A Catechism of Catholic Social Teaching by Amintore Fanfani

Chapter 5: The Nature, Ends, and Powers of the State

59) Does the State have an educational mission?

The State must favor and integrate the educational mission of family and Church and fulfill its own mission promoting the civic, cultural, physical, administrative, and military education necessary to all or to certain categories of citizens so that the common good may be attained.

Pope Pius XI: "The true and just rights of the State in regard to the education of its citizens...have been conferred upon civil society by the Author of nature Himself, not by the title of fatherhood, as in the case of the Church and of the family, but in virtue of the authority which it possesses to promote the common temporal welfare, which is precisely the purpose of its existence. Consequently education cannot pertain to civil society in the same way in which it pertains to the Church and to the family, but in a different way corresponding to its own particular end....The function therefore of the civil authority residing in the State is twofold, to protect and to foster, but by no means to absorb, the family and the individual, or to substitute itself for them. Accordingly in the matter of education, it is the right, or, to speak more correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect in its legislation, the prior rights of the family...and consequently also to respect the supernatural rights of the Church....It also belongs to the State to protect the rights of the child itself....In general, then, it is the right and duty of the State to protect, according to the rules of right reason and faith, the moral and religious education of youth, by removing public impediments that stand in the way. In the first place it pertains to the State, in view of the common good, to promote in various ways the education and instruction of youth. It should begin by encouraging and assisting, of its own accord, the initiative and activity of the Church and the family....It should, moreover, supplement their work whenever this falls short of what is necessary, even by means of its own schools and institutions....Over and above this, the State can exact and take measures to secure that all its citizens have the necessary knowledge of their civic and political duties, and a certain degree of physical, intellectual, and moral culture, which, considering the conditions of our times, is really necessary for the common good. However, it is clear that in all these ways of promoting education and instruction, both public and private, the State should respect the inherent rights of the Church and of the family....This does not prevent the State from reserving to itself the establishment and direction of schools intended to prepare for certain civic duties and especially for military service....In general also it belongs to civil society and the State to provide what may be called civic education, not only for its youth, but for all ages and classes. This consists in the practice of presenting publicly to groups of individuals information having an intellectual, imaginative, and emotional appeal calculated to draw their wills to what is upright and honest, and to urge its practice by a sort of moral compulsion, positively by disseminating such knowledge, and negatively by suppressing what is opposed to it. This civic education, so wide and varied in itself as to include almost every activity of the State intended for the public good, ought also to be regulated by the norms of rectitude, and therefore cannot conflict with the doctrines of the Church, which is the divinely appointed teacher of these norms." (Divini Illius Magistri)

60) Does the State have religious duties of its own?

The State, with its own means, has the obligation to honor God in the manner which He Himself has requested through Revelation, to respect the laws and to see that they be respected, to favor the Church in the fulfillment of its mission, and to help the citizens in the pursuit of their ultimate end.

Pope Leo XIII: "Nature and reason, commanding every individual devoutly to worship God in holiness...bind also the civil community by a like law. For men living together in society, no less than individuals, are under the power of God; and society, no less than individuals, owes gratitude to God....No one, then, is allowed to be remiss in the service due to God, while the chief duty of all men is to cling to religion in both its teaching and practice–not such religion as each may prefer, but the religion which God enjoins and which certain and most clear marks show to be the one and only true religion....So, too, is it a sin in the State not to have any care for religion, as if this were something beyond its scope, or of no practical benefit; or else out of many forms of religion to adopt that one which chimes in with its fancy. For we are bound absolutely to worship God in that way which He has shown to be His will. All who rule, therefore, should hold in honour the holy Name of God. One of their chief duties must be to favour religion, to protect it, to shield it under the credit and sanction of the  laws, and neither to organize nor enact any measures that may compromise its safety. This is the bounden duty of rulers to the people over whom they rule: for one and all we are destined, by our birth and adoption, to enjoy after this frail and fleeting life the supreme and final good in heaven....In as far, then, as on this depends the full and perfect happiness of mankind, the securing of this end should be of all imaginable interests the most urgent. Hence civil society, established for the common welfare, should not only safeguard the well-being of the community, but should have at heart also the interests of its individual members, and that in such a manner as not to hinder, but in every way to render as easy as possible the possession of that highest and unchangeable good for which all should strive. For this purpose, care must especially be taken to preserve unharmed and unimpeded the practice of religion which is the bond connecting man with God." (Immortale Dei, §3)

Pope Pius XI:  "The believer has an inalienable right to profess his faith and put it into practice in the manner suited to him. Laws that suppress or make this profession and practice difficult contradict the natural law." (Mit Brennender Sorge)

Pope Pius XI: "All diligence should be exercised by States to prevent within their territories the ravages of an anti-God campaign which shakes society to its very foundations. For there can be no authority on earth unless the authority of the Divine Majesty be recognized; no oath will bind which is not sworn in the name of the Living God." (Divini Redemptoris, §80)

Pope Leo XIII: "To hold, therefore, that there is no difference in matters of religion between forms that are unlike each other, and even contrary to each other, most clearly leads in the end to the rejection of all religion in both theory and practice. And this is the same thing as atheism, however it may differ from it in name. Men who really believe in the existence of God must, in order to be consistent with themselves and to avoid absurd conclusions, understand that differing modes of divine worship, involving dissimilarity and conflict even on most important points, cannot all be equally probable, equally good, and equally acceptable to God." (Immortale Dei, §14)

Pope Leo XIII: "It is not lawful for the State, any more than for the individual, either to disregard all religious duties, or to hold in equal favour different kinds of religion." (Immortale Dei, §17)

Pope Leo XIII: "The Church, indeed, deems it unlawful to place various forms of divine worship on the same footing as the true religion, but does not, on that account, condemn those rulers who for the sake of securing some great good, or of hindering some great evil, tolerate in practice that these various forms of religion have a place in the State." (Ibid.)
 

61) Is the State the protector of liberty?

For the triumph of truth and the respect of the human person, the State must protect full liberty in all opinionable matters; but it cannot permit without neglecting its own duties abuses contrary to truth, justice, and the common good, unless such toleration is productive of greater good.

Pope Leo XIII: "It is hardly necessary to say that there can be no such right as this [liberty of speech and liberty of the press] if it be not used in moderation, and if it pass beyond the bounds and ends of all liberty....In regard, however, to any matters of opinion which God leaves to man's free discussion, full liberty of thought and of speech is naturally within the right of everyone; for such liberty never leads men to suppress the truth, but often to discover it and make it known." (Libertas, §18)

Pope Leo XIII: "Liberty is a power perfecting man, and hence should have truth and goodness for its object....Whatever, therefore, is opposed to virtue and truth, may not rightly be brought temptingly before the eye of man, much less sanctioned by the favour and protection of the law...and on this account the State is acting against the laws and dictates of nature whenever it permits the licence of opinion and of action to lead minds astray from truth, and souls away from the practice of virtue." (Libertas, §15)

Pope Leo XIII: "Therefore, the true liberty of human society does not consist in every man doing what he pleases, for this would simply end in turmoil and confusion, and bring on the overthrow of the State; but rather in this, that through the injunctions of the civil law all may more easily conform to the prescriptions of the eternal law." (Libertas, §7)

Pope Leo XIII: "The Church...while not conceding any right to anything save what is true and honest, does not forbid public authority to tolerate what is at variance with truth and justice, for the sake of avoiding some greater evil, or of obtaining or preserving some greater good....But if, in such circumstances, for the sake of the common good (and this is the only legitimate reason), human law may or even should tolerate evil, it may not and should not approve or desire evil for its own sake." (Libertas, §23)

62) Must the State take care of the citizens' economic welfare?

The State must participate in the creation of those conditions without which it is not possible for the members of the community to attain their own welfare. This it must do respecting and exacting respect for the natural rights of the person, and integrating the insufficiencies of the individuals and of minor societies.

Pope Pius XI:  "It must likewise be the special care of the State to create those material conditions of life without which an orderly society cannot exist." (Divini Redemptoris, §81)

Pope Leo XIII: "The first duty, therefore, of the rulers of the State should be to make sure that the laws and institutions, the general character and administration of the commonwealth, shall be such as to produce of themselves public well-being and private prosperity....Whenever the general interest of any particular class suffers, or is threatened with evils which can in no other way be met, the public authority must step in to meet them." (Rerum Novarum, §§26, 28)

Pope Pius XI:  "If, however, for this purpose, private resources do not suffice, it is the duty of the public authority to supply for the insufficient forces of individual effort." (Casti Connubii, §126)

Pope Pius XI:  "Just as it is wrong to take away from individuals what by their own ability and effort they can accomplish and commit it to the community, so it is an injury and at the same time both a serious evil and a perturbation of right order to assign to a larger and higher society what can be performed successfully by smaller and lower communities....The State, then, should leave to these smaller groups the settlement of business and problems of minor importance, which should otherwise greatly distract it. Thus it will carry out with greater freedom, power, and success the tasks belonging to it alone, because it alone is qualified to perform them: directing, watching, stimulating, and restraining, as circumstances suggest or necessity demands." (Quadragesimo Anno, §§79, 80)

63) By what means can the State procure public prosperity?

By promoting good morals and order, the family, religion and justice, and a moderate and just distribution of obligations, and by favoring the development of economic activities, the State can foster public prosperity.

Pope Leo XIII: "Now, a State chiefly prospers and flourishes by morality, by well-regulated family life, by respect for religion and justice, by the moderation and equal distribution of public burdens, by the progress of the arts and of trade, by the abundant yield of the land–by every thing, in brief, whose cultivation makes the citizens better and happier. Here, then, it is in the power of a ruler to benefit every order of the State, and amongst the rest to promote in the highest degree the interests of the poor. This he will do by virtue of his office, and without being exposed to any suspicion of undue interference; for it is the province of the commonwealth to consult the common good. And the more that is done for the working population by the general laws of the country, the less need will there be to seek for particular means to relieve them." (Rerum Novarum, §26)