Friday 30 August 2013

Pope Francis reaffirms the traditional Catholic doctrine on Church -State relations

In a startling move - startling for its forcefulness - Pope Francis has reaffirmed the traditional doctrine of the Church on the ideal relationship between Church and State. Very significantly, the Holy Father writes of cooperation between the Church and civil authority. The key here is cooperate. As such, for example, the Canadian State is to cooperate with the Church for the "integral good of the human community"..... and so on. I wonder how many Catholics will see this papal pronouncement for the shattering news that it is.


"The historical decision, by which religious freedom for Christians was decreed, opened up new ways for spreading the Gospel and contributed greatly  to the birth of European civilization.  The memory of that event offers  the present Symposium an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of the ways in which the Christian world relates to civil society and the authority that presides over it. These ways have developed in history  in very different contexts, with significant diversification in East and West. At the same time, they have retained several fundamental points in common, such as the conviction that civil power finds its limits before the law of God, reserving just space for the autonomy of conscience, with the awareness that ecclesiastical authority and civil power are called to cooperate for the integral good  of the human community".

1 comment:

Freyr said...

Where did this quote come from? A link would be nice.