Memorandum on the Evangelisation of Equatorial Africa (1st January 1878)
For the moment, I press on, so as not to compromise by delay a cause which I consider as one of the most important of the present time, for it is many centuries since the Church and the Holy See have had a more decisive and more favourable opportunity, if we know how to benefit from it, by striking a blow to decide the religious future of peoples and ensure the triumph of the apostolate.