|
Note: History proves that being a faithful
Christian may sometimes be dangerous to one's bodily health (e.g.
when confessing the faith before enemies, when persons are forced to disobey
unjust laws, etc.). Consult appropriate, competent authorities for
assistance in interpreting / applying items herein. Note that we
do not advocate unlawful / immoral civil disobedience and we are
not responsible for anything which may occur due to use of this
site.
|
"Then the
Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the
Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or
not?' Knowing their malice, Jesus said, 'Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census
tax.' Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, 'Whose image is this and whose
inscription?' They replied, 'Caesar's.' At that he said to them,
'Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to
God.' When they heard this they were amazed, and leaving him they went away."
(Mt. 22:15-22)
"Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the
servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience. This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due."
(Rom. 13:1-7)
"We
await, then, without fear, the verdict of history. History will
tell how We, with Our eyes fixed immutably upon the defense of the
higher rights of God, have neither wished to humiliate the civil
power, nor to combat a form of government, but to safeguard the
inviolable work of Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ." (Pope
St. Pius X, "Une Fois Encore", 1907 A.D.)
"Therefore,
the true liberty of human society does not consist in every man
doing what he pleases, for this would simply end in turmoil and
confusion, and bring on the overthrow of the State; but rather in
this, that through the injunctions of the civil law all may more
easily conform to the prescriptions of the eternal law."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Libertas Praestantissimum", 1888 A.D.)
"In
short, where the Church does not forbid taking part in public
affairs, it is fit and proper to give support to men of
acknowledged worth, and who pledge themselves to deserve well in
the Catholic cause, and on no account may it be allowed to prefer
to them any such individuals as are hostile to religion."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"No
one can, however, without risk to faith, foster any doubt as to
the Church alone having been invested with such power of governing
souls as to exclude altogether the civil authority. In truth, it
was not to Caesar but to Peter that Jesus Christ entrusted the
keys of the kingdom of Heaven. From this doctrine touching the
relations of politics and religion originate important
consequences" (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae",
1890 A.D.)
"The
Church does not desire, neither ought she to desire, to mix up
without a just cause in the direction of purely civil affairs. On
the other hand, she cannot permit or tolerate that the state use
the pretext of certain laws of unjust regulations to do injury to
the rights of an order superior to that of the state, to interfere
with the constitution given the Church by Christ, or to violate
the rights of God Himself over civil society." (Pope Pius XI,
"Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio", 1922 A.D.)
"These
[great realities of life] are - that man is in the world to save
his soul and that he stands before the tremendous alternative of
eternal bliss or eternal damnation. There is no middle course. Now
we know what God demands: to be saved man must die in the state of
grace. There is no greater or more real cruelty than to make it
easier for a man to lose his soul; there is no higher charity than
to help him to win eternal happiness. Now the modern constitutions
of nations which permit and make holy every perversion of the mind
and heart give every facility to people to damn themselves."
(Fahey)
"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." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale
Dei", 1885 A.D.)
"The
Church, therefore, possesses the right to exist and to protect
herself by institutions and laws in accordance with her nature.
And since she not only is a perfect society in herself, but
superior to every other society of human growth, she resolutely
refuses, promoted alike by right and by duty, to link herself to
any mere party and to subject herself to the fleeting exigencies
of politics. On like grounds, the Church, the guardian always of
her own right and most observant of that of others, holds that it
is not her province to decide which is the best amongst many
diverse forms of government and the civil institutions of
Christian States, and amid the various kinds of State rule she
does not disapprove of any, provided the respect due to religion
and the observance of good morals be upheld." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Sapientiae Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"Now
while it is true that no man is refused temporal blessings, be he
good or bad, and while misfortunes can overtake all, the virtuous
as well as the wicked, yet we may not doubt that benefits and
adversities are allotted by God for the furtherance of the eternal
salvation of souls and for the well-being of the heavenly city.
Therefore the leaders and rulers of the nations have received
their authority from God for his end, that in the regions subject
to them they should - as His associates - lend their efforts to
promoting the designs of Divine Providence. Clearly, then, it is
their duty to keep their gaze riveted on the supreme end set for
man's attainment, and while active for the earthly prosperity of
their citizens, to do and command nothing in abatement of the laws
of Christian justice and charity, but rather to make it easier for
those under them to recognize and pursue the prizes that never
fail." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Salutem", 1930 A.D.)
"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." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885
A.D.)
"There
will be no peril to or lessening of the rights and integrity of
the State from its association with the Church. Such suspicion and
fear is empty and groundless, as Leo XIII has already so clearly
set forth: 'It is generally agreed,' he says, 'that the Founder of
the Church, Jesus Christ, wished the spiritual power to be
distinct from the civil, and each to be free and unhampered in
doing its own work, not forgetting, however, that it is expedient
to both, and in the interest of everybody, that there be a
harmonious relationship... If the civil power combines in a
friendly manner with the spiritual power of the Church, it
necessarily follows that both parties will greatly benefit. The
dignity of the State will be enhanced, and with religion as its
guide, there will never be a rule that is not just; while for the
Church there will be at hand a safeguard and defense which will
operate to the public good of the faithful.'" (Pope Pius XI,
"Casti Connubii", 1930 A.D.)
"The
Church has always impressed on the minds of her children that
declaration of the Divine Redeemer: 'Render therefore to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are
God's.' We call it a declaration because these words make certain
and incontestable the principle that Christianity never opposes or
obstructs what is truly useful or advantageous to a country.
However, if Christians are bound in conscience to render to Caesar
(that is, to human authority) what belongs to Caesar, then Caesar
likewise, or those who control the state, cannot exact obedience
when they would be usurping God's rights or forcing Christians
either to act at variance with their religious duties or to sever
themselves from the unity of the Church and its lawful hierarchy.
Under such circumstances, every Christian should cast aside all
doubt and calmly and firmly repeat the words with which Peter and
the other Apostles answered the first persecutors of the Church:
'We must obey God rather than men.'" (Pope Pius XII, "Ad
Apostolorum Principis", 1958 A.D.)
"Moreover,
the highest duty is to respect authority, and obediently to submit
to just law; and by this the members of a community are
effectually protected from the wrong-doing of evil men. Lawful
power is from God, 'and whosoever resisteth authority resisteth
the ordinance of God'; wherefore, obedience is greatly ennobled
when subjected to an authority which is the most just and supreme
of all. But where the power to command is wanting, or where a law
is enacted contrary to reason, or to the eternal law, or to some
ordinance of God, obedience is unlawful, lest, while obeying man,
we become disobedient to God. Thus, an effectual barrier being
opposed to tyranny, the authority in the State will not have all
its own way, but the interests and rights of all will be
safeguarded - the rights of individuals, of domestic society, and
of all the members of the commonwealth; all being free to live
according to law and right reason; and in this, as We have shown,
true liberty really consists." (Pope Leo XIII, "Libertas
Praestantissimum", 1888 A.D.)
"For,
when this point has been settled and recognized by common
agreement, that, whatsoever the form of government, the authority
is from God, reason at once perceives that in some there is a
legitimate right to command, in others the corresponding duty to
obey, and that without prejudice to their dignity, since obedience
is rendered to God rather than to man; and God has denounced the
most rigorous judgment against those in authority, if they fail to
represent Him with uprightness and justice. Then the liberty of
the individual can afford ground of suspicion or envy to no one;
since, without injury to any, his conduct will be guided by truth
and rectitude and whatever is allied to public order. Lastly, if
it be considered what influence is possessed by the Church, the
mother of and peacemaker between rulers and peoples, whose mission
it is to help them both with her authority and counsel, then it
will be most manifest how much it concerns the commonweal that all
nations should resolve to unite in the same belief and the same
profession of the Christian [Catholic] faith." (Pope Leo XIII, "Praeclara
Gratulationis Publicae", 1894 A.D.)
"We
intend to fulfill parts of Our duty through this letter,
announcing to all to whom this matter pertains, and to the whole
Catholic world, that those laws are invalid, namely, which are
utterly opposed to the constitution of the divine Church. For, the
Lord of holy things did not place the powerful of this world over
the bishops in these matters which pertain to the holy ministry,
but blessed Peter to whom he commended not only His lambs but also
His sheep to be fed [cf. John 21:16, 17]; and so by no worldly
power, however elevated, can they be deprived of their episcopal
office 'whom the Holy Ghost hath placed as bishops to rule the
Church of God' [cf. Acts 20:28]. Moreover, let those who are
hostile to you know that in refusing to pay to Caesar what belongs
to God, you are not going to bring any injury to royal authority,
nor to detract anything from it; for it is written: 'We ought to
obey God, rather than men' [Acts 5:29]; and at the same time let
them know that everyone of you is prepared to give tribute and
obedience to Caesar, not for wrath, but for conscience [cf. Rom.
13:5 f.] in those matters which are under civil authority and
power." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Quod Nunquam", 1875
A.D.)
"This
power of teaching and governing in matters of religion, given by
Christ to His Spouse, belongs to the priests and bishops. Christ
established this system not only so that the Church would in no
way belong to the civil government of the state, but also so that
it could be totally free and not subject in the least to any
earthly domination. Jesus Christ did not commit the sacred trust
of the revealed doctrine to the worldly leaders, but to the
apostles and their successors. He said to them only: 'Whoever
hears you, hears Me; whoever rejects you, rejects Me.' These same
apostles preached the Gospel, spread the Church, and established
its discipline not in accordance with the pleasure of lay
authority, but even in spite of it. Moreover, when the leaders of
the synagogue dared command them to silence, Peter and John, who
had used the evangelical freedom, responded: 'You be the judge of
whether it is right in the eyes of God to listen to you rather
than to God.' Thus, if any secular power dominates the Church,
controls its doctrine, or interferes so that it cannot promulgate
laws concerning the holy ministry, divine worship, and the
spiritual welfare of the faithful, it does so to the injury of the
faith and the overturning of the divine ordinance of the Church
and the nature of government." (Pope Gregory XVI, "Commissum
Divinitus", 1835 A.D.)
"That
is the one reason for men not obeying, if something is demanded of
them which is openly at odds with natural and divine law; for it
is equally wrong to order and to do anything in which the law of
nature or the will of God is violated. If, then, it ever happens
to anyone to be forced to choose one or the other, namely, to
ignore the orders either of God or of princes, obedience must be
rendered to Jesus Christ who orders, 'the things that are
Caesar's, to Caesar; the things that are God's to God' [cf. Matt.
22:21], and according to the example of the apostles the reply
should be made courageously: 'We ought to obey God, rather than
man' [Acts 5:29]... To be unwilling to refer the right of ordering
to God, the author, is nothing else than to wish the most
beautiful splendor of political power destroyed, and its nerves
cut... In fact, sudden tumults and most daring rebellions,
especially in Germany, have followed that so-called Reformation,
whose supporters and leaders have utterly opposed sacred and civil
power with new doctrines... From that heresy a falsely called
philosophy took its origin in an earlier time, and a right, which
they call 'new,' and a popular power, and an ignorant license
which many people consider only liberty. From these we have come
to the ultimate plagues, namely, to communism, to socialism, to
nihilism, most loathsome monsters and almost destroyers of man's
civil society." (Pope Leo XIII, "Diuturnum illud", 1881 A.D.)
"[T]he fatherland
must be loved, from which we receive the enjoyment of mortal life;
but we must love the Church more to whom we owe the love of the
soul which will last forever, because it is right to hold the
blessings of the spirit above the blessings of the body, and the
duties toward God are much more sacred than those toward man. But,
if we wish to judge rightly, the supernatural love of the Church
and the natural love of the fatherland are twin loves coming from
the same eternal principle, since God himself is the author and
the cause of both; therefore, it follows that one duty cannot be
in conflict with the other... Nevertheless, the order of these
duties, either because of the troubles of the times or the more
perverse will of men, is sometimes destroyed. Instances, to be
sure, occur when the state seems to demand one thing from men as
citizens, and religion another from men as Christians; and this,
clearly, for no other reason than that the rulers of the state
either hold the sacred power of the Church as of no account, or
wish it to be subject to them... If the laws of the state are
openly at variance with divine right, if they impose any injury
upon the Church, or oppose those duties which are of religion, or
violate the authority of Jesus Christ in the Supreme Pontiff, then
indeed to resist is a duty, to obey a crime; and this is bound
with injury to the state itself, since whatever is an offense in
religion is a sin against the state." (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae
Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"Yet,
no one doubts that Jesus Christ, the Founder of the Church, willed
her sacred power to be distinct from the civil power, and each
power to be free and unshackled in its own sphere: with this
condition, however - a condition good for both, and of advantage to
all men - that union and concord should be maintained between them;
and that on those questions which are, though in different ways,
of common right and authority, the power to which secular matters
have been entrusted should happily and becomingly depend on the
other power which has in its charge the interests of heaven. In
such arrangement and harmony is found not only the best line of
action for each power, but also the most opportune and efficacious
method of helping men in all that pertains to their life here, and
to their hope of salvation hereafter. For, as We have shown in
former encyclical letters, the intellect of man is greatly
ennobled by the Christian [Catholic] faith, and made better able to shun and
banish all error, while faith borrows in turn no little help from
the intellect; and in like manner, when the civil power is on
friendly terms with the sacred authority of the Church, there
accrues to both a great increase of usefulness. The dignity of the
one is exalted, and so long as religion is its guide it will never
rule unjustly; while the other receives help of protection and
defense for the public good of the faithful." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Arcanum", 1880 A.D.)
"But
not only in regard to temporal goods, Venerable Brethren, is it
the concern of the public authority to make proper provision for
matrimony and the family, but also in other things which concern
the good of souls. Just laws must be made for the protection of
chastity, for reciprocal conjugal aid, and for similar purposes,
and these must be faithfully enforced, because, as history
testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness
of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound where the foundation
on which they are established, which is the moral order, is
weakened and where the very fountainhead from which the State
draws its life, namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by
the vices of its citizens. For the preservation of the moral order
neither the laws and sanctions of the temporal power are
sufficient, nor is the beauty of virtue and the expounding of its
necessity. Religious authority must enter in to enlighten the
mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen human frailty by the
assistance of divine grace. Such an authority is found nowhere
save in the Church instituted by Christ the Lord. Hence We
earnestly exhort in the Lord all those who hold the reins of power
that they establish and maintain firmly harmony and friendship
with this Church of Christ so that through the united activity and
energy of both powers the tremendous evils, fruits of those wanton
liberties which assail both marriage and the family and are a
menace to both Church and State, may be effectively frustrated." (Pope Pius XI, "Casti Connubii", 1930
A.D.)
"Modern
law is based on man. Catholic law is based on God. Catholic law
looks at things from the angle of man's supreme and last end -
that is to say, God in Three Divine Persons; modern law from that
of man as his own self-sufficing end. Catholic law begins by
taking account of the dependence upon God of every created thing,
and especially of every community and every State. Modern law
bases that union of wills on which a community is founded, merely
on the will of each of the component individuals, independent of
the Divine Will. Catholic law is the establishing of the reign of
God by His own right over the individual and over society. Modern
law is the practical negation of Catholic truth and of all divine
truth. It is the official establishment, sanctioned by law, of
laicism, atheism, and all other errors. In short, Catholic law is
justice; it is the power and authority which spring from justice
put at the service of truth, which alone can save men and nations.
Modern law is the authority and power of justice put at the
service of man to degrade legally - and, therefore, it is thought,
legitimately - intelligence and wills, communities and societies
to the level of deified man, that is to say, of man considered as
the beginning and the end of all things. Compare the constitutions
of nations proceeding from modern principles, with those
proceeding from Catholic principles, and you will get some slight
idea of the disasters produced by modern law." (Fahey)
"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.' 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. 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." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885
A.D.)
"On
this account let them consider how injurious to Christian unity is
that error, which in various forms of opinion has oft-times obscured, nay, even destroyed the true character and
idea of the Church. For by the will and ordinance of God, its
Founder, it is a society perfect in its kind, whose office and
mission it is to school mankind in the precepts and teachings of
the Gospel, and by safeguarding the integrity of moral and the
exercise of Christian virtue, to lead men to that happiness which
is held out to every one in heaven. And since it is, as we have
said, a perfect society, therefore it is endowed with a living
power and efficacy which is not derived from any external source,
but in virtue of the ordinance of God and its own constitution,
inherent in its very nature; for the same reason it has an inborn
power of making laws, and justice requires that it its exercise it
should be dependent on no one; it must likewise have freedom in
other matters appertaining to its rights. But this freedom is not
of a kind to occasion rivalry or envy, for the Church does not
covet power, nor is she urged on by any selfish desire; but this
one thing she does wish, this only does she seek, to preserve
amongst men the duties which virtue imposes, and by this means and
in this way to provide for their everlasting welfare. Therefore is
she wont to be yielding and indulgent as a mother; yea, it not
infrequently happens that in making large concessions to the
exigencies of States, she refrains from the exercise of her own
rights, as the compacts often concluded with civil governments
abundantly testify. Nothing is more foreign to her disposition
than to encroach on the rights of civil power; but the civil power
in its turn must respect the rights of the Church and beware of
arrogating them in any degree to itself." (Pope Leo XIII,
"Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae", 1894 A.D.)
"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."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885 A.D.)
"A family, no less than a State, is, as We
have said, a true society, governed by an authority peculiar to
itself, that is to say, by the authority of the father. Provided,
therefore, the limits which are prescribed by the very purposes
for which it exists be not transgressed, the family has at least
equal rights with the State in the choice and pursuit of the
things needful to its preservation and its just liberty. We say,
'at least equal rights'; for, inasmuch as the domestic household
is antecedent, as well in idea as in fact, to the gathering of men
into a community, the family must necessarily have rights and
duties which are prior to those of the community, and founded more
immediately in nature. If the citizens, if the families on
entering into association and fellowship, were to experience
hindrance in a commonwealth instead of help, and were to find
their rights attacked instead of being upheld, society would
rightly be an object of detestation rather than of desire. The
contention, then, that the civil government should at its option
intrude into and exercise intimate control over the family and the
household is a great and pernicious error. True, if a family finds
itself in exceeding distress, utterly deprived of the counsel of
friends, and without any prospect of extricating itself, it is
right that extreme necessity be met by public aid, since each
family is a part of the commonwealth. In like manner, if within
the precincts of the household there occur grave disturbance of
mutual rights, public authority should intervene to force each
party to yield to the other its proper due; for this is not to
deprive citizens of their rights, but justly and properly to
safeguard and strengthen them. But the rulers of the commonwealth
must go no further; here, nature bids them stop. Paternal
authority can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the State; for
it has the same source as human life itself. 'The child belongs to
the father,' and is, as it were, the continuation of the father's
personality; and speaking strictly, the child takes its place in
civil society, not of its own right, but in its quality as member
of the family in which it is born. And for the very reason that
'the child belongs to the father' it is, as St. Thomas Aquinas
says, 'before it attains the use of free will, under the power and
the charge of its parents.' The socialists, therefore, in setting
aside the parent and setting up a State supervision, act against
natural justice, and destroy the structure of the home."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 1891 A.D.)
"The
Apostolic voice did not thunder forth in vain. On the contrary,
not only did the obedient children of the Church hearken to it
with marveling admiration and hail it with the greatest applause,
but many also who were wandering far from the truth, from the
unity of the faith, and nearly all who since then either in
private study or in enacting legislation have concerned themselves
with the social and economic question. Feeling themselves
vindicated and defended by the Supreme Authority on earth,
Christian workers received this Encyclical with special joy. So,
too, did all those noble-hearted men who, long solicitous for the
improvement of the condition of the workers, had up to that time
encountered almost nothing but indifference from many, and even
rankling suspicion, if not open hostility, from some. Rightly,
therefore, have all these groups constantly held the Apostolic
Encyclical from that time in such high honor that to signify their
gratitude they are wont, in various places and in various ways, to
commemorate it every year. However, in spite of such great
agreement, there were some who were not a little disturbed; and so
it happened that the teaching of Leo XIII, so noble and lofty and
so utterly new to worldly ears, was held suspect by some, even
among Catholics, and to certain ones it even gave offense. For it
boldly attacked and overturned the idols of Liberalism, ignored
long-standing prejudices, and was in advance of its time beyond
all expectation, so that the slow of heart disdained to study this
new social philosophy and the timid feared to scale so lofty a
height. There were some also who stood, indeed, in awe at its
splendor, but regarded it as a kind of imaginary ideal of
perfection more desirable then attainable... Nor is the benefit
that has poured forth from Leo's Encyclical confined within these
bounds; for the teaching which On the Condition of Workers
contains has gradually and imperceptibly worked its way into the
minds of those outside Catholic unity who do not recognize the
authority of the Church. Catholic principles on the social
question have as a result, passed little by little into the
patrimony of all human society, and We rejoice that the eternal
truths which Our Predecessor of glorious memory proclaimed so
impressively have been frequently invoked and defended not only in
non-Catholic books and journals but in legislative halls also
courts of justice... The Encyclical On the Condition of Workers,
without question, has become a memorable document and rightly to
it may be applied the words of Isaias: 'He shall set up a standard
to the nations.'" (Pope Pius XI,
"Quadragesimo Anno", 1931 A.D.)
"But
Catholic wisdom, sustained by the precepts of natural and divine
law, provides with especial care for public and private
tranquility in its doctrines and teachings regarding the duty of
government and the distribution of the goods which are necessary
for life and use. For, while the socialists would destroy the
'right' of property, alleging it to be a human invention
altogether opposed to the inborn equality of man, and, claiming a
community of goods, argue that poverty should not be peaceably
endured, and that the property and privileges of the rich may be
rightly invaded, the Church, with much greater wisdom and good
sense, recognizes the inequality among men, who are born with
different powers of body and mind, inequality in actual
possession, also, and holds that the right of property and of
ownership, which springs from nature itself, must not be touched
and stands inviolate. For she knows that stealing and robbery were
forbidden in so special a manner by God, the Author and Defender
of right, that He would not allow man even to desire what belonged
to another, and that thieves and despoilers, no less than
adulterers and idolaters, are shut out from the Kingdom of Heaven.
But not the less on this account does our holy Mother not neglect
the care of the poor or omit to provide for their necessities;
but, rather, drawing them to her with a mother's embrace, and
knowing that they bear the person of Christ Himself, who regards
the smallest gift to the poor as a benefit conferred on Himself,
holds them in great honor. She does all she can to help them; she
provides homes and hospitals where they may be received,
nourished, and cared for all the world over and watches over
these. She is constantly pressing on the rich that most grave
precept to give what remains to the poor; and she holds over their
heads the divine sentence that unless they succor the needy they
will be repaid by eternal torments. In fine, she does all she can
to relieve and comfort the poor, either by holding up to them the
example of Christ, 'who being rich became poor for our sake', or
by reminding them of his own words, wherein he pronounced the poor
blessed and bade them hope for the reward of eternal bliss. But
who does not see that this is the best method of arranging the old
struggle between the rich and poor? For, as the very evidence of
facts and events shows, if this method is rejected or disregarded,
one of two things must occur: either the greater portion of the
human race will fall back into the vile condition of slavery which
so long prevailed among the pagan nations, or human society must
continue to be disturbed by constant eruptions, to be disgraced by
rapine and strife, as we have had sad witness even in recent
times." (Pope Leo XIII, "Quod Apostolici
Muneris", 1878 A.D.)
"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. 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.' And in
another place: 'If he will not hear them, tell the Church.' And
again: 'In readiness to revenge all disobedience.' 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.' 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. 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.'
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."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885 A.D.)
"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. 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. 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. This, then, is the teaching of
the Catholic Church concerning the constitution and government of
the State."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885 A.D.)
"The
fact that God has given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the
whole human race can in no way be a bar to the owning of private
property. For God has granted the earth to mankind in general, not
in the sense that all without distinction can deal with it as they
like, but rather that no part of it was assigned to any one in
particular, and that the limits of private possession have been
left to be fixed by man's own industry, and by the laws of
individual races. Moreover, the earth, even though apportioned
among private owners, ceases not thereby to minister to the needs
of all, inasmuch as there is not one who does not sustain life
from what the land produces. Those who do not possess the soil
contribute their labor; hence, it may truly be said that all human
subsistence is derived either from labor on one's own land, or
from some toil, some calling, which is paid for either in the
produce of the land itself, or in that which is exchanged for what
the land brings forth. Here, again, we have further proof that
private ownership is in accordance with the law of nature. Truly,
that which is required for the preservation of life, and for
life's well-being, is produced in great abundance from the soil,
but not until man has brought it into cultivation and expended
upon it his solicitude and skill. Now, when man thus turns the
activity of his mind and the strength of his body toward procuring
the fruits of nature, by such act he makes his own that portion of
nature's field which he cultivates - that portion on which he
leaves, as it were, the impress of his personality; and it cannot
but be just that he should possess that portion as his very own,
and have a right to hold it without any one being justified in
violating that right. So strong and convincing are these arguments
that it seems amazing that some should now be setting up anew
certain obsolete opinions in opposition to what is here laid down.
They assert that it is right for private persons to have the use
of the soil and its various fruits, but that it is unjust for any
one to possess outright either the land on which he has built or
the estate which he has brought under cultivation. But those who
deny these rights do not perceive that they are defrauding man of
what his own labor has produced. For the soil which is tilled and
cultivated with toil and skill utterly changes its condition; it
was wild before, now it is fruitful; was barren, but now brings
forth in abundance. That which has thus altered and improved the
land becomes so truly part of itself as to be in great measure
indistinguishable and inseparable from it. Is it just that the
fruit of a man's own sweat and labor should be possessed and
enjoyed by any one else? As effects follow their cause, so is it
just and right that the results of labor should belong to those
who have bestowed their labor. With reason, then, the common
opinion of mankind, little affected by the few dissentients who
have contended for the opposite view, has found in the careful
study of nature, and in the laws of nature, the foundations of the
division of property, and the practice of all ages has consecrated
the principle of private ownership, as being preeminently in
conformity with human nature, and as conducing in the most
unmistakable manner to the peace and tranquillity of human
existence. The same principle is confirmed and enforced by the
civil laws - laws which, so long as they are just, derive from the
law of nature their binding force. The authority of the divine law
adds its sanction, forbidding us in severest terms even to covet
that which is another's: 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
wife; nor his house, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his
maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.'
The rights here spoken of, belonging to each individual man, are
seen in much stronger light when considered in relation to man's
social and domestic obligations... That right to property,
therefore, which has been proved to belong naturally to individual
persons, must in like wise belong to a man in his capacity of head
of a family; nay, that right is all the stronger in proportion as
the human person receives a wider extension in the family group.
It is a most sacred law of nature that a father should provide
food and all necessaries for those whom he has begotten; and,
similarly, it is natural that he should wish that his children,
who carry on, so to speak, and continue his personality, should be
by him provided with all that is needful to enable them to keep
themselves decently from want and misery amid the uncertainties of
this mortal life. Now, in no other way can a father effect this
except by the ownership of productive property, which he can
transmit to his children by inheritance... The right to possess
private property is derived from nature, not from man; and the
State has the right to control its use in the interests of the
public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The
State would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of
taxation it were to deprive the private owner of more than is
fair." (Pope Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 1891 A.D.)
Also
See: Government
(Catholic Life Reflections) | Religious
Liberty (Trad.) (Catholic Life Reflections) | Separation
of Church & State Condemned (Catholic Life Reflections) |
Wealth
/ Poverty / Social Classes (Catholic Life Reflections) | Obedience
/ Disobedience (Catholic Life Reflections) | Classic
Encyclicals: Economics
/ Government / Social Order / Liberty
Note:
Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related
to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more
'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.
Top |
Reflections: A-Z | Categ.
| Scripture: A-Z |
Categ.
| Help
|
