Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/335



CATHOLICITY IN THE UNITED STATES. 329

His authority will possess no slight weight for preserving in the multitude a submissive spirit; in the clergy dis- cipline and due reverence for the bishops, and in the bishops mutual charity and an intimate union of souls. And since this union, so salutary and desirable, consists mainly in harmony of thought and action, he wall, no doubt, bring it to pass that each one of you shall perse- vere in the diUgent administration of his diocesan affairs; that one shall not impede another in matters of govern- ment; that one shall not prj^ into the counsels and con- duct of another; finally, that with disagreements eradi- cated and mutual esteem maintained, you may all work together with combined energies to promote the glory of the American Church and the general welfare. It is difficult to estimate the good results which will flow from this concord of the bishops. Our own people will receive edification; and the force of example wall have its effect on those without â€” who will be persuaded by this argu- ment alone that the divine apostolate has passed by inheritance to the ranks of the Catholic episcopate.

Another consideration claims our earnest attention. All intelligent men are agreed, and We Ourselves have with pleasure intimated it above, that America seems destined for greater things. Now, it is Our wish that the Catholic Church should not only share in, but help to bring about, this prospective greatness. We deem it right and proper that she should, by availing herself of the opportunities daily presented to her, keep equal step with the Republic in the march of improvement, at the same time striving to the utmost, by her virtue and her institutions, to aid in the rapid growth of the States. Now, she will attain both these objects the more easily and abundantly, in proportion to the degree in which the future shall find her constitution perfected. But what is the meaning of the legation of which we are speaking, or what is its ultimate aim except to bring it about that the constitution of the Church shall be