Immortale Dei, the Christian constitution of states : encyclical letter


The Christian Constitution of States

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
POPE LEO XIII

( With Discussion Club Outline by Rev. Gerald C. Treacy,S.J.)



For Discussion Club Outline

Imprimi Potest:
James P. Sweeney, S.J.,

Provincial, Maryland-New York.

Copyright, 1941, by

The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
in tile State of New York

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A.

BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK, N. Y.

Deacldified



IMMORTALE DEI

ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR HOLY FATHER
BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE

POPE LEO XIII
9

ON

The Christian Constitution
of States

To Our Venerable Brethren, All Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops and Bishops of the

Catholic World,

In Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See,
POPE LEO XIII

Venerable Brethren,

Health and Apostolic Benediction

1. The Catholic Church, that imperishable handiwork of
our all-merciful God, has for her immediate and natural purpose
the saving of souls and securing our happiness in heaven. Yet
in regard to things temporal she is the source of benefits as mani-

fold and great as if the chief end of her existence were to ensure
the prospering of our earthly life. And in truth, wherever the
Church has set her foot, she has straightway changed the face
of things, and has attempered the moral tone of the people with
a new civilization, and with virtues before unknown. All nations
which have yielded to her sway have become eminent for their
culture, their sense of justice, and the glory of their high deeds.

An Age-old Calumny
2. And yet a hackneyed reproach of old date is levelled

against her, that the Church is opposed to the rightful aims of
the civil government, and is wholly unable to afford help in
spreading that welfare and progress which justly and naturally
are sought after by every well-regulated State. From the very
beginning Christians were harassed by slanderous accusations of

[ l ]



this nature, and on that account were held up to hatred and
execration, for being (so they were called) enemies of the empire.
The Christian religion was moreover commonly charged with be-
ing the cause of the calamities that so frequently befell the State,

whereas, in very truth, just punishment was being awarded to
guilty nations by an avenging God. This odious calumny, with
most valid reason, nerved the genius and sharpened the pen of
St. Augustine, who, notably in his treatise On the City of God ,
set forth in so bright a light the, worth of Christian wisdom in
its relation to the public weal, that he seems not merely to have
pleaded the cause of the Christians of his day, but to have
refuted for all future times impeachments so grossly contrary to
truth. The wicked proneness, however, to levy the like charges
and accusations has not been lulled to rest. Many, indeed, are
they who have tried to work out a plan of civil society based on
doctrines other than those approved by the Catholic Church.
Nay, in these latter days a novel scheme of law has begun here
and there to gain increase and influence, the outcome, as it is
maintained, of an age arrived at full stature, and the result of
progressive liberty. But though endeavors of various kinds
have been ventured on, it is clear that no better mode has been
devised for the building up and ruling the State than that which
is the necessary growth of the teachings of the Gospel. We
deem it, therefore, of the highest moment, and a strict duty of
Our Apostolic office, to contrast with the lessons taught by Christ
the novel theories now advanced touching the State. By this
means We cherish hope that the bright shining of the truth may
scatter the mists of error and doubt, so that one and all may
see clearly the imperious law of life which they are bound to fol-
low and obey.

God the Origin of Authority

3. It is not difficult to determine what would be the form
and character of the State were it governed according to the

principles of Christian philosophy. Man’s natural instinct moves
him to live in civil society, for he cannot, if dwelling apart, pro-
vide himself with the necessary requirements of life, nor procure

the means of developing his mental and moral faculties. Hence
it is divinely ordained that he should lead his life—be it family,
social, or civil—with his fellow-men, amongst whom alone his sev-
eral wants can be adequately supplied. But as no society can
hold together unless some one be over all, directing all to strive
earnestly for the common good; every civilized community must
have a ruling authority, and this authority, no less than society

itself, has its source in nature, and has, consequently, God for its

[2 ]



author. Hence it follows that all public power must proceed
from God. For God alone is the true and supreme Lord of the
world. Everything, without exception, must be subject to Him,
and must serve Him, so that whosoever holds the right to gov-
ern, holds it from one sole and single source, namely, God, the
Sovereign Ruler of all. There is no power but from God

}

•

The Object* of Government

4. The right to rule is not necessarily, however, bound up
with any special mode of government. It may take this or that
form, provided only that it be of a nature to insure the general

welfare. But whatever be the nature of the government, rulers
must ever bear in mind that God is the paramount ruler of the
world, and must set Him before themselves as their exemplar and
law in the administration of the State. For, in things visible,

God has fashioned secondary causes, in which His divine action
can in some wise be discerned, leading up to the end to which
the course of the world is ever tending. In like manner in civil
society, God has always willed that there should be a ruling
authority, and that they who are invested with it should reflect
the divine power and providence in some measure over the human
race.

The Duties of Government and Citizens

5. They, therefore, who rule should rule with even-handed
justice, not as masters, but rather as fathers, for the rule of God
over man is most just, and is tempered always with a father’s
kindness. Government should, moreover, be administered for
the well-being of the citizens because they who govern others
possess authority solely for the welfare of the State. Further-

more, the civil power must not be subservient to the advantage
of any one individual or of some few persons, inasmuch as it was
established for the common good of all. But if those who are
in authority rule unjustly, if they govern overbearingly or arro-

gantly, and if their measures prove hurtful to the people, they
must remember that the Almighty will one day bring them to
account, the more strictly in proportion to the sacredness of their
office and pre-eminence of their dignity. The mighty shall be
mightily tormented. 2 Then truly will the majesty of the law
meet with the dutiful and willing homage of the people, when
they are convinced that their rulers hold authority from God,
and feel that it is a matter of justice and duty to obey them, and
to show them reverence and fealty, united to a love not unlike
that which children show their parents. Let every soul be sub-

l Rom. xiii. 1. 2 Wisd. vi. 7.

[3 ]



feet to higher powers . 3 To despise legitimate authority, in whom-
soever vested, is unlawful, as a rebellion against the divine will,

and whoever resists that, rushes willfully to destruction. He that
resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that
resist, purchase to themselves damnation . 4 To cast aside obedi-
ence, and by popular violence to incite to revolt, is therefore
treason, not against man only, but against God.

The State and Public Worship
6. As a consequence, the State, constituted as it is, is clearly

bound to act up to the manifold and weighty duties linking it to
God, by the public profession of religion. Nature and reason,
which command every individual devoutly to worship God in
holiness, because We belong to Him and must return to Him
since from Him We came, bind also the civil community by a like
law. For men living together in society are under the power of
God no less than individuals are, and society, not less than indi-
viduals, owes gratitude to God, Who gave it being and main-
tains it, and Whose ever-bounteous goodness enriches it with
countless blessings. Since, then, no one is allowed to be remiss
in the service due to God, and since the chief duty of all men is
to cling to religion in both its teaching and practice—not such
religion as they may have a preference for, but the religion which
God enjoins, and which certain and most clear marks show to be
the only one true religion—it is a public crime to act as though
there were no God. So, too, is it a sin in the State not to have
care for religion, as a something beyond its scope, or as of no
practical benefit; or out of many forms of religion to adopt that
one which chimes in with the fancy; for we are bound absolutely
to worship God in that way which He has shown to be His will.
All who rule, therefore, should hold in honor the holy name of
God, and one of their chief duties must be to favor religion, to
protect it, to shield it under the credit and sanction of the laws,
and neither to organize nor enact any measure that may com-
promise its safety. This is the bounden duty of rulers to the
people over whom they rule. For one and all are we destined by
our birth and adoption to enjoy, when this frail and fleeting life
is ended, a supreme and final good in heaven, and to the attain-
ment of this every endeavor should be directed. Since, then,
upon this depends the full and perfect happiness of mankind, the
securing of this end should be of all imaginable interests the

most urgent. Hence civil society, established for the common
welfare, should not only safeguard the well-being of the com-

munity, but have also at heart the interests of its individual
3 Rom. xiii. 1. ± Ibid. xiii. 2.

[ 4 ]



members, in such mode as not in any way to hinder, but in every
manner to render as easy as may be, the possession of that high-
est and unchangeable good for which all should seek. Where-
fore, for this purpose, care must especially be taken to preserve
unharmed and unimpeded the religion whereof the practice is the
link connecting man with God.

God Established One True Religion
7. Now, it cannot be difficult to find out which is the true

religion, if only it be sought with an earnest and unbiased mind;
for proofs are abundant and striking. We have, for example, the
fulfillment of prophecies; miracles in great numbers; the rapid
spread of the faith in the midst of enemies and in face of over-
whelming obstacles; the witness of the martyrs, and the like.
From all these it is evident that the only true religion is the one
established by Jesus Christ Himself, and which He committed
to His Church to protect and to propagate.

Christ' Founded One Church
8. For the only-begotten Son of God established on earth a

society which is called the Church, and to it He handed over
the exalted and divine office which He had received from His
Father, to be continued through the ages to come. As the Father
hath sent Me, I also send you . 5 Behold I am with you all days,
even to the consummation of the world.

6 Consequently, as Jesus

Christ came into the world that men might have life and have it
more abundantly

,

7
so also has the Church for its aim and end the

eternal salvation of souls, and hence it is so constituted as to open
wide its arms to all mankind, unhampered by any limit of either
time or place. Preach ye the Gospel to every creature . 8

Church Authority

9. Over this mighty multitude God has Himself set rulers
with power to govern; and He has willed that one should be the
head of all, and the chief and unerring teacher of truth, to whom
He has given the keys of the kingdom of heavenA Feed My
lambs, feed My sheep.16 I have prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not.

11

The Church a True Society

10. This society is made up of men, just as civil society is,
and yet is supernatural and spiritual, on account of the end for
which it was founded, and of the means by which it aims at at-

5 John xx. 21. 6 Matt, xxviii. 20. 7 John x. 10. 8 Mark xvi. 15.
9 Matt. xvi. 19. io John xxi. 16, 17. n Luke xxii. 32.

[5]



taining that end. Hence it is distinguished and differs from
civil society, and what is of highest moment, it is a society char-
tered as of right divine, perfect in its nature and in its title, to
possess in itself and by itself, through the will and loving kind-
ness of its Founder, all needful provision for its maintenance and
action. And just as the end at which the Church aims is by far
the noblest of ends, so is its authority the most exalted of all
authority, nor can it be looked upon as inferior to the civil
power, or in any manner dependent upon it.

11. In very truth Jesus Christ gave to His apostles unre-

strained authority in regard to things sacred, together with the

genuine and most true power of making laws, as also with the
twofold right of judging and of punishing, which flow from that
power. All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth: going
therefore teach all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you. 1

'

1 And in another place, If
he will not hear them, tell the Church . 13 And again, In readiness
to revenge all disobedience . 14 And once more, That ... I may not
deal more severely according to the poiver which the Lord hath
given me, unto edification and not unto destruction.15 Hence it
is the Church, and not the State, that is to be man’s guide to
heaven. It is to the Church that God has assigned the charge of
seeing to, and legislating for, all that concerns religion; of teach-
ing all nations; of spreading the Christian faith as widely as pos-

sible; in short, of administering freely and without hindrance, in

accordance with her own judgment, all matters that fall within
its competence.

Vindication of Church Authority

12. Now this authority, perfect in itself, and plainly meant
to be unfettered, so long assailed by a philosophy that truckles
to the State, the Church, has never ceased to claim for herself
and openly to exercise. The apostles themselves were the first
to uphold it, when, being forbidden by the rulers of the Syna-
gogue to preach the Gospel, they courageously answered, We
must obey God rather than men.1Q This same authority the holy
Fathers of the Church were always careful to maintain by weighty
arguments, according as occasion arose, and the Roman Pontiffs
have never shrunk from defending it with unbending constancy.
Nay more, princes and all invested with power to rule have them-
selves approved it, in theory alike and in practice. It cannot be
called in question that in the making of treaties, in the trans-
action of business matters, in the sending and receiving am-

12 Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 13 Matt, xviii. 12. 14 2 Cor. x. 6.
15 2 Cor. xiii. 10. 16 Acts v. 29.

[ 6 ]



bassadors, and in the interchange of other kinds of official deal-
ings, they have been wont to treat with the Church as with a su-
preme and legitimate power. And assuredly all ought to hold
that it was not without a singular disposition of God’s provi-
dence that this power of the Church was provided with a civil
sovereignty as the surest safeguard of her independence.

The Function of Church and State

13. The Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of
the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the
civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human
things. Each in its kind is supreme, each has fixed limits within
which it is contained, limits which are defined by the nature and
special object of the province of each, so that there is, we may
say, an orbit traced out within which the action of each is brought
into play by its own native right. But inasmuch as each of these
two powers has authority over the same subjects, and as it might
come to pass that one and the same thing—related differently,
but still remaining one and the same thing—might belong to the
jurisdiction and determination of both, therefore God, Who fore-
sees all things, and Who is the author of these two powers, has
marked out the course of each in right correlation to the other.
For the powers that are

,
are ordained of God} 1 Were this not

so, deplorable contentions and conflicts would often arise, and
not infrequently men, like travelers at the meeting of two roads,
would hesitate in anxiety and doubt, not knowing what course to
follow. Two powers would be commanding contrary things, and
it would be a dereliction of duty to disobey either of the two.

The Harmony Between Church and State

14. But it would be most repugnant to them to think thus of
the wisdom and goodness of God. Even in physical things, albeit
of a lower order, the Almighty has so combined the forces and
springs of nature with tempered action and wondrous harmony that
no one of them clashes with any other, and all of them most fitly
and aptly work together for the great purpose of the universe.
There must, accordingly, exist, between these two powers, a cer-
tain orderly connection, which may be compared to the union
of the soul and body in man. The nature and scope of that con-
nection can be determined only, as We have laid down, by hav-
ing regard to the nature of each power, and by taking account
of the relative excellence and nobleness of their purpose. One
of the two has for its proximate and chief object the well-being

17 Rom. xiii. 1.

[7]



of this mortal life; the other the everlasting joys of heaven.
Whatever, therefore, in things human is of a sacred character,
whatever belongs either of its own nature or by reason of the
end to which it is referred, to the salvation of souls, or to the
worship of God, is subject to the power and judgment of the
Church. Whatever is to be ranged under the civil and political
order is rightly subject to the civil authority. Jesus Christ has

Himself given command that what is Caesar’s is to be rendered
to Caesar, and that what belongs to God is to be rendered to
God.

Special Concordats Between Church and State

15. There are, nevertheless, occasions when another method
of concord is available for the sake of peace and liberty: We
mean when rulers of the State and the Roman Pontiff come to
an understanding touching some special matter. At such times
the Church gives signal proof of her motherly love by showing
the greatest possible kindliness and indulgence.

16. Such then, as We have briefly pointed out, is the Chris-
tian organization of civil society; not rashly or fancifully shaped

out, but educed from the highest and truest principles, confirmed
by natural reason itself.

Benefit's to the State from the Church

17. In such an organization of the State, there is nothing

that can be thought to infringe upon the dignity of rulers, and
nothing unbecoming them; nay, so far from degrading the sover-
eign power in its due rights, it adds to it permanence and luster.
Indeed, when more fully pondered, this mutual co-ordination has
a perfection in which all other forms of government are lacking,
and from which excellent results would flow, were the several
component parts to keep their place and duly discharge the of-
fice and work appointed respectively for each. And, doubtless,
in the constitution of the State such as We have described, divine
and human things are equitably shared; the rights of citizens
assured to them, and fenced round by divine, by natural, and by
human law

;
the duties incumbent on each one being wisely

marked out, and their fulfillment fittingly insured. In their un-
certain and toilsome journey towards the city made without
hands

,

all see that they have safe guides and helpers on their

way, and are conscious that others have charge to protect their
persons alike and their possessions, and to obtain or preserve for

them everything essential for their present life. Furthermore,
domestic society acquires that firmness and solidity so needful to
it, from the holiness of marriage, one and indissoluble, wherein the

[ 8 ]



rights and duties of husband and wife are controlled with wise
justice and equity; due honor is assured to the woman; the
authority of the husband is conformed to the pattern afforded
by the authority of God; the power of the father is tempered by a
due regard for the dignity of the mother and her offspring; and
the best possible provision is made for the guardianship, welfare,
and education of the children.

Civil Obedience Ordained by God

18. In political affairs, and all matters civil, the laws aim at
securing the common good, and are not framed according to the
delusive caprices and opinions of the mass of the people, but by
truth and by justice; the ruling powers are invested with a
sacredness more than human, and are withheld from deviating
from the path of duty, and from overstepping the bounds of
rightful authority; and the obedience of citizens is rendered with
a feeling of honor and dignity, since obedience is not the servi-
tude of man to man, but submission to the will of God, exercis-
ing His sovereignty through the medium of men. Now, this be-
ing recognized as undeniable, it is felt that the high office of rulers

should be held in respect; that public authority should be con-

stantly and faithfully obeyed; that no act of sedition should be
committed; and that the civic order of the commonwealth should
be maintained as sacred.

Citizenship Enhanced by Christianity

19. So, also, as to the duties of each one towards his fellow-

men, mutual forbearance, kindliness, generosity, are placed in

the ascendant; the man who is at once a citizen and a Christian
is not drawn aside by conflicting obligations; and, lastly, the
abundant benefits with which the Christian religion, of its very
nature, endows even the mortal life of man, are acquired for the
community and civil society. And this to such an extent that it
may be said in sober truth: “The condition of the commonwealth
depends on the religion with which God is worshiped; and be-
tween one and the other there exists an intimate and abiding
connection.” 18

The Catholic Church the Bulwark of the State

20.

Admirably, according to his wont, does St. Augustine, in

many passages, enlarge upon the potency of these advantages;
but nowhere more markedly and to the point than when he ad-
dresses the Catholic Church in the following words: “Thou dost

18 Sacr. Imp, ad Cyrillum Alexand. et Episcopos Metrop.
Cone., T. iii.

[ 9 ]

Cjr. Labbe, Collect.



teach and train children with much tenderness, young men with
much vigor, old men with much gentleness; as the age not of
the body alone, but of the mind of each requires. Women thou
dost subject to their husbands in chaste and faithful obedience,
not for the gratifying of their lust, but for bringing forth chil-

dren, and for having a share in the family concerns. Thou dost
set husbands over their wives, not that they may play false to
the weaker sex, but according to the requirements of sincere af-
fection. Thou dost subject children to their parents in a kind of
free service, and dost establish parents over their children with a
benign rule. . . . Thou joinest together, not in society only, but
in a sort of brotherhood, citizen with citizen, nation with nation,

and the whole race of men, by reminding them of their common
parentage. Thou teachest kings to look to the interests of their
people, and dost admonish the people to be submissive to their
kings. With all care dost thou teach all to whom honor is due,
and affection, and reverence, and fear, consolation, and admoni-
tion and exhortation, and discipline, and reproach, and punish-
ment. Thou showest that all these are not equally incumbent on
all, but that charity is owing to all, and wrongdoing to none.” 19

And in another place, blaming the false wisdom of certain time-
serving philosophers, he observes: “Let those who say that the
teaching of Christ is hurtful to the State, produce such armies as

the maxims of Jesus have enjoined soldiers to bring into being;
such governors of provinces; such husbands and wives; such
parents and children; such masters and servants; such kings;
such judges, and such payers and collectors of tribute, as the
Christian teaching instructs them to become, and then let them
dare to say that such teaching is hurtful to the State. Nay,
rather will they hesitate to own that this discipline, if duly acted
up to, is the very mainstay of the commonwealth?” 20

The Christian State in History

21. There was once a time when States were governed by the
principles of Gospel teaching. Then it was that the power and
divine virtue of Christian wisdom had diffused itself throughout
the laws, institutions, and morals of the people, permeating all
ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion insti-
tuted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity,
flourished everywhere, by the favor of princes and the legitimate
protection of magistrates; and Church and State were happily
united in concord and friendly interchange of good offices. The
State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits important beyond all

19 De moribus Reel. Cathol., xxx., 63.
20 Epist. 138, al. 5, ad Marcellinum, ii., 15.

[ 10 ]



expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will be, in
renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can
never be blotted out or even obscured by any craft of any
enemies. Christian Europe has subdued barbarous nations, and
changed them from a savage to a civilized condition, from super-
stition to true worship. It victoriously rolled back the tide of

Mohammedan conquest; retained the headship of civilization;
stood forth in the front rank as the leader and teacher of all, in

every branch of national culture; bestowed on the world the gift

of true and many-sided liberty; and most wisely founded very
numerous institutions for the solace of human suffering. And if
we inquire how it was able to bring about so altered a condition
of things, the answer is—beyond all question, in large measure,
through religion; under whose auspices so many great under-
takings were set on foot, through whose aid they were brought

to completion.

Sad Effects of Disagreement Between Church and State

22. A similar state of things would certainly have continued
had the agreement of the two powers been lasting. More impor-
tant results even might have been justly looked for, had obedi-
ence waited upon the authority, teaching, and counsels of the
Church, and had this submission been specially marked by greater
and more unswerving loyalty. For that should be regarded in
the light of an ever-changeless law which Ivo of Chartres wrote
to Pope Paschal II: “When kingdom and priesthood are at one,
in complete accord, the world is well ruled, and the Church
flourishes, and brings forth abundant fruit. But when they are
at variance, not only smaller interests prosper not, but even
things of greatest moment fall into deplorable decay.” 21

Civil Decay Followed Religious Disunion

23. Sad it is to call to mind how the harmful and lamentable
rage for innovation which rose to a climax in the sixteenth cen-
tury, threw first of all into confusion the Christian religion, and
next, by natural sequence, invaded the precincts of philosophy,
whence it spread amongst all classes of society. From this source,
as from a fountain-head, burst forth all those later tenets of un-
bridled license which, in the midst of the terrible upheavals of

the last century, were wildly conceived and boldly proclaimed as
the principles and foundation of that new jurisprudence which
was not merely previously unknown, but was at variance on many
points with not only the Christian, but even the natural law.

21 Epist. 238.

mi



False Principles of the New Jurisprudence
24. Amongst these principles the main one lays down that

as all men are alike by race and nature, so in like manner all are
equal in the control of their life; that each one is so far his own
master as to be in no sense under the rule of any other indi-
vidual; that each is free to think on every subject just as he may
choose, and to do whatever he may like to do, that no man has
any right to rule over other men. In a society grounded upon
such maxims, all government is nothing, more nor less than the
will of the people, and the people, being under the power of itself
alone, is alone its own ruler. It does choose nevertheless some
to whose charge it may commit itself, but in such wise that it
makes over to them not the right so much as the business of gov-
erning, to be exercised, however, in its name.

The Evil Consequence of Ignoring God

25. The authority of God is passed over in silence, just as
if there were no God; or as if He cared nothing for human soci-
ety; or as if men, whether in their individual capacity or bound
together in social relations, owed nothing to God; or as if there
could be a government of wdiich the whole origin and power and
authority did not reside in God Himself. Thus, as is evident, a
State becomes nothing but a multitude, which is its own master
and ruler. And since the populace is declared to contain within
itself the spring-head of all rights and of all power, it follows
that the State does not consider itself bound by any kind of
duty towards God. Moreover, it believes that it is not obliged
to make public profession of any religion; or to inquire which
of the very many religions is the only one true; or to prefer one
religion to all the rest; or to show to any form of religion special
favor; but, on the contrary, is bound to grant equal rights to
every creed, so that public order may not be disturbed by any
particular form of religious belief.

The Fallacy of Private Judgment

26. And it is a part of this theory that all questions that
concern religion are to be referred to private judgment; that every

one is to be free to follow whatever religion he prefers, or none

at all if he disapprove of all. From this the following conse-
quences logically flow: that the judgment of each one'^ con-
sc’ence is independent of all law; that the most unrestrained
opinions may be openly expressed as to the practice or omission
of divine worship; and that every one has unbounded license to
think whatever he chooses and to publish abroad whatever he
thinks.

[ 12 ]



The Encroachment of the State on the Rights of
the Church

27. Now when the State rests on foundations like those just
named—and for the time being they are greatly in favor—it read-
ily appears into what and how unrightful a position the Church
is driven. For when the management of public business is in
harmony with doctrines of such a kind, the Catholic religion is
allowed a standing in civil society equal only, or inferior, to soci-

eties alien from it; no regard is paid to the laws of the Church,
and she who, by the order and commission of Jesus Christ, has
the duty of teaching all nations, finds herself forbidden to take
any part in the instruction of the people. With reference to
matters that are of twofold jurisdiction, they who administer the
civil power lay down the law at their own will, and in matters
that appertain to religion defiantly put aside the most sacred de-
crees of the Church. They claim jurisdiction over the marriages
of Catholics, even over the bond as well as the unity and the in-
dissolubility of matrimony. They lay hands on the goods of the
clergy, contending that the Church cannot possess property.
Lastly, they treat the Church with such arrogance that, reject-
ing entirely her title to the nature and rights of a perfect society,
they hold that she differs in no respect from other societies in the
State, and for this reason possesses no right nor any legal power
of action, save that which she holds by the concession and favor
of the government. If in any State the Church retains her own
right—and this with the approval of the civil law, owing to an
agreement publicly entered into by the two powers—men forth-
with begin to cry out that matters affecting the Church must be
separated from those of the State.

The Object' of the Separatist Theory

28. Their object in uttering this cry is to be able to violate

unpunished their plighted faith, and in all things to have un-
checked control. And as the Church, unable to abandon her
chiefest and most sacred duties, cannot patiently put up with this,
and asks that the pledge given to her be fully and scrupulously
acted up to, contentions frequently arise between the ecclesiastical
and the civil power, of which the issue commonly is, that the
weaker power yields to the one which is stronger in human re-
sources.

The Effect on the Church of the Separatist Theory
29. Accordingly, it has become the practice and determina-

tion under this condition of public polity (now so much admired

[ 13 ]



by many) either to forbid the action of the Church altogether,
or to keep her in check and bondage to the State. Public enact-
ments are in great measure framed with this design. The draw-
ing up of laws, the administration of State affairs, the godless
education of youth, the spoliation and suppression of religious
orders, the overthrow of the temporal power of the Roman Pon-
tiff, all alike aim at this one end—to paralyze the action of Chris-
tian institutions, to cramp to the utmost the freedom of the
Catholic Church, and to curtail her every single prerogative.

30. Now, natural reason itself proves convincingly that such
concepts of the government of a State are wholly at variance
with the truth. Nature itself bears witness that all power, of
every kind, has its origin from God, Who is its chief and most
august source.

The False Theory of Popular Sovereignty
31. The sovereignty of the people, however, and this with-

out any reference to God, is held to reside in the multitude;
which is doubtless a doctrine exceedingly well calculated to flat-
ter and to inflame many passions, but which lacks all reasonable
proof, and all power of insuring public safety and preserving
order. Indeed from the prevalence of this teaching, things have
come to such a pass that many hold as an axiom of civil juris-
prudence that seditions may be rightfully fostered. For the opin-
ion prevails that princes are nothing more than delegates chosen
to carry out the will of the people; whence it necessarily follows
that all things are as changeable as the will of the people, so that

risk of public disturbance is ever hanging over our heads.

The Effects of Religious Indifference

To hold therefore that there is no difference in matters of
religion between forms that are unlike each other, and even con-
trary to each other, most clearly leads in the end to the rejec-
tion of all religion in both theory and practice. And this is the
same thing as atheism, however it may differ from it in name.
Men who really believe in the existence of God must, in order to
be consistent with themselves and to avoid absurd conclusions,
understand that differing modes of divine worship involving dis-
similarity and conflict even on most important points, cannot all

be equally probable, equally good, and equally acceptable to God.

True and False Liberty of Thought and Speech

32. So, too, the liberty of thinking, and of publishing, what-

soever each one likes, without any hindrance, is not in itself an

[ 14 ]



advantage over which society can wisely rejoice. On the con-
trary, it is the fountain-head and origin of many evils. Liberty
is a power perfecting man, and hence should have truth and
goodness for its object. But the character of goodness and
truth cannot be changed at option. These remain ever one and
the same, and are no less unchangeable than Nature herself. If
the mind assents to false opinions, and the will chooses and fol-
lows after what is wrong, neither can attain its native fullness,
but both must fall from their native dignity into an abyss of
corruption. Whatever, therefore, is opposed to virtue and truth,
may not rightly be brought temptingly before the eye of man,
much less sanctioned by the favor and protection of the law. A
well-spent life is the only passport to heaven, whither all are

bound, and on this account the State is acting against the laws
and dictates of nature whenever it permits the license of opinion
and of action to lead minds astray from truth and souls away
from the practice of virtue. To exclude the Church, founded by
God Himself, from the business of life, from the power of mak-
ing laws, from the training of youth, from domestic society, is a
grave and fatal error. A State from which religion is banished
can never be well regulated; and already perhaps more than is
desirable is known of the nature and tendency of the so-called
civil philosophy of life and morals. The Church of Christ is the
true and sole teacher of virtue and guardian of morals. She it is
who preserves in their purity the principles from which duties
flow, and by setting forth most urgent reasons for virtuous life,
bids us not only to turn away from wicked deeds, but even to curb
all movements of the mind that are opposed to reason, even
though they be not carried out in action.

Freedom Necessary to the Church

33. To wish the Church to be subject to the civil power
In the exercise of her duty is a great folly and a sheer injustice.
Whenever this is the case, order is disturbed, for things natural
are put above things supernatural; the many benefits which the
Church, if free to act, would confer on society are either pre-
vented or at least lessened in number; and a way is prepared for
enmities and contentions between the two powers, with how evil
result to both the issue of events has taught us only too frequently.

Sophisms Condemned by Previous Popes

34. Doctrines such as these, which cannot be approved by
human reason, and most seriously affect the whole civil order,
Our predecessors the Roman Pontiffs (well aware of what their

[ 15 ]



apostolic office required of them) have never allowed to pass un-
condemned. Thus Gregory XVI in his Encyclical Letter Mirari
vos, of date August 15, 1832, inveighed with weighty words
against the sophisms, wdiich even at his time were being publicly
inculcated—namely, that no preference should be shown for any
particular form of worship; that it is right for individuals to
form their own personal judgments about religion; that each
man s conscience is his sole and all-sufficing guide; and that it is
lawful for every man to publish his own views, whatever they
may be, and even to conspire against the State. On the question
of the separation of Church and State the same Pontiff writes as
follows: “Nor can We hope for happier results either for religion
or for the civil government from the wishes of those who desire
that the Church be separated from the State, and the concord
between the secular and ecclesiastical authority be dissolved. It
is clear that these men, who yearn for a shameless liberty, live in
dread of an agreement which has always been fraught with good,
and advantageous alike to sacred and civil interests.” To the
like effect, also, as occasion presented itself, did Pius IX brand
publicly many false opinions which were gaining ground, and
afterwards ordered them to be condensed in summary form in
order that in this sea of error Catholics might have a light which
they might safely follow.22

Summary of Papal Pronouncements

35. From these pronouncements of the Popes it is evident
that the origin of public power is to be sought for in God Him-
self, and not in the multitude, and that it is repugnant to reason
to allow free scope for sedition. Again, that it is not lawful for

the State, any more than for the individual, either to disregard
all religious duties or to hold in equal favor different kinds of re-

ligion; that the unrestrained freedom of thinking and of openly
making known one's thoughts is not inherent in the rights of
citizens, and is by no means to be reckoned worthy of favor and
support. In like manner it is to be understood that the Church

22 It will suffice to indicate a few of them:

Prop. xix. The Church is not a true, perfect, and wholly independent society, pos-
sessing in its own unchanging rights conferred upon it by its divine Founder; but it is
for the civil power to determine what are the rights of the Church, and the limits within
which it may use them.

Prop, xxxix. The State, as the origin and source of all rights enjoys a right that is
unlimited.

Prop. lv. The Church must be separated from the State and the State from the
Church.

Prop, lxxix. ... It is untrue that the civil liberty of every form of worship, and
the full power given to all of openly and publicly manifesting whatsoever opinions and
thoughts, lead to the more ready corruption of the minds and morals of the people^ and
to the spread of the plague of religious indifference.

[ 16 ]



no less than the State itself is a society perfect in its own nature
and its own right, and that those who exercise sovereignty ought
not so to act as to compel the Church to become subservient or
subject to them, or to hamper her liberty in the management of
her own affairs, or to despoil her in any way of the other privi-
leges conferred upon her by Jesus Christ. In matters, however,
of mixed jurisdiction, it is in the highest degree consonant to na-
ture, as also to the designs of God, that so far from one of the
powers separating itself from the other, or still less coming into
conflict with it, complete harmony, such as is suited to the end
for which each power exists, should be preserved between them.

Catholic Teaching Opposed to Modern Errors
36. This then is the teaching of the Catholic Church con-

cerning the constitution and government of the State. By the
words and decrees just cited, if judged dispassionately, no one of
the several forms of government is in itself condemned, inasmuch
as none of them contain anything contrary to Catholic doctrine,
and all of them are capable, if wisely and justly managed, to in-
sure the welfare of the State. Neither is it blameworthy in itself,
in any manner, for the people to have a share greater or less, in
the government: for at certain times, and under certain laws,
such participation may not only be of benefit to the citizens, but
may even be of obligation. Nor is there any reason why any one
should accuse the Church of being wanting in gentleness of ac-
tion or largeness of view, or of being opposed to real and lawful
liberty. The Church, indeed, deems it unlawful to place the
various forms of divine worship on the same footing as the true
religion, but does not, on that account, condemn those rulers who,
for the sake of securing some great good or of hindering some
great evil, allow patiently custom or usage to be a kind of sanc-
tion for each kind of religion having its place in the State. And
in fact the Church is wont to take earnest heed that no one shall
be forced to embrace the Catholic faith against his will, for, as
St. Augustine wisely reminds us, “Man cannot believe otherwise
than of his own free will.’ 7

License Not Liberty Condemned
37. In the same way the Church cannot approve of that lib-

erty which begets a contempt of the most sacred laws of God,
and casts off the obedience due to lawful authority, for this is
not liberty so much as license, and is most correctly styled by
St. Augustine the “liberty of self-ruin,

77
and by the apostle St.

Peter the cloak of malice.
23 Indeed, since it is opposed to rea-
28 1 Peter ii. J6,

[17]



son, it is a true slavery, for whosoever committeth sin is the slave
of sin.

24 On the other hand, that liberty is truly genuine, and to
be sought after, which in regard to the individual does not allow
men to be the slaves of error and of passion, the worst of all
masters; which, too, in public administration guides the citizens
in wisdom and provides for them increased means of well-being;
and which, further, protects the State from foreign interference.

The Church Has Always Promoted Liberty Among
Peoples

38. This honorable liberty, alone worthy of human' beings,
the Church approves most highly and has never slackened her en-
deavor to preserve, strong and unchanged, among nations. And
in truth whatever in the State is of chief avail for the common
welfare; whatever has been usefully established to curb the li-

cense of rulers who are opposed to the true interests of the people,
or to keep in check the leading authorities from unwarrantably
interfering in municipal or family affairs;—whatever tends to
uphold the honor, manhood, and equal rights of individual citi-
zens;—of all these things, as the monuments of past ages bear
witness, the Catholic Church has always been the originator, the
promoter, or the guardian. Ever therefore consistent with her-
self, while on the one hand she rejects that exorbitant liberty
which in individuals and in nations ends in license or in thral-
dom, on the other hand, she willingly and most gladly welcomes
whatever improvements the age brings forth, if these really
secure the prosperity of life here below, which is as it were a
stage in the journey to the life that will know no ending.

The Church Welcomes Modern Discoveries

39. Therefore, when it is said that the Church is jealous of
modern political systems, and that she repudiates the discoveries
of modern research, the charge is a ridiculous and groundless
calumny. Wild opinions she does repudiate, wicked and seditious
projects she does condemn, together with that habit of mind
which points to the beginning of a willful departure from God.

But as all truth must necessarily proceed from God, the Church
recognizes in all truth that is reached by research, a trace of the
divine intelligence. And as all truth in the natural order is
powerless to destroy belief in the teachings of revelation, but can

do much to confirm it, and as every newly discovered truth may
serve to further the knowledge or the praise of God, it follows

that whatsoever spreads the range of knowledge will always be
willingly and even joyfully welcomed by the Church. She will

24 John viii. 34.

[ 18 ]



always encourage and promote, as she does in other branches of
knowledge, all study occupied with the investigation of nature.

In these pursuits, should the human intellect discover anything
not known before, the Church makes no opposition. She never
objects to search being made for things that minister to the re-
finements and comforts of life. So far indeed from opposing these
she is now, as she ever has been, hostile alone to indolence and
sloth, and earnestly wishes that the talents of men may bear
more and more abundant fruit by cultivation and exercise. More-
over she gives encouragement to every kind of art and handicraft,
and through her influence, directing all strivings after progress
towards virtue and salvation, she labors to prevent man’s intel-
lect and industry from turning him away from God and from
heavenly things.

Truth the Parent and Guardian of Freedom

40. All this, though so reasonable and full of counsel, finds
little favor nowadays when States not only refuse to conform to
the rules of Christian wisdom, but seem even anxious to recede
from them further and further on each successive day. Never-
theless, since truth when brought to light is wont, of its own na-
ture, to spread itself far and wide, and gradually take possession
of the minds of men, We, moved by the great and holy duty of
Our apostolic mission to all nations, speak, as We are bound to
do, with freedom. Our eyes are not closed to the spirit of the
times. We repudiate not the assured and useful improvements
of our age, but devoutly wish affairs of State to take a safer course

than they are now taking, and to rest on a more firm foundation
without injury to the true freedom of the people; for the best
parent and guardian of liberty amongst men is truth. The truth
shall make you free. 25

Catholics Must Heed the Teaching of the Pope
41. If in the difficult times in which Our lot is cast, Catholics

will give ear to Us, as it behooves them to do, they will readily
see what are the duties of each one in matters of opinion as well
as action. As regards opinion, whatever the Roman Pontiffs have
hitherto taught, or shall hereafter teach, must be held with a firm
grasp of mind, and, so often as occasion requires, must be openly
professed.

The Holy See Unmasks False Liberty
42. Especially with reference to the so-called “liberties”

which are so greatly coveted in these days, all must stand by

2r> John viii. 32.

[ 19 ]



the judgment of the Apostolic See, and have the same mind.
Let no man be deceived by the outward appearance of these lib-
erties

,
but let each one reflect whence these have had their origin,

and by what efforts they are everywhere upheld and promoted.
Experience has made Us well acquainted with their results to the
State, since everywhere they have borne fruits which the good
and wise bitterly deplore. If there really exist anywhere, or if
We in imagination conceive, a State, waging wanton and tyran-
nical war against Christianity, and if We compare with it the
modern form of government just described, this latter may seem
the more endurable of the two. Yet, undoubtedly, the principles
on which such a government is grounded are, as We have said,
of a nature which no one can approve.

The Right Catholic Attitude

43. Secondly, action may relate to private and domestic mat-
ters, or to matters public. As to private affairs, the first duty is
to conform life and conduct to the gospel precepts, and to refuse
to shrink from this duty when Christian virtue demands some
sacrifice difficult to make. All, moreover, are bound to love the
Church as their common mother, to obey her laws, promote her
honor, defend her rights, and to endeavor to make her respected
and loved by those over whom they have authority. It is also of
great moment to the public welfare to take a prudent part in the
business of municipal administration, and to endeavor above all
to introduce effectual measures, so that, as becomes a Christian
people, public provision may be made for the instruction of youth
in religion and true morality. L^pon these things the well-being
of every State greatly depends.

Catholic Action in Political Life

44. Furthermore, it is in general fitting and salutary that
Catholics should extend their efforts beyond this restricted sphere,
and give their attention to national politics. We say in general,
because these Our precepts are addressed to all nations. How-
ever, it may in some places be true that, for most urgent and just
reasons, it is by no means expedient for Catholics to engage in
public affairs or to take an active part in politics. Nevertheless,

as We have laid down, to take no share in public matters would
be equally as wrong (We speak in general) as not to have con-
cern for, or not to bestow labor upon, the common good. And
this all the more because Catholics are admonished, by the very
doctrines which they profess, to be upright and faithful in the

discharge of duty, while if they hold aloof, men whose principles

[ 20 ]



offer but small guarantee for the welfare of the State will the

more readily seize the reins of government. This would tend also
to the injury of the Christian religion, forasmuch as those would
come into power who are badly disposed towards the Church,
and those who are willing to befriend her would be deprived of all
influence.

45. It follows therefore clearly that Catholics have just rea-
sons for taking part in the conduct of public affairs.

The Example of the Early Christians to Be Followed

46. For in so doing they assume not the responsibility of ap-
proving what is blameworthy in the actual methods of govern-
ment, but seek to turn these very methods, so far as is possible,

to the genuine and true public good, and to use their best en-
deavors at the same time to infuse, as it were, into all the veins
of the State the healthy sap and blood of Christian wisdom and
virtue. The morals and ambitions of the heathens differed wide-
ly from those of the Gospel, yet Christians were to be seen liv-
ing undefiled everywhere in the midst of pagan superstition, and,
while always true to themselves, coming to the front boldly wher-
ever an opening was presented. Models of loyalty to their rulers,
submissive, so far as was permitted, to the sovereign power, they
shed around them on every side a halo of sanctity; they strove to
be helpful to their brethren, and to attract others to the wisdom
of Jesus Christ, yet were bravely ready to withdraw from pub-
lic life, nay, even to lay down their life, if they could not with-
out loss of virtue retain honors, dignities, and offices. For this
reason Christian ways and manners speedily found their way not
only into private houses but into the camp, the senate, and even
into the imperial palaces. “We are but of yesterday,” wrote
Tertullian, “yet we swarm in all your institutions, we crowd your
cities, islands, villages, towns, assemblies, the army itself, your
wards and corporations, the palace, the senate, and the law
courts.” So that the Christian faith, when once it became law-
ful to make public profession of the Gospel, appeared in most of
the cities of Europe, not like an infant crying in its cradle, but
already grown up and full of vigor.

The Aim of Modern Catholic Action

47. In these Our days it is well to revive these examples of
Our forefathers. First and foremost it is the duty of all Catholics
worthy of the name and wishful to be known as most loving chil-
dren of the Church, to reject without swerving whatever is in-

[21 ]



consistent with so fair a title; to make use of popular institutions,
so far as can honestly be done, for the advancement of truth and
righteousness; to strive that liberty of action shall not transgress

the bounds marked out by nature and the law of God; to en-
deavor to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form
of Christianity which We have described. It is barely possible
to lay down any fixed method by which such purposes are to be
attained, because the means adopted must suit places and times
widely differing from one another. Nevertheless, above all things,
unity of aim must be preserved, and similarity must be sought
after in all plans of action. Both these objects will be carried
into effect without fail if all will follow the guidance of the Apos-
tolic See as their rule of life and obey the bishops whom the
Holy Ghost has placed to rule the Church of God.26 The defense
of Catholicism, indeed, necessarily demands that in the profession
of doctrines taught by the Church all shall be of one mind and
all steadfast in believing; and care must be taken never to con-
nive, in any way, at false opinions, never to withstand them less
strenuously than truth allows. In mere matters of opinion it is
permissible to discuss things with moderation, with a desire of

searching into the truth, without unjust suspicion or angry re-
criminations.

Integral Catholic Life

48. Hence, lest concord be broken by rash charges, let this
be understood by all, that the integrity of Catholic faith cannot
be reconciled with opinions verging on Naturalism or Rational-
ism, the essence of which is utterly to sterilize Christianity, and
to install in society the supremacy of man to the exclusion of God.
Further, it is unlawful to follow one line of conduct in private life

and another in public, respecting privately the authority of the
Church, but publicly rejecting it; for this would amount to join-
ing together good and evil, and to putting man in conflict with
himself; whereas he ought always to be consistent, and never in
the least point nor in any condition of life to swerve from Chris-
tian virtue.

Liberty of Opinion on Political Theories

49. But in matters merely political, as for instance the best
form of government, and this or that system of administration, a
difference of opinion is lawful. Those, therefore, whose piety is
in other respects known, and whose minds are ready to accept
in all obedience the decrees of the Apostolic See, cannot in jus-

26 Acts xx. 28.

[22 ]



tice be accounted as bad men because they disagree as to subjects
We have mentioned; and still graver wrong will be done them, if
—as We have more than once perceived with regret—they are ac-
cused of violating, or of wavering in, the Catholic faith.

Unity Among Catholics Necessary

50. Let this be well borne in mind by all who are in the habit
of publishing their opinions, and above all by journalists. In
the endeavor to secure interests of the highest order there is no
room for intestine strife or party rivalries; since all should aim
with one mind and purpose to make safe that which is the com-
mon object of all—the maintenance of Religion and of the State.
If, therefore, there have hitherto been dissensions, let them hence-
forth be gladly buried in oblivion. If rash or injurious acts have

been committed, whoever may have been at fault, let mutual
charity make amends, and let the past be redeemed by a special
submission of all to the Apostolic See.

Two Main Results of Catholic Action

51. In this way Catholics will attain two most excellent re-
sults: they will become helpers to the Church in preserving and
propagating Christian wisdom; and they will confer the greatest
benefit on civil society, the safety of which is exceedingly im-
periled by evil teachings and bad passions.

52. This, Venerable Brethren, is what We have thought it
Our duty to expound to all nations of the Catholic world touch-
ing the Christian constitution of States and the duties of indi-
vidual citizens.

God's Help Necessary to Our Endeavors

53. It behooves Us now with earnest prayer to implore the
protection of heaven, beseeching God, Who alone can enlighten
the minds of men and move their will, to bring about those happy
ends for which We yearn and strive, for His greater glory and
the general salvation of mankind. As a happy augury of the
divine benefits, and in token of Our paternal benevolence, to you,
Venerable Brothers, and to the clergy and to the whole people
committed to your charge and vigilance, We grant lovingly in the
Lord the Apostolic Benediction.

54. Given at St. Peter’s in Rome, the first day of November,
1885, the seventh year of Our Pontificate.

LEO XIII, Pope.

[ 23 ]



DISCUSSION CLUB OUTLINE
Prepared by Rev. Gerald C. Treacy, S.J.

LESSON I

Paragraphs 1 to 5

While the Church is primarily concerned with eternal interests she is
not neglectful of the temporal. As a matter of fact her teaching reacts
for the earthly benefit of mankind to such a degree that wherever that
teaching has held sway the result has been a new and higher order of
civilization. It is an old calumny that constantly reappears which falsely
claims that the Church is inimical to the State and does not further its
interests. This calumny began at the dawn of Christianity and the first
Catholics were accused of being enemies of the Roman Empire. When
calamities befell the State, Christianity was pointed out as the cause of
these calamities, whereas the truth was that a God of Justice was pun-
ishing a guilty nation. Fifteen hundred years ago St. Augustine refuted
this age-old calumny in proving the value of Christian teaching and prac-
tice to the public weal. Nevertheless the calumny lives on.

No better mode of building up the State has ever been devised than
that which is the necessary growth of the teachings of the Gospel, despite
the advocates of Liberalism who maintain that the Church is no longer
necessary in an age that has arrived at its full stature. “We deem it therefore
of the highest moment and a strict duty of Our Apostolic Office to contrast
with the Lessons taught by Christ the novel theories now advanced touch-
ing the State.”

Man is by his own nature impelled to live in society. For he cannot live
his manhood to the full unless as a member of the social body. So it is
God’s will that he should live with his fellow-men among whom his wants
can be adequately supplied. But as no society can hold together without
someone directing all its members toward the common good, there must be
a ruling authority. This authority no less than society itself has its origin
in man’s nature and so has God for its Author. Hence all public power pro-
ceeds from God. “There is no power but from God,” says St. Paul (Rom.
xiii. 1).

The right to govern however is not necessarily bound up with any
special form of government. Provided government secures the general
welfare it may have any form. As God is the Supreme Ruler, His human
representative who governs the State must reflect God’s justice and fatherli-
ness. The civil power must not serve special classes or interests, but only
the common good. If it fails to do this it betrays its trust and the ruler
who governs unjustly will be held to account by the God of Justice. Only
when the people realize that their rulers hold authority from God will they
give loyal and dutiful obedience to them. To revolt against lawfully con-
stituted and just authority is treason not only against man, but against
God. As St. Paul told the Romans: “They that resist the power, resist
the ordinance of God. And they that resist purchase to themselves damna-
tion” (Rom. xiii. 2).

QUESTIONS

What is the immediate purpose of the Church?
What is her attitude toward temporal things?
What have been the effects on nations that have yielded to her
sway?

[ 24 ]



What age-old calumny is ever raised against the Church?
What was said about the early Christians?
State the cause of the calamities that afflicted the Roman Empire.
What are the best principles for the maintenance and ruling of
the State?
Why does man live in civil society?
Explain the need and origin of authority.
Quote St. Paul on the question of authority.
The right to rule is not bound up with any special form of gov-
ernment. Explain.
State the purpose of every form of government.
What must the rulers of States ever keep in mind?
What does human authority reflect?
How should it be administered?
Whose interests should every ruler keep in view?
What inspires due respect for authority?
“He that resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. ,, Ex-
plain.

LESSON II

Paragraphs 6 to 11

As the individual owes a duty of public worship to God so does the
State. God having established one true religion it is wrong for the
State to act as if there were no such thing as religion, or to look on re-
ligion as of no benefit to the people. On the contrary it is the duty of the
State to protect and favor religion under the sanction of its laws. Man’s
highest good is procured by religion and it is the duty of the State to pro-
mote the highest good.

As God has established one true Church, He has entrusted to that
Church the guidance of mankind in religion and religious worship. That
Church is a true society with its rights and duties, its rulers and its ruled,
its laws and ordinances, just as the State is a true Society. The authority
of the Church is the * most exalted of all authority, and it is wrong to
look upon it as inferior to State authority or dependent upon it.

QUESTIONS

Why should the State make public profession of religion?
What is the chief duty of all men?
May each individual choose his own religion?
How are we bound to worship God?
How does this obligation apply to the State?
What is the duty of civil society in regard to the supreme end of
life?

Enumerate the proofs that point to one true religion.
Why did Christ establish His Church?
Outline the constitution of Church government.
Why cannot the Church be looked upon as dependent on the civil
power?

[ 25 ]



LESSON III

Paragraphs 12 to 16

To His Apostles Christ gave the plentitude of authority in things divine
telling them: “All power is given Me . . . going therefore teach all na-
tions ... to observe all things I have commanded you” (Matt, xxviii.
18-20). It is to the Church and not to the State that God has entrusted
the right and power to guide man to heaven; to the Church that God
has assigned the charge of legislating on all matters pertaining to religion.
And the Church has the right to administer freely all matters that fall
within her competence.

From apostolic times the Church has claimed and vindicated this au-
thority despite every effort of the State to fetter it. “We ought to obey
God rather than men,” was the answer of the Apostles to the rulers of the
synagogue, and it has been the unwavering answer of the Church ever
since in the face of State aggression. This spiritual authority of the Church
has back of it a constant tradition found in the teaching of the Fathers
and the Roman Pontiffs. States themselves during the long periods of
history have admitted this and have treated with the Church as with a so-
ciety independent and sovereign. What is known as the civil sovereignty
of the Church has for its object the safeguarding of the spiritual inde-
pendence of the Church.

God then has given two powers jurisdiction over mankind. The Church
and the State, the ecclesiastical and the civil. Each is supreme in its own
sphere. However as each has jurisdiction over the same subjects it is plain
that in some instances there must be co-operation and correlation between
Church and State. Education is a case in point. For the sphere of educa-
tion belongs both to the Church and State. It is then according to God’s
Providence that the Church should see to the eternal interests of mankind,
and the State to the temporal interests. Christ Himself has made the
division clear in commanding us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and
to God what belongs to God. Not conflict but co-operation should
characterize the relations between Church and State. This is in accord
with the law of reason and the Law of God.

QUESTIONS

What authority did our Lord confer on the Apostles?
What charge has Christ given to the Church?
Who were the first to uphold the independence of the Church?
Outline the proof that the Church from the viewpoint of the na-
tions was considered an independent power.
What is the surest safeguard of the independence of the Church?
Explain the functions of the two powers entrusted by God with
the government of men.
Are there any matters that belong to the jurisdiction of both
powers?
What would happen if these two powers commanded contrary
things?
How may the nature and scope of the connection between these
two powers be determined?
Cite the text of our Lord authorizing the jurisdiction of both
powers.
How does the Church show its attitude toward the State in con-
cordats?

[ 26 ]



LESSON IV

Paragraphs 17 to 25

• A right co-ordination between Church and State makes for the best
interests of the State and its people. For there follows from this that
divine and human things are equitably shared, rights of citizens are assured
to them by divine, natural and civil law and the duties of each one care-
fully marked out. Furthermore domestic society so intimately bound up
with the good of the State, acquires a firmness and solidity so necessary
to it, when Church and State co-operate for its protection.

When Christian teaching prevails in the State, laws are made that are
just and for the common good; authority keeps within rightful bounds
and receives loyal obedience from the citizen who sees in human authority
the expression of God’s will. A further consequence is that good feeling
and forebearance prevail between citizen and citizen, and so peace and
happiness come to the State just as these gifts come to the individual
Christian. A State permeated with Christian teaching is a State that is
bound to be happy and prosperous. St. Augustine in his address to the
Catholic Church points out in detail the benefit of Catholic teaching to
the individual, to the family, to the nation and to the family of nations,
and concludes by saying: “Let no one dare say that such teaching is
harmful to the State; nay rather must it be admitted that this teaching
if followed, is the mainstay of the State.”

History attests to the blessing of Christian teaching when the world was
Catholic and Church and State throughout Europe collaborated in building
up a truly Christian and consequently happy society. So it was that
Christian Europe carried the torch of Christian civilization far and wide
among savage peoples rescuing them from barbarism and making them
cultured and refined. By the power of the Catholic religion Mohammedan-
ism was defeated, and European culture established; true liberty was be-
stowed upon the individual and numerous institutions were founded for
the solace of human suffering. Had the agreement of Church and State
lasted the result would have been a better civilization and a happier State.
As Ivo of Chartres wrote to Pope Paschal the Second: “When kingdom and
priesthood are at one and in complete accord, the world is well ruled

”

QUESTIONS

What follows from the rightful co-ordination of Church and
State?
How does this affect domestic society?
How does it affect civil life?
Does civil obedience consist in subjection to men as men?
Is religion an asset to citizen and ruler? Explain.
How does St. Augustine state the benefits of religion to the State
and its citizens?
Name the effects of Christian teaching on the nations of the
world.
How has Protestantism affected the relations of Church and
State?
What was the foundation of “the new jurisprudence”?
What are its main principles?
How do they affect human authority?
What may be said of God’s authority according to these prin-
ciples?

[ 27 ]



LESSON V

Paragraphs 26 to 31

The Sixteenth Century Revolt against the Church was responsible for
disrupting religion and perverting philosophy and so destroying human
happiness. Protestantism bred Liberalism and Liberalism is responsible for
the Totalitarianism that is the menace of our modern world. From the
right of private judgment which is the keynote of Protestantism sprang the
right to do whatever one pleased, which is the basis of Liberalism. Gcd
was outlawed from human life, by being relegated to the churches for those
who wished to have churches. Political life, economic life, social life were
separated from religion and God’s Law. Thence arose unbridled capital-
ism that has spawned the radical isms of our own day. Statism supplanted
the Church and strove with might and main to subdue and strangle the
Church in her ministry. The history of the State in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries has been one long story of unjust laws whose only
aim was “to paralyze the action of Christian institutions, to cramp to the
utmost the freedom of the Catholic Church and to curtail her every pre-
rogative.”

All these errors run counter to human reason. For from human rea-
son we know that God is the origin of all power and authority. The
sovereignty of the people is derived from God’s sovereignty. For if it
derives from the people themselves without God for its Author, then the
people are so supreme that no ruler is any more than a delegate at the
whim of popular passion to be removed or disobeyed whenever the people
so decide. Such a false tentet makes all authority frail and fragile and
leads to unending upheavals and finally to anarchy.

The popular idea that “one religion is as good as another” really leads
to atheism. How can two forms of religion in conflict with each other
be right? Any one believing in God to be consistent must hold that
different religions in conflict with each other on most important points of
doctrine and practice cannot be equally good and equally acceptable to
God. Is God the All Perfect the God of contradictions?

QUESTIONS

Explain the principle of private judgment.
State the effects that follow from this principle.
Does the Church differ from other societies in the State? Ex-
plain.

Explain the real meaning of the separation of Church and State.
Does the sovereignty of the people derive from the people them-
selves?
What follows from the belief that all forms of religion are
equally good?

LESSON VI

Paragraphs 32 to 36

The liberty to think and write whatever each one chooses is not liberty
in the true sense. For liberty as a power perfecting man should have
truth and goodness for its object. Truth and goodness are not variables.
They are as unchangeable as nature itself. If the mind goes after error
and the will after evil, neither mind nor will can attain their full de-

[ 28 ]



velopment, but both will sink into corruption. Whatever then is against
truth and virtue may not be broadcast for popular consumption, much
less sanctioned by law. License of speech and action is not liberty, for
liberty means freedom to do what is good and according to man’s nature.

As the Church is commissioned by God to lead men to truth and
virtue, no State has the right to hamper the Church in her divine
mission. The Church must not be subject to the State but must have real
liberty to carry on her mission. Subordination of Church to State spells
untold evils that finally injure the best interests of the State itself. Gregory
XVI in his encyclical Mirari Vos

,

August 15, 1832, condemned the errors
of his day, that claimed no preference should be shown for any particular
form of worship, that each individual was his own judge in matters of
religion, that the individual’s conscience was the court of final appeal, and
that any man might publish whatever subversive ideas were in his mind
and foment disloyalty to the State. Separation of Church and State
which was the catch cry of the liberals who were really building up the
totalitarian State, was condemned by this Pope and by Pius IX. Co-
ordination of Church and State and not separation is according to common
sense and God’s command.

From these papal pronouncements it follows that the origin of public
authority is to be found in God first, and not in the people first, for the
people derive their rights from God. Again it is unlawful for the State
as it is for the individual to disregard all religious duties and to consider
all forms of religion equally good. It is also wrong for the State to allow
unlimited freedom of speech as if this were an inalienable right of the
citizen. For no one has an unlimited right under the Law of Nature or
the Law of God. All rights are limited. Church and State are real
societies and exercise their rights in their own spheres. No reason exists
for conflict between these two powers even in matters of mixed juris-
diction, such as education. Both State and Church should co-operate for
the good of the people who live under the jurisdiction of both.

Catholic teaching holds that every just form of government is a good
form of government. Provided it secures the common good, government
may take any form. In some forms the people have a share little or
great. This is as it should be and in some instances it is necessary, as in
the democratic form of government. The Church believes in genuine
liberty but not in license. ' While the Church cannot admit the false prin-
ciple that all forms of religion are equally good the Church approves of
liberty of worship in a State where there are actually existing various
creeds. For this works out for the common good. Nor does the Church
advocate compulsion in religious belief. Faith is a free gift of God and
unwilling faith is a contradiction.

QUESTIONS

What is the result of unlimited freedom of thought and speech?
Define liberty and its object.
“A State from which religion is banished can never be well regu-
lated.” Prove.
How is society affected by the subordination of Church to State?
What was condemned by Pope Gregory XVI in the encyclical
Mirari Vos ?
Name a few of the errors condemned by Pope Pius IX.
What do these papal pronouncements say regarding the origin
of authority?

[ 29 ]



What do they declare about the State and religion?
Is unlimited freedom of speech a right inherent in the citizen?
The Church, like the State, is a society perfect in its own right.
Explain.
Is conflict inevitable between Church and State in matters of
mixed jurisdiction?
Does the Church condemn any form of government?
What does the Church teach on popular sovereignty?
Where there are many forms of religion in a State how should
government act?

LESSON VII

Paragraphs 37 to 40

The false liberty the Church condemns is that which begets a con-
tempt for the laws of God and of the State. This liberty is characterized
by St. Peter as the cloak for malice, and by St. Augustine as the liberty of
self-ruin. True liberty means freedom from error and passion on the
part of citizens, and on the part of government it means guiding the
citizens in wisdom and providing for their well-being, by protecting them
from subversive domestic elements and from foreign aggression. Whatever
tends to uphold the honor and equal rights of citizens the Church com-
mends. She condemns interference by government in local and family
affairs. Whatever is good for the human welfare of the citizens the Church
advocates. She rejects that false liberty which in individuals and nations
ends in license or in thraldom.

It is a calumny to say that the Church is against modern political sys-
tems and the discoveries of modern science. It is unquestionably true
that she opposes wild theories of false science and the false philosophy of
sedition. As all truth necessarily comes from God the Church welcomes
every new discovery that broadens the range of knowledge. Every true
research project has the blessing of the Church. As the Church is hostile
to sloth she encourages the labor of mind that leads to new knowledge.
Her only anxiety is that man’s intellect and industry labor for the Glory
of God and not become the servants of human pride that will turn him
away from God.

Our anxiety today is concerned with the modern State that is failing
to follow the path of Christian wisdom. We are alive to the spirit of the
times. We do not repudiate the real improvements of our age, but merely
wish that politics would take a safer course, and rest on a more solid
foundation without jeopardizing the real freedom of peoples. The best
guardian of liberty among men is God’s truth, for Christ has said: The truth
shall make you free. Catholics in these days must hearken to the teach-
ing of the Roman Pontiffs. This is particularly true in regard to modern
theories on liberty. Look at their origin and their effects. Many a
modern government preaching liberty is worse than the persecuting gov-
ernments of the past.

QUESTIONS

Give St. Augustine’s sentence on freedom in belief.
Define true liberty.
Give the Catholic doctrine on tyrannical rulers, and on the rights
of citizens.

[ 30 ]



What is the attitude of the Church on modern political systems
and the discoveries of science?
What does every new truth lead to?
Does the Church encourage research?
Does newly discovered scientific truth ever conflict with religion?
What does the Pope say regarding the improvements of the age?
What is the best guardian of human liberty?
What is the duty of Catholics in regard to the opinions of the
Popes on modern questions?
How have modern States been affected by unbridled liberty?

LESSON VIII

Paragraphs 41 to 54

The first duty of the Catholic is to live up to the teachings of the
Gospel even at the cost of great sacrifice. Moreover every Catholic worthy
of the name must love Christ’s Church and prove it by his loyalty to all its
teaching. And Catholic influence should be felt in public affairs so that
in every Christian nation the youth should be trained in religion and
true morality. Catholics should be active in national public life. To shun
public life is to leave that life open to the inroads of men whose princi-
ples bode ill for the common good and the Christian Religion. By par-
ticipating in public affairs they can influence methods of government for
the public good, and infuse those methods with Christian wisdom and
virtue. The early Christians are an example to the modern Catholic.
For living in the poisonous atmosphere of paganism they proved to be
the levelling power that brought down paganism. And when the era of
persecution ceased it was found that Christianity had permeated the entire
Roman Empire. “We are but of yesterday,” said Tertullian, “but we
crowd all your institutions; your cities, islands, villages, towns, assemblies,
the army itself, your wards and corporations, the palace, the Senate, the
courts of law.”

In these times it is well to imitate our forefathers. First, every Catholic
should be a total Catholic which means giving unswerving allegiance to all
the teachings of the Church. Again, every Catholic should take his share
in popular movements guiding them along right lines. Moreover, Catholic
influence should direct liberty of action in accordance with God’s laws,
and in fact bring back civil society to the Christian pattern that we
have described. How this can be done need not be pointed out in detail,
but there must be unity of aim in all plans of Catholic action. This
will be attained if all follow out the guidance of the Apostolic See and
the bishops whom the Holy Ghost has placed “to rule the Church of
God.” In matters of Faith there must be uncompromising unanimity,
in matters of opinion there must be sincerity in finding out the truth
without recriminations. For example there can be no yielding to opinions
that verge on Naturalism, as Naturalism dethrones God and deifies hu-
manity. Further it is wrong to follow one line of conduct in private
life and another in public life, respecting the authority of the Church
privately but publicly rejecting it. To do this is to attempt to join to-
gether good and evil, which is an evident inconsistency.

But in political matters, such as the best form of government or the
most effective method of political administration, difference of opinion is
allowable. No one is to be condemned for his preferences in these matters.
In the expressions of opinion, especially by writers, there should not be

[ 31 ]



bitterness or intolerance of the views of others. Indeed all should bear in
mind the one important object, namely the maintenance of Religion and
the State. In this way Catholics will help the Church in spreading truth,
and aid the State whose safety is imperilled by wrong teachings and evil
passions. This then is the Church’s message to the Catholic world on the
Christian constitution of States and the duties of individual citizens.

QUESTIONS

What is the first duty of every Catholic?
What is the truly Catholic attitude toward the Church?
Should a Catholic take active part in public life?
What consequences may follow if Catholics take no interest in
political life?

How did the early Christians meet the problems of their day?
What does Tertullian say of Catholic influence in his time?
How does Pope Leo XIII describe the duties of the modern
Catholic?
What should Catholic Action aim at as its goal?
Will differences of opinion injure the Catholic apostolate?
Is it possible to reconcile Naturalism with Catholicism?
May a Catholic follow one line of conduct in private and another
in public life?
What does real Catholic citizenship contribute to every nation?

I 32 1



I



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THE SOCIAL ORDER — COMMUNISM

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