Paterno Iam Diu §1

¹ It was the expectation and hope of Our paternal heart that, once the terrible conflict was at an end and the spirit of Christian charity restored, the regions desolated by famine and misery, especially in Central Europe, might little by little improve their condition, thanks to the united efforts of all good men. But this Our hope has not been realized by events. As a matter of fact, information reaches Us from all sides that those populous regions are deprived of food and clothing to a degree beyond all imagination, so that a most lamentable decay of health is the result among the less hardy, and especially among the children. This their misfortune afflicts Our heart all the more as they are altogether innocent and even ignorant of the sanguinary conflict which has desolated almost the whole world; and, moreover, they represent the germs of the future generations, which cannot but feel the effects of their debilitation.