- Source: Inter praecipuas machinationes
Inter praecipuas machinationes, or On Biblical Societies, was an encyclical issued by Pope Gregory XVI on 8 May 1844, condemning Protestant translations of the Bible.
Following the examples of Pius VII, Leo XII, and Pius VIII, Gregory condemns Bible societies for their distribution of unapproved Bible editions. He accuses the Christian League, in New York, of "inciting sedition", converting Catholic Italian immigrants to Protestantism by encouraging them to form their own interpretations of the Bible.
Many American Protestants saw Gregory's position as conceding that Catholic doctrines were unbiblical. Protestant groups like the Plymouth Brethren took the encyclical as evidence that Catholic countries were in need of their missionary labor.