Two weeks ago, we determined that while all civil authority comes from God, not the will of the people, this does not mean that every ruler is directly anointed by Him and beyond reproach. In fact, history has shown time and again that good leaders (either through direct election or permission of hereditary succession) do not often come to power. That doesn’t give us the right to revolt just because we don’t like something that’s happening, but it does encourage us to promote the common good wherever we find ourselves. How is the Church as an institution supposed to cooperate in the common good? If the Church lobbies, cajoles, or pushes the State toward a certain outcome, is she overstepping her boundaries and meddling?

    Let us establish once and for all that there are two distinct but inseparable spheres of authority in human life. As Pope Leo XIII put it, “The Almighty, therefore, has appointed that charge of the human race between two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, things.” The Church is tasked with the spiritual well-being and salvation of souls, the State with their temporal well-being and the maintenance of peace and justice. The Church is to the State what the soul is to the body: its animating force, its moral compass, its ultimate reason for existing. If the State fulfills its role properly, it will establish the conditions by which humans can grow in natural virtue and seek God as members of Christ’s Body the Church. If the Church fulfills its role properly, its subjects will be tireless advocates for the common good and good citizens in the society around them.

    But what happens when these two powers overlap and even conflict, as they sometimes do with religious citizens? Church and State are called to a deep level of cooperation and harmony because they are both aimed at the flourishing of persons. Unfortunately, while the Church has recognized the State’s legitimate role in assisting human flourishing, the modern State does not often recognize the Church’s role. The modern State claims near universal authority over every aspect of its citizens’ lives and often balks when the Church attempts to receive funding through generally available school choice programs, when the faithful encourage public prayer during the school day, or when parents of faith opt out of harmful curricula like gender ideology. Some states like Delaware, Washington, and South Dakota have even tried (unsuccessfully) to force priests to be mandatory reporters of sexual abuse even when it would involve violating the seal of the confessional and facing excommunication. This untenable situation results from the denial of God in the public square (naturalism) and the perceived need to avoid favoring any group over another (pluralism).

    We as Catholics are called to recognize Christ's legitimate authority over our lives through his Church and the way in which the State is called to set the earthly stage for eternal flourishing to occur. But how does this obedience to Christ interact with our innate desire for freedom (baked into us as Americans through the Declaration and the Constitution)? We’ll learn more next week!

-Fr. Stephen