IN MULTIPLICIBUS CURIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XIION PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN PALESTINE
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
1. Among the multiple preoccupations which beset us in this
period of time, so full of decisive consequences for the life of the
great human family, and which make Us feel so seriously the burden of
the Supreme Pontificate, Palestine occupies a particular place on
account of the war which harasses it. In all truth We can tell you,
Venerable Brethren, that neither joyous nor sad events diminish the
sorrow which is kept alive in Our soul by the thought that, in the land
in which our Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood to bring redemption and
salvation to all mankind, the blood of man continues to flow; and that
beneath the skies which echoed on that fateful night with the Gospel
tidings of peace, men continue to fight and to increase the distress of
the unfortunate and the fear of the terrorized, while thousands of
refugees, homeless and driven, wander from their fatherland in search of
shelter and food.
2. To make Our sorrow more grievous, there is not only
the news which continually reaches Us of the destruction and damage of
sacred buildings and charitable places built around the Holy Places, but
there is also the fear that this inspires in Us for the fate of the
Holy Places themselves scattered throughout Palestine, and more
especially within the Holy City.
3. We must assure you, Venerable Brethren, that
confronted with the spectacle of many evils and the forecast of worse to
come, We have not withdrawn into Our sorrow, but have done all in Our
power to provide a remedy. Even before the armed conflict began,
speaking to a delegation of Arab dignitaries who came to pay homage to
Us, We manifested our lifelong solicitude for peace in Palestine, and,
condemning any recourse to violence, We declared that peace could only
be realized in truth and justice; that is to say by respecting the
rights of acquired traditions, especially in the religious field, as
well as by the strict fulfillment of the duties and obligations of each
group of inhabitants.
4. When war was declared, without abandoning the
attitude of impartiality which was imposed by Our apostolic duty, which
places Us above the conflicts which agitate human society, We did not
fail to do Our utmost, in the measure which depended upon Us, and
according to the possibilities offered to Us, for the triumph of justice
and peace in Palestine and for the respect and protection of the Holy
Places.
5. At the same time, although numerous and urgent
appeals are received daily by the Holy See, We have sought as much as
possible to come to the aid of the unhappy victims of the war, sending
the means at Our disposal to Our representatives in Palestine, the
Lebanon, and Egypt for this purpose, and encouraging the formation among
Catholics in various countries of undertakings organized for the same
purpose.
6. Convinced, however, of the insufficiency of human
means for the adequate solution of a question the complexity of which no
one can fail to see, We have, above all, had constant recourse to
prayer, and in Our recent Encyclical Letter, Auspicia Quaedam, We
invited you, Venerable Brethren, to pray, and to have the faithful
entrusted to your pastoral care pray, in order that, under the auspices
of the Blessed Virgin, matters may be settled in justice and peace, and
concord may be happily restored in Palestine. As We said on June 2nd to
members of the Sacred College of Cardinals, informing them of Our
anxieties for Palestine, We do not believe that the Christian world
could contemplate indifferently, or in sterile indignation, the
spectacle of the sacred land (which everyone approached with the deepest
respect to kiss with most ardent love) trampled over again by troops
and stricken by aerial bombardments. We do not believe that it could
permit the devastation of the Holy Places, the destruction of the great
sepulcher of Christ.
7. We are full of faith that the fervent prayers raised
to Almighty and Merciful God by the Christians throughout the world who,
together with the aspirations of so many noble hearts, are ardently
inspired by truth and good, will render less arduous to the men who hold
the destinies of peoples the task of making justice and peace in
Palestine a beneficial reality and of creating, with the efficient
co-operation of all those interested, an order that may guarantee
security of existence and, at the same time, the moral and physical
conditions of life conducive to spiritual and material well-being, to
each of the parties at present in conflict.
8. We are full of faith that these prayers and these
hopes, an indication of the value that the Holy Places have for so great
a part of the human family, will strengthen the conviction in the high
quarters in which the problems of peace are discussed that it would be
opportune to give Jerusalem and its outskirts, where are found so many
and such precious memories of the life and death of the Savior, an
international character which, in the present circumstances, seems to
offer a better guarantee for the protection of the sanctuaries. It would
also be necessary to assure, with international guarantees, both free
access to Holy Places scattered throughout Palestine, and the freedom of
worship and the respect of customs and religious traditions.
9. And God grant that the day may soon dawn when
Christians may resume their pilgrimages to the Holy Places, there to see
more clearly revealed, as they contemplate the evidence of the love of
Jesus Christ, Who gave His life for His brethren, how men and nations
may live harmoniously together, at peace with their world and
themselves.
10. With reliance, then, on this hope, as a pledge of
heavenly favors and in token of our affection, gladly in the Lord do we
impart to you, Venerable Brethren, and to your flocks, as to all who
will take this appeal of Ours to heart, Our Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, on the 24th day of October, in the year 1948, the tenth of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
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