CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE: THE INVOLVEMENT

When we speak of Christianity in this parlance, we limit our scope to the Catholic church. Having traced the history of Christianity, and presented in an adumbrated fashion, what we may call the state and its functions to humanity, it is apposite that we turn our efforts to an examination of how the social teachings of the church expects that the church is to engage in the affairs of a legitimate state. The interrogation here is: to what extent is the church supposed to peer into matters that strictly concerns the state?

An obvious truth is that “when the church was born, the idea that there could be any official bond between church and state was a million miles away”[1]. However, with the conversion of Constantine in A.D 312, there was a sea-change, perhaps the most significant event in the history of church-state relations, so that the church would be ushered into the halls of power, invited to  mould and shape a new kind of society, so that from thenceforth, Popes and Bishops were consulted and courted in matters of critical state decisions.[2] However, with the inception of the enlightenment in the late seventeenth century, which took various forms in nations like Germany, France and England, a new line was drawn between the church and the state, so that the prior perceived and accepted divine right to govern by monarchs and kings, came under attack and a new notion that power to govern  came from a social contract between the people and the government was born. Thus, a definitive separation between the church and the state.[3] Beyond that picture, which lasted for years, the church’s social teachings set out  regulations in this domain.

The springboard from which the church involves herself in state affairs is made obvious when she teaches: “it is of course true that the purposes of the church and the state are of different orders, and that both are perfect societies, endowed therefore with their own means, and are autonomous in their respective spheres of activity. But is also true that the one and the other undertake to serve the good of the same common subject, man…”[4] The church, in her social doctrine, first, gives us the relevance of philosophical speculations when it teaches that philosophy is an indispensable instrument for arriving at a correct understanding of the church’s position as regards concepts such as the person, society, conscience, freedom, ethics, law, justice, the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity and the state.[5] Next, “the demands of the common good are dependent on the social conditions of each historical period and are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person…these demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the state’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all”[6]

PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRACY

The church in this domain, first, sees participation in community life as one of the greatest aspirations of the citizen, who is called to exercise freely and responsibly one of his civic roles.[7] To this end, “all those attitudes that encourage in citizens an inadequate or incorrect practice of participation or that cause widespread disaffection with everything connected with  the sphere of social and political life are a source of concern and deserve careful consideration”.[8] In essence, Christians, should not limit their participation to the electoral process, to the point of abstaining from voting, neither should they make deals with institutions in order to obtain more advantageous conditions for themselves. This active and selfless participation concern, is even more for states that limit the participation of its citizens in public life by practicing a totalitarian form of government.[9]

THE AUTHORITY OF THE POLITICAL DOMAIN

The church holds that all authority comes from God, and it is in him, that every civilized community has a legitimate ruling authority, hence, “political authority must guarantee an ordered and upright community life without usurping the free activity of individuals and groups…by respecting and defending the independence of the individual and social subjects…whether in the community as such or in institutions representing the state, must always be exercised within the limits of morality…according to the juridical order enjoying legal status”[10]

Sequel to this, Christians have the right to elect their representatives, as well as the right to replace those to whom it has given sovereignty, however, the mere consent of the people is not sufficient for considering the appropriate ways in which political authority is exercised.[11] Finally, amongst other teachings, the magisterium recognizes the validity of the principle concerning the division of powers in a state, so that power is duly balanced by all the diverse spheres in a state, and the principle of the rule of law, enthrones the law as sovereign, and not the arbitrary will of individuals.[12]

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[1] www.christiansinpolitics.org.uk/uploads/PDFS. Accessed May 6, 2019.

[2] Ibid.,

[3] Ibid.,

[4] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, “Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church”, no. 445.

[5] no. 77

[6] No. 166

[7] No. 190

[8] No. 191

[9] No. 192

[10] No. 394

[11]No. 395

[12] No. 408.

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