1. The Catholic Church is, according to divine ordination, an
independent society, which has the right to exist publicly in all
lands as the one and universal church of Jesus Christ, and to
protect which every Christian government should feel itself bound.
2. The ecclesiastico‐political system which the parties opposed to
the church are endeavoring to carry out stands in irreconcilable
and open contradiction to the constitution of the Catholic Church,
founded by Almighty God, sanctified through all centuries,
recognized by the state, and guaranteed by the law of nations.
3. The power of the office of teacher, priest, and pastor, given
by the Pope to the bishops, cannot be suspended or limited by any
law of the state.
4. Church and state are ordained by Almighty God to harmonious co‐
operation. Their separation is to be lamented. If the hostility
with which the modern state treats the church should make such a
separation necessary, it will be more to the disadvantage of the
state than to the church.