore. Therefore, there is the obligation upon every
priest to keep himself informed constantly of these decisions and
these laws, as well as the circumstances which provoked them, at
least by the attentive reading of some good ecclesiastical review.116

So it is, then, that whether speaking of the priest as catechist,
preacher, defender of the faith, or confessor, modem papal docu­
ments insist that these offices of the sacerdotal ministry cannot be
efficaciously fulfilled without a further study of the sacred sciences.
But these same teachings make it clear that although sacred doctrine
is to be the primary object of sacerdotal learning, the priest is not
to be indifferent towards increasing his store of profane culture. The
mind of Pope Pius XII on this matter is embodied in the following
words: "It is necessary that a priest not only know sacred doctrine
thoroughly, but also that he be not ignorant of those things usually
and commonly known by cultured men of his own country; so that,
being facile in using them in his manner of speech, and thus teaching
in a way adequate to their intellects and suited for their understandings,
he may offer the nourishment of faith.”117

The papal statements on this relationship between the priest and
profane sciences will be given detailed treatment in the following
chapter. Here it will suffice to set forth and comment upon those

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

texts concerned with this relationship inasmuch as the acquiring of
profane knowledge has bearing on the pastoral ministry.
In his encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii, Pius XI observed: "The
dignity of the office he [the priest] holds, and the maintenance of a
becoming respect and esteem among the people, which helps so much
in his pastoral work, demand more than purely ecclesiastical learning.
The priest must be graced by no less knowledge and culture than is
usual among well-educated people of his day.”118
In his encyclical Sertum Laetitiae, to the Church in the United
States, Pope Pius XII repeated the thought of his predecessor:

Therefore we exhort priests to provide that their own knowledge
of things divine and human be great.... Let them cultivate also
the study of letters and of the profane sciences, especially those
which are more closely connected with religion, in order that they
may be able to impart with clarity and eloquence the salutary pre­
cepts and teachings capable of bending even learned intellects to
the light burden and yoke of the Gospel of Christ.11’
In these passages the Pontiffs consider secular culture as an auxil­
iary for making the pastoral ministry more appreciated and efficacious.
Such a contention is not without its metaphysical argument. The priest
is an apostle of revealed truth, but as St. Pius X indicated, whether
truths be sacred or profane, they are "by a certain intimate bond. ..
allied with and joined to each other, inasmuch as whatever is true,
having come from God, the Lord of knowledge, necessarily flows
from one source.”120 It is because of this, their common origin, that
sacred learning can be an aid in the work of diffusing and defending
the truths contained within the sacred sciences.
The need for a priest engaged in the care of souls to recognize
such an ancillary relationship and render himself apt for utilizing it
by studying to acquire profane culture does not mean that he is ex­
pected to be an expert in all the profane sciences. What is expected
of him has been well expressed by Cardinal Vaughan:
It is not sufficient that the priest should "pass muster" in knowl­
edge and culture among the half-educated and peasants of his
congregation.... But what we urge is this: that in these days a

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67

more learned and cultured priesthood has become essential to the
fulfillment of the Church’s mission. Within three centuries the
condition of society has greatly changed. Increase of population
and of leisure, the action of the Press, and the spread of instruc­
tion among all classes has reversed the ancient position of the
clergy and laity in respect to knowledge. The clergy no longer
lead as they used to, wherever they were found.... A priest is not
expected to be an expert in all the profane sciences. But he is
expected to be abreast of the general knowledge and culture of the
day. The people read history, science and literature; their difficul­
ties against faith arise out of their reading. They have a right
to look to their pastors for guidance, and for a knowledge of the
connection between science and revealed religion.... They have
the right to expect from them at least an intelligent appreciation
of their difficulties.... The priest is not a mere machine for ad­
ministering the sacraments: he has a mission to address himself
to the people of the age in which he lives. He must speak to their
intellect as well as to their conscience; he must understand the
former if he is to regulate the latter. He has to do with the
whole man.121
This utilization of profane learning in the pastoral activity of
teaching and defending the Faith is not foreign to the Church’s tra­
dition, for as Pius XI noted: "Her most illustrious Doctors show
that all human knowledge can help to explain and to defend the
Catholic Faith.”122 Here one but need recall Saints Athanasius or
Cyril, Jerome or Augustine, employing their knowledge of Greek
philosophy and Jewish grammarians in order to penetrate, propagate,
and defend the teachings of Christian truth.
Therefore it was in accord with the very nature of truth and the
tradition of the Church that Pope Pius XII reminded his priests:
"Whoever strives for his own sanctification and that of other people
must be equipped with solid learning that comprises not only theology,
but also the results of modern science and discovery, so that like a
good father he may draw from his storeroom things new and old,xli
and make his ministry always more appreciated and fruitful.”124

To aid priests in the realization of this goal, the Pontiff proceeded
in the same Apostolic letter to urge Ordinaries to restore pristine dig­
nity to cathedral, collegiate, and parochial libraries. "These libraries,”
he said, "must not be neglected storehouses for books, but living struc-

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

hires with a room for reference and reading, ... so that teachers, parish
priests, and particularly young priests may there gather the doctrine
necessary for diffusing the truth of the Gospel and for fighting
error.”»2’
Nor would it be valid for the priest engaged in the pastoral min­
istry to quote St. Paul to contend: And my speech and my preaching
were not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, hut in the demon­
stration of the Spirit and of power.126 Cardinal Vaughan foresaw and
replied to such an objection in the following rebuttal:
The Apostle meant that the preaching of the Gospel must stand, not
on a mere human foundation, but upon the grace and power of
God. His aim was not that of the vainglorious Corinthian orators
and philosophers, who sought to tickle the ears of men, to display
vain learning and to win applause. St. Paul knew and preached
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All human knowl­
edge, all eloquence, all power, were so buried by the Apostle, in
subservience to the knowledge and service of Jesus Christ, that he
accounted them as nothing. This was not to condemn or forbid
the use of knowledge, eloquence and intellectual power — the
Apostle possessed and used them abundantly — but to declare their
secondary and subordinate place, basing his reliance on the power
and grace of God.127

REFERENCES TO CHAPTER II
1. See footnote 47, chapter I.

2. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to pastors and Lenten preachers of Rome,
March 27, 1953: Il buon pastore, il buon parroco, deve conoscere tutte le pecorelle. AAS, 45 (1953), 242.
3. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to pastors and Lenten preachers of Rome,
Feb. 6, 1951: Tuttavia è necessario che i vostri parrocchiani sentano sempre e
dappertutto la bontà, 1’affezione patema che fa battere il cuore del pastore.
Ognuno dei vostrifedeli deve provaria, deve potervi facilmente awicinare, e
trovare in voi l’ausilio e 1’appoggio, a cui corrisponderà la loro fiducia. Ciô
pero suppone evidentemente una esatta conoscenza della vostra parrocchia, strada
per strada, casa per casa, una veduta sicura delle condizioni religiose, come dei
novi problemi e bisogni, dei popolo che dimora nel vostro territorio. AAS, 43
(1951), 116.
4. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to pastors and Lenten preachers of Rome,
March 10, 1955: Nell accertare i bisogni evitate la superficialità. Esse genera
quello che si potrebbe chiamare il criterio dell’ approsimazione, i cui disastrosi
effetti si riscontrano in tutti i campi, non escluso quello dell’ apostolata. A pre­
venire tali consequenze occorre un lavoro di statistica fatto con serietà, con
realismo esigente, con serena imparzialità. AAS, 47 (1955), 215.
5. Pope Pius XII. Per la vostra azione apostolica diretta al rinnovamento
colletivo, tomiamo alcuni istanti su quanto accennammo già nel Nostro Radio­
messagio del 10 Feb., 1952 (AAS, 44 [1952], 161). "Studiàtevi— dicevamo —
che sieno ben accertati i bisogni, ben chiarite le mete, ben calcolate le disponibili
forze... di tutte si faccia un assennato impiego.’’ Ibid.
6. Pope Pius XII. £ certo, per esempio, che molti in Roma sodisfano al
precetto dell’ assistenza all Santa Messa festiva. Ci risulta che la chiesa, anche
in certe zone periferiche, sono veramente e ripetutamente affollata durante le
Ss. Messe, che si celebrano la domenica e nelle feste. Puô il parroco essere lieto
di questa affluenza? Senza dubbio e a buon diritto; ma di sentirsi del tutto
tranquillo dovrebbe calcolare con sufficiente precisione il numero di coloro che
sarebbero obbligati a venire e non vengono. Ci consta, infarti, che non di rado
un calcolo accurato riserva sorprese sgradite al sacerdote pensoso della sorte
delle anime. Ibid.
7. Pope Pius XII. Cost non puo negarsi che a Roma la scuola di catechismo
sia frequentata in modo consolante, e che i sacerdoti... si adoperano con ogni
zelo, affincbè tutto sia fatto sempre meglio. Ma appunto perché il miglioramento
possa essere piu facilmente conseguito, occorre chiedersi: quanti bambini della
parrocchia dovrebbero venire e non vengono?.. .Un’ altra domanda, diletti figli.
Corne va l’instruzione religiosa agli adulti ?... Ancora: quanti in parrocchia
prendono la Pasqua? E quanti tra i vostri fedeli vi sembra che vivano in grazia
di Dio? Determinati i numeri, bisogna studiame il significato per conoscere le

69

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

cause di alcune lontananze o di alcuni ritorni. L’accertamento del male non è
ancora la diagnosi, senza la quale non si puo pariare di giusta prognosi, e
tanto meno di cura adeguata. Ibid., 215-216.

8. § 1. Parochus ex officio tenetur curam animarum exercere in omnes suos
paroecianos, qui non sint legitime exempti. Codex luris Canonici, can. 464.
Exemption canonique. Ce mot qui vient du latin exemptum, où il veut dire
"exempter, libérer,” est employé en droit canonique pour indiquer la concession,
à titre de privilège, de la liberté par rapport à un état préexistant de soumission
obligatoire. E. Fogliasso, DDC, 5 (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1953),
c. 637.
9. On ferait bien de distinguer, dans chaque paroisse, un triple groupe de
paroissiens.... Le premier, un pusillus grex qui est fervent, très fervent même.
Il est assidu aux offices, il fournit les cadres des oeuvres, il remplit les registres
des confréries et les salles de fêtes paroissiales. Pratiquement: c’est lui qui ab­
sorbe toute l'activité sacerdotale. Il y a un second groupe, que la religion ne
passionne pas beaucoup. Ceux qui en font partie se contentent de la pratique
religieuse strictement requise, ne se faisant pas grand scrupule du reste d’accrocs
éventuels, si leurs intérêts ou simplement leurs plaisirs y trouvent avantage.
Cest ce qui s’appelle d’ordinaire la masse des fidèles. Il y a un troisième
groupe: la majorité, indifférente à la vie religieuse. Cette indifférence comporte
du reste des nuances, qui vont de la totale froideur, jusquà la pratique réduite
à quelques rites consacrant les étapes principales de la vie qu'on ne se décide
pas encore à abandonner: baptême, première communion, marriage, enterrement
religieux.. .. Mais ... il faut dire que l’activité pastorale ne peut être "efficiente”
que si elle est inspirée par l'état réel de la paroisse. Les illusions sont très
possibles et toujours très nuisibles. "Le ministère paroissial à l’heure actuelle."
NRT, 62 (July-August, 1935), 712.

10. Le curé moderne, dans une grande paroisse, est probablement toujours
une lumière dans les ténèbres. Mais encore faut-il se rendre compte de l’épaisseur
et de l’étendue des ténèbres pour se rendre compte de la nécessité absolue d’être
lumière, et trouver le moyen de l’être pour cette masse. Ibid., 716.
11. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to the general chapter of the Society of
Jesus, Sept. 17, 1946: Ex quo id infertur, ut in proponendis et proferendis
quaestionibus, in argumentationibus ducendis, in dicendi quoque genere deli­
gando, oporteat sui saeculi ingenio et propensioni sapienti orationem suam accomodent. AAS, 38 (1946), 384.
12. "The Priesthood in a Changing World,” Clergy Review, 23 (Oct., 1943),
454.
13. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Ubi vero iuvenes
— qui praesertim a teneris in sacra Seminaria fuerint recepti — in locis edu­
centur ab hominum societate paulo nimium seiunctis, ii profecto, cum in pub­
licum prodibunt, haud ex facili sive cum minuta plebe sive cum litteratis homi­
nibus commercium habebunt, hetque eis plurimum, ut aut inconsiderate cum

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

71

Christiano populo se gerant, aut, quam acceperint institutionem, secus existiment.
Opera idcirco danda est, ut alumni sensim prudenterque in intima populi con­
silia ac studia penetrent, ne sacerdotio aliquando initiati sacrisque addicti muneri­
bus, suae incerti sint actionis; quod non tantum ipsorum perturbaret animos, sed
eorum etiam sacerdotales labores minueret. AAS, 42 (1950), 686-687.

14. Pope Pius XII. Encycl. Summi Pontificatus: Qui quidem divini verbi
praecones, innumeris praevestigationibus per temporum decursum summo labore
summoque studio habitis, civilem enisi sunt variarum gentium cultum earumque
instituta satius digniusque agnoscere, atque sua ipsarum animi ornamenta ac
dotes ita colere ac provehere, ut faciliora inibi atque uberiora lesu Christi evangelium incrementa caperet. AAS, 31 (1939), 429.
15. G. Voos, "Missionary Accommodation and Ancestral Rites in the Far
East,” Theological Studies 4 (December, 1943), 537.

16. Pope Pius XII. Encycl. Evangelii Praecones: Illam Ecclesia, inde ab
originibus ad nostram usque aetatem, sapientissimam normam semper secuta est,
qua quidquid boni, quidquid honesti ac pulchri variae gentes e propria cuiusque
sua indole e suoque ingenio habent, id Evangelium, quod amplexae sint, non
destruat neque restinguat. Ecclesia siquidem cum populos ad altiorem humani­
tatem ad cultioremque vitam, Christiana religione auspice, advocat non illius
morem gerit, qui luxuriantem silvam nulla habita ratione caedat, prosternat ac
dirigat, sed illius potius, qui bonum surculum rudibus arboribus inserat, ut sua­
viores dulcioresque fructus aliquando edant atque maturent. AAS, 43 (1951),
521-522.
17. Pope Pius XII. Exhortation to the native clergy, June 28, 1948: Sacrae
enimvero Missiones, laborioso ac diuturno Christi praeconum opere, iam multis
in locis feliciter excreverunt fereque illud attigere propositum, quod earum
proprium est, Ecclesiam videlicet in novis terris constabiliendi, ita ut, radicibus
ibi alte defixis, ipsa per se, sine exterorum sacerdotum adminiculis, prospere
vivat libereque explicetur. AAS, 40 (1948),374.
18. "Une nouvelle encyclique missionaire,” NRT, 73 (Sept.-Oct.. 1951), 806.

19. Comme Γarbre, dans son mouvement vital assimile les éléments utiles
du milieu ambiant, ... les annexe et les transfère dans une vie supérieure, ainsi
l’Église,... doit-elle poursuivre son mouvement vital assimiler tout le trésor
humain des pays qu elle évangélise, y appréciant, y sauvant, y sublimant les
éléments les meilleurs.... L’Église doit donc s'alimenter dans le milieu même
où elle s'établit Pour cela__ _ il faut que l'apôtre venu du dehors et instru­
ment visible de cet échange vital soit lui aussi vraiment enraciné dans son champ
de travail. L’encyclique {Evangelii Praecones) lui rappelle qu’il doit le con­
siderer comme sa seconde patrie et l’aimer de toute la charité que requiert cette
situation; il ne doit chercher ni soi-même ni son Institut ni son pays d’origine;
il doit s’identifier de plus en plus à son nouveau peuple. Pour y arriver, il lui
sera indispensable d’acquérir une connaissance profonde des caractéristiques de
celui-ci et donc d’étudier sa géographie, son histoire, son ethnographie, sa langue.

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

bref de s'enraciner dans cette terre par tout son esprit, tout son coeur et toute
sa vie, Ibid., 806-807.

20. "Anthropology and The Missions," AER, 75 (November, 1926), 508509.
21. St. Pius X. Encycl. Editae Saepe: Quamobrem summa vigilantia caven­
dum nobis est, Venerabiles Fratres, ne per vanos homines ac leves vento pascatur
grex; sed ut vitali alimento roboretur per ministros verbi. AAS, 2 (1910), 370.

22. St. Pius X. Encycl. Acerbo Nimis: Quapropter sacrosancta Tridentina
Synodus, de animarum pastoribus agens, officium eorum hoc primum et maximum
esse edicit, Christianam plebem docere (Sess. 5, cap. 2, De ref.; Sess. 22, cap. 8;
Sess. 24, cap. 4 et 7, De ref.). Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 76.
23. St. Pius X. Encycl. Acerbo Nimis: Quas sacrosanctae Synodi praescrip­
tiones Benedictus XTV, decessor Noster, in sua Constitutione Etsi Minime, sic
brevi complexus est ac distinctius definivit: "Duo potissimum onera a Tridentino
Synodo curatoribus animarum sunt imposita: alterum, ut festis diebus de rebus
divinis sermones ad populum habeant; alterum, ut pueros et rudiores quosque
divinae legis fideique rudimentis informent” (cfr. Sess. 5, cap. 2, De ref.; Sess.
22, cap. 8; Sess. 24, cap. 4 et 7, De ref.). Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 76.
24. St. Pius X, Encycl. Acerbo Nimis: lure autem sapientissimus Pontifex du­
plex hoc officium distinguit, sermonis videlicet habendi, quem vulgo Evangelii
explicationem vocitant, et Christianae doctrinae tradendae. Non enim fortasse
desint qui, minuendi laboris cupidi, persuadeant sibi homiliam pro catechesi esse
posse. Quod quam putetur perperam, consideranti patet. Qui enim sermo de
sacro Evangelio habetur, ad eos instituitur, quos fidei elementis imbutos iam esse
oportet. Panem diceres, qui adultis frangatur. Catechetica e contra institutio
lac illud est, quod Petrus Apostolus concupisci sine dolo a fidelibus volebat,
quasi a modo genitis infantibus (1 Petr. 2:2). Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta,
2, 77.
25. Debet parochus: 1°. Statis temporibus, continenti per plures dies insti­
tutione, pueros ad sacramenta poenitentiae et confirmationis rite suscipienda
singulis annis praeparare; 2°. Peculiari omnino studio, praesertim, si nihil obsit,
Quadragesimae tempore, pueros sic instituere ut sancte Sancta primum de altari
libent. Codex luris Canonici, can. 1330.
26. Ad rectores animarum spectat per seipsos pascere gregis sui agnos....
Volumus ergo ut rectores ecclesiarum vel eorum vicarii saepius adeant dominicis
diebus scholas catechismi, fetialibus autem parochiales, ac etiam collegia seu
gymnasia et academias puerorum et puellarum quae a sacerdotibus non reguntur.
... Jubemus ergo ut parvulorum curam assiduam habeant animarum rectores,
praesertim quo tempore parantur ad sacram synaxim prima vice recipiendam,
et quidem ut ipsimet rectores vel eorum vicarii praedictos parvulos saltem per
sex hebdomadas et ter in unaquaque hebdomada ... catechismum doceant. Acta
et decreta concilii plenarii Baltimorensis tertii ( Baltimore : Murphy et Sociorum,
1886), nn. 217-218.

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73

261 Canon Law, A Text and a Commentary (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1951),
745-746.
27. Praeter puerorum institutionem de qua in can. 1330, parochus non omit­
tat pueros, qui primam communionem recenter receperint, uberius ac perfectius
catechismo excolere. Codex luris Canonici, can. 1331.
28. Diebus dominicis aliisque festis de praecepto, ea hora quae suo iudicio
magis apta sit ad populi frequentiam, debet insuper parochus catechismum fide­
libus adultis, sermone ad eorum captum accomodato, explicare. Ibid., can. 1332.
29. See R. J. Jansen, Canonical Provisions for Catechetical Instructions (diss.
Washington: 1937), 79.
30. Ibid., 82-83.
31. See ibid., 82.
32. St. Pius X. Encycl. Acerbo Nimis: Nolimus porro, ne ex eiusmodi sim­
plicitatis studio persuadeat quis sibi, in hoc genere tractando, nullo labore nulla­
que meditatione opus esse: quin immo maiorem plane, quam quodvis genus
aliud, requirit. Facilius longe est reperire oratorem, qui copiose dicat ac splen­
dide, quam catechistam, qui praeceptionem habeat omni ex parte laudabilem.
Quamcumque igitur facilitatem cogitandi et loquendi quis a natura sit nactus,
hoc probe teneat, nunquam se de Christiana doctrina ad pueros vel ad populum
cum animi fructu esse dicturum, nisi multa commentatione paratum atque expe­
ditum. Falluntur sane qui plebis imperitia ac tarditate fisi, hac in re negligentius
agere se posse autumant. E contrario, quo quis rudiores nactus sit auditores, eo
maiore studio ac diligentia utatur oportet, ut sublimissimas veritates, adeo a
vulgari intelligentia remotas, ad obtusiorem imperitorum aciem accomodet, qui­
bus aeque ac sapientibus, ad aeternam beatitatem adipiscendam sunt necessariae.
Pii X Pontificis Maximi Acta, 2, 8333. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers of
Rome, March 10, 1948: Insegnate voi stessi personalmente il catechismo, ahneno
per i corsi superiori, e fatte che ia vostra parole sia solida, chiara, interesante,
viva, calda, proporzionata aile intelligenze e aile nécessita spirituali del vostri
uditori. AAS, 40 (1948), 117.
34. Un cours de religion ne s'improvise pas, même si l’on possède déjà la
science théologique nécessaire: et c'est ici surtout que l'illusion est facile. Il
n'est pas si aisé de dégager les vérités que nous avons apprises en théologie,
des formules abstraites, de l'apparat scolastique dans lequel elles nous furent
enseignées, pour les adapter aux jeunes intelligences que nous avons à former.
Or, sans cette adaptation nécessaire, les vérités les plus sublimes et les plus
fécondes pour la vie apparaîtront ou de vains mots ou des choses sans réalité
intelligible et pressante. "L'enseignement religieux dans les collèges,” NRT, 52
(March 1925), 146.
35. Letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Council to the Ordinaries of
Italy, De pueris Christiana catechesi imbuendis: Ed è anche évidente che l’insegnamento catechistico parrochiale ai fanciulli oggi più che mai, deve essere fatto
dovunque con scrupulosa diligenza, usando di tutti quei mezzi, che eminenti

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catechisti hanno tanto accuramente indicati ed illustrati. April 23, 1924. A AS,
16 (1924), 288.
36. Perimit omnino quaelibet disciplina catechistica, cum in ea perficienda
deest methodus. Defectus quidem methodi ac praetermisso subsidiorum...
horas in aulis transactas ita reddit taediosas ac monotonas, ut alumni lectionis
finem anxie ambiant, quin expositio magistri aliquo possit eis intéressé modo,
ideoque nec veritates fidei cognoscant aut e memoria eorum prorsus deletae
decident; minimeque argumentum nimis adaugere censemus si audemus affirmare
causam magnam exiguioris numeri discipulorum a nostris catechistis institutorum,
tam in veritatibus fidei quam in praxi Christianarum virtutum, stabiliendam
esse in deficiente eorum instructione catechistica. Acta congressus catechistici internationalis, 1950, 123.

37. Pope Pius ΧΠ. Allocution to the international catechetical congress at
Rome, Oct. 14, 1950: Catechista prorsus se deciperet et lamentabiliter deerraret,
si opinaretur pro rudi auditorum ingenio satis esse curtam et ieiunam rerum
notitiam. Nimirum contrarium verum est Siquidem officio tenetur tum omnia,
quae fidei praecipua sunt capita, proponendi, tum eadem etiam obtusia ingeniis
et imparatis mentibus adaequare. Quare oportet eum psycologiae doctrinam
probe callere, ut eorum intelligentiam iusto perpendat iudicio; oportet quoque
eum multam impendere operam, ut sese ad eorum necessitates convenienter in­
flectat. Minoris autem pretii non est quod postremo dicimus. Summopere ex­
quiritur, ut doctor discat, sine ulla intermissione discat. Non desidiosus, non
incuriosus et incuratus, sermones suos, et ad argumentum et ad modum quod
attinet, diligenter praeparet efficiatque, sive felicibus sive infaustis usus experi­
mentis, ut haec ad provehendam catechesis artem convertat. Omnia autem, quae
molitur et agit, caritas extollat, religionis studium foveat, preces fecundent.
AAS, 42 (1950), 819.
38. Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, Provido Sane Consilio:
Qua [catechetica institutione] profecto tradita atque illustrata, nihil fere fidelibus
aptius ad recte credendi recteque agendi certam firmamque normam assequendam
desiderari potest. Jan. 12, 1935, AAS, 27 (1935), 146.

39. On pourrait affirmer — c’est ma conviction très forte — que les gau­
cheries, les incompétences pédagogiques, accumulées par des catéchistes-prêtres
sont une des causes de la desaffection pour la religion. On arrive peut-être à en­
fourner dans les têtes quelques textes; on réussit surtout à enfoncer la persua­
sion que rien n’est plus ennuyeux que la religion. "Problèmes de l’adaptation
en apostolat," NKT, 70 (Jan., 1948), 61.
40. § 1. Diebus dominicis ceterisque per annum festis de praecepto proprium
cuiusque parochi officium est, consueta homilia, praesertim intra Missam in qua
maior soleat esse populi frequentia, verbum Dei populo nuntiare. § 2. Parochus
huic obligationi nequit per alium habitualiter satisfacere, nisi ob iustam causam
ab Ordinario probatam. Codex luris Canonici, can. 1344.

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75

41. According to the text of the code it (the Sunday homily) should habitu­
ally be preached by the pastor in person, and only occasionally by another unless
the Ordinary has given permission. But if the pastor is unable to do it himself
because of legitimate absence or other relatively grave cause, he must have it
done by a substitute, for the duty is both personal and real. Bouscaren-Ellis,
op. cit., 752.
42. Si parochus graviter neglexerit Sacramentorum administrationem, in­
firmorum assistentiam, puerorum populique institutionem, concionem diebus
dominicis ceterisque festis, custodiam ecclesiae paroecialis, sanctissimae Eucha­
ristiae, sacrorum oleorum, ab Ordinario coerceatur ad normam can. 2182-2185.
Codex luris Canonici can. 2582.

43. Optandum ut in Missis quae, fidelibus adstantibus, diebus festis de prae­
cepto in omnibus ecclesiis vel oratoriis publicis celebrantur, brevis Evangelii
aut alicuius partis doctrinae Christianae explanatio fiat; quod si loci Ordinarius
id praeceperit, opportunis datis instructionibus, hac lege tenentur non solum
sacerdotes e clero saeculari, sed etiam religiosi, exempti quoque, in suis ipsorum
ecclesiis. Ibid., can. 1345.
44. Fertur, quod maximo cum dolore audivimus, non paucis in locis plerosque
fideles fere numquam audire verbum Dei.... Efficacibus remediis tanto malo
occurrere cupientes, praecipimus, ut diebus dominicis et festis solemnibus, etiam
aestivo tempore, omnes qui curam habent animarum, per se aut, si legitime
impediti fuerint, per alios idoneos inter celebrationem omnium omnino missarum
quibus adstant fideles, sive illae missae sint cantatae, sive privatae, vel etiam
valde mane celebrentur, Evangelium diei occurrentis lingua vernacula distincte
legant, atque si tempus patiatur, per duodecimam horae partem, populum in lege
Domini erudiant, omni consuetudine aut praetextu in contrarium non obstante.
Acta et decreta concilii plenarii Baltimorensis tertii, n. 216.
45. § 1. Curent locorum Ordinarii ut tempore Quadragesimae, itemque, si
id expedire visum fuerit, tempore Adventus, in ecclesiis cathedralibus et paroecialibus sacrae conciones frequentius ad fideles habeantur. Codex luris Canonici,
can. 1346.
46. Pope Pius XI. Encycli. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Siquidem per viginti
fere saecula illustri praeclaroque modo experti sumus quantopere sacerdotum
praecepta valeant, quibus ut sermo Dei vivus. .. et efficax, et penetrabilior omni
gladio ancipiti fideliter remittitur ac quodammodo reverberatur, ita usque ad
divisionem animi et spiritus (Heb. 4:12) pertingitur, ad egregia facinora ubique
animi excitantur, ac nobilissimi spiritus omnibus inficiuntur. AAS, 28 (1936),
17-18.
47. Matt. 16:27.
48. Heb. 4:12.

49. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Idque tum praesertim,
cum primores tenuioresque de fugaci huius vitae cursu admonet, eosdemque
docet quam fluxa sint terrena bona, quam pretiosa immortali animo spiritualium

Ί6

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

munerum adeptio, quam denique severa aeterni ludicis sententia, qui incorrupto
suo certissimoque oculorum obtuto omnium corda scrutatur et reddet unicuique
secundum opera eius (Matt. 16:27). Nihil sane opportunius, quam haec aliaque
id genus praecepta ad aestuantem voluptatum cupidinem mitigandam, itemque
ad effrenatam coercendam externarum rerum aviditatem, quae profecto in prae­
sens cum tot homines corrumpant atque dehonestent, varios civitatis ordines eo
compellunt ut, nedum sibi adiutricem operam praestent, inter se hostili animo
dimicent.... Siquidem per viginti fere saecula illustri praeclaroque modo ex­
perti sumus quantopere sacerdotum praecepta valeant, quibus ut sermo Dei
vivus_ et efficax, et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti fideliter remittitur ac
quodammodo reverberatur, ita usque ad divisionem animi et spiritus (Heb. 4:12)
pertingitur, ad egregia facinora ubique animi excitantur, ac nobilissimi spiritus
omnibus iniiciuntur. AAS, 28 (1936), 17-18.

50. Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Humani Generis Redemptionem: Numquid
sermo Dei talis esse desiit, qualis ab Apostolo dicebatur, vivus et efficax et pene­
trabilior omni gladio ancipiti? Num gladii huius aciem usus diuturnitas hebe­
tavit? Vitio certe tribuendum est ministrorum qui non tractant, quemadmodum
oportet, hunc gladium, si is non omnibus locis vim suam exerceat. AAS, 9
(1917), 306.
51. Pope Benedict XV. Qua in re Episcopis hoc tantum, Concilii Tridentini
decreto (Sess. 24, De ref., c. 4), permittitur ut idoneos eligant, id est, qui pos­
sint officium praedicationis salubriter exsequi. Ibid., 308.
52. Pope Benedict XV. Quod ipsum vult Tridentina Synodus, cum edicit,
ne quos Episcopus praedicare sinat qui non sint moribus et doctrina probati
(Sess. 24. De ref., c. 4). Itaque Episcopi est eos, quibus praedicandi munus
deferre cogitat, diu multumque experiri ut quae quantaque sit eorum et doc­
trinae copia et vitae sanctimonia cognoscat. Qui si remisse negligenterque se
gesserit, is profecto in re gravissima deliquerit, et in eius caput culpa recidet
vel errorum quos imperitus praedicator fuderit, vel offensionis malique exempli
quod improbus dederit. Ibid., 309.
53. Instruction of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, Normae pro Sacra
Praedicatione, June 28, 1917: Ordinarii, onerata graviter eorum conscientia,
facultatem concionandi nemini concedent, nisi prius ipsis constiterit de illius
pietate, scientia et idoneitate. AAS, 9 (1917), 330.
54. § 1. Graviter onerata eorum conscientia, loci Ordinarius vel Superior
religiosus facultatem vel licentiam concionandi cuiquam ne concedant, nisi prius
constet de eius bonis moribus et de sufficienti doctrina per examen ad normam
can. 877, n. 1. § 2. Si, concessa facultate vel licentia, compererint necessarias
dotes in concionatore desiderari, debent eam revocare; in dubio de doctrina,
debent certis argumentis dubitationem excutere, novo etiam examine, si opus
fuent. Codex luris Canonici, can. 1340.

55. With respect to the words "Necessarias dotes in concionatore desiderari,"
of canon 1340, Beste comments: "Inteilige: sive quoad eius doctrinam et acti-

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77

onem, sive quoad eius pietatem, mores et publicam famam." Introductio in co­
dicem (Collegeville: St. John's Abbey Press, 1946) ed. 3, 670.
56. Instruction of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, Normae pro Sacra
Praedicatione, June 28, 1917: 19. Quoniam sancta sancte tractanda sunt, nemo
praedicationem suscipiat quin digne ac proxime se praeparaverit studio simul et
ratione.... 38. Initialem autem institutionem, quam clerici in seminariis vel
in studiorum domibus habuerunt, Ordinarii, etiam post sacros Ordines suscepta,
perficiendam curabunt.... 40. Poterunt demum Ordinarii suis clericis praescri­
bere ut, aliquo annorum spatio, examen de praedicatione in curia quotannis
subeant tam voce quam scripto, ea quidem methodo quae ipsis magis probabitur,
conformiter scilicet ad praescriptiones Codicis pro examinibus annuis a clericis
subeundis post sacerdotii susceptionem. AAS, 9 (1917), 331, 334.
57. John 20:21.
58. Ibid., 18:37.
59. Mark 16:15.
60. John 8:12.
61. Matt. 5:14.
62. Pope Benedict XV. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers
of Rome, Feb. 11, 1918: Il divin Salvatore disse apertamente agli Apostoli e,
nella loro persons, a tutti i futuri suoi ministri : Come manda me il Padre, ancb’
io mando voi (Giov. 20:21). An indicare poi in quai modo avrebbero dovuto
continuare la missione di Lui, che, come aveva detto altra volta, era renuto nel
mondo affine di rendere testimonianza alla verità (ibid. 18:37). Gesù Cristo
soggiunse: Predicate I’Evangelo (Marc. 16:15). Di qui si comprende agevolmente che, come avea potuto dire di sè, nel senso più rigoroso e proprio della
parola, di esser luce del mondo, Ego sum lux mundi (Giov. 8:12), cosi, per sua
infinita bontà, abbia potuto dire luce del mondo anche coloro che, con Lui e per
Lui, erano destinati a dififonder la luce della verità in mezzo al mondo: Vos
estis lux mundi (Matt. 5:14). Ma chi non comprende altresi che il predicatore
è tanto piu buono quanto meglio continua l'opéra di Gesù Cristo, o quanto più
esattamente ne adempie il precetto? Il divino Maestro ha detto ai sacri ministri:
Predicate evangelium, e la parola di Gesù, come quella che era perfetta e non
abbisognava di essere da altri complétais, significava che buon predicatore sarebbe stato colui il quale avesse annunziato, in conveniente maniera, tutto e solo
1'Evangelo. AAS, 10 (1918), 93.
63. Epist. 52, 8 (CSEL 54.428).
64. In Amos, 3:3 (PL 25, lib. 1, cap. 3, 1016).
65. In Zach., 9:15 (PL 25, lib. 2, cap. 10, 1488).
Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Spiritus Paraclitus: Praecipuus denique Scrip­
turae usus ad divini verbi ministerium pertinet, sancte fructuoseque exercendum.
Atque hoc loco, gratissimum est Doctoris Maximi verbis roborari praecepta quae
Nos Litteris Encyclicis Humani Generis [Redemptionem] de verbi divini prae­
dicatione tradidimus. Ac profecto insignis interpres tam graviter, tam frequenter
continuam sacrarum Litterarum lectionem ad id potissimum sacerdotibus com-

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mendat, ut munere docendi et contionandi digne perfungantur. Neque enim
eorum sermo habeat aliquid, cum momenti et ponderis, tum ad effingendos animos
efficacitatis, nisi a sacra Scriptura informetur ab eaque vim suam ac robur mu­
tuetur. "Sermo presbyteri Scripturarum lectione conditus sit” (Ep. 52, 8). Nam
"quidquid in Scripturis sanctis dicitur, tuba comminans est et grandi voce cre­
dentium aures penetrans" (In Amos, 3, 3 qq·)· "Nihil enim ita percutit, ut
exemplum de Scripturis sanctis” (In Zach. 9, 15). AAS, 12 (1920), 409-10.
66. 2 Tim. 3:16; M. J. Gruenthaner, "Divino Afflante Spiritu — The New
Encyclical on Biblical Studies,” AER, 110 (May, 1944), 330.
67. Pope Pius XII. Sacerdotes igitur, quibus aeternae fidelium salutis pro­
curatio commissa est, postquam sacras paginas diligenti studio ipsi perquisierint,
suasque precando meditandoque effecerint, supernas divini verbi opes sermonibus,
homiliis, exhortationibus sedulo promant; iidemque Christianam doctrinam sen­
tentiis ex Sacris Libris haustis confirment, praeclaris exemplis e sacra historia,
ac nominatim e Christi Domini Evangelio illustrent. AAS, 35 (1943), 320.
68. 2. Tim. 3:14-17.
69- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (London: Nelson and Sons,
1953), 924b, 1149.
70. Op. cit., 83.
71. Ibid., 85.
72. 1 Tim. 4:6.
73- Matt. 4:4.
74- 'Ωσπερ γσρ τήν τροφήν τούτην καθ’ έκάστην ημέραν προσφερόμεθα,
οότω, φησί, καί τούς περί πίστεως λόγους άεΐ λαμβάνωμεν, άεΐ τούτοις τρεφώμεθα. Τί έστιν, έντρεφόμενος. Μηρυκώμενος, συνεχώς τα αυτά, στρέφων,
άεΐ τά αυτά μελετών. Τροφήν γάρ έχει ού τήν τυχοϋσαν. Sancti Chrysostomi Opera, In Epist. 1 ad Tim., cap. 4, bom. 12.11 (Paris: Gaume Fratres, 1838),
Maurist ed., 669 a.
75. Op. cit., 87.
76. Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Humani Generis Redemptionem. Itaque,
paucis concludentes quae hactenus diximus, his Petri Damiani verbis utamur:
"Praedicatori duo sunt permaxime necessaria, videlicet ut sententiis doctrinae
spiritualis exuberet, et religiosae vitae splendore coruscet.... Necesse est ut
sacerdos, qui praedicationis officio fungitur, et doctrinae spiritualis imbribus
pluat, et religiosae vitae radiis splendeat" (Epist 1 ad Cerinthium, PL 144,
462). AAS 9 (1917), 315.

77. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers, Feb.
25, 1941: Predicate, diletti figli; pariate del Figlio di Dio, fattosi uomo e sacri­
ficatos· sul Calvario per la salute dell’ uomo; pariate all’ uomo dell’ alta sua
origine e della sua caduta, a sollevarlo della quale il Figlio di Dio scese dal
eido; pariate di Dio, vivente in tre Persone distinte nell’ unità della sua natura
etema. Dio sapiente, omnipotente; Dio creatore, restauratote, sanctificatore, e
nmuneratore di quei. che Io temono e amano, con un premio, superante ogni

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desiderio ned gaudio d’essere simili a lui e contemplarlo manifesto, fuori della
caligine della fede, nei fulgori del teatro dell' etema sua gloria e magnificenza.
Sono queste le verità fondamental! della professione della nostra fede; verità
che ci discoprono il nostro destino della vita di quaggiù; verità senza la cui luce
l'uomo si assomiglia a quei sapienti, i quali non camminavano per un sentiero,
ma andavano e non sapevano dove. AAS, 34 (1942), 135.

78. St. Pius X. Encycl. Editae Saepe: Quamobrem summa vigilantia cavendum
nobis est, Venerabiles Fratres, ne per vanos homines ac leves vento pascatur
grex; sed ut vitali alimento roboretur per ministros verbi.... AAS, 2 ( 1910), 370.
79. Pope Pius ΧΠ. Sermon Sollemnis Conventus, June 24, 1939: Illud quo­
que curandum vobis est, ut veritatem ita proponatis quae recte intelligatur et
gustetur, perspicuo semper nec unquam ambiguo sermone adhibito, vitatisque
superfluis et noxiis mutationibus quae veritatis substantiam facile inficiunt.
AAS, 31 (1939), 248.
80. Porro qui non verbis contendit, sive submisse, sive temperate, sive gran­
diter dicat, id agit verbis ut veritas pateat, veritas placeat, veritas moveat. De
Doctrina Christiana, 4:28 (PL 34, 119).
81. Pope Pius XI. Encyl. Ad Salutem: At praeterea, cum illud perpendisset:
"Nisi credideritis non intelligetis” (Isai. 7:9, see. 70), probe didicerat, non
modo, quotquot, fidei retinentissimi, Dei verbum supplici submissoque animo
meditantur eorum menti lumen superbis negatum hominibus de caelo praeferri,
sed etiam sacerdotibus, quorum labia custodiant scientiam oportet (Mal. 2:7),
id officii incumbere — cum res revelatas explanare ac tueri earumque christifidelibus sensum dare teneantur — ut, quantum Dei concessu unicuique licet, in
fidei veritates alte introspiciant. AAS, 22 (1930), 213.
82. L'art d’enseigner clairement et de mettre le dogme à la portée de tous
suppose une sérieuse connaissance de la théologie. 'En un sens, l'orateur doit
posséder sa théologie mieux qu’un théologien de profession.’ Une connaissance
superficielle, verbale, ou même purement conceptuelle ne peut suffire à l'orateur,
il lui faut atteindre sous les mots et les concepts la réalité vivante, la vérité
étemelle, s’il veut la traduire aux fidèles en leurs concepts à eux. Il doit domi­
ner assez sa science pour ne plus être esclave des mots ni des formules, dans
lesquels il l’a étudiée. "Note sur la prédication,” NRT, 50 (March, 1923), 159.

83. Pope Benedict XV. Encycl. Humani Generis Redemptionem: Quare S.
Bernardus ita praedicatorem admonet: "Si sapis, concham te exhibebis et non
canalem" (In Cant. serm. 18); hoc est: quod dicis, eo plenus ipse esto, et ne
satis habeas in alios transfundere. AAS, 9 (1917), 316.

84.
85.
1905),
86.

See 1 Cor. 3:1Lex Leiitarum (Westminster London, England: Art and Book Co.,
123-124.
See John 10:10.

87. Matt. 7:15.

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88. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers of
Rome, March 27, 195}: Tu es pastor ovium. La parrocchia, che Gesù per mezzo
nostro ha affidata, è anch' essa un ovile, e tu ne sei il pastore. Ora 1'opera del
pastore, l'opéra quindi di ciascuno di voi, dovrà essere primieramente di difesa
dai ladri. Ogni ovile è spiato da ladri e malandrini, che agognano di farne il
campo delle loro ruberie. Quando essi si accostano ali’ ovile e furtivamente vi
penetrano, non hanno che un fine: rubare e fare strage: Fur non venit nisi ut
furetur et mactet et perdat (Ιο. 10:10). Dovete quindi e innanzi tutto studiarvi di individuate e riconoscere i ladri, ladano di non lasciarvi guidare da
un certo semplicismo, che farebbe volgere la vostra attenzione, le vostre precauzioni verso una solo parte. Come nel gran mondo della Chiesa universale,
cosi nel piccolo mondo della parrocchia, il "nemico” sembra uno, ma è molteplice.... Altri nemici, o — se volete — lo stesso "nemico" sotto diverse forme
e spoglie, occorerà scoprire. Si awinciano spesso vestiti da agnelli, in vestimentis
ovium (Matt. 7:15). Bisognerà quindi adoperarsi affinchè i fedeli li riconoscano
dalle opere; dalle piante, cioè, che per causa loro, nascono e crescono nel campo
di Dio, come pure dai frutti che su quelle piante maturano: a fructibus eorum.
AAS, 45 (1953), 240.
89. Thos. Hughes, "The Library of a Priest," AER, 73 (July, 1925), 26.
90. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Exploratum certumque esse vobis arbitramur serpere latius et gravius in dies novarum rerum
studium inter sacerdotes, ut plurimum sive eruditione atque doctrina sive vitae
severitate minus quam ceteri praeditos.... Hac, quae volvitur, aetate graviter
quidem itinere deerratum est: est siquidem dolendum plura philosophorum
genera internasci eademque, hominum moribus nullo modo emendatis, dilabi;
insignia ad deformitatem artis opera cerni, quae Christianum nihilo secius nomen
mentiuntur, administrandae rei publicae rationem magis ad singulorum civium
quam ad communem omnium prosperitatem haud paucis in locis spectare; vitae
instituta de oeconomicis ac sociabilibus rebus plus periculi honestis quam ver­
sutiis hominibus moliri. Ex quo proclive consequitur sacerdotes nostris hisce
diebus omnino non deesse, in quos eiusdem contagio aliquo modo influat; qui
non numquam opiniones imbibant vitaeque genus, etiam in ipso vestis ornatu
cultuque corporis, instituant, aeque a sua dignitate aeque a suis muneribus
aliena; qui novitatis cupiditate ducantur, cum in concionibus ad Christianum
populum habendis, tum in adversariorum erroribus coarguendis; qui denique,
cum haec fecerint, non solum animi sui fidem infirment, sed, sua etiam attrita
fama, efficacitatem sacri officii extenuent. AAS, 42 (1950), 694-695.
91. Pope Pius XII. Encycl. Humani Generis: Quae enim ad Deum per­
tinent et ad rationes spectant, quae inter homines Deumque intercedunt, veritates
sunt rerum sensibilium ordinem omnino transcendentes, quae, cum in vitae acti­
onem inducuntur eamque informant, sui devotionem suique abnegationem postu­
lant. Humanus autem intellectus in talibus veritatibus acquirendis difficultate
laborat tum ob sensuum imaginationisque impulsus, tum ob pravas cupiditates
ex peccato originali ortas. Quo fit ut homines in rebus huiusmodi libenter

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The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

81

sibi suadeant esse falsa vel saltem dubia quae ipsi nolint esse vera. AAS, 42
(1950), 561-562.
92. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Imprimis autem
ministerium . .. vestrum huius Apostolicae Sedis praescriptis ac datis ab Episcopis
normis fideliter conformetur. AAS, 42 (1950), 680.
95. Pope Pius XI. Discourse to seminarians, July 24, 1929: E poi, accanto
alla madré c'è un Padre, quel Padre che si è venuto a visitare mentre suonano
piu solenni le ore della Sua vita, per dividere con Lui le gioie e le azioni di
grazie del Suo giubileo sacerdotale; c’è questo Padre, è il Vicario di Gesù Cristo,
e lo si deve sempre circondare di filiale pietà, una pietà che renda verso di Lui
non soltanto disposti alla esatta ubbidienza, ma alla ubbidienza affetuosa, che
studia il pensiero patemo per intenderlo sempre meglio, per eseguirlo con
sempre piu perfetta ed affettuosa fedeltà. EC (Romae Typis Polyglottis, Vati­
cana, 1958), η. 1465.

94. St. Pius X. Exhortation Haerent Animo: Ista Nos quum adeo incul­
camus, illud nihilo minus sacerdotem admonemus, non sibi demum soli viven­
dum sancte: ipse enimvero est operarius, quem Christus exiit... conducere in
vineam suam (Matt. 20:1). Eius igitur est fallaces herbas evellere, serere utiles,
irrigare, tueri ne inimicus homo superseminet zizania. Pii X Pontificis Maximi
Acta, 4, 246.
95. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Con viva ansia (Mit Brennender Sorge): Il
primo e il più owio dono di amore dei sacerdote al mondo è di servire la veriti,
tutta intera la verità, smascherare e confutare Terrore, qualunque sia la forma
o il suo travestimento. AAS, 29 (1957), 184-185.
96. Matt. 5:15-14.
97. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Accedit quod sa­
cerdos, qui veluti sal terrae et lux mundi (Matt. 5:15, 14) est putandus, opus
est ut in fidei tuitione conatu maximo elaboret, Christi Evangelium promulgans,
atque oppositos errores coarguens, qui omnibus viis hoc tempore seruntur in
vulgus. Atqui erroribus valenter refragari nequibit, nisi quod firmissima philo­
sophiae ac theologiae catholicae elementa penitus didicerit. AAS, 42 (1950), 688.
98. Apol. 1 (CSEL, 69.1).
99. Epist. 53.2 (CSEL, 54.447).
100. Pope Pius XI. Apostolic letter, Unigenitus Dei Filius: Etenim, ut Ter­
tullianus praeclare scripsit, fides nostra "unum gestit interdum, ne ignorata
damnetur” (Apol. 1); quamobrem ne illud Hieronymi oblitteretur: "Sancta rusti­
citas solum sibi prodest, et quantum ex vitae merito Ecclesiam Christi aedificat
tantum nocet si resistentibus non resistat. ... In tantum sacerdotis officium est
interrogatum respondere de lege” (Epist. 55 ad Paul.). Itaque sacerdotis tam
saecularis, quam regularis, est catholicam doctrinam cum pervulgare latius tum
uberius inlustrare ac tueri; quae non solum habet unde, quaecumque ex adverso
opponuntur, convincat ac refellat sed etiam, modo dilucide explanetur, non po­
test animos praeiudicatae opinionis expertes ad se non allicere. Quod ipsum

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Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

cum Doctores illos mediae, quam vocant, aetatis neutiquam fugisset, iidem,
Thoma Aquinate et Bonaventura ducibus, toti in eo fuere, ut divinarium rerutn
cognitionem perciperent amplissimam cum aliisque communicarent. AAS, 16
(1924), 138.
101. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Necesse igitur est sacri
ordinis virum omnes de catholica fide deque moribus disciplinas ita callere, ut
easdem ceteris proponere queat, itemque dogmata, leges Ecclesiaeque cultum,
cuius administer exsistit, christifidelibus explanare possit; atque adeo oportet
religionis ignorantiam, quae — quamvis humanarum rerum scientia mirabiles
prorsus processus fecerit — multorum tamen mentes obumbrat, eloquii sui luce
virtuteque collustret atque dispellat. Quod dilucide Tertullianus admonet: "Hoc
unum gestit interdum (veritas), ne ignorata damnetur” (Apol. c. 1), hodie, si
umquam alias, animo reputare peropportunum est. AAS, 28 (1936), 34.
102. Hoc vero saeculo fuisse etiam in Academiis multos, qui omnem ferme
theologiae disputationem sophisticis, ineptisque rationibus transegerint, utinam
ipsi non fuissemus experti. "De locis theologicis," lib. 9, c. 1., Melchioris Cani
Opera (Venice: Ex Typographia Remondiniana, 1759), 203.
103. ΟΙ μεν γάρ ύπό πολυπραγμοσύνης άπλώς καί εΙκή περιεργάζεσθαι
βέλουσιν, & μήτε μαβόντας ίστί κερδάναι, μήτε μαθεΐν δυνατόν έτεροι πά­
λιν τών τού θεού κριμάτων εύθύνας αύτόν άπαιτούσιν, καί τήν άβυσσον τήν
πολλήν άναμετρείν βιάζονται. «Περί ιεροσύνης», 4:5.
104. ’Αλλ’ δμως καί τούτων τοιούτων όντων, όταν τις μετά αυθεντίας
ίπιστομίζη τούς τά άπορα τούτα έρευνώντας, άπονοίας τε καί άμαθίας
έαυτώ προσετρίψατο δόξαν. Διό χρή κάυταΰθα πολλή κεχρήσθαι τή συνέσει
ώς καί άπάγειν αυτούς τών άτοπων έρωτήσεων τόν προεστώτα, καί τάς εΐρημενας έκρεύγειν αίτιας.

105. Ούτοι μίν γάρ ού μόνον τον ούκ ήσκημένον τήν τών έξωθεν λόγων
τερθρείαν ιδιώτην καλοΰσιν, άλλα καί τόν ούκ είδότα μάχεσθαι ύπέρ τών
τής άληθείας δογμάτων. Καί καλώς νομίζουσιν.

106. Tie Priest of the Fathers (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1945), 110-12.
107. § 1. Parochi aliique quibus cura animarum vi muneris est demandata,
gravi lustitiae obligatione tenentur audiendi sive per se sive per alium confes­
siones fidelium sibi commissorum, quoties ii audiri rationabiliter petant. § 2. Ur­
gente necessitate, omnes confessam obligatione tenentur ex caritate confessiones
fidelium audiendi, et in mortis periculo omnes sacerdotes. Codex laris Canonici,
can. 892.
108. J 1. Tum locorum Ordinarii iurisdictiooem, tum Superiores religiosi
iunsdktiooem aut licentiam audiendarum confessionum ne concedant, nisi iis qui
idonei per examen reperti fuerint, nisi agatur de sacerdote cuius theologicam
doctrinam aliunde compertam habeant. § 2. Si post concessam iurisdictiooem aut
licentiam prudenter dubitent num probatus a se antea sacerdos pergat adhuc
idoneus esse, eum ad novum doctrinae periculum adigant, etsi agatur de parocho
aut canonico poenitentxano Ihrd, can. 877.

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry
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109. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers of
Rome, Feb. 17, 1942: I fedeli anelano ad avere buoni confessori, di matura e
solida dottrina, che con chiarezza indichino loro i limiti del lecito e dell- illiceto
e, senza importe pezi non necessari, vengano loro in aiuto, quando la giustizia
lo richiede e la carità lo consiglia. ... Monstratevi, diletti figli, degni di cosi alto
ministère. AAS, 54 (1942), 144.
110. Cette science compétente consiste dans la connaissance de ce qui est
requis pour que le confesseur puisse résoudre, promptemente et par lui-même,
les cas qui d’ordinaire se présentent à lui. Pour les cas plus difficiles ou plus
rares, cette connaissance, si elle ne l’éclaire complètement, lui fera du moins con­
cevoir des doutes qui l’amèneront à suspendre son jugement, jusqu'à ce qu’il
ait étudié plus profondément le cas, ou demandé conseil à de plus habiles que
lui. T. Ortolan, "Confession," DTC, 5 (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané,
1938), c. 945.
111. Les questions sont parfois si complexes; les cas sont si variés, et plu­
sieurs se présentent si rarement; il y a tant de lois positives et de décrets de
tout genre, anciens et nouveaux, qu’on peut si facilement oublier, quand on n’en
fait pas un usage quotidien, Ibid., c. 946.
112. Le prêtre qui connaît son ignorance de la théologie morale n’a pas le
droit de confesser, en dehors des cas de nécessité. L’approbation épiscopale sup­
pose la science, mais ne la supplée pas. E. Jombart, "Confesseur,” DDC, 4, c. 33.
113. At nullus confessarius intermittere debet theologiae moralis studium;
quia ex tot rebus tam diversis et inter se disparibus, quae ad hanc scientiam
pertinent, multa quamvis lecta, quia rarius accidunt, temporis progressu e mente
decidunt; qua de re oportet semper frequenti studio eas in memoriam revocare.
Theologia Moralis, "Praxis Confessarii,” n. 18, 4 (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta
Vaticana, 1912), 537.
114. Pope Pius XL Sermon on the occasion of a disputation in Moral
Theology, March 20, 1926: Perché mai forse come ai nostri giomi la Teologia
Morale è stata chiamata a portare la luce dei suoi principii benefici, delle sue
direzioni, in materia cosi importante e in un campo cosi vasto. Che cosa sono
quei grandi, quei tanti problemi politici, sociali, economici, tutti quei pubblici
contendimenti di classi, di lavoro, di capitale, che cosa sono se non altrettanti
nuovi terminati dove la Teologia Morale è chiamata a dire il verbo suo, a far
sentire la sua benefica influenza, se tutto non voglia ridursi al cozzo di forze
brutali? EC, 1451.
115. Pope Pius XII. Allocution to parish priests and Lenten preachers of
Rome, March 23, 1949: E poichè parliamo della cura d’anime, Noi pensiamo
qui specialmente al Sacramento della Penitenza, che richiede nel sacerdote una
vita assolutamente esemplare, unita al senso di responsabilità, all chiarezza e
alia sicurezza del giudizio, al dominio di sè, alla prudenza e al tatto. AAS,
41 (1949), 183.
116. Mais on ne peut se contenter de repasser la théologie morale dans des
ouvrages anciens. À une époque où tout change si vite, bien des questions se

84

Priestly Studies in Modern Papal Teachings

posent qu'ignoraient nos devanciers et nous sourions de certaines de leurs pré­
occupations d'autrefois. Au cours du XIXe et du XXe siècle, l'autorité ecclé­
siastique a donné bien des décisions officielles en matière morale et pris beaucoup
de mesures canoniques qu'il n'est loisible à aucun confesseur d'ignorer. D'où
l'obligation pour tout prêtre de se tenir au courant de ces décisions et de ces
mesures, comme des circonstances qui les ont provoquées, du moins par la lecture
attentive de quelque bonne revue ecclésiastique. E. Jombart, op. rit., c. 34.
117. Pope Pius XII. Letter to the Spanish hierarchy, Aug. 1, 1942: Quando­
quidem oportet ut sacerdos non modo sacram doctrinam undequaque calleat, sed
ea quoque non ignoret, quae generatim ac in universum exculti suae nationis
homines norunt, quibus quidem suo ipsorum loquendi modo facile utens ac
congrua mentibus eorum atque captui idonea edisseratis, fidei cibum porrigat.
AAS, 34 (1942), 226.
118. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Idem praeterea, ut con­
crediti officii decus postulat, utque fidem aestimationemque populi, quemadmo­
dum addecet, sibi conciliet — quod procul dubio pastoralem operam suam efficientiorem reddet — illa vel profanarum scientiarum copia praeditus esto, quas
hodie exculti homines commune veluti patrimonium habent. AAS, 28 (1936), 34.
119. Pope Pius XII. Encycl. Sertum Laetitiae: Quam ob rem enixe sacer­
dotes hortamur, ut divinarum humanarumque rerum scientia abundent.... Lit­
terarum quoque studia et profanas disciplinas praesertim eas, quae cum religione
maiorem habent necessitudinem, colant, ut facunde et nitide valeant salutifera
tradere praecepta et docta quoque ingenia levi Christi sarcinae iugoque subicere.
AAS, 31 (1939), 641.
120. St Pius X. Letter to the Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris, De
studio sacris et profanis recte excolendis, Feb. 22, 1905: Intimo enim quodam
vinculo aptae inter se et connexae utraeque sunt; utpote a Deo, scientiarum
Domino, profectae, a quo tanquam ab unico fonte, quaecumque vera sunt, neces­
sitate manant AAS, 37 (1904-05), 555.
121. Life of St. John Baptist de Rossi, C. Mougeot, tr. Lady Herbert (New
York: Benziger, 1906).
122. Pope Pius XI. Encycl. Ad Catholici Sacerdotii: Non modo Ecclesia
incolumes humanitatis veteris codices servare enisa est qui absque sua ac mona­
chorum ope pessumdati ac fere omnino deperditi essent sed per suorum etiam
illustrium Doctorum operam in perspicuo posuit humanas omnes cogitationes
catholicae fidei explanationi tuitionique inservire posse. AAS, 28 (1936), 35.
123- Matt 13:52.
124. Pope Pius XII. Apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae: Haec impensa
denique operositas vestra sapientiae ac disciplinae luce collustretur, caritatis
ardore foveatur. Qui reapse ad propriam proximonunque sanctimoniam nititur,
solidam callere debet doctrinam, quae non modo ad theologica studia quod
attinet. sed ad ea etiam omnia, quae ex rebus pervestigandis excolendisque nostra
peperit aetas, pertineat oportet; atque hisce animi ornamentis praeditus sacro­
rum administer, sicut optimus pater familias proferre de thesauro suo n ta et

vetera (Mati
valde aestimi
125. Pop
existimentur,
libris pervol
simi praeset
promulgandi
126. I c

127. Of

The Priest in the Pastoral Ministry

85

vetera (Matt. 13:52) poterit, ita quidem ut ministerium suum et ab omnibus
valde aestimetur, et frugiferum evadat. AAS, 42 (1950), 680.

125. Pope Pius XII. Ne neglectorum receptaculorum loco hae bibliothecae
existimentur, sed veluti viventis potius structurae in qua idoneum conclave
libris pervolutandis paretur... ut nimirum praeceptores, ut curiones, ut novis­
simi praesertim e sacerdotibus satis inde doctrinarum ad veritates evangelicas
promulgandas ad erroresque redarguendos haurire possint. Ibid., 694.

126. I Cor. 2:4.
127. Op. cit., xxix-xxx.

CONCLUSION

According to papal teachings from St. Pius X to Pope Pius XII,
the priest’s obligation to continue his studies rests first of all on his
position within the Church as a teacher subordinate to and dependent
upon the episcopate, and secondly, on his duty to utilize whatever
means are necessary for growth in a holiness that corresponds to his
eminent dignity. In setting forth their doctrine concerning the priest
as a teacher, papal documents do not visualize for the priest an ideal
that would impose upon him the task of acquiring proficiency in all
fields of learning. Moreover, with the prudence of true wisdom,
these teachings do not merely state the general obligation of the
clergy to progress in knowledge; instead, they speak of specific sacer­
dotal functions, which impose upon the priest engaged in them the
obligation to acquire an intellectual competency unattainable apart
from continued learning. As objects for such learning, the sacred
sciences hold a primary place in papal teachings, but at the same time,
secular studies are assigned an important though secondary role. In
the statements of Pope Pius XII, one finds special emphasis placed on
the need for the parish priest to have an adequate knowledge of the
current religious conditions, problems and wants of the particular
flock entrusted to his care. But throughout all modern papal teachings,
any form of priestly study is viewed primarily as a means necessary for
leading souls to an understanding and acceptance of the message of
Jesus Christ, and for defending the truth of that message against
all antagonists.

Besides looking to this magisterial role of the priest when speaking
of sacerdotal studies, modem papal teachings have in mind the effi­
cacious contribution which such learning can make to growth in mrdotal holiness. In words addressed either to priests engaged in the
active ministry or to those leading a strictly contemplative life, em­
phasis is placed on the fact that knowledge is a cause of love.1
The total content of the documents considered in this dissertation
finds an apt summary in St. Francis de Sales' well-known exhortation
to his priestly brotherhood: "I beseech you, my beloved brothers, to

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Conclusion

I,
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87

devote yourselves seriously to study because, for the priest, knowledge
is the eighth commandment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the
greatest evils have come to the Church because the ark of knowledge
was found in hands other than those of the Levites.”2

REFERENCES TO CONCLUSION
1. In reply to the question, "Utrum cognitio sit causa amoris,” St Thomas
replied: "Bonum autem non est obiectum appetitus, nisi prout est apprehensum.
Et ideo amor requirit aliquam apprehensionem boni quod amatur. ... Et similiter
contemplatio spiritualis pulchritudinis vel bonitatis, est principium amoris spiri­
tualis.” Summa Theol., 1-2, q. 27, art. 2, c. (Rome: Marietti, 1948).

2. Oeuvres complètes de S. Francois de Sales, 1 (Paris, 1861), ed. Migne,
c. 357.