Pastor's Corner: 8-5-11 On State Interference and Archbishop Chaput

[Dawn Marie]

Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFMcap	On State Interference and Archbishop Chaput First Sunday of August 2011: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, recently appointed to Philadelphia, has warned Catholic social workers against the danger of Church institutions losing their religious identity amidst increasing hostility from the government and society.
At a June 21 address to the Catholic Social Workers National Convention in Denver, he said that civil society consists “not just of autonomous individuals” but communities as well. “Those communities also have rights. Catholic institutions are extensions of the Catholic community and Catholic belief,” he emphasized. “The state has no right to interfere with their legitimate work, even when it claims to act in the name of individuals unhappy with Catholic teaching.” These remarks were made against the backdrop of Catholic Charities in several dioceses across the United States shutting down adoption and foster care services after their local states enacted civil union laws. Catholic ministries “have the duty to faithfully embody Catholic beliefs on marriage, the family, social justice, sexuality, abortion and other important issues. And if the state refuses to allow those Catholic ministries to be faithful in their services through legal or financial bullying,” he added, “then as a matter of integrity, they should end their services. Catholic social ministry begins and ends with Jesus Christ. If it doesn’t, it isn’t Catholic.” He warned that “a new kind of America” is emerging in the 21st century, one that is likely to be “much less friendly to religious faith than anything in the nation’s past.” The reason for this, he said, is that “America’s religious soul—its Christian subtext—has been weakening for decades.” He said that in the years ahead, the nation's religious communities will encounter more attempts by civil authorities to interfere and will find less “unchallenged space” to carry out their work in the public square. “It’s already happening with Catholic hospitals and adoption agencies, and even in the hiring practices of organizations like Catholic Charities.” To these sober but true statements, we wish to make a couple of remarks:  The Archbishop is explaining the Catholic position on faith and morals and hoping that the Church at large holds the same front. Yet this is obviously not the case. Many individual bishops, priests, and religious are not taking a firm stand against abortion, contraception, homosexuality, etc… The United States of America is a country based on religious freedom which, in itself, is not going to promote the one true Faith which is the only sound foundation of the city and State. “There is no civilization worthy of the name except Catholic civilization”, said Pius XI, echoing St. Pius X’s letter on Le Sillon. Because the state is founded on religious liberty and not on religious truth, the Catholic Church will necessarily be “begging” for a seat at the table instead of “ruling” as Mistress and Mother over the State. This creates an awkward situation in which, as usual, beggars are not choosers. Although the Catholic Church enjoyed relative freedom and expanded in the midst of prosperity and success for a century or so, it is still legally hampered by the ruinous democratic mentality and pluralism of destructive forces, religious and civil. When both parents in a household are separated or divorced, the children play one against the other. This is exactly what takes place when you accept in principle the separation of Church and State, always condemned by 18 centuries of Catholic thinkers until the ill-famed French Revolution. Obviously, we have to deal with the problems at hand and with the weapons we are given in the awkward position of today. But this should not let us forget what Christ wanted his Church to be in society.

http://www.sspx.org/pastors_corner/pastors_corner_august_2011.htm