Sertum laetitiae

Sertum laetitiae (November 1, 1939) was an encyclical from Pope Pius XII to the Catholic Church of the United States of America in memory of the 150th anniversary of the installation of the first American bishop.
The encyclical recalls Pope Pius VI, who appointed bishop John Carroll (bishop) of Baltimore in 1789. It took the help of George Washington, a friend of Carroll, to formalize the erection of the first bishopric of the Catholic Church in the 13 colonies forming USA. One hundred years later, in 1889, Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical "Longinqua Oceani" addressed the Church in the United States and issued praise and admonitions.
By 1939, the Church in the USA has nineteen provinces, 115 dioceses, 200 seminaries and numerous institutions. Pius XII, who recalls his official visit three years earlier, is proud of these efforts. He praises the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., (which away back had offered him a professorship in 1903). The Pontiff supports the wishes of the American bishops to establish an American College in Rome.
The encyclical advises Catholic bishops to be active in advancing racial justice by improving the access of Negroes to Catholic schools. It also critiques blind materialism. Individual happiness can only be achieved by obeying the Commandments of God, whose non-observance undermines the basis of true civilization
Biography.
According to Houbraken, he painted as a hobby, since he earned his living as the director of the local Bank van Lening. He specialized in landscapes, flowers, fruit and other forms of still life. He was a very friendly man, especially to artists and art collectors.
He was active in Enkhuizen (and perhaps Amsterdam), in Purmerend from 1679–1683, and in Hoorn from 1683 until his death.