£ordinal Says Church Supports
Democracy, Religious Liberty
By Franziskus Cardinal Koenig
(Cardinal Koenig, author of this
itticle on the Church and democ
racy. « Archbishop of Vienna and
m ’0f the leading figures in the
Second Vatican Council. He visited
he United States earlier this
tear.)
Throughout her history the Cath
ilic Church has lived in and been
ibliged, to a certain extent, to
Krflaborate with remarkably di
rerse societies.
She has existed in feudal states
ind city-republics, under absolute
nonarchies and dictatorships. And
Heritably, because the Church is
i church of men, she has adapted
lerself to and to an extent accept
d these various social structures.
But even in times of persecution,
ihen cooperation with the state
m impossible, the Church did not
;ive way to opportunism and mod
fy either her fundamental struc
ure or her message of salvation,
(or has she ever given her ap
iioval to injustice, but at most has
uffered and endured.
In the modern world the Church
ipenly and honestly supports de
nocracy in many nations. This is
iot opportunism nor is it a mere
ompromise with those who are
iresently in power. Rather, it is
he way in which the Church ful
ills her mission by using the
neans of the timees.
DEMOCRACY is not the only
wssible way of life. It is not the
inly possible form of society in
fhich the Church can live and car
y on her mission. But is it the
test form of society for the mod
im world.
Today it is considered fashion
ible, even by many Catholics, to
Titicize the Church of the past
or excessive attachment to her en
lironment. The Church is held re
iponsible for everything bad in a
articular historical era—as “good
less” and “badness” are deter
nined with the advantage of hind
iight.
But is not this form of intellec
ual arrogance? The suffering,
truggling Church in her earthly
orm has always been a Church of
luman beings, whose view is ob
icured, whose wills are led astray,
those thought is closely tied up
nth this world.
In her human aspect, the Church
s a rather conservative institution
-that is, she seeks to preserve
srtain forms to which she has be
»me accustomed. This is undeni
ibly paradoxical, for the message
intrusted to the Church is after
ill the most revolutionary imagin'
We. Indeed, in such conservatism
here is a certain lack of confi
lence in the assistance promised
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SUCH TENDENCIES have often
during the centuries involved the
Church in struggles which were not
hers to defend social forms to
which she had grown accustomed.
This struggle has taken place not
only externally — between the
Church and outside adversaries—
but internally as well. Those -who
point to new ways of life have al
ways encountered difficulties; only
once in centuries does the Church
have a pope like John XXIII, who
with his own hands opens the door
to the future—and even John
XXIII was not understood by every
one, including some within the
Church.
This tendency toward conserva
tism was apparent in the 19th cen
tury in the Church’s attitude to
ward democracy. In many cases
the Church could see in the self
proclaimed democrat only an en
emy, a burner of monasteries—and
indeed many of the democrats of
that period left no doubt that was
the way they wanted to be looked
upon.
But the need to defend herself
against that kind of democracy ac
tually caused the Church to make
use of the forms of democracy her
self. In fighting secular liberalism
and atheistic Marxism, the Church
inspired the organization of dem
ocratic mass political parties.
Thirteen Named
To Dean's List
At Belmont Abbey
Thirteen Catholic students from
North Carolina have been named
to the Dean’s List for the second
semester at Belmont Abbey Col
lege, Belmont, N.C.
William R. Bernish, Jr. of Char
lotte ranked eighth and Thomas
P. Schlunz of Brevard ranked fif
teenth in the senior class.
Joe Fitzsimmons of Charlotte
ranked fifth in the junior class.
Joseph Alan Willis of Winston
Salem ranked fourth, James Roy
King of Greensboro ranked sixth,
and John R. George of Charlotte
ranked fifteenth in the sophomore
class.
In the freshman class of 190
students, Terrell C. Estes of Win
ston-Salem ranked first, David C.
Van Zile of Belmont ranked sec
ond, John L. Blaney of Mt. Plea
sant ranked fifth, Paul A. Bernish
of Charlotte ranked fifth, Paul E.
Bruchon, Jr. of Gastonia ranked
seventh, Frederick T. Field, Jr. of
Raleigh ranked tenth, and Robert
D. McDonnell of Belmont ranked
twelfth.
SACRAMENTAL WINES
(Pure California)
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It is easy enough today to say
that the Church thereby made a
mistake. But at the time, what
else could the Church, considered
in her human aspect and influenced
by the ideologies of the era, have
done?
TODAY the Church is without
government, party, or social priv
ilege, She has only her faithful.
And this is certainly as it should
be.
The Church in a certain sense
has always been at bottom dem
ocratic, because she has recog
nized the absolute and essential
equality of all men arising from
their status as children of God
with immortal souls. If in the past
the Church gave more attention to
the soul of a king than to the soul
of a laborer, it was not because
she considered the king’s soul more
valuable but because she hoped
to reach the soul of the common
man through his ruler.
In our times the Church has
frequently beeen accused of ac
cepting and supporting democracy,
tolerance and religious freedom
only in places where Catholics are
a minority; wherever the Church
enjoys majority status, it is said,
shp spplrs ahsnlntp nnwpr.
This is a serious accusation, and
there is certainly some historical
evidence which would seem to sup
port it. Catholics may not respond
to it merely with counter-charges.
It involves a serious theological
question, and as such it will have
a large place in the coming ses
sion of the ecumenical council.
LOOKING AHEAD, one may
predict that the Church will con
clude that, without abandoning
her claim to possess the truth and
to have a mission to spread it, she
can accept for all others the reli
gious liberty which she demands
for herself. In all times and places
she can respect the religious, and
even nonreligious, convictions of
every individual. This is not a sur
render to relativism; behind it,
rather, lies the conviction that
truth is stronger than secular
power.
Christian political action does
not mean waiting for the orders
of the bishop or campaigning un
der the banner of the Church;
rather, it means bringing to pol
itics a sense of Christian respon
sibility.
It is the Church’s job to encour
age and strengthen this sense of
responsibility—but not to suggest
specific political solutions. Even
Christian responsibility may result
in different solutions to the same
problem. A policy is not good be
cause it calls itself Christian, but
it may speak of its Christian re
sponsibility if it is good. And how
is one to determine this “good?”
The answer of Scripture is still
best: “By their fruits you will
know them” (Matthew, 7, 16).
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