Do morality and the Church have any role in politics? Should the Church be left out of political affairs? The power and influence in politics come out of the authority that politicians have.

Our Church tells us that “Authority must be guided by the moral law. All of its dignity derives from its being exercised within the context of the moral order which in turn has God for its first source and final end”.

This answers the question with which this article began. Yes, there is a role for morality and the Church in politics; in fact they should be the cornerstone on which the authority derived from politics is based. This we know goes contrary to the views of many who believe that politics or the state and religion or God should be separate.

 Rather some believe that societal circumstances and history alone should determine how authority is exercised. Our social doctrine tells us otherwise:  “because of its necessary reference to the moral order, which precedes it and is its basis, and because of its purpose and the people to whom it is directed, authority cannot be understood as a power determined by criteria of a solely sociological or historical character.”

The doctrine of the Church also emphasises that not only is it necessary for authority to be based on morality which has no existence except in God, but it is essential for everybody to abide by the same authority. If this does not happen there will be chaos, as there is likely to be much more disagreement on critical issues to ensure that the common good is obtained for all.

We are told:” There are some indeed who go so far as to deny the existence of a moral order which is transcendent, absolute, universal and equally binding upon all. And where the same law of justice is not adhered to by all, men cannot hope to come to open and full agreement on vital issues”. This order “has no existence except in God; cut off from God it must necessarily disintegrate”.

A very clear message is being sent here. If God is not at the centre of the society’s decision- making there will be social disintegration. Well, we are seeing it before our eyes worldwide. 

The Church therefore cannot turn a blind eye to things happening in the political arena both globally and locally because of detractors who think that Church should have no voice in this arena.

Issues for instance on government policies to promote and preserve human life, labour laws and on the preservation of the environment – the Church must have a clear voice which is informed by God’s teachings.

“It is from the moral order that authority derives its power to impose obligations and its moral legitimacy, not from some arbitrary will or from the thirst for power, and it is to translate this order into concrete actions to achieve the common good”.

“Authority must recognise, respect and promote essential human and moral values. These are innate and ‘flow from the very truth of the human being and express and safeguard the dignity of the person; values which no individual, no majority and no State can ever create, modify or destroy’.

These values do not have their foundation in provisional and changeable ‘majority’ opinions, but must simply be recognised, respected and promoted as elements of an objective moral law, the natural law written in the human heart (cf Rom 2:15), and as the normative point of reference for civil law itself.”

The Church warns us seriously that if we become lukewarm in our efforts to keep morals based on God away from those who are thrust with the responsibility of having authority, we would lose our foundation and we will no longer be seeking to ensure that every human person fulfills his/her purpose in life.

“If, as a result of the tragic clouding of the collective conscience, scepticism were to succeed in casting doubt on the basic principles of the moral law, the legal structure of the State itself would be shaken to its very foundations, being reduced to nothing more than a mechanism for the pragmatic regulation of different and opposing interests.”

“Authority must enact just laws, that is, laws that correspond to the dignity of the human person and to what is required by right reason. ‘Human law is law insofar as it corresponds to right reason and therefore is derived from the eternal law. When, however, a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; in such a case it ceases to be law and becomes instead an act of violence.’

Authority that governs according to reason places citizens in a relationship not so much of subjection to another person as of obedience to the moral order and, therefore, to God himself who is its ultimate source. Whoever refuses to obey an authority that is acting in accordance with the moral order ‘resists what God has appointed’ (Rom13:2).

Analogously, whenever public authority — which has its foundation in human nature and belongs to the order pre-ordained by God — fails to seek the common good, it abandons its proper purpose and so delegitimises itself.”

Next week we look at the right to conscientious objection.

Persons interested in purchasing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church may contact the Justice Desk, Archbishop’s House at 622-6680. Also on sale at the Justice Desk is Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching.