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Etsi multa (On The Church in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland) is a papal encyclical that was published by Pope Pius IX on November 21, 1873.

The encyclical stated that there were three campaigns being waged against the Church at the time:

The Kulturkampf in the German Empire.^[1]
The suppression by the post-unification Italian authorities of the Gregorian University. With the Capture of Rome in 1870, Rome and the Papal States were incorporated into the new Kingdom of Italy. The new government of Italy then confiscated the Gregorian property and building, converting it into the Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio.^[2]^[3]
An anticlerical movement in Switzerland, expressed through:
- The expulsion of Gaspard Mermillod, the Vicar Apostolic of Geneva, Switzerland.^[4]^[5]
- The enforcement of popular election of Catholic clerics in Geneva and to take an oath the Papacy found objectionable.^[6]
- Anti-Catholic laws in the Swiss Cantons of Solothurn, Bern, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau and Zürich.^[7]
- Suppression of Catholic priests in Jura.^[8]

It condemned Freemasonry, which was blamed for the widespread attack on the Catholic Church, accusing it of being "the Synagogue of Satan", an expression taken from Revelations.^[9]

References and notes

^ "This noble constancy of the faithful Swiss is emulated with no less commendation by the clergy and faithful in Germany, who themselves follow the illustrious example of their ecclesiastical leaders. The Germans, assuming the shield of Catholic truth and the helms of salvation, fight the battles of the Lord and are a wonder to the world, to the angels, and to men who look on them from every side. All the more is their fortitude of spirit and unbroken constancy admired and extolled with outstanding praise as the bitter persecution set in motion against them in the German Empire and especially in Prussia increases with each day." Para 11, Etsi multa.
^ "Our History", Pontificia Universita Gregoriana
^ Pope Pius IX, "Etsi multa", §2, 21 November 1873
^ Schlager, Patricius. "Gaspard Mermillod." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Etsi multa, §5
^ "These same laws provide that without the government's favor, which is revocable, the pastors and vicars could not exercise any functions and could not accept any office more extensive than those they received through popular election. Furthermore, they are compelled by the civil power to take an oath, the words of which denote apostasy." Para 6, Etsi multa.
^ "Sad and calamitous as these events are which We have just recounted, more dreadful things have happened in five of the seven cantons which constitute the diocese of Basel, namely Solothurn, Bern, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, and Zurich." Para 8, Etsi multa.
^ "Meanwhile by a decree and vote of the civil magistrates of Bern, sixty-nine pastors of the territory of Jura were first forbidden to carry out the functions of their ministry and then deprived of office." Para 8, Etsi multa.
^ "Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan is formed, which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ." Para 28, Etsi multa.

See also

References and notes

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