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Title: |
Immortale Dei
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Descr.: |
On The Christian Constitution Of States
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Pope: |
Pope Leo XIII
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Date: |
November 1, 1885
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To
Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops,
Bishops, and Other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the
Apostolic See.
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
manifold and great as if the chief end of her existence were to
ensure the prospering of our earthly life. And, indeed, 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 by their
gentleness, their sense of justice, and the glory of their high
deeds.
2.
And yet a hackneyed reproach of old date is leveled 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 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 being 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, The City of God, set forth in so bright a light the
worth of Christian wisdom in its relation to the public wealth
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 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 conception
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 follow and obey.
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,
provide 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, or civil - with his fellow men, amongst whom alone his
several 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 body politic must have a
ruling authority, and this authority, no less than society itself,
has its source in nature, and has, consequently, God for its
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 govern holds it
from one sole and single source, namely, God, the sovereign Ruler
of all. "There is no power but from God."(1)
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 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.
5.
They, therefore, who rule should rule with evenhanded 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. Furthermore, 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 arrogantly, 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 preeminence 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 subject to
higher powers."(3) To despise legitimate authority, in
whomsoever 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 obedience, and by popular violence to incite to
revolt, is therefore treason, not against man only, but against
God.
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, no less than individuals,
owes gratitude to God who gave it being and maintains 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 for 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,
would 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 compromise 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 attainment 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 community, but have also at heart the interests
of its individual 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 highest and unchangeable good for which all
should seek. Wherefore, 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.
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
overwhelming 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.
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."' "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)
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 heaven."(9) "Feed My
lambs, feed My sheep."(10) "I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not."(11)
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 attaining that
end. Hence, it is distinguished and differs from civil society,
and, what is of highest moment, it is a society chartered as of
right divine, perfect in its nature and in its title, to possess
in itself and by itself, through the will and loving kindness 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 unrestrained
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."(12) 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 power
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 teaching all nations; of spreading the
Christian faith as widely as possible; in short, of administering
freely and without hindrance, in accordance with her own judgment,
all matters that fall within its competence.
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 synagogue to
preach the Gospel, they courageously answered: "We must obey
God rather than men."(16) 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 themselves
approved it, in theory alike and in practice. It cannot be called
in question that in the making of treaties, in the transaction of
business matters, in the sending and receiving ambassadors, and in
the interchange of other kinds of official dealings they have been
wont to treat with the Church as with a supreme and legitimate
power. And, assuredly, all ought to hold that it was not without a
singular disposition of God's providence that this power of the
Church was provided with a civil sovereignty as the surest
safeguard of her independence.
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 foresees 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."(17) 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.
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 certain orderly
connection, which may be compared to the union of the soul and
body in man. The nature and scope of that connection can be
determined only, as We have laid down, by having 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 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.
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 Christian
organization of civil society; not rashly or fancifully shaped
out, but educed from the highest and truest principles, confirmed
by natural reason itself.
17.
In such 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 sovereign 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 office 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 uncertain and toilsome
journey to the everlasting city 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 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.
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 is not the servitude of man to man,
but submission to the will of God, exercising His sovereignty
through the medium of men. Now, this being recognized as
undeniable, it is felt that the high office of rulers should be
held in respect; that public authority should be constantly and
faithfully obeyed; that no act of sedition should be committed;
and that the civic order of the commonwealth should be maintained
as sacred.
19.
So, also, as to the duties of each one toward 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 worshipped; and between one and the
other there exists an intimate and abiding connection."(18)
20.
Admirably, according to his wont, does St. Augustine, in many
passages, enlarge upon the nature of these advantages; but nowhere
more markedly and to the point than when he addresses the Catholic
Church in the following words: "Thou dost 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 children, 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 affection. 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 admonition and exhortation, and
discipline, and reproach, and punishment. 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)
21.
There was once a time when States were governed by the philosophy
of the Gospel. 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 instituted 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
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 ever obscured by any craft of any enemies.
Christian Europe has subdued barbarous nations, and changed them
from a savage to a civilized condition, from superstition 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 undertakings were set
on foot, through whose aid they were brought to completion.
22.
A similar state of things would certainly have continued had the
agreement of the two powers been lasting. More important results
even might have been justly looked for, had obedience 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)
23.
But that harmful and deplorable passion for innovation which was
aroused in the sixteenth century 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 unbridled license which, in the midst of
the terrible unheavals of the last century, were wildly conceived
and boldly proclaimed as the principles and foundation of that new
conception of law which was not merely previously unknown, but was
at variance on many points with not only the Christian, but even
the natural law.
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 individual; 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 governing, to be
exercised, however, in its name.
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 society; 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 which 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 people 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 toward
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.
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 consequences
logically flow: that the judgment of each one's conscience 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.
27.
Now, when the State rests on foundations like those just named
-and
for the time being they are greatly in favor - it readily 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 societies
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 decrees of the
Church. They claim jurisdiction over the marriages of Catholics,
even over the bond as well as the unity and the indissolubility 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, rejecting 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 agreement
publicly entered into by the two powers, men forthwith begin to
cry out that matters affecting the Church must be separated from
those of the State.
28.
Their object in uttering this cry is to be able to violate
unpunished their plighted faith, and in all things to have
unchecked 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
resources.
29.
Accordingly, it has become the practice and determination under
this condition of public polity (now so much admired by many)
either to forbid the action of the Church altogether, or to keep
her in check and bondage to the State. Public enactments are in
great measure framed with this design. The drawing 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 Pontiff, all alike aim to this
one end - to paralyze the action of Christian institutions, to cramp
to the utmost the freedom of the Catholic Church, and to curtail
her ever 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.
31.
The sovereignty of the people, however, and this without any
reference to God, is held to reside in the multitude; which is
doubtless a doctrine exceedingly well calculated to flatter 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 may hold as an axiom of civil jurisprudence that
seditions may be rightfully fostered. For the opinion 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. To hold,
therefore, that there is no difference in matters of religion
between forms that are unlike each other, and even contrary to
each other, most clearly leads in the end to the rejection 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 dissimilarity and
conflict even on most important points cannot all be equally
probable, equally good, and equally acceptable to God.
32.
So, too, the liberty of thinking, and of publishing, whatsoever
each one likes, without any hindrance, is not in itself an
advantage over which society can wisely rejoice. On the contrary,
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 itself. If the mind assents to false
opinions, and the will chooses and follows 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
way 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 life, from laws,
from the education 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.
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
prevented or at least lessened in number; and a way is prepared
for enmities and contentions between the two powers, with evil
result to both the issue of events has taught us only too
frequently.
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 apostolic office
required of them) have never allowed to pass uncondemned. Thus,
Gregory XVI in his encyclical letter Mirari Vos, dated August 15,
1832, inveighed with weighty words against the sophisms which 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)
35.
From these pronouncements of the Popes it is evident that the
origin of public power is to be sought for in God Himself, 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
religion; 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 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 privileges
conferred upon her by Jesus Christ. In matters, however, of mixed
jurisdiction, it is in the highest degree consonant to nature, 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.
36.
This, then, is the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning 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
contains anything contrary to Catholic doctrine, and all of them
are capable, if wisely and justly managed, to insure 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 action 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 sanction 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
will."
37.
In the same way the Church cannot approve of that liberty 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," and by the Apostle St. Peter the
"cloak of malice."(23) Indeed, since it is opposed to
reason, 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.
38.
This honorable liberty, alone worthy of human beings, the Church
approves most highly and has never slackened her endeavor 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 license 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 citizens
- 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
herself, while on the one hand she rejects that exorbitant liberty
which in individuals and in nations ends in license or in
thralldom, 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.
39.
Therefore, when it is said that the Church is hostile to modern
political regimes 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 attitude 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
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 refinements 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. Moreover, she gives
encouragement to every kind of art and handicraft, and through her
influence, directing all strivings after progress toward virtue
and salvation, she labors to prevent man's intellect and industry
from turning him away from God and from heavenly things.
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. Nevertheless, since
truth when brought to light is wont, of its own nature, 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)
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.
42.
Especially with reference to the so-called "liberties"
which are so greatly coveted in these days, all must stand by the
judgment of the apostolic see, and have the same mind. Let no man
be deceived by the honest outward appearance of these liberties,
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 tyrannical 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.
43.
Secondly, action may relate to private and domestic matters, 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
slightly more 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. Upon these things the well-being of
every State greatly depends.
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. However, 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 as wrong as to have no concern for, or to bestow
no labor upon, the common good, and the more so 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 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 toward the Church, and those who are willing to befriend
her would be deprived of all influence.
45.
It follows clearly, therefore, that Catholics have just reasons
for taking part in the conduct of public affairs. For in so doing
they assume not nor should they assume the responsibility of
approving what is blameworthy in the actual methods of government,
but seek to turn these very methods, so far as is possible, to the
genuine and true public good, and to use their best endeavors 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 widely from
those of the Gospel, yet Christians were to be seen living
undefiled everywhere in the midst of pagan superstition, and,
while always true to themselves, coming to the front boldly
wherever 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 public life, nay, even to lay down their life, if they could
not without 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."(26) So that the
Christian faith, when once it became lawful 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.
46.
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 children
of the Church, to reject without swerving whatever is inconsistent
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
endeavor 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
apostolic see as their rule of life and obey the bishops whom the
Holy Spirit has placed to rule the Church of God.(27) 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 connive,
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
recriminations.
47.
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 rationalism, the
essence of which is utterly to do away with Christian institutions
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 joining 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 Christian virtue.
48.
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 justice
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 accused of
violating, or of wavering in, the Catholic faith.
49.
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 common object
of all - the maintenance of religion and of the State. If,
therefore, they have hitherto been dissensions, let them
henceforth 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. In this way Catholics will
attain two most excellent results: 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 imperiled by evil teachings and bad passions.
50.
This, venerable brethren, is what We have thought it Our duty to
expound to all nations of the Catholic world touching the
Christian constitution of States and the duties of individual
citizens. 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.
Given
at St. Peter's in Rome, the first day of November, 1885, the
seventh year of Our pontificate.
Endnotes:
1.
Rom. 13:1. | 2. Wis. 6:7. | 3. Rom. 13:1. | 4. Rom. 13:2. | 5. Jn.
20:21. | 6. Mt. 28:20. | 7. Jn. 10:10. | 8. Mk. 16:15. | 9. Mt.
16:19. | 10. Jn. 21:16-17. | 11. Lk. 22:32. | 12. Mt. 28:18-20. |
13. Mt. 18:12. | 14. 2 Cor. 10:6. | 15. 2 Cor. 13:10. | 16. Acts
5:29. | 17. Rom. 13:1. | 18. Sacr. Imp. ad Cyrillum Alexand. et
Episcopos metrop.; See Labbeus, Collect. Conc., Vol. 3. | 19. De
moribus ecclesiae, 1, cap. 30, n. 63 (PL 32, 1336). | 20. Epist.
138 ad Marcellinum, cap. 2, n. 15 (PL 33, 532). | 21. Epist. 238,
to Pope Paschal II (PL 162, 246B). | 22. Pope Pius IX, encyclical
Quanta Cura (Dec. 8, 1864): Syllabus. It will suffice to indicate
a few of the condemned errors: Prop. 19. The Church is not a true, perfect, and
wholly independent society, possessing 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. 29. The State, as
the origin and source of all rights, enjoys a right that is
unlimited. Prop. 55. The Church must be separated from the Stare
and the State from the Church. Prop. 79. 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. | 23. 1 Pt. 2:16. | 24. Jn. 8:34. | 25. Jn. 8:32. |
26. Apoplget, 27 (P4 1, 525). | 27. Acts 20:28.
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