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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION

OF HIS HOLINESS
MAY 1975

POPE PAUL VI

TO THE EPISCOPATE

TO THE CLERGY AND TO THE FAITHFUL

OF THE ENTIRE WORLD

ON RECONCILIATION WITHIN
THE CHURCH

Paterno Cum Benevolentio

1975

Publications Office

UNITED STATES EATHOLIC EONFERENCE

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.E. 20005





POPE PAUL VI
VENERABLE BROTHERS

AND DEAR SONS AND DAUGHTERS:

HEALTH AND THE APOSTOLIC BLESSING

With affection, confidence and hope we turn to all of you, our

brothers in the Episcopate, the beloved members of the clergy and

Religious Families and the Catholic laity. We do so just before
the celebration of the Holy Year in Rome at the Basilicas of the
Apostles, now that you have already celebrated the Jubilee in the

local Churches with piety and with harmony of sentiments and

resolves.

It is a moment of great importance for the entire world, which
is looking to the Church. But principally so for the sons and

daughters of the Church herself—those who are aware of the
riches of her mystery of holiness and grace, which the recent

Council has opportunely shed light upon. And therefore we ad-
dress ourself to them with a cordial invitation to charity and to

mutual union in the spirit of reconciliation proper to the Holy Year,

in the bond of the one love of Christ.

In fact, from the moment in which on May 9, 1973 we mani-
fested our decision to celebrate the Holy Year in 1975, we like-
wise manifested the primary goal of this spiritual and penitential

celebration. This goal was to be reconciliation, founded on con-

version to God and the interior renewal of man, and which would
heal the rifts and disorders which mankind and the very ecclesial

community are suffering from today. 1

Since the beginning of the jubilee celebrations which began by

our decision in the local churches at Pentecost 1973, we have
neglected no opportunity of accompanying those celebrations
with our doctrinal and pastoral interventions and with pressing

reminders of the goal to be reached—a goal which we consider
to be in perfect harmony with the most authentic spirit of the
Gospel and with the guidelines of renewal formulated by the Sec-
ond Vatican Council for the entire Church.

1



This Church, established by Christ as a permanent sign of the

reconciliation accomplished by him in accordance with the will of

the Father, 2 has the task “under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

who renews and purifies her ceaselessly, to make God the Father
and his Incarnate Son present and in a sense visible.” 3 In order

that this task may be even better fulfilled, it has therefore seemed
to us necessary to underline the urgency for everyone in the

Church to promote “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

(Eph 4:3).

With the Solemnity of Christmas imminent—the date which we
established for the opening of the universal Jubilee in Rome 4—
we present this Exhortation to the Pastors and faithful of the

Church, that they may all become agents and promoters of
reconciliation with God and with their brethren, and that this

coming Christmas of the Holy Year may truly be for the world
the “Birth of Peace,” 5 as was the birth of the Saviour.

2



1

THE CHURCH: A RECONCILED

AND RECONCILING WORLD

From the very beginning of the transformation wrought by

Christ’s redeeming action the Church has been aware and has

joyfully proclaimed that through that action the world has become

a radically new reality (cf. 2 Cor 5 : 17)—a reality in which men
have rediscovered God and hope (cf. Eph 2:12) and even here
and now have been made sharers in the glory of God “through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our
reconciliation” (Rom 5 : 11).

This newness is owed exclusively to the merciful initiative of

God (cf. 2 Cor 5 : 18-20; Col 1 : 20-22)—an initiative that comes
to meet man who, having withdrawn from God by his own fault,
was no longer able to find peace once more with his Creator.

This initiative of God was then actualized through a direct

divine intervention. God in fact has not simply pardoned us, nor

has he made use of a mere man as an intermediary between us
and himself: he has established his “only begotten Son an inter-

cessor of peace.” 6 “For our sake God made the sinless one into
sin so that in him we might become the goodness of God” (2 Cor
5 : 21). In reality, Christ, by dying for us, has cancelled out

“every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away
with it by nailing it to the Cross” (Col 2 : 14). And by means of
the Cross he has reconciled us with God: “In his own person he
has killed the hostility” (Eph 2 : 16).

Reconciliation, effected by God in Christ crucified, is inscribed
in the history of the world. That history now includes among its
irreversible elements the event of God having become man and
having died to save man. But reconciliation finds a permanent

historical expression in the Body of Christ, which is the Church,
in which the Son of God calls together “his breathren from all

3



peoples" 7 and, as her Head (cf. Col 1 : 18), is her principle of

authority and of action that constitutes her on earth as a "recon-

ciled world.” 8

Since the Church is the Body of Christ and Christ is the "Sav-

iour of his body” (Eph 5 : 23), in order to be worthy members
of this Body all must in fidelity to the Christian commitment con-

tribute to preserving it in its original nature as the community

of those who have been reconciled—a community having its ori-
gin in Christ, who is our peace (cf. Eph 2 : 14) and who "makes
us reconciled.” 9 In fact, once reconciliation has been received,

it is, like grace and like life, an impulse and a current that trans-

form their beneficiaries into agents and transmitters of the same
reconciliation. For every Christian the credential of his authen-

ticity in the Church and in the world is this: "First make peace
with yourself, so that when you have become peaceful you may
bring peace to others.” 10

The duty of making peace extends personally to each and every

member of the faithful. If it is not fulfilled, even the sacrifice
of worship which they intend to offer (Mt 5 : 23 ff.) remains in-

effective. Mutual reconciliation, in fact, shares in the very value

of the sacrifice itself, and together with it constitutes a single

offering pleasing to God. 11 In order that this duty may be effec-
tively fulfilled and that reconciliation which takes place in the

depths of the heart may have a public character just like the
death of Christ that brings it about, the Lord has conferred on

the Apostles and on the Church’s Pastors, their successors, the

"ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5 : 18). "Taking on as it were

the person of Christ,” 12 they are permanently deputed "to build

up their flock in truth and holiness.” 13

The Church therefore, because she is a "reconciled world,” is

also a reality that is by nature permanently reconciling. As such

she is the presence and the action of God, who "in Christ was
reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor 5 : 19). This action and

presence are expressed primarily in Baptism, in the forgiveness

of sins and in the Eucharistic celebration, which is the renewal

of the redeeming Sacrifice of Christ and the effective sign of the

unity of the People of God. 14

4



2 .

THE CHURCH:

THE SACRAMENT OF UNITY

Reconciliation, in its double aspect of peace restored between

God and men and between man and man, is the first fruit of the
Redemption, and like the Redemption has dimensions that are

universal both in extent and in intensity. The whole of creation

therefore is involved in reconciliation “till the universal restora-

tion comes” (Acts 3 : 21), when all creatures will again meet

Christ, the “first to be born from the dead” (Col 1 : 18).

And since this reconciliation finds a privileged expression and

greater concentration in the Church, the latter is “a kind of sacra-

ment or sign of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all

mankind.” 15 It is the source from which radiate union of men
with God and unity of men among themselves, which, through
progressive affirmation in time, will find completion at the end

of time.

In order to be able to express fully this sacramentality of hers,

with which is bound up the very reason for her existence, the

Church must be a meaningful sign, as is demanded of every
sacrament. That is, there must be realized and verified in her

that harmony and consistency of doctrine, life and worship which

marked the first days of her existence (cf. Acts 2 : 42) and which

ever remain her essential element (cf. Eph 4 : 4-6; 1 Cor 1 : 10).
This harmony, in contrast to any division that might attack the

solidity of her structure, cannot but increase the force of her

witness, reveal the reasons for her existence and throw clearer

light upon her credibility.

In order to cooperate with God's plans in the world, all the

faithful must persevere in fidelity to the Holy Spirit, who unifies
the Church in “fellowship and service” and “by the power of the

Gospel . . . makes the Church grow, perpetually renews her, and

5



leads her to perfect union with her Spouse.” 16 This fidelity cannot

fail to have happy ecumenical effects upon the quest for the visible

unity of all Christians, in the manner laid down by Christ, in one
and the same Church; and this Church will thus be a more effec-
tive leaven of fraternal oneness in the community of the peoples.

6



3.

OBSCURING THE SACRAMENTALITY

OF THE CHURCH

However, “although by the power of the Holy Spirit the Church

has remained the faithful spouse of her Lord and has never ceased

to be the sign of salvation on earth, still she is very well aware

that among her members, both clerical and lay, some have been
unfaithful to the Spirit of God during the course of many cen-
turies.” 17

In reality, “from her very beginnings there arose in this one

and only Church of God certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly

condemns.” 18 Therefore when there occurred the well-known
breaches that no one knew how to heal, the Church overcame the

situation of internal dissension by clearly reaffirming as the irre-

placeable condition of communion the principles that make it
possible to preserve intact her constitutive unity and to manifest

that unity “in the confession of one faith, in the common cele-
bration of divine worship, and the fraternal harmony of the family

of God.” 19

But there appear equally dangerous, and such as to warrant

this clarification and call to unity, the ferments of infidelity to

the Holy Spirit existing here and there in the Church today and

unfortunately attempting to undermine her from within. The pro-

moters and the victims of this process, who are in fact small in
number by comparison with the vast majority of the faithful, claim

to remain in the Church, with the same rights and opportunities
of expression and action as the rest of the faithful, in order to

attack ecclesial unity. Not wishing to recognize in the Church

one single reality resulting from a double element both human
and divine, analogous to the mystery of the Incarnate Word, which

constitutes her “here on earth ... the community of faith, hope
and charity, as a visible structure” through which Christ “com-

municates truth and grace to all,” 20 they set themselves up in

7



opposition to the hierarchy, as though every act of that opposi-

tion were a constitutive aspect of the truth of the Church that has

to be rediscovered as Christ instituted her. They question the

duty of obedience to the authority willed by Christ; they put on

trial the Pastors of the Church, not so much for what they do or
how they do it but simply because, so it is claimed, they are the

custodians of an ecclesiastical system or structure that competes

with what was instituted by Christ. In this way they cause be-

wilderment to the whole community, introducing into it the fruits

of dialectical theories alien to the spirit of Christ. While making

use of the words of the Gospel they change their meaning. We
observe this state of things with regret, even though, as we have

said, it is very small in comparison with the great mass of the

Christian faithful. But we cannot but inveigh with the same
vigor as Saint Paul against this lack of loyalty and justice. We
appeal to all Christians of good will not to let themselves be im-

pressed or disorientated by the undue pressures of brethren

who are unfortunately misguided, and yet who are always in our
prayers and close to our heart.

As for ourself, we reaffirm that the one Church of Christ “con-
stituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the

Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and

by the bishops in union with that successor, although many ele-
ments of sanctification and truth can be found outside her visible

structure.” 21 We likewise reaffirm that these Pastors of the
Church, who preside over the People of God in his name, with the
humility of servants but also with the frankness of the Apostles

(cf. Acts 4:31) of whom they are the successors, have the right
and the duty to proclaim: “For as long as ... we occupy this
see, for as long as we preside, we have both authority and power,
even though we may be unworthy.” 22

8



4.

SECTORS THAT OBSCURE THE
SACRAMENTALITY OF THE CHURCH

The process that we have described takes the form of doctrinal

dissension, which claims the patronage of theological pluralism

and is not infrequently taken to the point of dogmatic relativism,

which in various ways breaks up the integrity of faith. And even
when it is not taken as far as dogmatic relativism, this pluralism
is at times regarded as a legitimate theological stand that permits

the taking up of positions contrary to the authentic magisterium

of the Roman Pontiff himself and of the hierarchy of bishops,
who are the sole authoritative interpreters of divine Revelation
contained in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. 23

We recognize that pluralism of research and thought which in
various ways investigates and expounds dogma, but without dis-

integrating its identical objective meaning, has a legitimate right

of citizenship in the Church, as a natural component part of her

catholicity, and as a sign of the cultural richness and personal

commitment of all who belong to her. We recognize also the
inestimable values contributed by pluralism to the sphere of

Christian spirituality, to ecclesial and religious institutions and to

the spheres of liturgical expression and disciplinary norms. These

are values which blend together into that “one common aspira-
tion” that “is particularly splendid evidence of the catholicity

of the undivided Church.” 24

Indeed we admit that a certain theological pluralism finds its
roots in the very mystery of Christ, the inscrutable riches whereof

(cf. Eph 3 : 8) transcend the capacities of expression of all ages

and all cultures. Thus the doctrine of the faith which necessarily

derives from that mystery—since, in the order of salvation, “the
mystery of God is none other than Christ” 25—calls for constant
fresh research. In reality the dimensions of the Word of God
are so many, and so many are the viewpoints of the faithful who

9



explore them, 26 that harmony in the same faith is never immune
from personal characteristics in the assent of each individual.

Nevertheless, the different emphases in the understanding of the

same faith do not prejudice the essential content of that faith,
since these emphases are unified in common assent to the
Church’s magisterium. This magisterium, which is the proximate

norm determining the faith of all, is also a guarantee for all

against the subjective judgment of every varied interpretation of

the faith.

But what is to be said of that pluralism that considers the faith

and its expression not as a common and therefore ecclesial heri-
tage but as an individual discovery made by the free criticism
and free examination of the word of God? In fact, without the

mediation of the Church’s magisterium, to which the Apostles en-

trusted their own magisterium 27 and which therefore teaches

“only what has been handed on,” 28 the sure union with Christ

through the Apostles, who are the ones who hand on “what they

themselves had received,” 29 is compromised. And once perse-

verance in the doctrine transmitted by the Apostles is compro-

mised, what happens is that, perhaps in a desire to avoid the

difficulties of mystery, there is a quest for formulas deceptively

easy to understand but which dissolve the real content of mys-

tery. Thus there are built up teachings that do not hold fast to

the objectivity of the faith or are plainly contrary to it and, what

is more, become crystallized side-by-side with concepts that are
even mutually contradictory.

Furthermore, we must not shut our eyes to the fact that every

concession in the matter of identity of faith also involves a lessen-

ing of mutual love.

In fact, those who have lost the joy that derives from the faith

(cf. Phil 1 : 25) are driven, to the detriment of fraternal com-

munion, to seek glory from one another and not to seek that

glory which comes only from God (cf. Jn 5 : 44).

It is impossible to substitute the spirit of faction, which leads

to discriminating choices, for the sense of the Church, which

recognizes in all the same dignity and freedom of the children
of God, 30 and in this way also to deprive charity of its natural

support, which is justice. It would be vain to try to improve

ecclesial communion in accordance with the type shared at the
level of factions.

10



Must not we all, on the contrary, make ourselves perfect

through the Gospel? And where does the Gospel manifest fully

operative its divinely begotten power if not in the Church, with

the contribution of all believers without distinction?

Finally, this spirit of faction reflects negatively also upon the

necessary harmony of worship and of prayer, and it manifests

itself in an isolation dictated by a spirit of presumption which is

certainly not in accordance with the Gospel and which precludes

justification before God (cf. Lk 18 : 10-14).

We try hard to understand the root of this situation, and we
compare it to the analogous situation in which contemporary

civil society is living, a society which is divided by the splintering

up into groups opposed one to another. Unfortunately, the Church

too seems to be in some degree experiencing the repercussions
of this condition. But she ought not to assimilate what is rather

a pathological state. The Church must preserve her original char-

acter as a family unified in the diversity of her members. Indeed,

she must be the leaven that will help society to react, as was said

of the first Christians: “See how much they love one another!" 31

It is with this picture of the first community before our eyes—

a

picture that is certainly not idyllic, but one that was matured

through trials and suffering—that we call upon all to overcome
the illicit and dangerous differences and to recognize one another

as brethren united by the love of Christ.

11



5 .

POLARIZATION OF DISSENT

When the internal oppositions affecting the various sectors of
ecclesial life become crystallized into a state of dissension, they

reach the point of setting up in opposition to the single institution

and community of salvation a plurality of “dissenting institutions

of communities." These are not in accordance with the nature of

the Church which, with the creation of opposing factions fixed in

irreconcilable positions, would lose her very constitutional fabric.

There then occurs the “polarization of dissent,” by virtue of which

all interest is concentrated on the respective groups, in practice

autonomous, each one claiming to be giving honor to God. This

situation bears within it and, as far as it can, introduces into the

ecclesial community the seeds of disintegration.

It is our lively hope that the voice of conscience will lead indi-

viduals to a process of reflection which will bring them to a wiser

choice. We exhort each and every one of them: “Search out the
innermost secrets of your heart and diligently explore all the path-

ways of your soul.” 32 And in each one we would like to reawaken
the longing for what he has lost: “Think where you were before

you fell: repent, and do as you used to at first” (Rev 2 : 5). And

we should like to exhort each one to reconsider the wonderful
things which God has achieved in him and to draw his attention

to what this calls for before the Lord: “For there is nothing that

a Christian should fear so much as being separated from the
body of Christ. For if he is separated from the body of Christ,

he is not one of his members; if he is not one of his members, he

is not nourished by Christ's spirit. Whosoever does not have the

spirit of Christ, says the Apostle, does not belong to Christ.” 33

12



6.

ETHIC AND DYNAMIC
OF RECONCILIATION

It is therefore vitally necessary that everyone in the Church

—

bishops, priests, religious and lay people—should take an active
share in a common effort for full reconciliation, so that in and
between them all there may be reestablished that peace which is
“the nursing mother of love and the begetter of unity.

”

34 Let all

then show themselves to be ever more docile disciples of the

Lord, who makes reconciliation between us the condition for being

forgiven by the Father (cf. Mk 11:26) and mutual charity the
condition for being recognized as his disciples (cf. Jn 13 : 35).

Whoever therefore feels that he is in any way implicated in this

state of division, let him return and listen to his own voice irre-

sistibly insisting, even when he is about to pray: “go and be

reconciled with your brother first” (Mt 5 : 24).

In different degrees and ways according to the position and

standing of each individual, and pondering anew God’s salvific
work for us, let all in unison commit themselves to creating a

climate in which reconciliation can become effective. Since we
have been reconciled with God through the exclusive initiative

of his love, let our conduct be marked by good will and mercy,

forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us (cf. Eph
4 : 31-32). And since our reconciliation springs from the sacrifice
of Christ who freely died for us, may the Cross, set up as a main-
mast in the Church to guide her in her voyage through the world,35

inspire our mutual relations so that they may all be truly Christian.
Let none of these relations ever lack some personal renunciation.
From this there will follow a fraternal openness to others such as
will allow willing recognition of each one’s abilities and will per-

mit all to make their proper contribution to the enrichment of the
one ecclesial communion: “Thus through the common sharing
of gifts and through the common effort to attain fullness in unity,

13



the whole and each of the parts receive increase." 36 In this

sense, one can agree on the fact that unity, properly understood,

permits each individual to develop his own personality.

This openness to others, sustained by the willingness to under-

stand and the capacity to make sacrifices, will give stability and
order to the performance of that act of charity commanded by
the Lord: fraternal correction (cf. Mt 18 : 15).

Given that this can be done by any one of the faithful to every

brother in the faith, it can be the normal means of healing many
dissensions or of preventing them from arising. 37 In its turn this

impels the one who corrects his brother to take the plank out of

his own eye (cf. Mt 7 : 5), lest the order of correction be per-

verted. 38 Thus the practice of fraternal correction becomes the

beginning of encouragement towards holiness, which alone can

confer upon reconciliation its fullness. This fullness consists not

in an opportunist making of peace which would conceal the worst

of enmities 39 but in interior conversion and in the unifying love

in Christ which flows therefrom, such as is effected principally

in the sacrament of reconciliation, Penance, whereby the faithful

“obtain pardon from the mercy of God for offences committed

against him. They are at the same time reconciled with the
Church, which they have wounded by their sins," 40 provided that

“this sacrament of salvation ... is, as it were, rooted in their
whole life and is an impulse towards more fervent service of God

and fellowmen." 41

It is still the case, however, that “in the building up of the

Body of Christ there is a variety of members and functions," 42

and that this diversity provokes inevitable tensions. These can be

met with even in the saints, but “not such as would kill harmony,

not such as would destroy charity." 43 How can these tensions
be prevented from degenerating into divisions? It is from that

very diversity of persons and of functions that there derives the

sure principle of ecclesial oneness. In fact the primary and irre-

placeable element of that diversity is the Pastors of the Church,

constituted by Christ as his ambassadors to the rest of the faithful

and for this purpose endowed with an authority which, transcend-

ing the individuals' positions and choices, unifies these last in

the integrity of the Gospel, which is precisely the “word of recon-

ciliation" (cf. 2 Cor 5 : 18-20). The authority with which the

Church’s Pastors set forth this word is binding not through ac-

14



ceptance on the part of men but because of its conferral by Christ
(cf. Mt 28 : 18; Mk 16 : 15-16; Acts 26 : 17 ff.). Since therefore
whoever hears them or rejects them hears or rejects Christ and

him who sent him (cf. Lk 10 : 16), the duty of the faithful to obey

the authority of the Pastors is an essential requirement of the

very nature of Christianity.

The Pastors of the Church, moreover, by nature form a single

undivided body with the successor of Peter and in dependence

upon him; hence from the harmonious fulfillment and faithful

acceptance of their ministry there depend the oneness of faith

and communion of all believers,44 a manifestation to the world of

the reconciliation brought about by God in his Church. Let a

gracious hearing then be granted to the common invocation to
the Saviour: “Be ever present in the College of Bishops united

with our Pope, and grant them the gifts of unity, charity and

peace.” 45 Let the sacred Pastors, as they represent Christ himself

and take his place in an eminent and visible way,46 thus imitate

and infuse into the People of God the love with which he was

immolated who “loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her”
(Eph 5 : 25). And may this their renewed love be an effective
example to the faithful, in the first place to those priests and re-

ligious who may not have lived up to the demands of their own
ministry and vocation, so that all in the Church, “united, heart

and soul” (cf. Acts 4 : 32), may return to a commitment “to
spread the gospel of peace” (Eph 6 : 15).

Like a mother, the Church looks with sorrow on the departure

of some of her sons on whom the priestly ministry has been con-
ferred or who have been consecrated to the service of God and
their brethren by some other special title. Nevertheless she finds
consolation and joy in the generous perseverance of all those

who have remained faithful to their commitments to Christ and to
her. Being supported and comforted by the merits of this great

number, she wishes to change also the sorrow which has been

visited upon her into a love that can understand everything and

in Christ pardon everything.

15



CONCLUSION

We who, as the successor of Peter, certainly not through our
personal merit but in virtue of the apostolic mandate transmitted

to us, are, in the Church, the visible principle and foundation of

the unity of the sacred Pastors as also of the multitude of the

faithful, 47 make our appeal for the full reestablishment of that
supreme good of reconciliation with God, within us and among us,
so that the Church may be an effective sign in the world of union
with God and of unity among all his creatures. This is a demand
of our faith in the Church herself, “which in the creed we recog-
nize as one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” 48 To love her, to fol-

low her, to build her up we earnestly exhort all men, making our
own the words of Saint Augustine: “Love this Church, remain in
such a Church, be such a Church.” 49

This is the invitation that we extend with this Exhortation to all
our sons and daughters, especially those who have the responsi-
bility of guiding the brethren. We have wished it to be pastoral
and full of confidence, dictated by a spirit of peace. To some
perhaps it may seem severe. But it has arisen from a detailed
study of the situation of the Church on the one hand, and of the

unrenounceable demands of the Gospel on the other. But it has
sprung especially from our heart: we have the duty to love the
Church with the same spirit of the allegory of the branch that must
be pruned in order to bear more fruit (cf. Jn 15:2). This exhorta-

tion, finally, is backed by a great hope, a hope that the heavy

burden of our apostolic mandate has never altered. We are grate-
ful for the fidelity of God. We hope that the Holy Spirit will stir
up an irresistible echo to our words: he is already present and

working in the inmost heart of each member of the faithful, and
he will lead all, in humility and peace, along the paths of truth

and love. It is he who is our strength. We know that the vast
majority of the Church’s sons and daughters has been awaiting

such a call and is prepared to receive it profitably. We trust that
the entire People of God—this is our ardent wish—will set out
with us, as on the Biblical journey, undertake with us the stages

of sanctification of the Jubilee, and be one with us, so that the

16



world may believe. And we trust that they will allow themselves
to be guided by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the love

of God the Father and by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

We entrust these wishes to the intercession of the Immaculate
Virgin “who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as
a model of the virtues . . . and by her profound sharing in the

history of salvation unites in a certain way and mirrors within

herself the central truths of the faith.” 50 And to strengthen the

common desire for sanctification and reconciliation we cordially
impart our Apostolic Blessing.

Given at Saint Peter’s in Rome, on the Solemnity of the Im-

maculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the eighth

day of December in the year 1974, the twelfth of our Pontificate.

17



FOOTNOTES
1 Cf. AAS 65 (1973), p. 323 f.
2 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 3:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 6.

3 Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 21:
AAS 58 (1966), p. 1041.

4 Cf. Bull Apostolorum Limina, 23 May 1974: AAS 66 (1974), p. 306.
5 Saint Leo the Great, Serm. 26, 5: PL 54, 215.
6 Theodoret of Cyr, Interpr. Epist. II ad Cor.: PG 82, 411 A.
7 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 7:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 9.

8 Saint Augustine, Serm. 96, 7, 8: PL 38, 588.
9 Saint Jerome, In Epist. ad Eph. 1, 2: PL 26, 504.
10 Saint Ambrose, In Luc. 5, 58: PL 15, 1737.
11 Cf. Saint John Chrysostom, In Matth., Homil. 16, 9: PG 57, 250; Saint

Isidore of Pelusium, Epist. 4, 111: PG 78, 1178; Nicolas Cabasilas,
Explic. div. Liturg. 26, 2: Sourc. chret. 4 bis, p. 171.

12 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Epist. II ad Cor.: PG 74, 943 D.
13 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 27:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 32.

14 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 11:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 15.

15 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 1:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 5.

16 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 4:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 7.

17 Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 43:
AAS 58 (1966), p. 1064.

18 Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis Redintegratio, 3: AAS 57
(1965), p. 92.

19 Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis Redintegratio, 2: AAS 57
(1965), p. 92.

20 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 8:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 11.

21 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 8:
AAS 57 (1965), p. 12.

22 Saint John Chrysostom, In Epist. ad Coloss., Homil. 3, 5: PG 62, 324.
23 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 10:

AAS 58 (1966), p. 822.
24 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 23:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 29.
25 Saint Augustine, Epist. 187, 11, 34: PL 33, 845.
26 Cf. Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Comment, Evang. concord. 1, 18: Sourc.

chret. 121, p. 52.
27 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 7: AAS

58 (1966), p. 820.
28 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 10: AAS

58 (1966), p. 822.
29 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 8: AAS

58 (1966), p. 820.

18



30 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium,
9: AAS 57 (1965), p. 13.

31 Tertullian, Apologeticum, XXXIX, 7; Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina

I, 1, p. 151.
32 Saint Leo the Great, Tract. 84 bis; 2: Corpus Christ 138 A, p. 530.
33 Saint Augustine, In lo. Evang., 27, 6: PL 35, 1618.
34 Saint Leo the Great, Serm. 26, 3: PL 54, 214.
35 Saint Maximus of Turin, Serm. 37, 2: Corpus Christ. 23, p. 145.
36 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 13:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 17 f.
37 Cf. Saint Thomas, Summa Theol. Il-ll, q. 33, a. 4: Opera Omnia,

Leonine ed., t. VIII, p. 266.
38 Cf. Saint Bonaventure, In IV Sent., dist. 19, dub. 4: Opera Omnia, ad

Claras Aquas, t. IV, p. 512.
39 Cf. Saint Jerome, Contra Pelagian., 2, 11: PL 23, 546.
40 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 11:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 15.
41 Ordo Paenitentiae, Praenotanda, 7, Vatican Polyglot Press, 1974, p. 14.
42 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 7:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 10.
43 Saint Augustine, Enarrat. in Ps. 33, 19: PL 36, 318.
44 Cf. First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus,

Introduction: DS 3050; Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen Gentium, 18: AAS 57 (1965), p. 22.

45 Liturgia Horarum, IV, Vatican Polyglot Press 1972, p. 513.
46 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 21:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 25.
47 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 23:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 27.
48 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 8:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 11.
49 Serm. 138, 10: PL 38, 769.
50 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 65:

AAS 57 (1965), p. 64.





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