Authority Rejected
1.   The long-continued and most bitter war waged against the divine authority of the Church has reached the culmination to which it was tending, the common danger, namely, of human society, especially of the civil power on which the public safety chiefly reposes.  In our own times most particularly this result is apparent.  For popular passions now reject, with more boldness than formerly, every restraint of authority.  So great is the license on all sides, so frequent are seditions and tumults, that not only is obedience often refused to those who rule states, but a sufficiently safe guarantee of security does not seem to have been left to them.

Attempts on Lives of Rulers
      For a long time, indeed, pains have been taken to render rulers the object of contempt and hatred to the multitude.  The flames of envy thus excited have at last burst forth, and attempts have been several times made, at very short intervals, on the life of sovereign princes, either by secret plots or by open attacks.  The whole of Europe was lately filled with horror at the horrible murder of a most powervul Emperor. (The Emperor referred to is Alexander II of Russia, who was assasinated in March 1881, while actively engaged in a program of reform.  In 1867 Emperor Maximilian had been executed in Mexico.  At the time this Encyclical was written the century had already received its title of "the age of revolutions."  In the matter regicides we can recall in our own day the abhorrent and cold blooded murder of the whole Czarist family by the Communists of Russia.)  Whilst the minds of men are still filled with astonishment at the magnitude of the crime, abandoned men do not fear publicly to utter threats and intimidations against other European princes.

Principles of Stability
2.   These perils to commonwealths, which are before Our eyes, fill Us with grave anxiety, when We behold the security of Rulers and the tranquillity of Empires, together with the safety of nations, put in peril almost from hour to hour.  Nevertheless, the divine power of the Christian Religion has given birth to excellent principles of stability and order for the State, while at the same time it has penetrated into the customs and institutions of States.  And of this power not the least or last fruit is a just and wise proportion  of mutual rights and duties in both Princes and peoples.  For in the precepts and examples of Christ Our Lord there is a wonderful force restraining in their duty as much those who obey as those who rule; and for keeping between them that agreement which is most according to nature, and that concord of wills, so to speak, from which arises a course of administration tranquil and free from all disturbance.  Wherefore, being, by the favor of God, entrusted with the government of the Cathoic Church, and made guardian and interpreter of the doctrines of Christ, We judge that it belongs to Our jurisdiction, Venerable Brethren, publicly to set forth what Catholic truth demands of every one in this sphere of duty; thus making clear also by what way and by what means measures may be taken for the public safety in so critical a state of affairs.

Authority Indespensable
3.   Although man, when excited by a certain arrogance and contumacy, has often striven to cast aside the reins of authority, yet never has he been able to arrive at the state of obeying no one.  In every association and community of men necessity itself compels that some should hold pre-eminence; lest society, deprived of a prince or head, by which it is ruled, should come to dissolution and be prevented from attaining the end for which it was created and instituted.  But if it was not possible that political power should be removed from the midst of states, it is certain that men have used every art to take away its influence and to lessen its majesty, as was especially the case in the sixteenth century, when a fatal novelty of opinions infatuated many.  Since that epoch not only has the multitude striven after a liberty greater than is just, but it has seen fit to fashion the origin and constitution of the civil society of men in accordance with its own will.

Authority, Whence derived?
      Indeed, very many men of more recent times, walking in the footsteps of those who in a former age assumed to themselves the name of philosophers, say that all power comes from the people; so that those who exercise in the State do so not as their own, but as delegated to them by the people, and that, by this rule, it can be revoked by the will of the very people by whom it was delegated.  But from these Catholics dissent, who affirm that the right to rule from God, as from a natural and necessary principle.

Choice of People
4.   It is of importance, however, to remark in this place that those who may be placed over the State may in certain cases be chosen by the will and decision of the multitude, without opposition to or of impugning of the Catholic Doctrine.  And by the choice, in truth, the ruler is designated, but the rights of ruling are not thereby conferred.  Nor is the authority delegated to him, but the person by whom it is to be exercised is determined upon. (The people can designate the ruler, but God alone confers the authority on the ruler chosen by them.  They determine only the manner or mode of exercising it.
    Whether the authority comes to the ruler directly from God, or comes to him through the people from God, is open to discussion.  Both opinions are entirely legitimate.  The latter was held by the canonized saint and Doctor of the Church, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, S.J., also by the famous theologian Suarez, S.J., and excellently accords with the ideas of the Founders Fathers of the United States.)

Forms of Government
      There is no question here respecting forms of government, for there is no reason why the Church should not approve of the chief power being held by one man or by more, provided only it be just, and that it tend to the common advantage.  Wherefore, so long as justice be respected, the people are not hindered from choosing for themselves that form of government which suits best either their own disposition, or the institutions and customs of their ancestors.

All Powers from God
5.    But as regards political power, the Church rightly teaches that it come from God, for it finds this clearly testified in the Sacred Scriptures and in the monuments of antiquity; besides, no other doctrine can be conceived which is more agreeable to reason, or more in accord with the safety of both princes and people.

Scriptures
6.    In truth, that the source of human power is in God the books of the Old Testament in very many places clearly establish.  "By Me kings reign . . . by Me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice." (Prov. viii, 15, 16.)  And in another place, "Give ear you that rule the people . . . for power is given you of the Lord and strength by the most High." (Wisd. vi, 3, 4.)  The same thing is contained in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: "Over every nation He has set a ruler." (xvii, 14.)  These things however, which they had learned of God, men were little by little untaught through heathen superstition, which even as it has corrupted the true aspect and often the very concept of things, so also it has corrupted the natural form and beauty of the chief power.  Aftefwards, when the Christian Gospel shed its light, vanity yielded to truth, and that noble and divine principle whence all authority flows began to shine forth.  To the Roman Governor, ostentatiously pretending that he had the power of releasing and of condemning, our Lord Jesus Christ answered: "Thou shalt not have any power against Me unless it were given thee from above." (John xix, 11.)  And St. Augustine, in explaining this passage, says, "Let us learn what He said, which also He taught by His Apostle, that there is no power but from God."  The faithful voice of the Apostles, as an echo, repeats the doctrine and precepts of Jesus Christ.  The teaching of Paul to the Romans, when subject to the authority of heathen princes, is lofty and full of gravity: "There is no power but from God," from which he draws this seemingly necessary conclusion: "The prince is the minister of God." (Rom. xiii, 1, 4.)

Fathers of the Church
7.    The Fathers of the Church have taken great care to proclaim and propagate this very doctrine in which they had been instructed.  "We do not attribute," says Augustine, "the power of giving government and empires to any but the true God."  On the same passage St. John Chrysostom says: "That there are kingdoms, and that same rule, while others are subject, and that none of these things are brought about by accident or rashly . . . is, I say, a work of divine Wisdom."  The same truth testified by St. Gregory the Great, saying: "We confess that power is given from above to emperors and kings."  Verily the holy doctors have undertaken to illustrate also the same precepts by the natural light of reason in such a way that they must appear to be altogether right and true, even to those who follow reason for their sole guide.

Light of Reaso
      And indeed nature, or rather God who is the author of nature, wills that man should live in a civil society; and this is clearly shown, both by the faculty of language, the greatest of medium of intercourse, and by numerous innate desires of the mind, and the many necessary things, and things of great importance, which men isolated cannot procure, but which they can procure when joined and associated with others.  But now, a society can neither exist nor be conceived in which there is no one to govern the wills of individuals, in such a way as to make, as it were, one will out of many, and to impel them rightly and orderly to the common good; therefore God has willed that in a civil society there should be some to rule the multitude.  And this also is a powerful argument, that those by whose authority the State is administered must be able so to compel the citizens to obedience that it is clearly a sin in the latter not to obey.  But no man has in himself or of himself the power of constraining the free will of others by fetters of authority of this kind.  This power resides in solely in God, the Creator and Legislator of all things; and it is necessary that those who exercise it should do it as having received it from God.  "There is one lawgiver and judge, who is able to destroy and deliver." (James iv, 12.)   And this is clearly seen in every kind of power.  That that which resides in Priests comes from God, is so acknowledged that among all nations they are recognized as, and called, the Ministers of God.  In like manner the authority of fathers of families preservers a certain impressed image and form of the authority which is in God, "of whom all paternity in Heaven and earth is named." (Eph. iii, 15.)  But in this way different kinds of authority have between them wonderful resemblances, since whatever there is of government and authority, its origin is derived from one and the same Creator and Lord of the world, who is God.

Power Not from Consent
8.   Those who believe civil society to have arisen from the free consent of men, (The central idea of  "the age of revolution"  is here set forth, as expressed by Rrousseau in his Contrat Social  (1716). )  looking for the origin of its authority from the same source, say that each individual has given up something of his right, and that voluntarily every person has put himself into the power of the one man in whose person the whole of those rights has been centered.  But it is a great error not to see, what is manifest, that men, as they are not a nomad race, have been created, without their own free will, for a natural community of life. It is plain, moreover, that the agreement which they allege is openly a falsehood and a fiction, and that it has no authority to confer on political power such great force, dignity, and firmness as the safety of the State and the common good of the citizens require.  Then only will the government have all those ornaments and guarentees, when it is understood to emanate from God as its august and most sacred source.

A Divine Gift
9.    And than this opinion it is impossible that any should be found not only more true but even more advantageous.  For the authority of the rulers of a State, if it be a certain communication of divine power, will by that very reason immediately acquire a dignity greater than human -- not, indeed, that impious and most absurd dignity sometimes desired by heathen emperors when affecting divine honors, but a true solid one received by a certain divine gift and benefaction.  Whence it will behoove citizens to submit themselves and to be obedient to rulers, as to God, not so much through fear of punishment, as through respect for their majesty; nor for the sake of pleasing, but through conscience, as doing their duty.  And by this means authority will remain far more firmly seated in its place.  For the citizens, perceiving the force of this duty, would necesssarily avoid dishonesty and contumacy, because they must be persuaded that they who resist State authority resist the divine Will; that they who refuse honor to rulers refuse it to God Himself. (This must not be confused with the so-called "divine right of kings" a doctrine absolutely rejected by the Church.  It is accredited particularly to James I.  The claim of "divine rights" doctrine is that power comes to the king not merely by a direct, but by a positive divine intervention independent of any human action or constitution.  Cardinal Bellarmine was the leading champion in the fight against this vicious error, which through ignorance has often been ascribed to the Church.  It is calculated to remove all restraint from the monarch and is in opposition to the whole spirit of this Encyclical.)

Sts. Peter and Paul
10.   This doctrine the Apostle Paul particularly inculcated on the Romans; to whom he wrote with so great authority and weight on the reverence to be entertained towards the higher powers, that it seems nothing could be prescribed more weightily: "Let every soul be subject to higher powers, for there is no power but from God, and those that are ordained of God.  Therefore he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist purchase to themselves damnation . . . wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." (Rom. xiii, 1, 2, 5.)  And in agreement with this is the celebrated declaration of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, on the same subject.  "Be ye subject, therefore, to every human creature for God's sake; whether it be to the king as excelling, or to governors, as sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of the good, for so is the will of God." (1 Pet. ii, 13, 15.)

When Authority is Invalid
11.   The one only reason which men have for not obeying is when anything is demanded of them which is openly repugnant to the natural or the divine law, for it is equally unlawful to command and to do anything in which the law of nature or the will of God is violated.  If, therefore, it should happen to any one to be compelled to prefer one or the other, viz., to disregard either the commands of God or those of rulers, he must obey Jesus Christ, who commands us to "give to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's, and to give to God the things that are God's," (Matt. xxii, 21.)  and must reply courageously after the example of the Apostles, "We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts, v, 29.)  And yet there is no reason why those who so behave themselves should be accused of refusing obedience; for if the will of rulers is opposed to the will and laws of God, they themselves exceed the bounds of their own power and prevert justice; nor can their authority then be valid, which, when there is no justice, is null. (An unjust law is no law.)

Rulers Held to Account
12.   But in order that justice may be retained in government it is of the highest importance that those who rule states should understand that political power was not created for the advantage of any private individual; and that the administration of the State must be carried on to the profit of those who have been committed to their care, not to the profit of those to whom it has been committed.  Let princes take example from the Most High God, by whom authority is given to them; and placing before themselves His model in governing the State, let them rule over the people with equity and faithfulness, and let them add to that severity, which is necessary, a paternal charity.  On this account they are warned in the oracles of the Sacred Scriptures, that they will have themselves some day to render an account to the King of kings and Lord of lords; if they shall fail in their duty, that it will not be possible for them in any way to escape the severity of God: "The most High will examine your work and search out your thoughts: because being ministers of His Kingdom you have not judged rightly. . . . Horribly and speedily will He appear to you, for a most severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule. . . . For God will not accept any man's person, neither will He stand in awe of any man's greatness; for He made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all.  But a greater punishment is ready for the more mighty." (Wisd. vi, 4, 5, 6, 8.)

To Serve for God's Sake
13.   And if these precepts protect the State, all cause or desire for seditions is removed; the honor and security of rulers, the quiet and well-being of states will be secure.  The dignity also of the citizens is best provided for; for to them it has been permitted to retain even in obedience that greatness which conduces to the excellence of man.  For they understand that, in the judgment of God, there is neither slave nor free man; that there is one Lord of all, rich "to all that call upon Him," (Rom. x, 12.)  but that they on this account submit to and obey their rulers, because these in a certain sort bring before them the image of God, "whom to serve is to reign." (Our obedience to human authority is to be rendered, not as to man, but as to God from whom man holds his power.  Thus the Apostle would have us obey "in the simplicity of your hearts, as to Christ . . . with a good will serving, as to the Lord, and not to man." (Eph. vi, 5-7.) .)

Under Pagan Emperors
14.   But the Church has always so acted that the Christian form of civil government may not only dwell in the minds of men, but that it may be exhibited also in the life and habits of Nations.  As long as there were at the helm of the States pagan emperors, who were prevented by superstition from rising to that form of imperial government which We have sketched, she studied how to instil into the minds of subjects, immediately on their embracing the Christians institutions, the teaching that they must be desirous of bringing their lives into conformity with them.  Therefore the Pastors of souls, after the example of the Apostle Paul, were accustomed to teach the people with the utmost care and diligence "to be subject to princes and powers, to obey at a word," (Tit. iii, 1.)  and to pray God for all men and particularly "for kings and all that are in a high station: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." (1 Tim. ii, 1-3.)  And the Christians of old left the most striking proofs of this; for when they were harassed in a very unjust and cruel way by pagan emperors, they nevertheless at no time omitted to conduct themselves obediently and submissively; so that, in fact, they seemed to vie with each other, those in cruelty and these in obedience.

Loyalty of Christians
      This great modesty, this fixed determination to obey, was so well known that it could not be obscured by the calumny and malice of enemies.  On this account those who were going to plead in public before the emperors for any persons bearing the Christian name, proved by this argument especially that it was unjust to enact laws against the Christians because they were in the sight of all men exemplary in their bearing according to the laws.  Athenagoras thus confidently addresseas Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus his son: "You allow us, who commit no evil, yea, who demean ourselves the most piously and justly of all towards God and likewise towards your government, to be driven about, plundered and exiled."  In like manner Tertullian openly praises the Christians because they were the best and surest friends of all to the Empire: " The Christian is the enemy of no one, much less of the Emperor, whom he knows to be appointed by God, and whom he must, therefore, of necessity love, reverence and honor, and wish to be preserved together with the whole Roman Empire."  Nor dd he hesitate to affirm, that within the limits of the Empire, the number of enemies was wont to dimish just in proportion as the number of Christians increased.  There is also a remarkable testimony to the same point in the Epistle to Diognetus, which confirms that the Christians at that period were not only in the habit of obeying the laws, but in every office they of their own accord did more, and more perfectly, than they were required to do by the laws.  "Christians observe these things which have obtained the sanction of the law, and in the character of their lives they even go beyond the law."

Divine Authority First
15.   The case, indeed, was different when they were ordered by the edicts of Emperors and the threats of Praetors to abandon the Christian faith or in any way fail in their duty.  At these times, undoubtedly, they preferred to displease men rather than God.  Yet even under these circumstances they were so far from doing anything seditious or despising the Imperial Majesty, that they took it on themselves only to profess themselves Christians, and declare that they would not in any way alter their faith.  But they had no thought of resistance; calmly and joyfully they went to the torture of the rack, in so much that the magnitude of the torments gave place to their magnitude of mind.  During the same period the force of Christian principles was observed in like manner in the army.  For it was a mark of a Christian soldier to combine the greater fortitude with the greatest attention to military discipline, and to add to nobility of mind immovable fidelity towards his prince.  But, if anything dishonorable was required of him, as, for instance, to break the laws of God, or to turn sword against innocent disciples of Christ, then, indeed, he refused to execute the orders, yet in such wise that he would rather retire from the army and die for his religion than oppose the public authority by means of sedition and tumult.

Under Christian Princes
16.   But afterwards, when Christian rulers were at the head of states, the Church insisted much more on testifying and preaching how much sanctity was inherent in the authority of rulers.  Hence, when people thought of princedom, the image of a certain sacred majesty was present itself in their minds, by which they would be impelled to greater reverence and love of rulers.  And on this account she wisely provides that kings should commence their reign with the celebration of solemn rites; which, in the Old Testament, was appointed by divine authority.

Under Holy Roman Empire
      But from the time when the civil society of men, raised from the ruins of the Roman Empire, gave hope of its future Christian greatness, the Roman Pontiffs, by the constitution of the Holy Empire, consecrated the political power in a wonderful manner.  Greatly, indeed, was the authority of rulers ennobled; and it is not to be doubted that what was then instituted would always have been a very great gain, both to ecclesiastical and civil society, if princes and peoples had ever looked to the same object as the Church.  And, indeed, tranquillity and a sufficient prosperity lasted so long as there was a friendly agreement between these two powers.  If the people were turbulent, the Church was at once the mediator for peace.  Recalling all to their duty, she subdued the more lawless passions partly by kindness and partly by authority.  So, if, in ruling, princes erred in their government, she went to them and, putting before them the rights, needs, and lawful wants of their people, urged them to equity, mercy and kindness.  Whence it was often brought about that the dangers of civil wars and popular tumults were stayed.

Demeaning Authority
17.   On the other hand, the theories of the body politic invented by the late writers have already produced great ills amongst men, and it is to be feared that they will cause the very greatest disasters to posterity.  For an unwillingness to attribute the right of ruling to God, as its author, is no less than a willingness to blot out the greatest splendor of political power and to destroy its force.  And they who say that this power depends on the will of the people err in opinion first of all; then they place authority on too weak and unstable a foundation.  For the popular passions, incited and goaded on by these opinions, will break out more insolently; and, with great harm to the common weal, descend headlong by an easy and smooth road to tumults and to open sedition.  In truth, sudden uprisings and the boldest rebellions immediately followed in Germany the so-called Reformation, (Accurate this statement is, it nevertheless called forth a chorus of criticism from those who felt themselves aggrieved by it.  The fact is that the promulgation of the new idea of "individual interpretation" definitely cast a halo not merely religious approval, but of positive religious dogma about the scepticism and rationalism which were the menace of the modern world.  The custom of the proponents of these twin modern errors has been to adjudicate all things, even the most sacredly established, in the high court of their own individual, though sorely fallible, judgement.  From this stage onward the logical development that led to the revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is plain for everyone to see.)  the authors and leaders of which, by their new doctrines, attacked at the very foundation religious and civil authority; and this with so fearful an outburst of civil war and with such slaughter, that there was scarcely anyplace free from tumult and bloodshed.  From this heresy there arose in the last century the false philosophy -- a  new right as it is called, and a popular authority, together with an unbridled license which many regard as the only true liberty.  Hence we have reached the limit of horrors, to wit, Communism, Socialism, Nihilism, hideous deformities of the civil society of men and almost its ruin.  And yet too many attempts to enlarge the scope of these evils, and under the pretext of helping the multitude, already have fanned no small no small flames of misery.  The things we thus mention are neither unknown nor very remote from us.

Rule by Fear
18.   This indeed is all the graver because rulers, in the midst of such threatening dangers, have no remedies sufficient to restore discipline and tranquillity.  They supply themselves with the power of laws, and think to coerce, by the severity of their punishment, those who disturb their governments. They are right to a certain extent, but yet should seriously consider that no power of punishment can be so great that it alone can preserve the State.  For fear, as St. Thomas admirably teaches, "is a weak foundation; for those who are subdued by fear would, should an occasion arise in which they might hope for immunity, rise more eagerly against their rulers, in proportion to the previous extent of their restraint through fear."  And besides, "from too great fear many fall into despair; and despair drives men to attempt boldly to gain what they desire."  That these things are so we see from experience.  It is therefore necesary to seek a higher and more reliable reason for obedience, and to say explicitly that legal severity cannot be efficacious unless men are led on by duty, and moved by the salutary fear of God.  But this is what religion can best ask of them, religion which by its power enters into the souls and bends the very wills of men, causing them not only to render obedience to their rulers, but also to show their affection and goodwill, which is in every society of men the best guardian of safety.

Church Upholds Authority
19.   For this reason the Roman Pontiffs are to be regarded as having greatly served the public good, for they have ever endeavored to break the turbulent and restless spirit of innovators, and have often warned men of the danger they are to civil society.  In this respect we may worthily recall to mind the declaration of Clement VII to Ferdinand, King of Bohemia and Hungary: "In the cause of faith your own dignity and advantage and that of other rulers is included, since the faith cannot be shaken without your authority being brought down; which has been most clearly shown in several instances."  In the same way the supreme forethought and courage of Our Predecessors have been shown, especially of Clement XI, Benedict XIV, and Leo XII, who, when in their day the evil of vicious doctrine was widely spreading and the boldness of the sects was becoming greater, endeavored by their authority to close the door against them.  And We Ourselves have several declared what great dangers are impending, and have pointed out the best ways of warding them off.  To princes and other rulers of the State we have offered the protection of religion, and we have exhorted the people to make abundant use of the great benefits which the Church supplies.  Our present object is to make rulers understand that this protection, which is stranger than any, is again offered to them; and We earnestly exhort them in Our Lord to defend religion, and to consult the interest of their states by giving that liberty to the Church which cannot be taken away without injury and ruin to the commonwealth.

Church's Liberty a Public Good
      The Church of Christ indeed cannot be an object of suspicion to rulers, nor of hatred to the people; for it urges rulers to follow justice, and in nothing to decline from their duty; while at the same time it strengthens and in many ways supports their athority.  All things that are of a civil nature the Church acknowledges and declares to be under the power and authority of the ruler: and in things whereof for different reasons the decision belongs both to the sacred and to the civil power, the Church wishes that there should be harmony between the two so that injurious contests may be avoided.  As to what regards the people, the Church has been established for the salvation of all men and has ever loved them as a mother.  For it is the Church which by the exercise of her charity has given gentleness to the minds of men, kindness to their manners, and justice to their laws. Never opposed to honest liberty, the Church has always detested a tyrant's role.  This custom which the Church has ever had of deserving well of mankind is notably expressed by St. Augustine when he says: "the Church teaches kings to study the welfare of their people, and people to submit to their kings, showing what is due to all; and that to all is due charity and to no one injustice."

Summary
20.   For these reasons, Venerable Brethren, your work will be most useful and salutary if you employ with Us every industry and effort which God has given you in order to avert the dangers and evils of human society.  Strive with all possible care to make men understand and show forth in their lives what the Catholic Church teaches on government and the duty of obedience.  Let the people be frequently urged by your authority and teaching to fly from the forbidden sects, to abhor all conspiracy, to have nothing to do with sedition, and let them understand  that they who for God's sake obey their rulers render a reasonable service and a generous obedience.  And it is God "who gives safety to kings," (Ps. cxliii, 11.) and grants to the people "to rest in the beauty of peace and in the tabernacles of confidence and in wealthy repose," (Isa. xxxii, 18.) it is to Him that we must pray, beseeching Him to incline all minds to uprightness and truth, to calm angry passions, to restore the long-wished for tranquillity to the world.

Celestial Patrons
21.   That we may pray with greater hope, let us take as our intercessors protectors of our welfare the Virgin Mary, the Great Mother of God, the help of Christians, and Protector of the human race; St. Joseph, her chaste spouse, in whose Patronage the whole Church greatly trusts; and the Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, the guardians and protectors of the Christian name.

      Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the twenty-ninth day of June, 1881, the third year of Our Pontificate.
                                                                                                        Pope Leo XIII

    As Peter was given a new name so does the new Supreme Pontiff become known by another.  After the election he extends his first blessing to the people -- a Benediction which was not given in the open for years until Pope Pius XI established the custom.
    The Coronation, one of the most magnificent of Vatican Ceremonies, takes place shortly after the election.  With the Pope carried high in a golden chair and attended by brilliantly attired chamberlains and soldiers, the Coronation Mass is an unrivaled spectacle of beauty, dignity, and ancient pageantry.  At the Coronation, in the midst of the pomp and splendor, a master of ceremonies recites in Latin: "Holy Father, thus does the glory of the world pass away."  As the first Cardinal Deacon places the three-crowned Tiara on the head of the Pope, he says: "Receive the three-crowned Tiara, and know that thou art the Father of Princes and Kings, the Pastor of the earth, and Vicar of Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory forever.  Amen."
    The CORONATION of Pope Pius XII took place on the balcony of St. Peter's in March, 1939.  (From the book "The Vatican and Holy Year" by Stephen S. Fenichell & Phillip Andrews. -- 1950 edition.)

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