THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH

Throughout American history, church leaders have spoken out on the vital moral issues of the day, whether it be slavery, civil rights, or in defense of the family and the dignity of human life. One of the enduring lessons the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK), a Christian minister, taught is the power a religious community can have in society. MLK said, "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority." [i] 

The Church is the advocate of justice and of the poor precisely because she does not identify with politicians nor with partisan efforts. The Church’s role is to teach morality, guide our conscience and offer an ethical choice that goes beyond politics. The Church teaches moral absolutes simply because they are true and not because a political party may also agree. When the church loses its voice, the country loses its conscience.

• Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led the movement to persuade government to impose a particular belief on America that all men are equal in the eyes of God. It was a movement that found its deepest conviction in Christianity.
• Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said: “Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.” [ii] And “the refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil.” [iii]

If you’ve ever heard someone say, “Christians should stay neutral on political issues “or “God doesn’t care about political issues” or “Evangelism only matters in eternity; it doesn’t change how a person votes,” you have been targeted by deception. These are subtle delusions designed to shut down your influence on the direction of American life. The goal of the enemy is to mute Christians by eliminating your viewpoint from the national discourse and to censor the biblical worldview from our culture. We will not be silent, we will continue to preach the Gospel boldly, come what may. Evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think. Our voice must not be drowned out.

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote: “If by interference in politics is meant judging or condemning a philosophy of life which makes the party, or the state, or the class, or the race the source of all rights, and which usurps the soul and enthrones party over conscience and denies those basic rights for which this war was fought, the answer is emphatically: Yes! The Church does judge such a philosophy. But when it does this, it is not interfering with politics, for such politics is no longer politics but theology. When a state sets itself up as absolute as God, when it claims sovereignty over the soul, when it destroys freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, then the State has ceased to be political and has begun to be a counter-Church.”[iv]

Our Lord taught Patriotism, not Quietism!

Jesus taught us to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's and so we have a duty to both the civil society and the kingdom of God. We don't choose one over the other. Don't check out of politics because you're a Christian. The idea of rejecting this world for heaven leads to quietism. On the other hand, rejecting heaven for the world leads to secularism. True Christianity says we are not called to choose one or the other; Christians are called to do both because God has made both. God is both creator and redeemer.

Patriotism is an expression of the two greatest commandments (Matt 22:36-44). If we truly love God, we are going to care about eternity. And if we truly love our neighbor, we are going to care about the civil society our neighbors live in. Particularly we are going to care about the person who is being overly controlled by the government or singled out in some way for abuse. Patriotism is the affection of love turned unselfishly for the good of one's neighbor and ultimately for the glory of God. This is something we need to teach, but more importantly, we need to live it. Let us not be so heavenly minded that we can do no earthly good.

Here’s a selection of excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI’s addresses and homilies during his apostolic visit to Mexico and Cuba. The Pope is teaching us how to vote: “Naturally the Church must always ask if enough is being done for social justice on this great continent. This is a question of conscience that we must always ask ourselves: what the Church can and must do what she cannot and should not do. The Church is not a political power, nor a political party, but rather a moral reality, a moral force. Inasmuch as politics should be a moral reality, on this track the Church fundamentally has to do with politics. I repeat what I have already said: the Church’s first thought is to educate consciences and thereby awaken the necessary responsibility; to educate consciences both in individual and public ethics. And here, perhaps something is missing. In Latin America, and elsewhere, among many Catholics a certain schizophrenia exists between individual and public morals. Personally, in the private sphere, they are Catholics and believers but in public life they follow other trends that do not correspond with the great values of the Gospel which are necessary for the foundation of a just society. It is therefore necessary to teach people to overcome this schizophrenia, teaching not only individual morality, but also public morality. We try to do this with the Church’s social teaching because public morality must of course be a reasonable morality, shared and shareable by non-believers too, a morality of reason”[v] and on natural law.

The two-sword doctrine

The two swords doctrine in the Catholic middles ages came to mean that the Pope possessed both swords but had granted the temporal sword to rulers; therefore, the Papacy had the right to depose kings and emperors. “Who would deny that the great check on state power throughout the entirety of European history, from the conversion of Constantine until the twentieth century, was the Catholic Church? Think of the Roman Emperor Theodosius, commander of all Rome’s legions, stripping himself of all imperial insignia to do penance before an unarmed cleric, St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan. It was the Catholic Church that brought a moral check to bear on the exercise and prerequisites of power” [vi] In the middle ages the secular authority was the first sword, the second sword is the supernatural authority, the Church. These two swords must stay connected for society to be well ordered, right and just. In the 12th century, Bernard of Clairvaux, in his De consideratione, argued that both the "material sword" (gladius materialis) and the "spiritual sword" (gladius spiritualis) belonged ultimately to the Papacy.[vii] Even today, the Church has direct authority over the baptized, and indirect authority over government, the Church must influence government with her moral teachings, not the other way around. 

[i] “Martin Luther King, Jr. On Power and Love.” Religious Freedom Institute, 15 Jan. 2021, https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/martin-luther-king-jr-on-power-and....

[ii] “Top 250 Fulton J. Sheen Quotes (2024 Update).” Quotefancy.com, https://quotefancy.com/fulton-j-sheen-quotes. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.

[iii] Reddit.com, https://www.reddit.com/r/QuotesPorn/comments/w8nfs8/the_refusal_to_take_.... Accessed 11 Jan. 2024.

[iv] Sheen, Fulton J. Characters of the Passion: Lessons on Faith and Trust. Triumph, 1998.

[v] “Apostolic Journey to Mexico and to the Republic of Cuba: Meeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI with Journalists during the Flight to Mexico (Papal Flight, 23 March 2012).” Vatican.Va, 23 Mar. 2012, https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2012/march/docum....

[vi] Crocker, H. W., III. Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church--a 2, 000-Year History / H.W. Crocker, III. Prima Lifestyles, 2001.

[vii] Wikipedia contributors. “Doctrine of the Two Swords.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 June 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doctrine_of_the_two_swords&ol....