Date 8 December 1892 Text In English | ||
Encyclical number 45 of 85 of the pontificate | ||
Inimica vis (On Freemasonry) was a Papal Encyclical addressed to the bishops of Italy. It remarked on the multiple condemnations of Freemasonry over the preceding century and a half and concentrated on the local difficulties of the Italian church. It was promulgated by Leo XIII in 1892. It is still quoted in current Catholic criticisms of Freemasonry.
It is viewed as reproving the Italian bishops for an apathetic response to Freemasonry and it complained that some members of the Catholic clergy were co-operating with the Masonic and anticlerical government of Italy. It was seen as the start of Papal "bargaining" with the forces symbolised by Freemasonry, although it has also been noted that Freemasonry was denounced as a "vile sect".
On the same date Inimica vis was promulgated, 18 December 1892, Pope Leo XIII wrote Custodi di quella fede, an encyclical epistle addressed to the Italian people, attacking Freemasonry.