Testem benevolentiae is an apostolic letter written by Pope Leo XIII to Cardinal James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dated January 22, 1899. In it, the pope addressed a heresy that he called Americanism and expressed his concern that the Catholic Church in the United States should guard against American values of liberalism and pluralism undermining the doctrine of the Church.

Background

thumb|right|Pope Leo XIII

Testem benevolentiae is Latin for "Witness to Good Will." Pope Leo XIII was concerned about the culture of Catholics in the United States in response to the preface of the French translation of the biography of the American priest Isaac Thomas Hecker. Hecker's biography reached France 11 years after Hecker had died in good standing with the Church, and its French translation included a liberal preface by Abbé Félix Klein. Leo proposed to review certain opinions expressed by the translator in the book about Hecker.

Content

Rejection of American particularism

Testem benevolentiae involved American particularism and view of individual liberty. On particularism, it was believed that a movement of American Catholics felt they were a special case and needed greater latitude to assimilate to a majority-Protestant nation. The letter rejected the idea of some who conceive and would have the Church in America to be different from what it is in the rest of the world.

The letter actually had more to do with Catholics in France than those in the United States. French conservatives were appalled at Abbé Félix Klein's remarks in a book about an American priest, Isaac Thomas Hecker, and claimed that a number of the American Catholic clergy shared those views.

Leo expresses concern that Americans would value their freedom and individualism so much that they would reject the idea of monasteries and the priesthood: "Did not your country, the United States, derive the beginnings both of faith and of culture from the children of these religious families?"

The apostolic letter clearly rejects full freedom of the press:

The disturbance caused by the condemnation was slight since almost the entire laity and a considerable part of the clergy were unaware of the affair. However, the letter ended up strengthening the position of the conservatives in France.

See also

  • Syllabus of Errors

References

Further reading

  • Catholic Encyclopedia article on the letter
  • Michael W. Cuneo on the letter
  • Translation of Testem benevolentiae nostrae
  • Original text in Latin