Iamdudum §10

¹⁰ Assuredly, these days of difficulty in which Portugal since the public proclamation of the Republic is so tormented, are to Us a source of great anxiety and sorrow. We are deeply grieved at the sight of so many evils, which are pressing upon a nation so dear to Us; We are torn with anxiety at the apprehension of worse things to come, which certainly threaten it unless the powers that be seriously consider the duty of their position. But in the midst of all this, your eminent virtue, Venerable Brethren, who govern the Church of Portugal, and the earnestness of the clergy which seconds that virtue, are no small consolation to Us, and afford good hope that with God's help things will one day take a turn for the better. For you all recently showed a sense not of security or of well-being, but of your duty and its dignity, when you openly and fearlessly repudiated this iniquitous Law of Separation; when with one voice you proclaimed that you would rather recover the freedom of your ministry, even at the loss of all your property, than suffer servitude for the sake of paltry pensions; when, in fine, you declared that never, either by promises or by force should your enemies be able to sunder you from your allegiance to the Roman Pontiff Those splendid proofs of faith, constancy, and greatness of mind which you have given in the sight of the whole Church - be assured that they have been a source of joy to all good men, as well as a credit to yourselves and a comfort to Portugal herself in her affliction. Wherefore, continue as you have begun, to defend with all your might the cause of religion with which the very welfare of your common fatherland is bound up; but see to it, first and above all else, that you carefully preserve and strengthen the greatest concord and unity between yourselves, then between yourselves and Christian people, and all of you with this See of Blessed Peter. For, as we have said, the purpose of the authors of this wicked law is not, as they would make out, to separate the Church of Portugal, which they despoil and oppress, from the Republic, but from the Vicar of Christ. If you strive to meet and resist such a design on the part of these men and such a crime with all your might, then certainly you will have done well for the good of Catholic Portugal. Meanwhile, We, for the singular love We bear you, shall be suppliants to Almighty God that He may in His goodness favor your zeal and your efforts. And We beg you, Bishops of the rest of the Catholic world, to fulfill the same duty on behalf of your suffering brethren in Portugal in their time of need.