On the Robber Council and the State's right to be godless.

 Question: Fr., does the state have duties in regards to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to religion?

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My dear, you have posed a very important question: thank you! 

Pope Leo XIII, after examining and condemning “liberty of worship” in individuals “based on the principle that every man is free to profess as he may choose any religion or none” as being  “so opposed to the virtue of religion”, [Libertas, 19] he went on to speak thus: 

 

“This kind of liberty, if considered in relation to the State, clearly implies that there is no reason why the State should offer any homage to God, or should desire any public recognition of Him; that no one form of worship is to be preferred to another, but that all stand on an equal footing, no account being taken of the religion of the people, even if they profess the Catholic faith. But, to justify this, it must needs be taken as true that the State has no duties toward God, or that such duties, if they exist, can be abandoned with impunity, both of which assertions are manifestly false. For it cannot be doubted but that, by the will of God, men are united in civil society; whether its component parts be considered; or its form, which implies authority; or the object of its existence; or the abundance of the vast services which it renders to man. God it is who has made man for society, and has placed him in the company of others like himself, so that what was wanting to his nature, and beyond his attainment if left to his own resources, he might obtain by association with others. Wherefore, civil society must acknowledge God as its Founder and Parent, and must obey and reverence His power and authority. Justice therefore forbids, and reason itself forbids, the State to be godless; or to adopt a line of action which would end in godlessness-namely, to treat the various religions (as they call them) alike, and to bestow upon them promiscuously equal rights and privileges. Since, then, the profession of one religion is necessary in the State, that religion must be professed which alone is true, and which can be recognized without difficulty, especially in Catholic States, because the marks of truth are, as it were, engravers upon it. This religion, therefore, the rulers of the State must preserve and protect, if they would provide - as they should do - with prudence and usefulness for the good of the community. For public authority exists for the welfare of those whom it governs; and, although its proximate end is to lead men to the prosperity found in this life, yet, in so doing, it ought not to diminish, but rather to increase, man's capability of attaining to the supreme good in which his everlasting happiness consists: which never can be attained if religion be disregarded” [Libertas, 21]. 

From this it is clear that:

• Just like individuals, the state is bound to offer public homage to God.

• The State is bound to not put all religions on equal footings. 

• The state is bound to preserve and protect that Religion alone which is True, which Religion can be recognized without difficulty, having the marks of truth engraved upon it. 

Now, the Vatican Robber Council 

“declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits… that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right. [Dignitatis Humanae, 2]

It is obvious that:

• This declaration is based on the principle that every man is free to profess as he may choose any religion or none, condemned by Pope Leo XIII as being  “so opposed to the virtue of religion”.

• This declaration put all religions on equal footings.

• This declaration gives the state the right to be godless and to treat the various religions (as they call them) alike, and to bestow upon them promiscuously equal rights and privileges. 

To those having eyes that see, the contradiction is so evident. Well, some are able to see a hermeneutics of continuity… the blind leading the blind, ooops!  It is written “if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit” [Matt. 15: 14]