ART. I. -- NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
122. Besides domestic and civil society man also needs religious society. -- Just as man is impelled by the instinct of his nature and by his reason to form domestic and civil society, so also is he solicited to place himself in religious society. For there lies upon all men a necessity to meet together to manifest the inmost sentiment of their hearts, namely, the religions sentiment, and to help one another both in the belief and the practice of religion. To this natural inclination there is added the precept of reason, which prescribes to man to pay worship to the divinity in his totality as an individual and as a social being. If from the natural order one rises to the supernatural then the necessity of religions society appears even more evident. For man cannot attain his supernatural end if he is not a member of that visible society, the Church, which Christ established to unite within its pale all the peoples of the earth.
123. Religions society has for end to render God the worship due to Him and to enable men to arrive at eternal happiness. -- Religious society has no other end than that of religion itself, i.e., divine worship and the happiness of man in the other life. This end, which belongs necessarily even to natural religion, is, in the Church of God, of a more elevated order, the order of grace. But religion enables us to attain not only the happiness of the other life, but, as appears from both reason and experience, it is the most certain means of assuring in the present life the happiness of the individual and of society.
124. Since the end of religious society depends neither on persons nor on places, but solely on the immutable and universal relation of men with God, it is in its nature one and universal. -- This unity and universality, though resulting from the very essence of religion, yet, in view of the diversity of the character and manners of nations, would be impossible to the unaided powers of nature. But God by His grace has remedied the defect of nature, and has established unity and universality in His Church.
125. The form of government in the Church of God is a simple monarchy, tempered in the exercise of its power with aristocracy and democracy. -- The form of government in the Church is a simple monarchy, since the supreme power resides in a single person, who is the Sovereign Pontiff. It is tempered in the exercise of its power by a kind of aristocracy; for, in the councils, the bishops, in union with the Pope, exercise supreme jurisdiction, and in their own dioceses they are true spiritual princes, making laws and exercising all the other functions of power. But, besides this, there is in the Church an element of democracy, in this sense that no one is excluded from even the highest ecclesiastical functions. Thus, even from a rational point of view, the Church may be styled the most perfect of governments: it has the unity of monarchy, the expansive action of democracy, and with all this the temperament of a strong aristocracy.
126. The Church is a true spiritual kingdom, established by God among men, entirely distinct from the civil power, and of a much nobler order. -- The Church is distinct from the civil power. For its members are spread over the whole world, its end is supernatural, the form of its government proceeds directly from God, it exercises a direct influence on the moral order; while civil society is restricted to a particular country, its end is temporal and natural, its actual polity depends on the liberty of men, its influence is exercised directly only upon the external order of things. Hence it is evident that the Church is of a more elevated order than civil society.
ART. II. -- RIGHTS OF THE CHURCH.
127. The Church has the right to spread through the whole world and does not need the consent of the civil power. -- This right evidently arises from the duty which Christ has imposed upon the Church of preaching the Gospel in the whole world,
128. The Church has the right to constitute itself wherever there are faithful, and to establish ministers as the organs of its spiritual authority. -- The faithful are the subjects of the Church, whom it should direct and govern wherever they are to be found. It can accomplish this duty in so far only as it has the right to constitute itself according to the order of its divine hierarchy in every place where the faithful are.
129. The power of the Church is threefold -- legislative, executive, and judiciary. -- Since this triple power appertains necessarily to every society, it should belong also to the Church. But because this power in the Church is of divine institution, it possesses this triple power without division, and nothing can prevent its exercise.
130. The Church has the right to use coercive power, and even material force. -- If the Church had not this right, its authority would be vain. Recourse to material force is often necessary to the Church to repress culpable external acts of men. Moreover, because the swerving of the will takes its rise in the senses, it is necessary to act upon the senses to restore the equilibrium of man's moral nature.
131. The Church has the right of permanent property and can possess temporal goods. -- This right belongs naturally to every society; therefore it belongs to the Church. Without permanent property, it could not provide for its subsistence and would lack the necessary means to attain its end.{1} Hence in the designs of Providence the Temporal Power acquired by the Popes was a means to secure "the free and undisturbed development of their sublime prerogative."{2} Ever since they were despoiled of their possessions in 1870, they have not ceased to claim "that freedom be again restored to the Holy See by the recovery of the temporal power."{3}
132. The Church has the right to institute religious orders or associations, in which the faithful profess a more perfect life with determinate rules, under the government of a special authority which is dependent on the Church. -- This right is only a consequence of that in virtue of which the Church develops freely within the limits of its proper activity and its proper end. This belongs to the Church, just as to the State appertains the right to establish particular associations, such as armies, academies, etc., which serve to defend it and make it prosperous. To impair this right of the Church is to impair the rights of the citizens, whom no human authority can prevent from taking the means to attain their end with the greatest security.
ART. III. -- MUTUAL RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND STATE.
133. The Church is entirely independent of the State. -- The Church has for its object the supernatural and divine order, while the State has for its object the natural and human order. Therefore, unless it be granted that the divine order is subordinate to the human, the Church cannot be subordinate to the State. Secondly, the Church is immutable; therefore it cannot be subject to the State, which by its nature is various and changeable.
134. In the present condition of society the temporal power is necessary to the independence of the Church. -- To protect the independence of the Church, it is indispensable that the Pope reside in a place where no other power reigns; otherwise he could be harassed in the exercise of his ministry, or at least doubts could be raised as to the full liberty of his acts. And since there is no middle term between prince and subject, it follows that the Pope can be independent in that place only in which he is also temporal prince.
135. The State cannot be separated from the Church. -- The end of the State cannot be separated from the end of the Church, since the former is a means to attain the latter. Secondly, were the State to separate from the Church, there would be great embarrassment for the conscience of subjects if the State should impose laws contrary to those of the Church, which would not fail to happen frequently. Hence as the Church comes to the aid of the State in maintaining the citizens in the love of duty and in obedience to legitimate authority, so the State should lend support to the Church in defending its rights, in facilitating the exercise of its ministry, and in repressing those who might wish to impede its action.
136. Although the State is independent in the exercise of the power proper to its institution and end, yet absolutely it is subordinate to the Church. -- Just as the Church should be supreme in the order of religion, so the State should be supreme in the civil order, because it also constitutes a perfect society, distinct in its origin, end, and means. Men should, therefore, obey the State in temporal matters, but the Church in spiritual matters. But because the end of the Church is much more elevated than that of the State, the State, absolutely, should be subordiuate to the Church. If there be a collision of rights, that of the Church should prevail.
ART. IV. -- RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND INTERNATiONAL SOCIETY.
137. The Church naturally gives rise to a universal society among nations. -- Without religious association the universal society of nations is impossible, because union cannot exist among men differing in belief and customs. Besides, owing to the passions of men, union cannot long subsist where the powerful restraint of religion is wanting to keep them in bounds. Religious association, on the contrary, leads naturally to temporal association. Thus, from the religious communion which the Church establishes among the nations subject to her, there naturally follows a union of even temporal interests. But the universal society which the Church naturally establishes, although essentially united to the Church and subsisting in the Church, is, nevertheless, a society distinct from the Church in nature, formation, end, and means.
138. Although the authority in this universal society is naturally polyarchic, yet from its nature it is fitting that it should be vested in the person of the Sovereign Pontiff. -- The temporal rights of nations remain completely independent of the Church; therefore each has a right to share in the authority which is to govern the universal society. But this authority naturally tends to revert to him who is the best fitted to secure the social good; therefore it will be found especially in the person of the Sovereign Pontiff, who on account of the influence of his religious authority and the moral power inherent in his office, is the most proper person to secure order, peace, aud mutual assistance among the nations.
{1} See Propositions xxvi., xxvii., of the Syllabus.
{2} American Catholics and the Temporal Power of the Pope, by Joseph F. Schroeder, D.D., American Catholic Quarterty Review, vol. xvii., p. 72.
{3} Encyclical Inscrutabili, April 21, 1878.