What is the Catholic view on Church and State?

Answer 1

The issue of Church and State, and more specifically their separation, has been a hot topic in recent centuries as nationalistic movements swept through countries and Church influence on politics became resented.

Most modern Churchmen view the separation of Church and State as a good thing. In fact, after Vatican II, there was an almost systematic push to have Catholicism removed as a State-sponsored religion in those countries professing or favouring Catholicism. In the vacuum that was created, all religions could now share equally in government support or lack thereof. This move was sponsored by the Church in the belief that it would endear It to the world which would then see It as a progressive institute moving on an ecumenical route, one of mutual respect and inclusion to other religions and personal beliefs. The results were mixed; indeed, modern ecumenism became a highlight of the post-Vatican II era, but the moral influence that Catholicism once wielded was lost and countries began to pass laws and make progressive inroads that they would never have dared had the Church been there to question or block them. Many hospitals, schools and other Church services - staffed freely by religious - were possessed by the State and the religious communities evicted. Governments did not want their peoples influenced by religion over their own programs and so Catholic social programs, despite their benefits, were stamped out and religion practically restricted to churches and private homes.

Traditionally, as repeated by the popes for centuries, separation of Church and State is an error. This is because both the civil state and the Church must work in harmony for they have the same object: people. If the State tells a person to do something that violates Church law or vice versa, violence can erupt in the person themselves or in society in general. The philosophical law is that you will either act as you believe or believe as you act, a human being cannot split themselves into compartments, as the phrase, "what I do as a politician will not be influenced by my personal beliefs" would have people believe. If the directives of the State and the Church are in opposition, then they are in competition with one another. Over the centuries, the Church always claimed the higher authority, believing that human laws and rulings must be in accordance with Divine law and the Moral code. When this principle was violated the Church stepped in and exerted moral pressure, even to the point of excommunicating or deposing rulers. The result was that rulers kept in line, and while sometimes unscrupulous Churchmen abused such power, the system worked. Separation of Church and State reverses this order; it does not create a disinterested equality but rather implicitly gives the State full control, as the Church does not exist as national body (excluding Vatican City of course) and does not have citizens of its own. As a result, the Church must seek permission from the State to act among its citizens since, theoretically, the State can order religious institutions and restrict its proponents. The only thing the State must worry about is if their own people would rebel from such a measure, but such rebellion is unlikely if the State controls the social programs and interests of its citizens from the cradle. This would not be a bad thing unless one feels religion is important or a necessary influence. The Church calls the separation an error precisely because It believes that It contains the saving truth that must be delivered to all human beings throughout the world in order to realize their supernatural destiny. A country that does not allow this truth to be heard is in effect fighting against God and His designs for His own creatures as well as their ultimate best interests. Vatican II undid the influence and work of centuries of sacrifice and missionary activity whereby the Church established itself as that beacon of truth to which nations had to conform their laws and morals. Thus the Catholic view on Church and State is that they must be united in order that they work together for the salvation of souls. Either the Church will be superior, or the State will - one of them must set the bar. Right now, the State does while tolerating the Church provided It does not pretend to make directives the State must obey. The result is the natural destiny of humankind over its supernatural destiny, something the Church sees as both a lie and perversion of proper order.