Commissum divinitus

*Commissum divinitus*
Latin for 'Divinely commissioned'
Encyclical of Pope Gregory XVI
Commissum divinitus; Latin for 'Divinely commissioned'; Encyclical of Pope Gregory XVI
Signature date	14 May 1835
Subject	Church and state
Number	6 of 9 of the pontificate
Text	In English;
	← Mirari vos Augustissimam beatissimi →

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 Articles of Baden of 1834 [de], 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".^[1] 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.^[2]

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).^[3]

The encyclical maintained Gregory's opposition to political liberalism.^[4] Gregory rejects the authority of secular governments to regulate the Catholic church,^[5] and opposes the idea of national churches.^[4] This position, as laid out in Commissum divinitus, led seven Catholic cantons of Switzerland to form the Sonderbund.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Levillain, Philippe; O'Malley, John W. (2002). The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies. Psychology Press. pp. 674–675. ISBN 978-0-415-92230-2.
^ Kohlhaas, Jacob M.; Roche, Mary M. Doyle (3 June 2024). Modern Catholic Family Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-64712-434-2.
^ Papal Encyclicals Online, Commissum divinitus (English translation), paragraphs 6 and 8, accessed on 11 March 2025
^ ^a ^b Howard, Thomas Albert (14 April 2017). The Pope and the Professor: Pius IX, Ignaz von Döllinger, and the Quandary of the Modern Age. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-19-104542-4.
^ Holland, Joe (2003). Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age, 1740-1958. Paulist Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8091-4225-5.

External links

Holy See, Text of Commissum divinitus in Italian
Papal Encyclicals Online, English translation

[levillain-1] Levillain, Philippe; O'Malley, John W. (2002). The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies. Psychology Press. pp. 674–675. ISBN 978-0-415-92230-2.

[kohlhaas-2] Kohlhaas, Jacob M.; Roche, Mary M. Doyle (3 June 2024). Modern Catholic Family Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-64712-434-2.

[3] Papal Encyclicals Online, Commissum divinitus (English translation), paragraphs 6 and 8, accessed on 11 March 2025

[howard-4] Howard, Thomas Albert (14 April 2017). The Pope and the Professor: Pius IX, Ignaz von Döllinger, and the Quandary of the Modern Age. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-19-104542-4.

[holland-5] Holland, Joe (2003). Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age, 1740-1958. Paulist Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8091-4225-5.

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