The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-04-12
Continued from page ~
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND
THE NEW WORLD DEMOCRACY

American citizen has access to the
supreme tribunal at Washington. Sc
the humblest child of the Church has
the right of appeal to the highest
court in Rome, and no question is de
cided until it has been given the full
est consideration.
Whether we consider, therefore, its
government and disciplinary legisla
ton, or its constitution, mission, doc
trine and morality in their human ap
plications, we find that the Catholic
Church, far from being an autocracy
is in fact a great religious democracy
Thrives in Democracy.
H. What about the second state
ment, namely, that the Catholic
Church cannot live or thrive in a
democracy?
The Catholic Church can live under
any form of government, because she
carries in her hand the promise of
her Divine Founder: Teach all ma
lions And behold | am with
you all days even to the consumma
ton of the world" Her life, there
fore, is independent Of all forms OF
government. Still she thrives best in
a democracy.
The conditions most favorable to
the growth and prosperity Of the
Church are freedom and peace, and
these are more likely to be guaran
teed in democracy than under any
other form of political rule. The
Church lived and made converts dur.
ing the three hundred years of Roman
persecution, but with the freedom
granted by Constantine she extended
her CCnqueStS to the ends of the RO
man Empire. Still peace was not
complete under Roman domination
Peace presupposes order ST. Angus,
tine defined it to be the tranquility OF
order. Order in civil government re.
qulres the presence of authority and
liberty. In Rome there was author
ity, but no liberty. The authority of
the state was absolute, and thus alb
sorbed the liberty Of the individual.
Tho doctrine of the Church regarding
the dignity and rights of all men and
their equality before God could not
but create in time feeling of unrest
and spirit of revolt against the abso-
iutism of Roman authority. This dis
turbed the so-called Roman Peace"
and necessarily hampered the free
action of the Church. Then came tho
Barbarians who destroyed the Empire
and with it Roman autocratic power.
But the BarbarianS went to the other
extreme. They indeed substituted
individual liberty for the tyranny of
Roman absolutism, but the spirit of
liberty was too strong and it fire.
quently degenerated into anarchy.
Thus the order and peace Of society
was again disturbed. Pope Leo III re-
stored authority to its rightful place
when he revived the imperial dignity
in the person of CharIemagne. All
the elements of peaceful society
were now present. The emperor rep
resented authority, the barons, or
feudal lords, represented liberty, and
the Church mediated between them.
But the elements were not properly
adjusted. The freedom of the barons
was not extended to the peasants.
burghers and serfs, who constituted
the great mass Of the people. Hence,
according as their interest swayed
them, the people united now with the
barons against the emperor, and now
with the emperor against the barons.
Finally, from the 18th to the 18th
century the monarchy triumphed.
Then came the so-calied Reformation
which, Matchmaking religion, made it
the slave of the state and thus weak
encd the only power which could sue
cessfully champion the liberties of the
people. The old autocracy of the Ro-
man Caesars, who arrogated to them
selves the title of King and Pontiff,
was brought back again to earth-an
autocracy which the Church had ban
ished from the world-an autocracy
which was destined to haunt the po-
litical and religious peace of mankind
until it was finally destroyed in the
worlds greatest war with the aid of
the worlds youngest and greatest de.
mOcracy.