IMMORTALE
DEI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON THE CHRISTIAN CONSTITUTION OF STATES
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and
Communion with the Apostolic See.
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
levelled against her, that the Church is opposed to the rightful
aims of the civil government, and is wholly unable to afford help
in spreading that welfare and progress which justly and naturally
are sought after by every well-regulated State. From the very
beginning Christians were harassed by slanderous accusations of
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 endeavours
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 reaching 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 honour the holy
name of God, and one of their chief duties must be to favour 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 endeavour 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 fulfilment 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 bath 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 travellers 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 fulfilment 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 honour 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 vigour, 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 honour 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 favour 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 No 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 favour;
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 paralyse 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 how 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 favour 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 favour
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 honourable liberty, alone worthy of
human beings, the Church approves most highly and has never slackened
her endeavour 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 honour, 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 thraldom, 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 labours 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 favour 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 behoves 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 honour, defend her rights, and to endeavour
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 endeavour
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 labour 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 endeavours
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 honours, 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 vigour.
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 endeavour 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 endeavour 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 behoves 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.
LEO XIII
________________________________________
REFERENCES:
1. Rom. 13:1.
2. Wisd. 6:7.
3. Rom. 13:1.
4. Rom. 13:2.
5. John 20:21.
6. Matt. 28:20.
7. John 10:10.
8. Mark 16:15.
9. Matt. 16:19.
10. John 21:16-17.
11. Luke 22:32.
12. Matt. 28:18-20.
13. Matt. 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 them: 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
unsure 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 Peter 2:16.
24. John 8:34.
25. John 8:32.
26. Apoplget, 27 (P4 1, 525).
27. Acts 20:28.
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