Quod Apostolici Muneris

An encyclical letter written by Pope Leo XIII in 1878 in which he condemns revolution against civil governments and declares that Christians owe the duty of obedience to the state, provided the state does not direct one to violate his/her conscience. It also upholds marriage and family life and the right to private property. The letter is one of the foundational documents of Catholic social justice theory.

References in periodicals archive

As early as 1878, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris strongly denounced Socialism--however Christian--on the grounds that it opposed the natural institutions of authority and property, preferring to substitute forcible governmental distribution of goods for charity.

Quod Apostolici Muneris: Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Socialism.

Robert Browning, theologian: the incarnational politics of "Fra Lippo Lippi"

Such legislation is merely the natural outgrowth of the socialist mindset, which Pope Leo XIII warned against in Quod Apostolici Muneris, his encyclical of 1878.

Coercion of Christians in Britain

Leo XIII, who succeeded Pius in 1878, shared his predecessor's evaluation of the contemporary world, as is clear from his second encyclical, Quod Apostolici Muneris (1878): "The revered majesty and power of kings have won such fierce hatred from these seditious people that disloyal traitors ...

Papal doubts about unbridled capitalism: it is in the first centuries of Christianity, that we must look for the true foundations of Catholic social teaching

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