Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/341



CATHOLICITY IN THE UNITED STATES. 335

" Praedara," has in very recent times declared. Nor are we destitute of all hope; for He is present and hath a care whom all things obey and who laid down His life that He might "gather in one the children of God who were dispersed." (John xi. 52.)

Surely we ought not to desert them nor leave them to their fancies; but with mildness and charity draw them to us, using every means of persuasion to induce them to examine closely every part, of the CathoUc doctrine, and to free themselves from preconceived notions. In this matter, if the first place belongs to the bishops and clergy, the second belongs to the laity, who have it in their power to aid the apostolic efforts of the clergy by the probity of their morals and the integrity of their lives. Great is the force of example; particularly with those who are earnestly seeking the truth, and who, from a certain inborn virtuous disposition, are striving to live an honorable and upright life, to which class very many of your fellow-citizens belong. If the spectacle of Christian virtues exerted the powerful influence over the heathens blinded, as they were, by inveterate superstition, which the records of history attest, shall we think it powerless to eradicate error in the case of those who have been initiated into the Christian religion?

Finally, We cannot pass over in silence those whose long-continued unhappy lot implores and demands succor from men of apostolic zeal; We refer to the Indians and the negroes who are to be found within the confines of America, the greatest portion of whom have not yet dispelled the darkness of superstition. How wide a field for cultivation! How great a multitude of human beings to be made partakers of the blessing derived through Jesus Christ!

Meanwhile, as a presage of heavenly graces and a testimony of Our benevolence, We most lo\dngly in the Lord impart to you. Venerable Brethren, and to your clergy and people, Our Apostohc Benediction.