Chapter I
Resolving Prior Objections
When a train is ready to leave,
normal procedure requires both engineer and passengers to
be in their proper places, and the conductor to signal for
departure. Only then can the train begin to roll.
So also, at the outset of an intellectual
work it is customary to set forth preliminary principles
and explain, if need be, the logical criteria that justify
them. Only then may the author pass on to the doctrinal
part.
However, if a number of readers
are suspicious of the subject to be dealt with, or even
have deep-rooted prejudices against it, the situation is
like that of an engineer who notices that although the passengers
are already seated, the tracks ahead are blocked.
The trip cannot begin without the
removal of the obstructions.
In a similar way, the obstacles
the present work will encounter—the prejudices that
fill the minds of numerous readers regarding the nobility
and analogous traditional elites—are so great that
the topic can only be treated after their removal.
This explains the unusual title
and content of this first chapter.
1. Without
Detriment to a Just and Ample Action on Behalf of the Working
Class, an Opportune Action in Favor of Elites
Much is said today regarding the demands
to meet the social needs of workers. In principle, this
solicitude is highly commendable and deserves the support
of every upright soul.
However, to favor only the working class
while neglecting the problems and needs of other classes,
often just as harshly affected by the great contemporary
crisis, is tantamount to forgetting that society includes
not just manual laborers but various classes, each with
its specific functions, rights, and duties. The formation
of a global classless society is a utopia that has been
the unvarying theme of the successive egalitarian movements
arising in Christian Europe since the fifteenth century.
In our day, this utopia is heralded mainly
by socialists, communists, and anarchists.1
The TFPs and TFP Bureaus throughout Europe,
the Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Africa support all just
improvements for the working class. But they cannot accept
the notion that these improvements imply the eradication
of other classes or such reduction of their specific status,
duties, rights, and functions as would lead to their virtual
extinction in the name of the common good. Trying to solve
social questions by leveling all classes for the apparent
benefit of one class is to provoke genuine class struggle.
To suppress all classes for the exclusive benefit of one,
the working class, leaves the others no alternative but
legitimate self-defense or death.
The TFPs cannot endorse this process of
social leveling. In contradistinction to the proponents
of class struggle, and in cooperation with the multiple
initiatives underway today in favor of social peace through
a just and needed advancement of the workers, all conscientious
contemporaries must develop an action in favor of social
order, opposing the socialist and communist action, which
aims to create social friction and, ultimately, unleash
class warfare.
The survival of social order requires
that the right of each class to what it needs to live in
dignity be recognized and that each class be able to fulfill
its obligations to the common good.
In other words, action in favor of the
workers must be coupled with a complementary action in favor
of the elites.
The Church's interest in social questions
does not stem from an exclusive love of the working class.
The Church is not a labor party. She loves
justice and charity more than She loves any specific class,
and She strives to establish these virtues among men. For
this reason, She loves all social classes, including the
nobility, so besieged by egalitarian demagogues.2
These reflections naturally lead the reader
to the subject of this book. On the one hand, it is evident
that Pius XII recognizes that the nobility has a significant
and specific mission in contemporary society, a mission
shared in considerable measure by the other social elites,
as will be discussed later.
This concept is taught in the Sovereign
Pontiff's fourteen masterful allocutions delivered in audiences
granted the Roman Patriciate and Nobility3
on the occasion of their New Years' greetings
from 1940 through 1952 and again in 1958.4
On the other hand, no one can ignore the
vast and multifaceted offensive underway in today's world
to abase and eradicate the nobility and other elites. One
need only consider the overpowering, relentless, and pervasive
pressures to ignore, contest, or diminish their roles.
In this light, action on behalf of the
nobility and the elites is more opportune than ever. Thus
we affirm, with serene courage, that in our day and age,
when the preferential option for the poor has become
so necessary, a preferential option for the nobility
has become indispensable as well. Of course, we include
in this expression other traditional elites, which are worthy
of support and in danger of disappearing.
This affirmation may seem absurd since
in theory the worker's condition is closer to poverty than
is the noble's, and since, as is commonly known, many nobles
possess large fortunes.
Large fortunes, yes. But these are generally
eroded by crushing taxes, giving rise to the distressing
spectacle of lords compelled to transform substantial parts
of their manors and mansions into hotels or inns, while
they occupy only a fraction of the family home; or, into
manors where the lord serves as curator and guide, if not
bartender, while his spouse feverishly applies herself to
often menial chores to keep their ancestral home clean and
presentable.
This persecution advances by other means
as well, such as the extinction of the rights of primogeniture
and the compulsory division of inheritances. Is not a preferential
option for the nobility required to counteract this offensive?
If the nobility is regarded as an inherently
parasitic class of profligates, the answer is no. However,
Pius XII rejected this caricature of the nobility, which
is part of the black legend spread by the French Revolution
and those that followed it in Europe and the world. While
clearly stating that abuses and excesses deserving history's
censure have occurred in noble circles, he nevertheless
affirms, in moving terms, the existence of a harmony between
the nobility's mission and the natural order instituted
by God Himself, as well as the elevated and beneficial character
of this mission.5
2. Nobility:
A Species Within the Genus "Traditional Elites"
The expression "traditional elites"
appears frequently throughout this work. We use this term
to designate a socioeconomic reality that may be described
as follows:
According to the pontifical texts discussed
hereafter, the nobility is an elite from every point of
view. It is the highest elite, not the sole elite. It is
a species within the genus "elites."
Some elites derive their status from sharing
in the specific functions and features of the nobility.
Others, although engaged in other functions, also enjoy
a special dignity. There are elites, then, that are neither
noble nor hereditary ex natura propria.
For example, a university professorship
in itself introduces its holder into what can be called
the nation's elite. The same holds true for a military commission,
a diplomatic office, and comparable positions.
While the exercise of these activities
is not a privilege of the nobility today, the number of
nobles engaged in them is not small. Obviously these nobles
do not relinquish their status by doing so. On
the contrary, they bring to these activities the excellence
of the attributes specific to the nobility.6
When enumerating elites one should not
overlook those that give impulse to the nation's economy
through industry and commerce. These activities are not
only legitimate and dignified, but manifestly useful. Their
immediate and specific goal, however, is the enrichment
of those who practice them. In other words, it is by enriching
themselves that these individuals, in a collateral way,
enrich the nation. In itself, this is not sufficient to
confer nobiliary character. Only a special dedication to
the common good—particularly to its most precious
element, the Christian character of civilization—can
confer nobiliary splendor on an elite.
Nevertheless, this splendor will shine
in industrialists or merchants who, in the pursuit of their
activities, render noteworthy services to the common good
with significant sacrifice of their legitimate personal
interests.
Moreover, should the interplay of circumstances
enable a non-noble family to render such services for several
generations, this alone may well be considered sufficient
to elevate that lineage to noble status.
Something of this sort occurred with the
Venetian nobility, which was largely made up of merchants.
This class governed the Most Serene Republic and, consequently,
held in its hands the common good of the State, which it
raised to the rank of an international power. It is not
surprising, therefore, that these merchants attained the
status of nobles. They did this so effectively and authentically
that they assimilated the elevated cultural tone and manners
of the best military and feudal nobility.
There are, on the other hand,
traditional elites based from their onset upon aptitudes
and virtues transmitted through genetic continuity, or through
the family environment and education.7
A traditional elite arises when this transmission
bears fruit and, consequently, families—and not rarely
large groups of families—distinguish themselves from
generation to generation through signal services to the
common good. The precious attribute of traditionality is
in this way added to the status of this elite. Frequently
these elites do not formally constitute a noble class merely
because the law in many countries, in accordance with the
doctrines of the French Revolution, forbids the granting
of noble titles by public authority. This is the case not
only in certain European countries, but also in the Americas.
Nonetheless, pontifical teachings on the
nobility are largely applicable to these traditional elites
by virtue of their analogous roles. For this reason these
teachings are both important and timely for those who bear
authentic and lofty family traditions, even when not adorned
by a title. They have a noble mission in favor of the common
good and Christian civilization in their respective countries.
The same can be said, mutatis mutandis,
of the nontraditional elites as they become traditional.
3. Objections
to the Nobility Imbued with the Egalitarian Spirit of the
French Revolution
Nobility, elites. Why does this
book only deal with them? Such will be, no doubt, the objection
raised by egalitarian readers, who are ipso facto hostile
to the nobility.
Contemporary society is saturated with
radically egalitarian prejudices. Sometimes these are consciously
or unconsciously harbored even by people belonging to sectors
of opinion where one would expect to find unanimity in the
opposite vein. Such is the case with members
of the clergy who are enthusiasts of the revolutionary trilogy,
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, heedless of the fact that
it was originally interpreted in a sense frontally opposed
to Catholic doctrine.8
If such egalitarian dissonance is found
in clerical circles, one should not be surprised that it
also occurs among nobles and members of other traditional
elites. With the recent bicentennial of the French Revolution
fresh in our memories, these reflections readily recall
the revolutionary noble par excellence, Philippe Egalité,
Duke of Orleans. To this day, his example has not ceased
to inspire emulators in more than one illustrious lineage.
In 1891, when Leo XIII published his famous
encyclical Rerum novarum on the condition of the
working class, certain capitalist circles objected that
relations between capital and labor, being a specifically
economic matter, were no concern of the Roman Pontiff. They
suggested that his encyclical encroached on their domain.
Today, some readers might wonder why a
Pope should concern himself with the nobility and elites,
traditional or otherwise. Their mere survival in our changed
times might seem to these readers an archaic and useless
outgrowth of the feudal era. From this perspective, the
nobility and contemporary elites are nothing more than the
embodiment of certain ways of thinking, feeling, and acting
that man can no longer appreciate or even comprehend.
These readers deem that the few who still
value elites are inspired by empty aesthetic or romantic
sentiments, and that the people who pride themselves on
being part of the elites have succumbed to arrogance and
vanity. These readers, convinced that nothing will prevent
the inevitable march of history from eradicating such obsolete
malignancies from the face of the earth, conclude that if
Pius XII would not foster the march of history thus understood,
at least he ought not put obstacles in its way.
Why, then, did Pius XII address this subject
so extensively and in a way so agreeable to Counter-revolutionary
minds, such as that of this author, who has assembled these
teachings, annotated them, and now offers them to the public?
Would it not have been better for the Pontiff to have remained
silent?
The answer to such egalitarian objections
imbued with the spirit of 1789 is simple. People
who wish to know the answer can do no better than to hear
it from the authoritative lips of Pius XII himself. In his
allocutions to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility, Pius XII
points out, with an extraordinary gift for synthesis, the
profound moral significance of his intervention in the matter,
as we shall see.9 He also highlights the
legitimate role of the nobility according to social doctrine
inspired by Natural Law and Revelation. At the same time,
he describes the richness of soul that became their hallmark
in the Christian past. Confirming their continued guardianship
of that treasure, the Pontiff proclaims their lofty mission
of affirming and radiating this rich legacy throughout the
contemporary world. This remains the case despite the devastating
effects of the ideological revolutions, world wars, and
socioeconomic crises that have reduced many nobles to modest
circumstances. Repeatedly the Pontiff reminds
them that, much to their honor, their situation is similar
to that of Saint Joseph, at once a Prince of the House of
David, a simple carpenter, and, above all, the legal father
of the Word Incarnate and chaste spouse of the Queen of
all Angels and Saints.10
4. The
Teachings of Pius XII: A Precious Shield Against the Opponents
of Nobility
Some readers among the nobility may wonder
what the reading of this study can possibly avail them.
They might ask themselves, "Have we not already received
most of these teachings in the venerable environment of
our fathers' homes, rich in elevated traditions of a formative
and moral nature? Have we not practiced them throughout
our lives, with our gaze set on our forefathers' example?"
We could easily answer this objection
by saying that the religious root of these duties and their
basis in pontifical documents might not have been clear
enough to them. They, in turn, might reply, "How can
the knowledge of these teachings be a source of spiritual
enrichment for us, since the legacy of our ancestors has
proven sufficient to guide our lives in a genuinely aristocratic
and Christian way?"
An aristocrat who, alleging these reasons,
shuns as useless the study of the perennial teachings of
Pius XII on the Roman Nobility—which are relevant
to the entire European nobility—would show signs of
superficiality, both of spirit and of religious formation.
If the moral integrity of a Catholic is
not based on a lucid and loving knowledge of the Church's
teachings, and a deeply rooted adherence to them, it lacks
a solid foundation. Thus it risks sudden ruin, especially
in today's post-Christian society, so troubled and saturated
with incitements to sin and social revolution. To resist
the seduction and pressures of this society, the gentle
and profound influence of family formation is not sufficient
without the support of the teachings of the Faith, observance
of the Commandments, steadfast piety, and frequent recourse
to the Sacraments.
From this perspective, it is a great encouragement
for the truly Catholic aristocrat to know that his traditional
way of thinking, feeling, and acting is solidly founded
on the teachings of the Vicar of Christ. This encouragement
is all the more timely in this age of neopagan "democratism,"
which victimizes the aristocrat with misunderstanding, criticism,
and even sarcasm. This persecution is so persistent that
it may expose him to the temptation of feeling ashamed of
his noble status. Consequently, the aristocrat can easily
harbor the desire of withdrawing from his uncomfortable
situation by implicitly or explicitly renouncing his noble
state.
The teachings of Pius XII transcribed and
analyzed in these pages will serve him as a sturdy shield
against his relentless adversaries. They will be forced
to admit that a noble who is true to himself, to his Faith,
and to his traditions is not an eccentric who simply concocted
the convictions and lifestyle that distinguish him. Rather,
these will be understood to spring from an immensely more
elevated and universal source, the traditional teachings
of the Catholic Church.
Although opponents of the nobility may
hate such teachings, they cannot reduce them to the category
of mere personal speculations of a crank or quixotic paladin
of things gone forever.
While this may not convince someone who
objects to these ideas, it will curb the boldness and impact
of his attack and prove a great polemical advantage to the
defenders of the nobility and traditional elites. This is
true, above all, when the maligner of the noble class is
a Catholic layman or—pro dolor!—a priest.
Such opposition is not unlikely,
given the tragic crisis affecting the Church.11
Paul VI referred to this
crisis as a "self-demolition," and he expressed
his feeling that "Satan's smoke has made its way into
the temple of God."12
Nor is it unlikely that opponents of the
nobility and other traditional or even nontraditional elites
may misuse Sacred Scripture to support their argument. In
such cases, it is important for nobles and members of other
elites to rely on the teachings of Pius XII, his predecessors,
and successors, thus placing their opponents in the harsh
predicament of either recanting their error or admitting
that they are in open contradiction with the pontifical
teachings cited in this work.
5. Intuitive
and Implicit Notions Do Not Suffice—The Wealth of
Concepts in Pius XII's Treatment of the Matter
We have enumerated several objections
raised today against the nobility as well as arguments the
nobles must have honed and ready at hand for their defense.
Proponents and opponents of nobility have
some notion, however intuitive and vague, of the nobility's
concept of its essence, raison d'être, and
fidelity to Christian civilization. But merely intuitive
notions, more often implicit than explicit, are insufficient
in a serious and conclusive debate. Whence arises the sterility
that so often characterizes polemics on the subject.
It should be added in passing that the
literature against the nobility is far more abundant and
accessible than that in its favor. This explains, at least
in part, why the defenders of the nobility are frequently
less informed on the subject and, consequently, more insecure
and timid than their opponents.
In his allocutions to the Roman Patriciate
and Nobility, the memorable Pontiff Pius XII establishes
the foundations of a contemporary apologia for the nobility
and traditional elites. He does this with an elevation of
mind, a wealth of ideas, and a conciseness of style that
makes the reading of the present work all the more useful
and opportune.
6. Are These Allocutions
Merely Social Amenities Devoid of Content, Thought, and
Affection?
Some will probably claim, with manifest
flippancy, that they are exempted from reading and reflecting
on these allocutions of Pius XII, alleging that they were
merely given to comply with social courtesy, and therefore
lack doctrinal and affective content.
Paul VI was of a different opinion, as
the following remarks reveal.
We would like to say many things to you.
Your presence provokes much reflection. So it was also
with Our venerable Predecessors, especially Pope Pius
XII of happy memory. They, on occasions such as this,
addressed you with masterful speeches, inviting you in
your meditation to consider your own situations and those
of our times in the light of their admirable teachings.
We want to believe that the echo of those
words, like a gust of wind swelling a sail,...still vibrates
in your thoughts, filling them with the austere and magnanimous
appeals that nourish the vocation preordained for you
by Providence and sustain the role still required of you
today by contemporary society.12
As for their doctrinal content, a reading
of the texts and the accompanying commentaries will suffice
to demonstrate their relevance and richness. Throughout
these pages the reader will see that far from decreasing
with time, this relevance has only increased.
A word remains to be said about their affective
content. In this regard, it will suffice to quote Pius XII's
allocution to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility in 1958.
You, who at the start of each new year
have never failed to come visit Us, must surely remember
the careful solicitude with which We endeavored to smooth
your way toward the future, which at that time promised
to be harsh because of the profound upheavals and transformations
in store for the world. We are certain, however, that
when your brows too are framed with white and silver,
you will yet be witnesses not only to Our esteem and affection,
but also to the truth, the validity, and the timeliness
of Our recommendations, which We hope are like fruits
that have come to you and to society in general.
You will recall to your
children and grandchildren how the Pope of your childhood
and adolescence did not neglect to point you toward the
new responsibilities that the new circumstances of the
age imposed on the nobility.14
Beyond any doubt, these words show that
the allocutions of Pius XII to the Roman Patriciate and
Nobility correspond to lofty designs that were clearly defined
in the Pontiff's mind and heart. They also show that he
expected them to bear lasting and important fruits. This
is a far cry from what one would expect from allocutions
meant to comply with mere social etiquette and therefore
devoid of content, thought, and affection.
The esteem of Pius XII for hereditary nobility
shines with particular brilliance in the following words
addressed to the Pontifical Noble Guard on December 26,
1942:
None can be envious upon seeing that
We bear you such special affection. To whom, in truth,
is the immediate protection of Our person entrusted, if
not to you? And are you not the first of Our guards?
Guard! What lofty resonance there is
in this word: the soul trembles therewith; thoughts take
wing. An ardent love for the sovereign and a steadfast
reverence to his person and cause vibrate and voice themselves
in this name; it sets in motion a tested generosity, an
unvanquished constancy and courage in face of the risks
met in his service and for his defense; it speaks of virtues
which, molding the champion on the one hand, on the other
hand evoke from the sovereign sentiments of esteem, affection,
and confidence in his guard.
You, the guard of Our person, constitute
Our armor, refulgent with that nobility which is the privilege
of blood and which shone in you as the pledge of your
devotion even before your admission into the Corps, for,
as the ancient proverb says, "Good blood cannot lie."
Life is the blood that is transmitted from rank to rank,
from generation to generation in your illustrious lineages,
carrying with it the fire of that devout love for the
Church and the Roman Pontiff that neither diminishes nor
cools with the changing events, be they joyous or sad.
In the darkest hours of the history of the Popes, the
loyalty of your ancestors shone brighter and burned more
ardently and generously than in the resplendent hours
of magnificence and material prosperity....We
have no doubt that just as in the past so chosen a tradition
of familiar virtues was transmitted from father to son,
so will it continue to be transmitted from generation
to generation as a patrimony of greatness of soul and
most noble merit of one's respective stirp.15
7. Documents of
Perennial Value
Lastly, some might object that after
the death of Pius XII a new era began for the Church, that
of the Second Vatican Council. Therefore, the allocutions
of the deceased Pontiff to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility
fell like dead leaves on the floor of the Church, and Conciliar
and post-Conciliar Popes have not returned to the subject.
This is not true, either.
As proof, this work will cite, argumentandi gratia,
eloquent documents from the successors of the mourned Pontiff.16
We will now proceed to study the
allocutions of Pius XII highlighting their magnificent doctrinal
wealth.
_____________________
1 Cf.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution
(New Rochelle, N.Y.: The Foundation for a Christian Civilization,
Inc., 1980), pp.
28-29, 61-70.
2 See
Chapter IV, 8,
and Chapter V,
6.
3 The
Roman Patriciate is divided into:
a) Roman Patricians, descended from
those who held civil posts in the government of the pontifical
city during the Middle Ages.
b) Conscript Roman Patricians, who
belong to any of the sixty Patrician families recognized
as such by the Sovereign Pontiff in a special pontifical
bull, which mentioned them by name. They constitute the
cream of the Roman Patriciate.
The Roman Nobility is also divided
into two categories:
a) Nobles descending from feudatories
who had received a fief from the Sovereign Pontiff.
b) Common nobles, whose nobility
issued from the appointment to some court office, or directly
from a pontifical concession.
4 Two
of Pius XII's allocutions to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility
(those of 1952 and 1958) summarized the others.
In 1944 Pius XII delivered a second
allocution to the Roman Nobility on July 11 to thank their
families for offering a generous sum of money to help the
needy.
Pius XII did not deliver any allocutions
to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility between 1953 and 1957.
He reestablished the custom with his allocution of January
1958, but died on October 9 of that year.
5 See
RPN 1943, Documents I.
6 See
Chapter IV, 3
and 7, and
Chapter VI, 2
b.
7 See
Chapter V, 2.
8 See
Chapter III, 3
and 4. See also Appendix III of Nobility and Analogous
Traditional Elites for important excerpts from pontifical
documents that clarify the issue.
9 Chapter
I, 6.
10 See
Chapter IV, 8,
and Chapter V,
6.
11 The
bibliography on this theme is vast. See especially: Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger, with Vittorio Messori, The Ratzinger
Report (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985), and Romano
Amerio, Iota unum—Studio delle variazioni della
Chiesa Cattolica nel secolo XX (Milan-Naples: Riccardo
Ricciardi Editore, 1985).
See also: Dietrich von Hildebrand,
The Trojan Horse in the City of God and The
Devastated Vineyard (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press,
1967 and 1973, respectively); Rudolf Graber (Bishop of Regensburg),
Athanasius and the Church of Our Time (Buckinghamshire:
Van Duren C.P. Ltd., 1974); Cornelio Fabro, L'avventura
della teologia progressista and La svolta antropologica
di Karl Rahner (Milan: Rusconi Editore, both 1974);
Anton Holzer, Vatikanum II: Reformkonzil oder Konstituante
einer neuen Kirche (Basel: Saka, 1977); Wigand Siebel,
Katholisch oder konziliar: Die Krise der Kirche heute
(Munich-Vienna: Langen Müller, 1978); Joseph Cardinal
Siri, Gethsemane: Reflections on the Current Theological
Movement (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1981);
Enrique Rueda, The Homosexual Network (Old Greenwich,
Conn.: The Devin Adair Company, 1982); Georg May, Der
Glaube in der nachkonziliaren Kirche (Vienna: Mediatrix
Verlag, 1983); Richard Cowden-Guido, John Paul II and
the Battle for Vatican II (Manassas, Va.: Trinity Communications,
1986).
12 "The
Church today is going through a moment of apprehension.
Certain people are engaging in self-criticism, one might
even say self-demolition. It is an acute and complex upheaval
from within, which no one would have expected after the
Council.... The Church is smitten even by those who belong
to it" (Speech to the Pontifical Lombard Seminary,
December 7, 1968, Insegnamenti di Paolo VI [Tipografia
Poliglotta Vaticana, 1968], Vol. 6, p. 1188. Cf. L'Osservatore
Romano [English weekly ed.], December 19, 1968, p.
3). "Referring to the situation of the Church of today,
the Holy Father then affirmed that he had the feeling that
`Satan's smoke has made its way into the temple of God through
some crack'" (Homily "Resistite fortes in
Fide" of June 29, 1972, L'Osservatore Romano
[English weekly ed.], July 13, 1972, p. 6).
13 RPN
1964, Insegnamenti di Paolo VI (Tipografia Poliglotta
Vaticana, 1964), Vol. 2, p. 73.
14 RPN
1958, p. 708.
15 PNG
1942, pp. 349-350.
16 See
Chapter I, 6,
and Chapter IV,
11.
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