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Christ the King Law Center

Is the Constitution Catholic?: The Church's Teaching on Church-State Relations are Forever the Same

3/31/2014

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PictureCardinal Alfredo Ottaviani
Editor's Note: The following is an abstract of a paper presented at a seminar held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 5, 2013 titled Is the Constitution Catholic? 


Some might argue that Pius IX’s and Leo XIII’s views on Church-State relations were “historically conditioned” and thus no longer applicable to the 21st century. They claim that the Popes were not teaching a permanently valid doctrine but one which was intended to “ensure the well-being of the Church against the onslaughts of Continental Liberalism.” [1]

Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani-Pope Pius XII’s choice as head of the Holy Office- condemned those who asserted that the Church’s teaching was applicable only to a particular period in history: 

          The first fault of these persons consists precisely in their failure to 
          accept fully the arma veritatis and the teachings which the Roman 
          Pontiffs during the past century, and particularly the reigning Pontiff 
          Pius XII, have given to Catholics on this subject in encyclical letters, 
          allocutions, and instructions of various kinds. 
 
          To justify themselves, these people assert that in the body of 
          teaching imparted within the Church there are to be distinguished 
          two elements, the one permanent, and the other transient. This 
          latter is supposed to be due to the reflection of particular 
          contemporary conditions. 
 
           Unfortunately, they carry this tactic so far as to apply it to the 
           principles taught in pontifical documents, principles on which the 
              teachings of the Popes have remained constant so as to make 
              these principles a part of the patrimony of Catholic doctrine 
           (my emphasis). [2]

After outlining the Church’s principles regarding the relationship between Church and State the Cardinal concludes: 

           These principles are firm and immovable (my emphasis). They 
           were valid in the times of Innocent III and Boniface VIII. They are 
           valid in the days of Leo XIII and Pius XII, who has reaffirmed them 
           in more than one of his documents… I am certain that no one can 
           prove that there has been any kind of change, in the matter of 
           these principles, between Summi pontificates of Pius XII and the 
           encyclicals of Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris against Communism, Mit 
           brennender Sorge against Nazism, and Non abbiamo bisogno against 
           the state monopoly of fascism, on the one hand; and the earlier 
           encyclicals of Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, Libertas, and Sapientiae 
           christianae, on the other.” [3]

Thus the Church’s immutable and firm teaching on the religion of the State is not a policy decision but an unalterable doctrine. It has been taught repeatedly by different Popes and opposing teachings have been formally condemned. It is not simply designed to protect the freedom of the Church from anti-clerical regimes but a rational deduction to be made from the fact that the State was created by God and is under His dominion.

[1] M. Davies, The Second Vatican Council and Religious Liberty 32 (1992).

[2] Ibid, 33.

[3] Ibid.

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