On Catholicism 45 "Governments can assist the Church greatly in the execution of its important office if, in laying down their ordinances, they take account of what is prescribed by divine and ecclesiastical law, [italics]and if penalties are fixed for offenders. ..."[end italics] [open bracket]Again, the italics are ours.[closing bracket] What the Church Desires As an illustration of what the Church desires, the following quotation from the Lateran Pact is given in the Encyclical: "The Italian State, desirous of restoring to the institution of matrimony, which is the basis of the family, that dignity conformable to the traditions of its people, assigns as civil effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony all that is attributed to it in Canon Law." As the [italics]Catholic Times[end italics] (January 16th, 1931) says, the Pope is here speaking to "the whole human race." He seems to demand that the Catholic view of right and wrong shall be legally enforced upon us who do not share that faith. The public must henceforth wonder whether all Catholic attacks, however well argued, upon eugenics and upon other things more old and dear to our hearts, are not veiled efforts to resume the world-supremacy of the Pope. Such must be the thoughts of any free citizen who reads this Encyclical with a mind attentive; while if he be also a eugenist, he will find yet further confirmation of his fears in the recent Vatican decree. Issued since the writing of this article, the text of the decree had not reached us at the time of going to press. But the newspaper extracts make it amply clear that sex-education -- which inevitably implies biology - of the young is condemned, as are all "... eugenic theories tending to improve the human race." We gather from the Press that such improvement is considered by the Vatican to be "amply provided for by Divine, ecclesiastical, and human laws regarding marriage and the rights of the individual." [centered score] One final query - Is this Encyclical the fruit of the personal wisdom and experience of His Holiness Pope Pius XI, and thus liable to set aside a later Pope or a General Council; or is it indeed the [italics]ex cathedra[end italics] pronouncement of the Vicar of Christ? A copy of this Review is being sent to the secretary of His Holiness, with a request for a definite answer to this question. [graphic] Eugenics Review, Vol. XXIII, No. 1. [end]