Pope St Paul VI's exhortation on Reconciliation in the Church

Written by Mike Lewis

[Editor’s Note: In light of the ongoing debates in the Catholic Church (particularly in the United States) over ecclesiology and papal primacy, we are republishing the English text of Pope St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Paterna cum benevolenta, promulgated at the beginning of the 1975 Jubilee year. Sadly, this important exhortation — which is cited frequently in other magisterial documents, including Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclicals Redemptor Hominis and Dives in Misericordia, as well as the 1990 CDF Instruction Donum Veritatis, On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian — was not available in English translation anywhere on the internet — until now. As a service to the Church and to assist in dialogue aimed at rebuilding ecclesial unity, Where Peter Is offers a transcription of the exhortation as it appears in Volume 19 of The Pope Speaks [TPS], pp. 319-332.

Paterna is a rich teaching document that reflects on paths forward in a divided Church. In it, Pope Paul VI reflects on unity and ecclesiology — especially in the context of internal dissent, schism, and reconciliation. His emphasis on unity with the pope as essential to full communion with the Catholic Church is written with the voice of a spiritual father concerned for the salvation of all. He is very clear in his call for “doctrinal adherence to the magisterium,” but he also distinguishes between errors in judgment and doctrinal dissent, allowing space for dialogue.

In this exhortation, the pope addresses divisions across the spectrum, from relativism to traditionalism. At the time, the Church was experiencing growing tension with individuals and groups — most notably Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his followers, members and supporters of the newly-formed Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) — who rejected the Council’s teachings, especially on liturgy, ecumenism, and religious liberty. Paul VI addresses those who “profess to remain Catholic” but “are in open or implicit dissension” with the postconciliar Church.

Paterna cum benevolentia is an important magisterial document for discussions of Church unity, especially in addressing traditionalist critiques of Church leadership — including the popes and their teachings. Even 50 years after its initial publication, it offers a deeply relevant approach for the Church today. —ML]

Paterna cum benevolentia

The Holy Year and Reconciliation in the Church

Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI (December 8, 1974)

Note:

In a Holy Year message to the entire Catholic world, signed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and released on December 16, 1974, Pope Paul called on all the hierarchy, clergy and faithful to seize the Jubilee spirit of reconciliation and heal the factionalism now dividing the Church. The Pontiff speaks strongly against movements undermining the authority of bishops with doctrinal dissension and moral relativism posing as legitimate pluralism, while true theological pluralism is always supportive of the magisterium, which guarantees unity and wholeness in the Body of Christ. There is a special appeal for reconciliation of priests who have left the ministry, and expression of joy at the many who have remained. While much of the message may seem harsh, the Pope says, it was conceived in a spirit of charity and fraternal correction, released before Christmas so that the faithful might make the Holy Year a true birth of peace in renewal and reconciliation.

Latin text in L’Osservatore Romano, December 16–17, 1974. Translation prepared for The Pope Speaks by Matthew O’Connell.

IT IS WITH fatherly benevolence, confidence and hope that We turn to you on this occasion, venerable brother bishops and dear sons and daughters in the clergy, the religious orders and the Catholic laity. We shall soon be celebrating the Holy Year in the Basilicas of the Holy Apostles at Rome, that same Sacred Jubilee which you yourselves have already celebrated, devoutly and with united hearts and wills, in the local Churches.

The Holy Year is a time of great importance for the world, and the world is therefore watching the Church closely. It is important especially for the sons and daughters of the Church, for they are rightly aware of the supernatural riches contained in the Church’s mystery of holiness and grace, on which the recent Ecumenical Council threw so much light. It is to these sons and daughters that We address Ourself. Our purpose is earnestly to exhort them to a deeper mutual love and brotherly concord, in the spirit of reconciliation proper to the Holy Year and in the unity created by a common love of Christ.

Purpose of the Holy Year

Ever since the moment when, on May 9, 1973, We first announced Our intention of celebrating a universal Jubilee in 1975, Our concern has been to stress the purpose of this spiritual, penitential event: namely, reconciliation which is based on man’s conversion to God and resultant interior renewal and has the power to heal the discords and disorders which burden contemporary society and the ecclesial community as well.¹

In accordance with Our decision the local Churches began to celebrate the Jubilee at Pentecost, 1973. Throughout the time since then We have missed no opportunity to insist on the purpose of the Jubilee, for it is one that is in perfect harmony with the true spirit of the Gospel and with the norms for renewal which the Second Vatican Council laid down for the whole Church. “The whole Church,” We repeat, for, since Christ the Lord founded the Church that it might be, in accordance with the Father’s will,¹ a permanent sign of the reconciliation he has brought about, “it is the function of the Church, led by the Holy Spirit who renews and purifies her constantly, to make God the Father and His Incarnate Son present and in a sense visible.”²

Purpose of the exhortation

We think it necessary, then, for the more effective discharge of that function, to explain in a more solemn fashion how urgent it is that all the faithful of the Church actively foster “the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force” (Eph 4, 3).

Consequently, as the Feast of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ approaches — the day on which We decided the universal Jubilee should begin here at Rome³ — We address this Exhortation to all sacred pastors and all the sons and daughters of the Church. We urge them to promote an effective reconciliation with God and their brothers, so that the coming celebration of that sacred birth may indeed be a “birthday of peace”⁴ for the whole world, as the actual birth of the divine Savior once was.

I. THE CHURCH RECONCILED AND RECONCILING

From her very first days the Church realized that Christ’s redemptive work had transformed reality, and she carried the good news of it everywhere. Her message was that in this world of ours all things had been made new (cf. 2 Cor 5, 17) and that men had consequently found God and peace (cf. Eph 2,12) and now shared in the glory of God “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom 5, 11).

This new state of things must be ascribed solely to the merciful plan of God (cf. 2 Cor 5, 18–20; Col 1, 20–22). It brings help to man, who, when he separated himself from God through sin, also lost the power to regain this original peace with his creator.

God’s plan carried out within history

God Himself then intervened to carry out this plan within time. He did not simply pardon us, nor was He satisfied to have a mere man mediate between Himself and us. Instead, He appointed “His only Son as the intercessor who wins peace”⁶: “For our sakes God made Him who did not know sin, to be sin, so that in Him we might become the very holiness of God” (2 Cor 5, 21). In dying for us, Christ “canceled the bond that stood against us with all its claims, snatching it up and nailing it to the cross” (Col 2, 14) and reconciled us to God through the cross “which put that enmity to death” (Eph 2, 16).

The reconciliation which God effected through Jesus Christ crucified is now part of the world’s history, since that history includes among the events that make it up and are an irreversible part of it, the Incarnation and death of God for the world’s salvation. The reconciliation finds permanent historical expression in the Body of Christ, the Church into which the Son of God has “assembled His brethren out of every nation.”⁷ Of that Body He is the head (cf. Col 1, 18) and the principle of authority and operation which makes the Church on earth a “world reconciled.”⁸

Community of the reconciled

Since the Church is the Body of Christ and Christ is “its Savior” (Eph 5, 23), all who wish to be worthy members of His Body and do their duty as Christians must help the Church retain her basic nature as the community of the reconciled which has its origin in Christ, Who is our peace (cf. Eph 2, 14) and “made us men of peace.”⁹ For reconciliation, once accepted, is, like grace and indeed life itself, such a source of energy that those blessed with it are impelled always to act in accord with it and communicate it to others. Here we have a mark by which the Church and the world may recognize authentic Christians: “Make peace first within yourselves; then, when you are at peace, bring peace to others.”¹⁰

Ministry of Reconciliation

Each and all of the faithful have the duty of promoting reconciliation. If they do not discharge that duty, even the liturgical sacrifice they try to offer God will be in vain (cf. Mt 5, 23–24). Mutual reconciliation, in fact, possesses the same kind of efficacy as the sacrifice itself and, together with it, constitutes a single offering that pleases God.¹² But, in order that this duty might be carried out and that the reconciliation within the heart might have a public dimension, as did the death of Christ from which it flows, the Lord gave his Apostles and the pastors of the Church who succeed them “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5, 18). These men, “acting as it were in the person of Christ,”¹³ are permanently assigned “to build up their flock in truth and holiness.”¹³

The Church, then, as a reconciled world, is also by her nature, and for all time, a reconciling world. For by her nature she is the presence and action of God, Who “in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor 5, 19). He manifests the power of His presence and action chiefly in baptism, in the forgiveness of sins and in the Eucharistic celebration which renews the redemptive sacrifice of Christ and efficaciously signifies the unity of God’s people.¹⁴

II. THE CHURCH, SACRAMENT OF UNITY

Since reconciliation means the restoration of peace both between God and man and between men themselves, it is the first fruit of redemption. Like redemption, it is universal in scope and efficacy. It reaches out to the whole of creation “until the time of universal restoration” (Acts 3, 21), when all created things are again unified in Christ, Who is the firstborn of the risen dead (cf. Col 1, 18).

Instrument of reconciliation

Now, since reconciliation achieves its most perfect expression through the Church and since its full power is operative in the Church, the Church is as it were “a sacrament or sign and an instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race.”¹⁵ That is, the Church is the place whence, like light radiating out, the unity of men with God and each other spreads abroad. This unity increases with the passage of time and will be complete at the end of the ages.

Importance of unity

If the Church is to be able fully to manifest her sacramental nature and this is the whole purpose of her life — she must, like any sacrament, be a sign that really points to a reality. Concretely, this means that she must establish and show forth that thorough unanimity in teaching, life and worship which marked her in her first days (cf. Acts 2, 42) and continues to be an essential element in her makeup (cf. Eph 4, 4–6; 1 Cor 1, 16). Such harmony, unlike discord and division which weaken the solid structure of the Church, cannot but increase the impact of her witness, manifest the true nature of her life, and highlight her trustworthiness or credibility.

The importance of fidelity

All the faithful, therefore, if they are to forward God’s plans in the world, must constantly obey the Spirit of God, Who unites the Church “in its communion and ministry” and “through the power of the Gospel… keeps the Church ever young and refreshed, and leads it toward perfect union with its spouse.”¹⁶ Such fidelity will inevitably have an important effect in the area of ecumenism and the quest for that visible unity of all Christians within one and the same Church intended by Christ. The Church will be a more effective leaven of brotherhood within the universal community of peoples.

III. OBSCURING THE SACRAMENTALITY OF THE CHURCH

“Although by the power of the Holy Spirit the Church will remain the faithful spouse of her Lord and will never cease to be the sign of salvation on earth, still she is well aware that among her members, both clerical and lay, some have been unfaithful to the Spirit of God during the course of many centuries.”¹⁷ In fact, “from the very beginning, some rifts arose in this one and only Church of God; the Apostle condemns these in the strongest language.”¹⁸

Schisms

Once these ruptures had occurred and could not be contained, the Church overcame the danger of inner division by clearly laying down, as an absolutely necessary condition of communion, the principles which would preserve in its entirety the unity her nature requires and would enable her to manifest it in her children “in their profession of one faith, in their celebrating divine worship in common, and in the fraternal harmony of the family of God.”¹⁹

Infidelity to the Spirit

But no less dangerous, and requiring from Us these words of explanation and exhortation to unity, are the instances of infidelity to the Spirit which are to be seen everywhere these days and which, sad to say, represent an attempt to weaken the Church from within. Those who promote such a trend and those whom they draw to their cause are, indeed, few in number compared to the countless multitudes of the faithful. They wish to stay in the Church and to enjoy the same rights and opportunities of speaking and acting that everyone else does, but for the purpose of attacking her unity.

They refuse to acknowledge that the Church has two constitutive elements in her makeup — the divine and the human — thus resembling the Incarnate Word Who established her as a “community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible structure on this earth,” and through her “diffuses truth and grace to all.”²⁰

Consequences of this attitude

Therefore they resist and reject the sacred hierarchy as if their acts of rejection would help bring to light the true nature of the Church as Christ instituted her. They question the duty of obedience to authority, though it was commanded by the Redeemer Himself. They challenge the pastors of the Church, not because they do this or that and act thus and so, but simply because (to use the accusers’ words) they must be regarded as the guardians of a bureaucratic ecclesiastical system that is really at odds with the institution Christ intended. Thus they disturb and confuse the whole community by introducing conclusions drawn from dialectical theories that are alien to the spirit of Christ. They use the words of the Gospel but change the meaning.

It is with great pain that We observe this state of affairs, even though, as We have already remarked, the people responsible for it are few in comparison with the vast multitude of faithful Christians. Yet We cannot but speak out against a way of acting that is so disloyal and unjust; We cannot but oppose it with the same fervent zeal that animated St. Paul. Therefore, We warn all Christians of good will not to let themselves be influenced or deceived by the wrongheaded urging of brothers who have gone so wretchedly astray but whom We hold dear and continue to remember constantly in prayer.

Authority in the Church

Our task is emphatically to reaffirm that the only Church of Christ “in the world perdures in the Catholic Church under the government of Peter and the bishops in communion with him — even though many elements of sanctification and truth may be found outside its structure.”²¹ We maintain, moreover, that the pastors of the Church, who rule God’s people in his name, as humble servants indeed but also like the bold Apostles (cf. Acts 4, 31) whom they succeed, have the right and duty to proclaim that “as long as we sit in this chair, as long as we preside, we have both authority and power, unworthy though we be.”²²

IV. AREAS IN WHICH THE CHURCH’S SACRAMENTAL NATURE IS OBSCURED

The situation which We have just outlined has led to doctrinal dissent. The dissent, in turn, supposedly justified by theological pluralism, often develops into relativism in the area of dogma, so that the integrity of the faith itself is diminished in various ways. But even if things do not go to this extreme, the pluralism in question is at times presented as a legitimate criterion of theological thinking (a locus theologicus) that justifies attacks on the authentic teaching office of the Roman Pontiff and the episcopal hierarchy, even though Pope and bishops alone are the authoritative interpreters of the divine revelation contained in Sacred Scripture and sacred tradition.²³

Relativism vs. legitimate pluralism

There is, however, another kind of pluralism. Here, research and reflection serve to find ways of grasping and presenting dogma more clearly, but without destroying its objective, unchanged meaning. We willingly acknowledge the rightful place of such a pluralism in the Church, as being a natural element in the Church’s catholicity and a sign both of the richness of her doctrine and of the zealous desire of all her members to be of service. We also acknowledge the priceless values pluralism of this kind has brought to light in the areas of Christian spiritual life, ecclesiastical and religious institutions, liturgical forms and canonical discipline. These values contribute to a “diversity blending into unity” that “provides a clear demonstration of the catholicity of the undivided Church.”²⁴

Grounded in the mystery of Christ

We will go further and grant that the mystery of Christ is basis for a balanced pluralism. All ages and cultures together cannot exhaustively express the “unfathomable riches” (Eph 3, 8) of that mystery. Consequently, the teachings of faith which logically derive from that mystery (since, when it comes to salvation, “there is no other mystery but Christ”²⁵) will always require new study and research. So many are the potentials of God’s word, so many the fruits sought²⁶ by the faithful who study it and so varied their approaches to it, that the acceptance of one and the same faith will always be marked by the personality of each believer.

A variety of accents and degrees in understanding one and the same faith does not, however, in any way detract from its substance, since the variety exists within the unity given by a common obedience to the teaching authority of the Church. This authority is the proximate norm that defines the faith of all, while also strengthening all in the faith and saving them from divergent arbitrary interpretations of it.

False pluralism

What are we to say, however, of a pluralism that makes of the faith and its expression, not an inheritance shared by the whole community and thus ecclesial in character, but something the individual discovers by an unrestrained application of critical techniques to the word of God? As a matter of fact, unless the magisterium of the Church, to which the Apostles passed on their own teaching authority²⁷ and which therefore continues “teaching only what has been handed on,”²⁸ were to intervene, irreparable harm would be done to the close link of the Church with Christ through the Apostles who transmitted “what they themselves had received.”²⁹ If this continuity with the teaching of the Apostles is broken, anyone seeking to resolve the difficulties suggested by the mystery will devise formulations that are deceptive and simply do away with the true content and meaning of the mystery. The result will be doctrines that are inconsistent with the objective faith or even contradict it. The result will even be doctrines so emptied of content and so formulated that they are consistent with diametrically opposed interpretations.

Factionalism weakens love

In addition, we must not forget how every diminution of the one faith entails a lessening of mutual love. For men who are deprived of the joy Christian faith gives (cf. Phil 1, 25) are driven to beg glory from one another instead of seeking that glory which comes from God alone (cf. Jn 5, 44), and the result is no little harm to fraternal communion. An understanding of the Church which recognizes and attributes to all the same dignity and freedom as God’s children³⁰ cannot be replaced by the “spirit” of special groups which only leads to discriminatory choices and thus deprives love of its natural basis in justice. There is no value to be found in plans for improving communion within the Church in accordance with models fashioned by each separate group.

Must we not, on the contrary, seek our perfection in the way the Gospel proposes? And where does the Gospel evidently manifest its inherent divine power save in the Church through the efforts of all believers without exception?

Finally, the factional spirit is an obstacle to the union of hearts required for liturgical worship and prayer. It causes men to isolate themselves in a spirit of arrogance that is certainly not evangelical and prevents them from being justified before God (cf. Lk 18, 10–14).

As far as lies in Our power, We wish to determine the reasons for our present situation, which resembles the state of affairs to be found in contemporary human society at large, where division and factionalism are the order of the day. It is indeed cause for sorrow that the Church herself should be subject to the effects of such a situation. She may not however simply consent to a condition that is really pathological. She must rather preserve intact her character as a family made up of various members. She must, moreover, be a leaven that moves men to act as the pagans saw the first Christians acting: “See how they love one another!”³¹ With the picture of that early community before us (not a picture of idyllic serenity, since the Church developed through trial and suffering), We beg all to surmount all wrongful and dangerous differences and thus be able to see themselves as brothers united by the love of Christ.

V. POLARIZATION OF DISSENT

If the internal conflicts we are now experiencing in various areas of Church life should harden into a state of stubborn rebelliousness, the one institution and community of salvation will find itself opposed by numerous “dissident institutions or communities” which show nothing of the Church’s true nature. And if permanently opposed sects and factious gain footing in her midst, she will lose her constitutive structure. The result will be a polarization of dissent, in which the whole focus of interest becomes the divergent, practically independent groups, each of which thinks it is serving God. Such a state of affairs brings with it, and of its nature sows, the seeds of dissolution in the ecclesial community.

Responsibility of each individual

It is Our ardent prayer that the voice of conscience will stir each individual to look critically at himself and his actions and thus lead him to more prudent choices. We exhort all the faithful, therefore, “carefully to examine the innermost places of your heart and explore the recesses of your soul.”³² We wish to arouse in their hearts a renewed desire for the values that have been lost: “Keep firmly in mind the heights from which you have fallen. Repent, and return to your former deeds” (Rv [Apoc] 2, 5). To this end We exhort each individual to reflect on the divine miracle that was wrought in him and to realize what it certainly requires of him in the Lord’s sight: “A Christian ought to fear nothing more than being separated from the Body of Christ. For, if he is separated from the Body of Christ, he is not a member of Christ, and if he is not a member of Christ, he does not have the life that comes from Christ’s Spirit. For, as the Apostle says, “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Christ.”³³

VI. SPIRIT AND PRACTICE OF RECONCILIATION

As far as the Church’s life is concerned, then, all in the Church — bishops, priests, religious and laity — must actively contribute to a common effort at full reconciliation, so that the peace which is “the nurse of love and the mother of unity”³⁴ may be restored within each person and among all. Each individual should become a more docile follower of the Lord, Who told us the Father would not forgive our sins unless we were first reconciled to our brothers (cf. Mk 11, 26) and that other men will only recognize us as His disciples by the love we have for one another (cf. Jn 13, 35). If anyone, then, must acknowledge that he is himself in any way responsible for our present state of division, let him listen again to the Lord’s voice which is constantly urging him, even at the moment of prayer: “Go first to be reconciled with your brother” (Mt 5, 24).

Dispositions for reconciliation

All of us, moreover — each in the measure and manner that befits his position in the Church — should once again meditate on the redemptive work of God in our behalf and devote ourselves to acquiring those spiritual dispositions that will lead to reconciliation. It is only by God’s loving will and plan that we are reconciled to him, and we should therefore live lives of kindness and mercy, forgiving one another as God has forgiven us in Christ (cf. Eph 4, 31–32). Since, moreover, our reconciliation is the fruit of the sacrifice of Christ Who accepted to be offered on the cross for our sake, the cross — placed amid the Church like the lofty mast of a ship, to point the way through the world³⁵ — should mark and direct our relations with one another, making them authentically Christian. Let our every relationship with others be marked by some self-denial, for self-denial promotes brotherly affection toward them. Then we will gladly acknowledge the qualities of each person, and all will then be able to enrich the one ecclesial communion by a joint effort, “so that the whole and the individual parts receive increase from the mutual sharing of all and from the united effort of all toward complete fullness.”³⁶ Thus we can say that unity, if rightly understood, permits each individual to achieve his own development and fulfillment.

Fraternal correction

Such good will toward others, when joined with a desire to understand their views and with self-denial, will certainly bring solidity, order and effectiveness to an act of charity the Lord requires of us, namely, fraternal correction (cf. Mt 18, 15). This kind of correction may be practiced by any follower of Christ with regard to any brother in the faith. It thus provides a means and method of healing many rifts and preventing many others.³⁷

The act of correction also prompts the corrector to remove the beam from his own eye (cf. Mt 7, 5), lest the proper order correction should follow be subverted.³⁸ Correction stimulates to holiness in which alone reconciliation reaches perfection. For reconciliation does not consist in an easy peacemaking which is purely pragmatic and content to gloss over the worst kinds of enmity;³⁹ it consists in an interior change and a resultant love that unites all men in Christ. Such an authentic reconciliation is effected first and foremost in Penance, the sacrament of reconciliation, through which the faithful “obtain pardon through God’s mercy for the offense committed against Him; at the same time, they are reconciled with the Church, which they have wounded by their sin.”⁴⁰ Effective reconciliation through Penance supposes, however, that “this… sacrament of salvation… takes root in their lives as a whole and urges them on to a more fervent service of God and their brothers.”⁴¹

The principle of unity in the Church

It remains true, of course, that “in the build-up of Christ’s body… there is a variety of members and functions”⁴² and that this inevitably leads to conflicts. Such conflicts have been observed to exist even between the saints, but they were not such as to “destroy harmony and kill love.”⁴³
But how can we prevent conflicts from ending in division? The answer is that the very diversity of persons and functions give rise to a strong and sure principle of cohesion in the Church. For a very important and necessary element in the diversity is the Church’s pastors. These are emissaries sent by Christ to the rest of the faithful and endowed for their mission with an authority which, transcending as it does the functions and choices of individual members, reminds them: all of the undiluted authentic teaching of the Gospel, or “message of reconciliation” (cf. 2 Cor 5, 18–20). The authority with which pastors promulgate that message does not derive its binding force from men but has been given to them by Christ (cf. Mt 28, 18; Mk 16, 15–16; Acts 26, 17–23). Since to hear or reject them is to hear or reject Christ and if he is not a member of Christ, he does not have the life that comes from Christ’s Spirit. For, as the Apostle says, “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, does not belong to Christ.”³³

VI. SPIRIT AND PRACTICE OF RECONCILIATION

Dispositions for reconciliation

Fraternal correction

The principle of unity in the Church

It remains true, of course, that “in the build-up of Christ’s body… there is a variety of members and functions”⁴² and that this inevitably leads to conflicts. Such conflicts have been observed to exist even between the saints, but they were not such as to “destroy harmony and kill love.”⁴³
But how can we prevent conflicts from ending in division? The answer is that the very diversity of persons and functions give rise to a strong and sure principle of cohesion in the Church. For a very important and necessary element in the diversity is the Church’s pastors. These are emissaries sent by Christ to the rest of the faithful and endowed for their mission with an authority which, transcending as it does the functions and choices of individual members, reminds them: all of the undiluted authentic teaching of the Gospel, or “message of reconciliation” (cf. 2 Cor 5, 18–20). The authority with which pastors promulgate that message does not derive its binding force from men but has been given to them by Christ (cf. Mt 28, 18; Mk 16, 15–16; Acts 26, 17–23). Since to hear or reject them is to hear or reject Christ and the Father Who sent Him (cf. Lk 10, 16), the duty of the faithful to obey their legitimate pastors is evidently an essential one for a Christian.

Obligation of pastors

The Church’s pastors, in turn, form, with the successor of Peter and under his authority, a body that is of its nature one and undivided. On the harmonious exercise of their function by all these authorities and on its faithful reception by the members of the Church depends that unity of all believers in faith and communion⁴⁴ which is to be a sign to the world of the reconciliation God has effected within His Church. May the divine Savior, then, hear and answer the petition addressed to him in the Office: “Be always present to the college of bishops and our Pope; grant them the gifts of unity, love and peace.”⁴⁵

May the sacred pastors, who in an eminent and visible manner take the part of Christ and act in His name,⁴⁶ also imitate Him by pouring out upon the people the love of God which led Him to sacrifice Himself, because He “loved the Church” and “gave Himself for her” (Eph 5, 25). May their renewed spirit of love be an effective example to the faithful and especially to priests and religious who may have failed in the duties of their ministry and vocation. Then all the Church, with “one heart and one mind” (Acts 4, 32), will be zealous once again “to propagate the gospel of peace” (Eph 6, 15).

Defection and perseverance

It is a source of pain and sorrow to Mother Church that some of her sons in the ministerial priesthood, or otherwise consecrated to the service of God and their brothers, have abandoned their duties. At the same time, however, she finds consolation and joy in those who have generously persevered in the obligations they have undertaken in regard to Christ and the Church. Supported and given new strength by the good deeds of these many men and women, she seeks to turn even her sorrow into the love that can understand and forgive all things in Christ.

CONCLUSION

We Ourself, as Peter’s Successor (not by any merit of Ours but by the gift of apostolic office We have received), are the visible principle and foundation of unity for both the pastors and the multitude of the faithful.⁴⁷ We therefore exhort all to strive anew for that supreme value, reconciliation, whether with God or within ourselves or with others, so that the Church may be an effective sign in our world of union with God and unity among all His creatures.

Reconciliation is required of us by our faith in the Church, which we profess in the creed to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic.⁴⁸ We earnestly beseech all to love and follow her and to build her up, as We say with St. Augustine: “Love this Church; be part of this Church; be this Church!”⁴⁹

Motives of this Exhortation

We urge this frame of mind on all Our sons and daughters, but especially on those whose duty it is to teach their brethren; this has been the purpose of Our Exhortation. We wanted it to be pastoral and full of confidence, inspired and permeated by peace. To some it may have sounded stern or even harsh. Yet We wrote it with Our attention focused both on the state of the Church and on the strict requirements of the Gospel. Most of all, however, it has been dictated by Our deepest feelings. It comes from Our heart, for it is Our obligation to love the Church with the same love that, in the Gospel parable, prunes and trims the vine so that it may produce more abundant fruit. Finally, this Exhortation has been based on an interior hope which has never been altered or lessened by the great burden of the apostolic office.

The Spirit leads the Church

We thank God for His fidelity! We hope and trust that under the powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit men will respond to what We have said. For the Spirit is present and active in the depths of every Christian soul, leading all in humility and peace along the paths of truth and love. He is our courage and strength. We know that many sons and daughters of the Church have been waiting for the reminder We have given here, and are ready to derive profit and fruit from it. We greatly desire, indeed it is Our ardent wish, that the whole people of God would advance at Our side, as they enter with Us on the journey the Bible speaks of and the stages of sanctification proper to the Jubilee. We desire them to become one with Us so that the world may believe, and to let themselves be guided by the grace of our Lord, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

We commend these desires and prayers to the intercession of Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, “who shines as the model of virtues for the whole community of the elect” and who “has entered deeply into salvation-history and somehow… unifies and echoes the great teachings of faith in herself.”⁵⁰ Finally, We support the common desire for holiness and reconciliation with Our Apostolic Blessing, which We gladly grant.

Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8, 1974, the 12th year of Our pontificate.

PAUL VI, POPE

Footnotes:

1. f. AAS 65 (1973), 323 ff. [See TPS XVIII, 1, 5, 7].
² Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 3: AAS 57 (1965), 6 [TPS X, 360].
³ Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World of Today, no. 21: AAS 58 (1966), 1041 [TPS XI, 271].
⁴ Cf. Bull Apostolorum limina, May 23, 1974: AAS 66 (1974), 306 [TPS, XIX, 148].
⁵ St. Leo the Great, Sermo 26, 5: PL 54, 215.
⁶ Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Interpretatio Epistolae II ad Corinthios: PG 82, 411A.
⁷ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 7: AAS 57 (1965), 9 [TPS X, 362].
⁸ St. Augustine, Sermo 96, 7, 8: PL 38, 588.
⁹ St. Jerome, In Epistolam ad Ephesios, I, 2: PL 26, 504.
¹⁰ St. Ambrose, Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, V, 58: PL 15, 1737.
11 Cf. St. John Chrysostom, In Mattheum, Homily 16, 9: PG 57, 250; St. Isidore of Pelusium, Epistola 4, 111: PG 78, 1178; Nicholaus Cabasilas, Explicatio divinae Liturgiae, 26, 2: Sources Chrétiennes, vol. 4 bis, p. 171.
12 St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Epistolam II ad Corinthios: PG 74, 943D.
13 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 27: AAS 57 (1965), 32 [TPS X, 377].
14 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 11: AAS 57 (1965), 18 [TPS X, 366].
15 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 1: AAS 57 (1965), 5 [TPS X, 359].
¹⁶ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 4: AAS 57 (1965), 7 [TPS X, 361].
¹⁷ Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World of Today, no. 43: AAS 58 (1966), 1064 [TPS XI, 287].
¹⁸ Decree on Ecumenism, no. 3: AAS 57 (1965), 92 [TPS X, 176].
¹⁹ Decree on Ecumenism, no. 2: AAS 57 (1965), 92 [TPS X, 175].
²⁰ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 8: AAS 57 (1965), 11 [TPS X, 363].
²¹ Ibid. [TPS X, 364].
²² St. John Chrysostom, In Epistolam ad Colossenses, Homily 3, 5: PG 62, 324.
²³ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 10: AAS 58 (1966), 822 [TPS XI, 76].
²⁴ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 23: AAS 57 (1965), 29 [TPS X, 375].
²⁵ St. Augustine, Epistola 187, 11, 34: PL 33, 845.
²⁶ Cf. St. Ephraem Syrus, Commentarium in Evangeliorum Concordantiam, I, 18: Sources Chrétiennes, vol. 121, p. 52.
²⁷ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 7: AAS 58 (1966), 820 [TPS XI, 75].
²⁸ Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 10: AAS 58 (1966), 822 [TPS XI, 76].
²⁹ Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 8: AAS 58 (1966), 820 [TPS XI, 75].
³⁰ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 9: AAS 57 (1965), 13 [TPS X, 365].
³¹ Tertullian, Apologeticum, 29, 7: Corpus Christianorum (Series latina), 1/1, Turnhout (1954), p. 151.
³² St. Leo the Great, Tractatus 84bis, 2: Corpus Christianorum, 138A, p. 534.
³³ St. Augustine, Tractatus in Ioannis Evangelium, 27, 6: PL 35:1618.
³⁴ St. Leo the Great, Sermo 26: PL 54, 214.
³⁵ Cf. St. Maximus of Turin, Sermo 37, 2: Corpus Christianorum, 23, p. 145.
³⁶ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 13: AAS 57 (1965), 17–18 [TPS X, 368].
³⁷ Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, II-II, q. 33, a. 4: Opera omnia (Ed. Leonina), VIII, p. 266.
³⁸ Cf. St. Bonaventure, In IV librum Sententiarum, dist. 19, dub. 4: Opera omnia (Quaracchi), IV, p. 512.
³⁹ Cf. St. Jerome, Contra Pelagium, 2, 11: PL 23, 546.
⁴⁰ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 11: AAS 57 (1965), 15 [TPS X, 366].
⁴¹ Ordo Paenitentiae, Vatican City (1974), Praenotanda, no. 7, p. 14.
⁴² Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 7: AAS 57 (1965), 10 [TPS X, 362–363].
⁴³ St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 33, 19: PL 36, 318.
⁴⁴ Cf. Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus, Prooemium: Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, no. 3050; Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 18: AAS 57 (1965), 22 [TPS X, 370].
⁴⁵ Liturgia Horarum, IV, Vatican City (1972), p. 513.
⁴⁶ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 21: AAS 57 (1965), 25 [TPS X, 373].
⁴⁷ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 23: AAS 57 (1965), 27 [TPS X, 374].
⁴⁸ Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 8: AAS 57 (1965), 23 [TPS X, 364].
⁴⁹ St. Augustine, Sermo 138, 10: PL 38, 769.
⁵⁰ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 65: AAS 57 (1965), 64 [TPS X, 398].

Image: Pope St. Paul VI strikes the Holy Door to open the 1975 Jubilee for Renewal and Reconciliation.

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Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.