Commissum divinitus
{{Short description|1835 papal encyclical by Gregory XVI}}
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{{Infobox papal document|title=Commissum divinitus|type=Encyclical|pope=Gregory XVI|language of title=Latin|translation of title=Divinely commissioned|signature date=14 May 1835|Papal coats of arms=C o a Gregorius XVI.svg|subject=Church and state|number=6 of 9|web_en=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/greg16/g16commi.htm|before=Mirari vos|after=Augustissimam beatissimi}}
{{lang|la|Commissum divinitus}} was an encyclical letter issued by Pope Gregory XVI on 14 May 1835, addressed to the Swiss clergy.
Purpose
Gregory issued the encyclical in response to the {{ill|Articles of Baden of 1834|de|Badener Artikel}}, calling them "false, rash, erroneous, prejudicial to the Holy See, destructive to the government of the Church and its divine constitution, and subjecting ecclesiastical ministry [of the] Church to secular domination".{{cite book |last1=Levillain |first1=Philippe |last2=O'Malley |first2=John W. |title=The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies |date=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-92230-2 |pages=674–675 |language=en}} In particular, the encyclical criticizes the Swiss government for legalizing marriage between Catholics and non-Catholics, rejecting the suggestion that the secular government held the authority to regulate marriage.{{cite book |last1=Kohlhaas |first1=Jacob M. |last2=Roche |first2=Mary M. Doyle |title=Modern Catholic Family Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations |date=3 June 2024 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-1-64712-434-2 |language=en}}
Gregory refers to two historical texts in the letter where distinctions between ecclesiastical and civic authority had been maintained and the primacy of the former enforced:
- Bishop Ossius of Cordoba's letter to Emperor Constantius II regarding imperial interference in church matters (353)
- Pope Gelasius I's letter to Emperor Anastasius, Famuli vestrae pietatis, on the allocation of power within the spiritual and temporal realms (494).Papal Encyclicals Online, [https://www.papalencyclicals.net/greg16/g16commi.htm Commissum divinitus (English translation)], paragraphs 6 and 8, accessed on 11 March 2025
The encyclical maintained Gregory's opposition to political liberalism.{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Thomas Albert |title=The Pope and the Professor: Pius IX, Ignaz von Döllinger, and the Quandary of the Modern Age |date=14 April 2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-104542-4 |page=47 |language=en}} Gregory rejects the authority of secular governments to regulate the Catholic church,{{cite book |last1=Holland |first1=Joe |title=Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age, 1740-1958 |date=2003 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-4225-5 |page=83 |language=en}} and opposes the idea of national churches. This position, as laid out in {{lang|la|Commissum divinitus}}, led seven Catholic cantons of Switzerland to form the {{lang|de|Sonderbund}}.
References
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External links
- Holy See, [https://www.vatican.va/content/gregorius-xvi/it/documents/enciclica-commissum-divinitus-17-maggio-1835.html Text of Commissum divinitus] in Italian
- Papal Encyclicals Online, [https://www.papalencyclicals.net/greg16/g16commi.htm English translation]
Category:Documents of Pope Gregory XVI