The Popes and Democracy - Part III. On the Effects of Modern Ideas 30. Cutting off the State from the Church

 "It is a proven truth, a historical fact, that there is no true civilisation without a moral civilisation, and no true moral civilisation without the true Church." (St. Pius X) "The moral order does not hold except in God. Cut off from God it disintegrates." (John XXIII "Mater et Magistra") It follows that a State without religion inevitably becomes immoral sooner or later. The process of deterioration may sometimes be slow, depending on the strength of the Christian faith which remains in the people, but it is bound to end in total immorality (morality, here, being understood in its broad sense, encompassing all Christian virtues including Faith, and not only pertaining to sexual morals). Since total immorality implies Atheism, a State separated from the Church evolves infallibly towards Atheism. In other words, such a State eventually becomes Communist, the Communist creed being Atheism brought to perfection and completion. Let no-one think that this is a far-fetched chain of reasoning; it is an inevitable development which has been noted by many thinkers. Human laws made by a State cut off from the moral law have no firm basis. They no longer reflect the will of God, but the whims of man. Divorce laws are a case in point. The very existence of a secular education system is another; indeed, not only should private schools, which are still tolerated by the modern State be subsidized, but State schools, in fact, should not exist at all. Is this an extreme view? It may seem so in the context of modern thinking, but, then, modern thinking is strongly influenced by the power of darkness. Teaching is the imparting of knowledge, and knowledge ultimately comes from God. There is no true knowledge without God. What then are we to think of godless schools? Let us not lose sight of the important fact that secular education is of comparatively recent date. Before society had rejected God all schools were run by the Church, and so were hospitals and tribunals, (the terms 'Sister' and 'Your Worship' have no other origin). It is, indeed, the natural vocation of the servants of God to educate, render justice, and care for the sick. Far from being merely a personal opinion, this is the teaching of Christ as expressed by His Vicar on earth: "All education belongs pre-eminently to the Church... it is the inalienable right as well as the indispensable duty of the Church to watch over the entire education of her children, in all institutions, public or private, not merely in regard to the religious instruction there given, but in regard to every other branch of learning." (Pius XI "Rappresentanti in Terra")