Posted on 09/08/2007 9:51:11 AM PDT by Pyro7480
A hundred years ago, on September 8, 1907, Pope Saint Pius X (1903–1914) published the Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (Feeding the Lord’s Flock) against the devastating doctrines of Modernism.
It was the culmination of an offensive that caused irre-parable damage to Modernism. A month earlier, the Congregation of the Holy Office had published the Lamentabili Sane Decree condemning 65 distinct modernist propositions. Thus, it is fitting to celebrate the centennial of this great document that changed the Church’s history....
Modernist Doctrines
Below are quotes that summarize the doctrine denounced in the Encyclical with subtitles to facilitate understanding....
It is an evolutionist, agnostic philosophy that denies the value of human reason and the supernatural; and destroys the basis of theology that are the motives of credibility
“35. Thus do they argue, not perceiving that their determination of the primitive germ is only an a priori assumption of agnostic and evolutionist philosophy, and that the germ itself has been gratuitously defined so that it may fit in with their contention.”
“6. Modernists place the foundation of religious philosophy in that doctrine which is usually called Agnosticism. According to this teaching human reason is confined entirely within the field of phenomena, that is to say, to things that are perceptible to the senses, and in the manner in which they are perceptible; it has no right and no power to transgress these limits. Hence it is incapable of lifting itself up to God, and of recognizing His existence, even by means of visible things. From this it is inferred that God can never be the direct object of science, and that, as regards history, He must not be considered as an historical subject. Given these premises, all will readily perceive what becomes of Natural Theology, of the motives of credibility, of external revelation.”
...Not only dogmas must evolve, but also Church structures and the liturgy
“38. From all that has preceded, some idea may be gained of the reforming mania which possesses them: in all Catholicism there is absolutely nothing on which it does not fasten.... Regarding worship, the number of external devotions is to be reduced, or at least steps must be taken to prevent their further increase, though, indeed, some of the admirers of symbolism are disposed to be more indulgent on this head. Ecclesiastical government . . . [has to be in] spirit with the public conscience, which is not wholly for democracy; a share in ecclesiastical government should therefore be given to the lower ranks of the clergy, and even to the laity, and authority should be decentralized.”
...A Move as Important as the Victory in Lepanto
It is fitting to close this article with the following commentary...
“If Saint Pius X had not fulminated the Modernist heresy, the world would have quickly marched toward pantheism and atheism. As a result, the whole action of communism all over the earth would not have met the enormous obstacles it did.”
“The condemnation of Modernism was, therefore, an historical event as important as the victory in Lepanto. Thus, [by canonizing Saint Pius X] Pius XII must be eternally remembered by mankind since he has given us such a great saint as model and protector.”
I forgot to add that the above is an excerpt.
Read the entire article at: The Centennial of the Encyclical Pascendi Against the Modernists
Thanks for this thread and for the entire document.
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bttt
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