Paternae §1

¹ We rejoice that the fruit of Our paternal concern for your nation has been great, due especially to your efforts. Clinging to Our instructions in the apostolic letter which We gave on July 2, 1894, you have labored to arouse piety in the laity and to revive the old discipline in the clergy. Nor are We ignorant of how great an effort you expended to preserve the safety and rights of the religious societies which have come forth from the old religious communities of your region in order to recall them to their pristine glory. Clerics from Europe are profitably associated with these societies. The noble ardor of these European brothers was not inhibited by the long voyage, nor by the inclemency of the weather, nor by the difference in customs. In addition, many groups founded recently were summoned by your zeal to establish or to govern colleges, to engage in missions, or to perform other functions of the priestly ministry for which the number of your clergy scarcely sufficed. It must be a great consolation to you that your seminaries have increased in number and have been improved.