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Papal Oath of Office 
Pope Pius XIII


On October 25, 1998, the Feast of Christ the King, immediately prior to his first Papal Mass, Pope Pius XIII took the Papal Oath of Office.  It sets the stage and direction for the agenda which the pontiff will follow. 


Papal Oath of Office

I VOW: 

Never to change anything of the Tradition, and nothing thereof, guarded by God, found pleasing to my predecessors before me, nor to encroach,  to change, or to permit any INNOVATIONS therein; 

To the contrary: with glowing affections as her faithful student and successor, to reverently safeguard the passed-on good, with my whole strength and utmost effort; 

To cleanse all that is in contradiction with canonical order that may surface; 

To guard the holy canons and decrees of our popes as likewise the Divine ordinances of heaven, because I am conscious of Thee,  Whose  place I take through the grace of God, Whose Vicarship I Possess with Thy support, being subject to severest accounting before Thy divine tribunal over all that I confess. 

If I should undertake to act in anything of contrary sense, or should permit that it will be executed, Thou willst not be merciful to me on the dreadful day of Divine Justice. 

Accordingly, without exclusion, we subject to severest excommunication anyone - be it ourself, or be it another- who would dare to undertake anything new in contradiction to this evangelic tradition and the purity of the Orthodox (Catholic) Faith and the Christian Religion, or would seek to change anything by his opposing efforts, or would concur with those who undertake such blasphemous venture. 
 
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