''Pascendi Dominici gregis'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''Feeding the Lord's Flock'') is a papal

encyclical letter An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

, subtitled "''On the Doctrines of the Modernists''", promulgated by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on 8 September 1907.

Context

Pius X viewed the church as under siege, intellectually from

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

and

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

, politically from

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

and

anti-clericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...

. The pope condemned

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, a loose movement of Catholic biblical scholars, philosophers and theologians who believed that the church could not ignore new scientific historical research concerning the Bible. Modernist nun

Maude Petre Maude Dominica Mary Petre (4 August 1863 – 16 December 1942) was an English Roman Catholic nun, writer and critic involved in the Modernist controversy. Life Petre (pronounced ''Peter'') was born at the family estate of Coptfold Hall, near t ...

would later recall, "We must remember, in fairness to those who were not always fair, that the impact of historical criticism on the traditional teaching of the Church was terrifying; that it seemed a case of saving the very essence of the Christian faith from destruction".

Alfred Loisy Alfred Firmin Loisy () (28 February 18571 June 1940) was a French Catholic priest, theologian, and academic, generally regarded as one of the leading figures of the modernist movement within the Roman Catholic Church. He was a critic of tradition ...

held that only scientific

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

is verifiable and therefore, reliable. Interpretation based on faith, on the other hand, "is a purely subjective". This discounts entirely the value of revelation. Concerning Jesus, "In the person of Christ, they say, science and history encounter nothing that is not human. Therefore, in virtue of the first canon deduced from agnosticism, whatever there is in His history suggestive of the divine, must be rejected". The threat was seen as more severe as appearing to come from member of the ordained clergy. Much of the encyclical was drafted by Joseph Lemius , Procurator General of the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was ...

, and Cardinal

José de Calasanz Vives y Tutó José de Calasanz, or in Catalan Calassanç , bon ''José Vives y Tutó''(or, in Catalan, ''Josep Vives i Tutó''); his given name is written in English as ''Joseph Calasanz''), OFMCap (15 February 1854 – 7 September 1913), was an influentia ...

. It condemned the proposition that religion is merely a sentiment based on a psychological need for the divine. The fundamental error attributed to the modernists was that of denying the capacity of reason to know the truth, thereby reducing everything – including religion, and including Christianity – to subjective experience. Modernists rejected this interpretation, saying their focus was on historical criticism of sacred texts. Following the example of the bishops of Umbria, Pius X directed the bishops to establish councils to look into any errors being promoted in their dioceses and to inform the bishop thereof, with particular attention given to the curriculum and texts used in the seminaries and schools. It also reiterated a 1896 decree of the

Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics The Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics () was a body of the Roman Curia, created in 1669 and suppressed in 1904. History Pope Clement IX established the Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics in his apostolic letter ''In ipsis ...

that "Ancient relics are to retain the veneration they have always enjoyed except when in individual instances there are clear arguments that they are false or suppositions.' If however, the bishop knows the relic is not authentic, it is to be withdrawn from veneration, and if authentication has been lost due to civil disturbances, no relic may be presented for public veneration before the bishop has verified it.

References

External links

''Pascendi Dominici gregis''
Latin Text (Vatican.va)

English Text (Vatican.va)]
''Pascendi Dominici gregis''
Latin Text (wikisource - machine transcription) * {{Catholic Church and Bible Papal encyclicals Documents of Pope Pius X 1907 documents 1907 in Christianity Modernism in the Catholic Church September 1907