« QUOD APOSTOLICI MUNERIS ». — Encyclical of Leo XIII of 28 Dec. 1878. After the Inscrutabili Dei consilio, issued on 21 Apr. 1878, in which the Pontiff presented a panoramic view of the condition of society with its evils and indicated the means of remedying the ruinous decline toward which it was heading, the encyclical Q. A. M. was published.
Its purpose was to indicate more specifically the evil that most gravely threatened the entire world: socialism, called in different places by different names (communism and nihilism), an exceedingly grave evil, inasmuch as those adhering to that ideology strive to carry out the design of shaking the very foundations of civil society, under the pretext of the perfect equality of all in rights and duties; they dishonour the natural union of man and woman, weakening or even abandoning their mutual bond to the sway of lust; they attack the right of property established by the law of nature, thus claiming to steal and place in common what was legitimately acquired. Such ideas were disseminated by every means of propaganda, and this propaganda penetrated so deeply that frequent attempts were made against sovereigns. The primary cause of the evil, as the Pontiff observed, was detachment from God, begun with the « Reformation » and arriving, by iron logic, at the denial of every order, which rests solely upon God and the supernatural truths deriving from him. The Church had sought to oppose this evil by every means from its beginnings, particularly by condemning the secret societies in which the seeds of present-day socialism were germinating. But it found no understanding among the civil authorities, who, prejudiced by preconceived notions, always viewed the Church with suspicion and opposed her in the pursuit of the common good, which would have served to prevent the rise of socialism.
Having thus established the nature of the evil and diagnosed its causes, Leo XIII presents the means of eradicating II. It is necessary and urgent to return to God, the source of all authority; to respect authority; and to fulfil one’s duty, each according to the position one occupies in society; and to restore the Christian family in the indissolubility of marriage and in the reciprocal obligations of parents and children, masters and servants. The right of private property, which rests upon the precepts of the natural and divine law and is not a human invention contrary to the equality of all men, must be inculcated and upheld; for this purpose, agreement between religion and the civil authority is indispensable; in any event, Catholics throughout the world should strive to unite their efforts and seek to establish, in opposition to socialist organizations, associations of artisans and workers.