Etsi Nos

Etsi Nos (English: On Conditions in Italy) was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Leo XIII in 1882 complaining about the way in which post-unification Italy denigrated the role of the Church, which it blamed primarily on Freemasonry:

"It is even reported that this year it is about to receive the deputies and leaders of the sect which is most embittered against Catholicism, who have appointed this city as the place for their solemn meeting. The reasons which have determined their choice of such a meeting place are no secret; they desire by this outrageous provocation to glut the hatred which they nourish against the Church, and to bring their incendiary torches within reach of the Roman Pontificate by attacking it in its very seat."