They, therefore, who rule should rule with evenhanded justice, not as
masters, but rather as fathers, for the rule of God over man is most just, and
is tempered always with a father's kindness. Government should, moreover, be
administered for the well-being of the citizens, because they who govern others
possess authority solely for the welfare of the State. Furthermore, the civil
power must not be subservient to the advantage of any one individual or of some
few persons, inasmuch as it was established for the common good of all. But, if
those who are in authority rule unjustly, if they govern overbearingly or
arrogantly, and if their measures prove hurtful to the people, they must
remember that the Almighty will one day bring them to account, the more strictly
in proportion to the sacredness of their office and preeminence of their
dignity. "The mighty shall be mightily tormented."
In very truth, Jesus Christ gave to His Apostles unrestrained authority
in regard to things sacred, together with the genuine and most true power of
making laws, as also with the twofold right of judging and of punishing, which
flow from that power. "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth: going
therefore teach all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you."[12] And in another place: "If he will not hear them, tell
the Church."[13] And again: "In readiness to revenge all disobedience."[14] And
once more: "That . . . I may not deal more severely according to the power which
the Lord hath given me, unto edification and not unto destruction."[15] Hence,
it is the Church, and not the State, that is to be man's guide to heaven. It is
to the Church that God has assigned the charge of seeing to, and legislating
for, all that concerns religion; of teaching all nations; of spreading the
Christian faith as widely as possible; in short, of administering freely and
without hindrance, in accordance with her own judgment, all matters that fall
within its competence.
In political affairs, and all matters civil, the laws aim at securing the
common good, and are not framed according to the delusive caprices and opinions
of the mass of the people, but by truth and by justice; the ruling powers are
invested with a sacredness more than human, and are withheld from deviating from
the path of duty, and from overstepping the bounds of rightful authority; and
the obedience is not the servitude of man to man, but submission to the will of
God, exercising His sovereignty through the medium of men.
There was once a time when States were governed by the philosophy of the
Gospel. Then it was that the power and divine virtue of Christian wisdom had
diffused itself throughout the laws, institutions, and morals of the people,
permeating all ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion
instituted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity, flourished
everywhere, by the favor of princes and the legitimate protection of
magistrates; and Church and State were happily united in concord and friendly
interchange of good offices. The State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits
important beyond all expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will
be, in renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can never be
blotted out or ever obscured by any craft of any enemies. Christian Europe has
subdued barbarous nations, and changed them from a savage to a civilized
condition, from superstition to true worship. It victoriously rolled back the
tide of Mohammedan conquest...
Pope Leo XIII Immortale Dei
