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Arcanum Divinae

Arcanum Divinae is an encyclical issued February 10, 1880 by Pope Leo XIII on the topic of Christian marriage. It was considered the forerunner to Pope Pius XI's 1930 Casti connubii, and Pope Paul VI's Humanae vitae. Arcanum outlines the role of marriage in the late 19th century, and goes through those actions which weakens the marriage contract such as polygamy and divorce. The encyclical also posits the church as a protector of marriage, and not one intervening in the marital relationship.

Pope Leo began "Arcanum" by recalling the history of marriage, established in the Old Testament when God created man and woman:

"We record what is to all known, and cannot be doubted by any, that God, on the sixth day of creation, having made man from the slime of earth, and having breathed into his face the breath of life, gave him a companion, whom He miraculously took from the side of Adam when he was locked in sleep." 

According to Pope Leo, the institution of marriage was corrupted over the years by the Jewish nation. Polygamy and divorce both became accepted practice such as men being allowed to violate their vows by having sexual relations outside of marriage. Also, parents were allowed to buy and sell marriageable girls to make and unmake the marriages of their offsprings.


All of these practices were condemned by Christ who raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, Pope Leo states in Arcanum.

"By the command of Christ, it not only looks to the propagation of the human race, but to the bringing forth of children to the church..."

"The list of those who tried to corrupt the sacrament of marriage was long, starting with the incestuous Corinthian was condemned by the authority of blessed Paul."

Almost since its inception, the Church has been at odds with the State about the sanctity of marriage. The civil institution of marriage cannot replace the sacrament of marriage as so many of Pope Leo's contemporaries thought it could. The placing of marriage under the state as just another civil, contractual institution was a part of the on-going secular movement by the Freemasons and Socialists of Pope Leo's time. He further said, "...in Christian marriage, the contract is inseparable from the sacrament, and that, for this reason, the contract cannot be true and legitimate without being a sacrament as well."

Treating marriage as just another contractual event opened the door for reckless enablement of divorce. According to the modernists, what was needed was for Christianity "to introduce a more humane code sanctioning divorce."

The evils of divorce were many, according to Pope Leo's Arcanum:
  • Matrimonial contracts are by it made variable; mutual kindness is weakened;
  • Deplorable inducements to unfaithfulness are supplied;
  • Harm is done to the education and training of children;
  • Occasion is afforded for the breaking up of homes;
  • The seeds of dissension are sown among families;
  • The dignity of womanhood is lessened and brought low, and women run the risk of being deserted after having ministered to the pleasures of men.
...Romans of old are said to have shrunk with horror from the first example of divorce.

Due to marriage's relation to the circumstances of life, marriage was something "about which the State rightly makes strict inquiry and justly promulgates decrees." In spite of the state's interest in marriage, marriage had a spiritual side and many of Pope Leo's predecessors had to stand up to the princes and emperors of their times who tried to relax the bonds of marriage:

...the decrees of Nicholas I against Lothair; of Urban II and Paschal II against Philip I of France; of Celestine III and Innocent III against Alphonsus of Leon and Philip II of France; of Clement VII and Paul III against Henry VIII; and lastly, of Pius VII, that holy and courageous pontiff, against Napoleon I, when at the height of his prosperity and in the fullness of his power."

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This post is sponsored by Enchanted Kingdom.

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