Excerpt:
"(Jews) supervise the collection of public revenues. They
have also gained control of inns, bankrupt estates, villages and public land by
means of which they have subjugated poor Christian farmers. The Jews are cruel
taskmasters, not only working the farmers harshly and forcing them to carry
excessive loads, but also whipping them for punishment.
"So it has come about that those poor farmers are the
subjects of the Jews, submissive to their will and power. Furthermore, although
the power to punish lies with the Christian official, he must comply with the
commands of the Jews and inflict the punishments they desire. If he doesn't, he
would lose his post. Therefore the tyrannical orders of the Jews have to be
carried out.
"...you must see to it that neither your property nor your
privileges are hired to Jews; furthermore you do no business with them and you
neither lend them money nor borrow from them. Thus, you will be free from and
unaffected by all dealings with them..."
To the Primate,
Archbishops and Bishops, of the
Venerable Brothers,
We give you Greeting and Our Apostolic Blessing.
God
in his goodness allowed Catholicism to take root in
Another
threat to Christians has been the influence of Jewish faithlessness; this
influence was strong because Christians and Jews were living in the same cities
and towns. However their influence was minimized because the Polish bishops did
all they could to aid the Poles in their resistance to the Jews. What the
bishops did is recorded in the large tome which contains the constitutions of
the synods of the
2.
In regard to the matter of the Jews We must express our concern, which causes
Us to cry aloud: "the best color has been changed." Our credible
experts in Polish affairs and the citizens of
The
Jews have so replaced the Christians that some parishes are about to lose their
ministers because their revenue has dwindled so drastically. Because the Jews control businesses selling liquor and even
wine, they are therefore allowed to supervise the collection of public
revenues. They have also gained control of inns, bankrupt estates, villages and
public land by means of which they have subjugated poor Christian farmers.
The Jews are cruel taskmasters, not only working the farmers
harshly and forcing them to carry excessive loads, but also whipping them for
punishment. So it has come about that those poor farmers are the subjects of
the Jews, submissive to their will and power. Furthermore, although the power
to punish lies with the Christian official, he must comply with the commands of
the Jews and inflict the punishments they desire. If he doesn't, he would lose
his post. Therefore the tyrannical orders of the Jews have to be carried out.
3.
In addition to the harm done to Christians in these regards, other unreasonable
matters can result in even greater loss and danger. The most serious is that
some households of the great have employed a Jew as
"Superintendent-of-the-Household"; in this capacity, they not only
administer domestic and economic matters, but they also ceaselessly exhibit and
flaunt authority over the Christians they are living with. It is now even
commonplace for Christians and Jews to intermingle anywhere. But what is even
less comprehensible is that Jews fearlessly keep Christians of both sexes in
their houses as their domestics, bound to their service.
Furthermore,
by means of their particular practice of commerce, they amass a great store of
money and then by an exorbitant rate of interest
utterly destroy the wealth and inheritance of Christians. Even if they
borrow money from Christians at heavy and undue interest with their synagogues
as surety, it is obvious to anyone who thinks about it that they do so to
employ the money borrowed from Christians in their commercial dealings; this
enables them to make enough profit to pay the agreed interest and
simultaneously increase their own store. At the same time, they gain as many
defenders of their synagogues and themselves as they have creditors.
4.
The famous monk, Radulph, inspired
long ago by an excess of zeal, was so inflamed against the Jews that he
traversed
And
he writes this to Henry, Archbishop of Mainz: "Doesn't the Church every
day triumph more fully over the Jews in convicting or converting them than if
once and for all she destroyed them with the edge of the sword: Surely it is
not in vain that the Church has established the
universal prayer which is offered up for the faithless Jews from the
rising of the sun to its setting, that the Lord God
may remove the veil from their hearts, that they may be rescued from their
darkness into the light of truth. For unless it hoped that those who do
not believe would believe, it would obviously be futile and empty to pray for
them." (Letter 365).
5.
Peter, abbot of
Innocent
III, after saying that Jews were being received by Christians into their
cities, warns that the method and condition of this reception should guard
against their repaying the benefit with evildoing. "They on being admitted
to our acquaintance in a spirit of mercy, repay us, the popular proverb says,
as the mouse in the wallet, the snake in the lap and fire in the bosom usually
repay their host."
The
same Pope stated that it was fitting for Jews to serve Christians rather than
vice versa and added: "Let not the sons of the free woman be servants of
the sons of the handmaid; but as servants rejected by their lord for whose
death they evilly conspired, let them realize that the result of this deed is
to make them servants of those whom Christ's death made free," as we read
in his decretal . Likewise in the decretal under the same heading , he forbids the promotion of Jews to public office:
"forbidding Jews to be promoted to public offices since in such
circumstances they may be very dangerous to Christians."
Innocent
IV, also, in writing to St. Louis, King of France, who intended to drive the
Jews beyond the boundaries of his kingdom, approves of this plan since the Jews
gave very little heed to the regulations made by the Apostolic See in their
regard: "Since We strive with
all Our heart for the salvation of souls, We grant you full power by the
authority of this letter to expel the Jews,
particularly since We have learned that they do not obey the said statutes
issued by this See against them" (Raynaldus, Annals, A.D. 1253, no.
34).
6.
But if it is asked what matters the Apostolic See forbids to Jews living in the
same cities as Christians, We will say that all those activities which are now
allowed in
7.
The essence of the difficulty, however, is that either the sanctions of the
synods are forgotten or they are not put into effect. To you then, Venerable
Brothers, passes the task of renewing those sanctions. The nature of your
office requires that you carefully encourage their implementation. In this
matter begin with the clergy, as is fair and reasonable. These will have to
show others the right way to act, and light the way for the rest by their
example. For in God's mercy, We hope that the good example of the clergy will
lead the straying laity back to the straight path. You will be able to give
these orders and commands easily and confidently, you
must see to it that neither your property nor your privileges are hired to
Jews; furthermore you do no business with them and you neither lend them money
nor borrow from them. Thus, you will be free from and unaffected by all
dealings with them.
8.
The sacred canons, prescribe that in the most important cases, such as the
present, censures should be imposed upon the recalcitrant; and that those cases
which bode danger and ruin to religion should be reckoned as reserved cases in
which only the bishop can give absolution. The Council of Trent considered your
jurisdiction when it affirmed your right to reserve cases. It did not restrict
such cases to public crimes only, but extended them to include more notorious
and serious cases, provided they were not purely internal. But we have often
said that some cases should be considered more notorious and serious. These are
cases, to which men are more prone, which are a danger both to ecclesiastical
discipline and to the salvation of the souls which have been entrusted to your
episcopal care. We have discussed these at length in Our treatise , Book 5, 5.
9.
In this matter We will help as much as possible. If you have to proceed against
ecclesiastics exempt from your jurisdiction, you will doubtless encounter
additional difficulties. Therefore We are giving Our Venerable Brother
Archbishop Nicaenus, Our Nuncio there, a mandate appropriate for this business,
in order that he may supply for you the necessary means from the powers
entrusted to him. At the same time We promise you that when the situation
arises, We will cooperate energetically and effectively with those whose
combined authority and power are appropriate to remove this stain of shame from
Pope Benedict XIV
June 14, 1751