«QUOD APOSTOLICI MUNERIS». - Encyclical of Leo XIII of 28 Dec. 1878. Following *Inscruta- bili Dei consilio*, issued on 21 Apr. 1878, in which the Pope surveyed the condition of society with its evils and indicated the remedies for the ruinous decline into which it was drifting, there appeared the encyclical *Q. A. M.*
The purpose of this latter was to specify more precisely the evil that weighed most heavily upon the entire world: socialism (called by different names according to place: communism and nihilism), an evil of the gravest kind, since its adherents strive to carry out a design to undermine the very foundations of civil society under the pretext of perfect equality of all in rights and duties; they dishonor the natural union of man and woman, weakening or even abandoning it to the mercy of lust; they impugn the right of property established by the law of nature, thereby seeking to steal and place in common what was legitimately acquired. These ideas are spread by every means of propaganda, and they have penetrated so deeply that frequent attempts have been made against sovereigns. The primary cause of the evil, as the Pope observed, is the estrangement from God, begun with the “Reformation” and carried by iron logic to the denial of every order, which rests solely in God and in the supernatural truths that derive from Him. The Church has sought to oppose this evil in every way from its beginnings, particularly by condemning secret societies in which the seeds of present-day socialism were harbored. Yet it found no understanding among civil powers, which, prejudiced, ever suspected the Church and opposed it, in the attainment of the common good that would have prevented the rise of socialism.
Having thus established the nature of the evil and diagnosed its causes, Leo XIII presents the means to uproot II. It is both a duty and an urgent necessity to return to God, source of all authority; to respect authority; to discharge one’s duty according to the station each occupies in society; to restore the Christian family in the indissolubility of marriage and in the mutual obligations of parents and children, masters and servants. The right of private property must be inculcated and maintained, for it rests upon the precepts of natural and divine law and is not a human invention contrary to the equality of all men. To this end, the agreement between religion and civil power is indispensable; in any case, Catholics throughout the world should strive to unite their efforts and seek to establish, in opposition to socialist organizations, artisan and workers’ societies.