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Testem benevolentiae nostrae

Testem benevolentiae nostrae
Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII
C o a Leone XIII.svg
Date 22 January 1899
Argument Virtue, Nature and Grace, and Americanism
Encyclical number 70 of 85 of the pontificate
Text
←Quum diuturnum

Testem benevolentiae nostrae (Witness to Our Goodwill), "Concerning New Opinions, Virtue, Nature and Grace, With Regard to Americanism", is the name for an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII. The encyclical was addressed to "Our Beloved Son, James Gibbons, Cardinal Priest of the Title Sancta Maria, Beyond the Tiber, Archbishop of Baltimore", and was promulgated on January 22, 1899. It concerned the heresy sometimes called Americanism to ensure that the Church in the United States did not allow the model of civil liberties to undermine the doctrine of the Church. Most historians believe the letter was really directed at liberal currents in France.

The name Testem benevolentiae nostrae literally means "Witness to Our Good Will." In it Pope Leo expressed criticism regarding what he heard of the culture of Catholics in the United States. These concerns grew from a response to the preface of the French translation of the biography of Isaac Thomas Hecker.

The translation of Hecker's biography reached France eleven years after Father Hecker had died. It was translated in French and published with a very liberal preface by Abbé Félix Klein. Hecker had remained in good standing with Catholicism from his conversion in adulthood to his death so the controversy revolved around the book. Leo proposed to review certain opinions expressed by the translator in the book about Isaac Hecker.

The basis of these opinions was that the Church should adapt to the new advanced civilization and relax her ancient rigour regarding not only the rule of life but also the deposit of faith, and should pass over or minimize certain points of doctrine, or even give them a new meaning which the Church had never held.

Testem benevolentiae nostrae involved American particularism and view of individual liberty. On particularism it was believed that a movement of American Catholics felt they were a special case who needed greater latitude in order to assimilate into a majority Protestant nation. The encyclical rejected the idea of "some who conceive and would have the Church in America to be different from what it is in the rest of the world. (In 1892, certain immigrant support associations, while advocating for the establishment of national parishes in order that the congregations could be served by priests who understood the language and culture, pressed for the appointment of bishops to reflect representation of each nationality. This caused considerable disturbance among the American hierarchy.) The encyclical reiterated that Catholic teaching was the same throughout the world and not to be adjusted to suit a particular area.


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