POPE CLEMENT VIII.

Since unity must always be preserved in the Catholic Church, which was established by Christ our Lord under one head, His Vicar on earth, and since there must be a conformity in those things which pertain to the glory of God and the required duty of ecclesiastical persons, then especially that communion of offering prayers to the one God with one and the same formula, which is contained in the Roman Breviary, must be perpetually retained. This ensures that God, in the Church spread throughout the whole world, may always be praised and invoked by Christ's faithful with one and the same order of praying and singing the psalms. For this reason, following the decree of the Holy Council of Trent a major 16th-century council that reformed the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation, Pope Pius V, our predecessor of happy memory, very piously and wisely removed that variety of Breviaries which were held differently in almost every church (excepting only a few) and restored the Breviary itself. He took care to have it very accurately printed and promulgated in Rome. To ensure it was held complete and inviolate by all, having applied the necessary provision, he decreed among other things that it should never at any time be changed in whole or in part, nor should anything be added to it or taken away from it, under the penalties contained in his Constitution. However, with the passage of time, through the negligence and carelessness of printers, and the reckless audacity and license of others who boldly take upon themselves things that do not belong to them, many errors have crept into it. Both in the Holy Scripture and the Lessons of the Fathers readings from the writings of early Christian theologians and saints, as well as in the lives of the Saints and the Rubrics the ceremonial instructions for the liturgy, traditionally printed in red, and other places, many things have been added and changed at will without our authority or that of the Roman Pontiffs our predecessors. This has reached the point where no Breviaries are now found that do not differ and disagree in many ways from the first edition of the same Pius, and they require revision. We, who in our pastoral concern apply ourselves especially to the care that those things which were holily and piously established by our predecessors be perpetually preserved whole and inviolate, and that those things which were changed and corrupted by human fault be restored to their original state and reformed, have commanded several pious and learned men, whose counsel and labor we frequently use in such matters, to inspect and examine the same Breviary more accurately with new diligence. We instructed them to restore, according to their learning and piety, those things they noticed were corrupted and in need of revision. Since this has been performed by them exactly and indeed with no small benefit, so that from the previous inconvenience a great deal of utility has arisen, we have ordered it to be printed and published as correctly as possible by our Vatican Press. So that its use may be preserved in all parts of the Christian world for all future times,

we decree that the Breviary itself may be printed only in our beloved City [Rome] at the same press and nowhere else. Outside the City, however, we permit it to be printed according to the copy now published by the said press, and not otherwise, under this law: it shall be lawful for any printers who wish to print it to do so, provided they have first requested and obtained in writing the permission of our beloved sons, the Inquisitors of heretical depravity in those places where they exist, or where they do not exist, the permission of the Local Ordinaries the bishop or chief administrator of a diocese. Otherwise, if they presume to print or booksellers presume to sell the said Breviary in any form hereafter without such permission, printers and booksellers existing outside our Ecclesiastical State the Papal States, territories in Italy under the direct rule of the Pope shall incur the sentence of excommunication the most severe ecclesiastical penalty, excluding the person from the spiritual life of the Church automatically. They cannot be absolved from this except by the Roman Pontiff, unless they are at the point of death. Those living in our beloved City and the rest of the Ecclesiastical State shall incur a penalty of five hundred gold ducats a high-value gold coin to be paid to the Apostolic Chamber, and the loss of all books and printing types to be given to the said Chamber, automatically and without further declaration. Furthermore, we perpetually interdict and prohibit the use of these Breviaries to be printed or sold by them hereafter without such permission in all places and nations, under the same penalties. Moreover, the Inquisitors or Local Ordinaries, before they grant such permission, shall most diligently compare the Breviaries to be printed by the printers (and after they have been printed) with this Breviary revised by our authority and now printed. They shall not permit anything to be added or taken away from them. They shall attest with their own hand in the original license that the comparison has been made and that they agree in every way. A copy of this license shall always be printed at the beginning or the end of each Breviary. If they do otherwise, the Inquisitors shall incur the penalties of losing their offices and being ineligible to hold them or others in the future. The Prelates and Local Ordinaries shall incur suspension from divine offices and shall be forbidden from entering the Church. Their Vicars shall similarly lose their offices and benefits, and be ineligible for them or others in the future, and furthermore incur excommunication automatically, as stated above. Furthermore, out of Apostolic kindness taking into account the protection of poor clergy and other ecclesiastical persons, and any printers and booksellers, we permit and grant that those who already have Breviaries printed up to this time may keep, use, and sell them respectively. This applies notwithstanding any licenses, indults, and privileges granted to any printers up to this time by us or the Roman Pontiffs our predecessors regarding the aforesaid Breviary of Pius V.