On Civil Authority
Excerpt from the Encyclical of Pope John XXIII, Pacem In Terris
(Peace On Earth):
Highlights and underlines are mine, not in the original.
Human society can be neither well-ordered nor
prosperous without the presence of those who, invested with legal authority,
preserve its institutions and do all that is necessary to sponsor actively the
interests of all its members. And they derive their authority from God, for, as
St. Paul teaches, "there is no power but from God".
In his commentary on
this passage, St. John Chrysostom writes: "What are you saying? Is
every ruler appointed by God? No, that is not what I mean, he says, for I am
not now talking about individual rulers, but about authority as such. My
contention is that the existence of a ruling authority—the fact that some
should command and others obey, and that all things not come about as the
result of blind chance—this is a provision of divine wisdom."
God has created men
social by nature, and a society cannot "hold together unless someone is in
command to give effective direction and unity of purpose. Hence every civilized
community must have a ruling authority, and this authority, no less than
society itself, has its source in nature, and consequently has God for its
author."
But it must not
be imagined that authority knows no bounds. Since its starting point is the
permission to govern in accordance with right reason, there is no escaping the
conclusion that it derives its binding force from the moral order, which in
turn has God as its origin and end.
Hence, a regime
which governs solely or mainly by means of threats and intimidation or promises
of reward, provides men with no effective incentive to work for the common
good. And even if it did, it would certainly be offensive to the dignity of
free and rational human beings. Authority is before all else a moral force.
For this reason the appeal of rulers should be to the individual conscience, to
the duty which every man has of voluntarily contributing to the common good.
But since all men are equal in natural dignity, no man has the capacity to
force internal compliance on another. Only God can do that, for He alone
scrutinizes and judges the secret counsels of the heart.
Hence, representatives of the State have no
power to bind men in conscience, unless their own authority is tied to God's
authority, and is a participation in it.
The application of
this principle likewise safeguards the dignity of citizens. Their obedience
to civil authorities is never an obedience paid to them as men. It is in
reality an act of homage paid to God, the provident Creator of the universe,
who has decreed that men's dealings with one another be regulated in accordance
with that order which He Himself has established. And we men do not demean
ourselves in showing due reverence to God. On the contrary, we are lifted up
and ennobled in spirit, for to serve God is to reign.
Governmental
authority, therefore, is a postulate of the moral order and derives from God.
Consequently, laws and decrees passed in contravention of the moral order, and
hence of the divine will, can have no binding force in conscience, since
"it is right to obey God rather than men ".
Indeed,
the passing of such laws undermines the very nature of authority and results in
shameful abuse. As St. Thomas teaches, "In regard to the second
proposition, we maintain that human law has the rationale of law in so far as
it is in accordance with right reason, and as such it obviously derives from
eternal law. A law which is at variance with reason is to that extent unjust
and has no longer the rationale of law. It is rather an act of
violence."
