«SPIRITUS PARACLITUS». - Encyclical of Pope Benedict XV, published on 15 Sept. 1920 (AAS, 12 [1920], pp. 385-422 and Denz-U, nn. 2186-2188) to commemorate the 15th centenary of the death of St. Jerome (v.), of fundamental importance for Catholic biblical scholarship. It occupies an intermediate position between *Providentissimus Deus* (v.), of 18 Nov. 1893, and *Divino afflante Spiritu* (v.), of 30 Sept. 1943, and provides the definitive resolution of the biblical question.
While *Providentissimus* eliminates attempts to restrict the inspiration (v.) of Holy Scripture, and *Divino afflante Spiritu* opens wide the field for methodical research into the hagiographers or “instrumental authors” of the Bible and the literary genres (v.) they employed, *Spiritus Paraclitus* offers the most vigorous affirmation of the absolute, total, and indefectible truth of the Bible. It removes the distinction between the so-called primary religious element and the secondary human element, maintaining that the inerrancy (v.), as the primary effect of inspiration, extends simply to all that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the instrumental author intended to affirm, suggest, or state. It likewise rejects the equally unfortunate distinction between absolute truth and relative or even “economical” truth in different parts of the Bible. Relative truth is that which is not true in itself but only in relation to the outmoded ideas of those times. Consequently, *Spiritus Paraclitus* condemns the theory of historical appearances, which had been the subject of lengthy debate even among Catholics, and resolves the controversy regarding the interpretation of a passage in *Providentissimus*. It warns against other attempts to undermine the absolute truth of the Bible by exaggerating principles that are in themselves correct, such as the overhasty and excessive supposition of implicit citations (v.), of narratives that are only apparently historical (e.g., midrash, popular tales, novels, etc.), of literary genres incompatible with the integral truth of the Word of God, or of opinions concerning the origin of certain biblical books (especially the Fourth Gospel) that diminish their human authority and destroy their divine authority: it would be an error to say that St. John mingles the words and deeds of Jesus with his own personal views or those of another Christian generation.
After these dogmatic teachings, which had already been anticipated by several decrees of the Biblical Commission, *Spiritus Paraclitus* exhorts all to a great love of the Word of God, discusses the intellectual and moral virtues required for its study, recommends the daily reading of the Bible by the faithful, and offers most useful advice for preaching: pastors must nourish their flock, amid all the vicissitudes of life, with spiritual food drawn chiefly from the literal sense of the Bible. In this way, the encyclical encourages the biblical movements that had arisen in Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere, and which had also begun in Italy; it especially promotes the Pious Society of St. Jerome (v.).
The encyclical *Spiritus Paraclitus* is of special value for the present time, in which the absolute truth of the Bible is being assailed more sharply than ever: a) by the elimination of mythology (such would be Christianity in its mysteries; V.
SPOLETO, ARCHDIOCESE OF
View of the city, with the Rocca and the hermitages of Monteluco.