Principles Fundamental of The Church-State Controversy
Principles Fundamental of The Church-State Controversy
Principles Fundamental of The Church-State Controversy
Volume 8 Article 5
Number 3 Volume 8, Summer 1962, Number 3
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PRINCIPLES FUNDAMENTAL
OF THE CHURCH-STATE
CONTROVERSY
JAMES A. O'DONOHOE*
our thinking on this involved subject is to oping himself that we find the origins of
be incisive and accurate. 5 the political community which we call the
It should be noted from the outset that State.'
the author does not intend to present These concepts were accurately set
anything which is original; he writes only forth by Pope Leo XIII when he wrote:
to shed some light on the fundamentals in "Man's natural instinct moves him to live
which this highly controversial issue finds in civil society. Isolated, he cannot provide
its source. himself with the necessary requirements
Divine Origins of Church and State of life, nor procure the means of develop-
ing his mental and moral faculties. It is
Catholic theology teaches that man is
governed by a twofold authority: the eccle- therefore divinely ordained that he should
siastical community which we call the lead his life, be it domestic, social, or
civil, in contact with his fellow men."'
Church, and the political community
which we call the State. Throughout the The civil society -therefore has its source
in man's nature and as such has God for
centuries, it has constantly proclaimed the
sacred nature of each institution and it its author.
substantiates its claim by asserting that Before the coming of Christ, the State
both Church and State find their ultimate provided for all man's needs: political,
origin in God Himself. economic, and religious. When the Son of
In the Christian tradition, man has al- God became man, however, He revolu-
ways been presented as a creature of God tionized the order of things and established
endowed with intelligence and free will. a separate society to take care of man's
Inasmuch as these faculties are of them- religious exigencies, and it is this which we
selves spiritual, their powers and aspira- call the Church." With the coming of the
tions are almost limitless; inasmuch as Second Person of the Blessed Trinity in
they are encased in a human body how- 6 On Christian theology concerning the nature
ever, their powers and aspirations are of the State one might consult the following:
LATREILLE, LA PENSIkE CATHOLIQUE SUR L'TTAT
sorely restricted. To develop himself as
DEPUIS LES DERNIERES ANNES DU XIXE SIIkCLE,
a rational creature limited by matter, man L'ECCLkSlOLOGIE AU XIXE SIikCLE 281-95 (Paris
has need of other men; he can come to 1960); MARITAIN, MAN AND THE STATE (1954);
full status and complete maturity only in Scott, The Philosophy and Theology of the State,
6 DOMINICAN STUDIES 171-79 (1953); Martin,
fellowship with others who aid him to
The State: Its Elements, 125 AMERICAN ECCLE-
overcome the deficiencies imposed by the SIASTICAL REVIEW 177-95 (1953); ROMMEN,
limited character of his body. It is pre- THE STATE IN CATHOLIC THOUGHT (1945);
cisely in this tendency to enter into con- DEBRIEY, LA CONCEPTION CATHOLIQUE DE L'.TAT
(Paris 1938).
tact with others for the purpose of devel-
Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII, Immortale Dei
5 One of the finest books in English on theology (1885). See SOCIAL WELLSPRINGS: POPE LEO
behind Church-State relations is LECLER, THE XIII 66 (Husslein ed. 1940).
Two SOVEREIGNTIES (1952). One might also sMuch has been written in recent years on the
consult A Theological Consideration of the Re- nature of the Church. The layman would find
lations between Church and State, an address by the following helpful: HASSEVELDT, THE CHURCH
Gustave Weigel, S.J., September 27, 1960, ex- -A DIVINE MYSTERY (1954); SUHARD, GROWTH
cerpts, from which are printed in 73 COMMON- OR DECLINE (1948); Encyclical Letter of Pius
WEAL 68-70 (1960). XII, The Mystical Body of Christ (1943).
8 CATHOLIC LAWYER, SUMMER 1962
other. The nature of these purposes was see De Bovis, L'Eglise dans la socidt6 temporelle,
79 NOUVELLE REvUE THkOLOGIQUE 225-47
concisely described by Pope Leo XIII
(1957); Vlastos, Of Sovereignty in Church and
State, 62 PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW 561-76 (1953);
9Phrase employed by Moehler, SYMBOLISM 259 Murray, For the Freedom and Transcendence of
(London 1906). the Church, 126 AMERICAN ECCLESIASTICAL RE-
10 Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII, Immortale Dei VIEw 28-48 (1952); Martin, The Independence
(1885); SOCIAL WELLSPRINGS: POPE LEO XIII, of the Church, 122 AMERICAN ECCLESIASTICAL
supra note 7, at 70. REVIEW 37-47 (1950).
CHURCH-STATE
from the other, and each one has its own remaining distinct in regard to purpose,
proper competence. While these are assets, cannot ignore one another and cannot be
they are also, to a certain extent, liabilities completely separated from one another.
because they imply a limitation which re- There must be some complementary form
stricts the activity of each society to the of action or some type of harmony be-
achievement of the particular purpose as- tween them. Church and State are distinct;
signed to it by the Author of Nature. but in their very distinction there is an
The distinction between Church and essential relationship and this should man-
State is not a difficult concept to grasp ifest itself in some harmonious form of
and it finds perfect expression in these existence. Such an arrangement is indis-
words of Pope Leo XIII: pensable; and when it is achieved it will
The Almighty, therefore, has appointed the lend considerable aid to the ultimate well-
14
charge of the human race between two being and prosperity of both.
powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the Throughout the history of the Christian
one being set over divine, and the other era, this principle, which demands har-
over human, things. Each in its kind is
supreme, each has fixed limits within which mony between Church and State, has been
it is contained, limits which are defined by concretized in many different forms. Be-
the nature and special object of the prov- fore we proceed to an indication of what
ince of each, so that there is, we may say, they were, it is extremely important to
an orbit traced out within which the action note that, even though the Church always
of each is brought into play by its own na-
tive right.
13 insisted upon harmony between herself and
the State, she has never canonized as ideal
Necessity of Harmony Between
Church and State any precise system which a definite histor-
In spite of the fact that there is a pro- ical period has produced.
found distinction between the political so- For many years after the conversion of
ciety and the ecclesiastical society, Chris- the Roman Emperor, the desire for har-
tian theology teaches that they are not and mony between the two societies took the
cannot be thought of as radically sepa- 14 These ideas are well expressed by Leo XIII
rated. in the Encyclical Arcanum (1880): "In such
As we know, the Church is to occupy harmony is found not only the best line of ac-
tion for each power, but also the most opportune
herself with the supernatural, while the and efficacious method of helping men in all that
State is to busy herself with the natural. pertains to their life here, and to their hope
Yet, when we reflect that the supernatural, of salvation hereafter. For, as We have shown in
former Encyclical Letters, the intellect of man
as the very name indicates, is built upon
is greatly ennobled by the Christian faith, and
the natural and that in the supernatural made better able to shun and banish all error,
order the natural is elevated to a greater while faith borrows in turn no little help from
dignity, it becomes quite obvious that the intellect; and in like manner, when the civil
power is on friendly terms with the sacred au-
these two fields of operation, far from being thority of the Church, there accrues to both a
totally disparate, are intimately related. great increase of usefulness. The dignity of the
Since this is so, Church and State, while one is exalted, and so long as religion is its
guide it will never rule unjustly; while the other
1" Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII, Immortale Dei receives help of protection and defence for the
(1885); SOCIAL WELLSPRINGS: POPE LEO XIII, public good of the faithful." Cf. SOCIAL WELL-
supra note 7, at 71. SPRINGS: POPE LEO XIII, supra note 7, at 42.
8 CATHOLIC LAWYER, SUMMER 1962
Church is the superior society, it is logical standard and universal teaching of the
25
to conclude that she has some power over Church in the medieval period.
the State. The problem therefore arises: In modern times, theologians and can-
what type of power does she have and how onists are wont to describe the power of
much of it can she exercise? In the -history the Church over the State as "indirect."
of the Church several theories have been The proponents of this doctrine may be
proposed as solutions to this difficulty. divided into two schools: those who fol-
26
It must be noted, however, that none of low the thought of St. Robert Bellarmine,
them has ever been accepted as the exclu- and those who follow the thought of John
sive teaching of the Christian Church. of Paris. 27 According to the former, the
In the Middle Ages it was taught by Church, by reason of the superiority of
some that the Church had a "direct her end, possesses a "certain jurisdiction"
power" over the State. 24 The proponents over temporal things; only by way of ex-
of this theory argued that Christ, Who is ception, however, can she actively inter-
Priest and King, gave to Peter and his vene in civil affairs. According to the
successors the totality of His power. By latter, the Church's jurisdiction is purely
reason of this fact, and by divine right, spiritual; she does have the power to in-
the Pope possesses all jurisdiction not terfere in temporal matters whenever she
merely over spiritual matters but also over sees a moral evil there; this intervention is
temporal matters. Those who held the usually done only by means of her teach-
"direct power" theory were quick to add, ing power and even if it entails the use of
however, that in practice the Pope usually her coercive power, this should not extend
employs only the spiritual power, since it beyond spiritual censures.
is Christ's will that he should delegate the 25 In this connection, it is interesting to note the
habitual exercise of the temporal power following statement from Pope Pius IX: "This
to the civil rulers. Nevertheless, they right [deposition of Kings] has in fact, in excep-
tional circumstances been exercised by the Popes.
would teach that in serious situations, Its source was not the Infallibility, but the au-
such as during the vacancy of the Empire thority of the Pope. The latter, according to
or when the higher interests of Christian- the public law then in force and by the con-
sent of the Christian nations, who recognized the
ity were at stake, the Pope could also Pope as the supreme Judge of Christendom, ex-
exercise temporal power. tended to judging, even in the temporal field,
It must be remembered that the theory both Princes and States. Now the present situ-
of "direct power" was never accepted as ation is altogether different. Bad faith alone can
confuse things and epochs so diverse." This is
the official teaching of the Church. It an excerpt from an address given on July 20,
arose and can be justified by reason of 1871 to a delegation from the Accademia di
the particular historical circumstances of Religione cattolica. Cf. LECLER, op. cit. supra
note 23, at 63.
Consecrational Christendom. Only bad 26 For further information on Cardinal BeIlar-
faith could present such concepts as the mine (d. 1621) see Murray, St. Robert Bellar-
mine on The Indirect Power, 9 THEOLOGICAL
24 Notably James of Viterbo, O.S.A. (d. 1308) STUDIES 491-35 (1948); De La Briere, Le pou-
in his de regimine Christiano and Giles of Rome, voir indirect du Pape, 14 LA DOCUMENTATION
O.S.A. (d. 1316) in his de ecclesiastica potestate CATHOLIQUE, 598-605 (1925).
and his de regimine principum. Further infor- 27 For further information on John of Paris
mation may be obtained in HULL, MEDIEVAL (d. 1306) see Murray, Contemporary Orienta-
THEORIES OF THE PAPACY (London 1934). tions of Catholic Thought on Church and State
CHURCH-STATE