STATE
251
STATE
jrior proximate purpose. The State is a natural
nstitution, whose powers, therefore, come from the
latural law and are determined by the character of
he natural purpose of the State phis whatever limi-
ation God has, because of qualifications in the last
•nd of man, ordained in the Divine Positive Law.
rhc Church is a positive institution of Christ the
ion of God, whose powers, therefore, are derived
rom the Divine Positive Law and are determined
)y the nature of the purpose He has assigned to it,
>lus whatever further concession He has made to
acilitate the accomplishment of that purpose. In
iny consideration of the mutual relations of Church
ind State the above propositions are fundamental.
The goal of the State is the temporal happiness of nan, and its proximate purpose the preservation of xternal juridical order and the provision of a reason- ,ble abundance of means of human development in he interests of its citizens and their posterity. Man limself, however, as we have -said, has a further goal if perfect happiness to be reahzed only after death, .nd consequently a proximate purpose to earn in this ife his title to the same. In the pursuit of this latter lurpose, speaking in the abstract, he had a natural ight to constitute a social organization taking over he worship of God as a charge peculiarly its own. n the concrete, however, i. e. as a matter of fact, Jod by posit i\^e law has vacated this natural right ,nd established a universal society (the Church) for divine worship and the securing of perfect happiness n the hereafter. God, furthermore, has appointed or man a destiny which cannot be attained by mere latural means, and consequently God has conceded o man additional means commensurate with this [Itiraate purpose, putting these means at the disposal if man through the ministration of the Church, ■■inally. He has determined the form of external public worship to be rendered, centring it about a acrifice, the efficacy of which is from itself, being, s it is, a repetition of the Sacrifice of Calvary. The
- oal, then, of the Church is the perfect supernatural
lappiness of man; its proximate purpose, to safe- guard the internal moral order of right and WTong; ,nd its external manifestation, to care for Divine rorship and minister to man the supernatural means if grace. The State, then, exists to help man to emporal happiness, the Church, to eternal. Of hese two purposes the latter is more ultimate, man's jeater good, while the former is not necessary for he acquisition of the latter. The dominating proxi- nate purpose of man must be to earn his title to tcrnal salvation: for that, if needs be, he must ationally sacrifice his temporal happiness. It is lear, therefore, that the purpose of the Church is ligher in the order of Divine Providence and of ighteous human endeavour than that of the State. lence, in case of direct coUi.sion of the two, God's fill and man's need require that the guardian of the 3wer purpose should yield. Likewise the argument or the extension of the powers of the higher society n a measure into the domain of the lower will not lold for such extension from the lower into the ligher.
II. The Range op .Jurisdiction. — As there are nany distinct States of equal natural right the sub- ects of each are restricted in number, and its govern- nent of them is practically confined within the imits of its Qwn territory. Within this territory it las full power to govern them, defining their rights nd in some cases restricting the exercise of these ights, conferring purely civil rights and imposing ivil duties, holding its citizens to a proper condition if public morality, owning property and qualifying •rivate ownership of the same — all within the exigen- ies of the civic purpf>se of preserving external juridi- al order and promoting the prosperity of the citizens, lod over all bound by the enactment of the Divine
Law, both natural and positive. In a word, the
State controls its own subjects, in the pursuit of its
own natural end, in all tlungs where a higher right
does not estop it. A higher right will be a right
existent because of an ulterior or a more essential
destiny of man than the purpose which civil society
pursues for him. The Church has the right to preach
the Gospel everywhere, willing or nilling any state
authority, and so to secure the rights of its members
among the subjects of any civil polity W'hatever.
The Church has the right to govern her subjects,
wherever found, declaring for them moral right and
wTong, restricting any such use of their rights as might
jeopardize their eternal welfare, conferring purely ec-
clesiastical rights, acquiring and holding property her-
self, and empowering her subordinate associations to do
the same — all within the limits of the requirements of
her triple purpose, as laid down by the Divine Positive
Law, of preserving the internal order of faith and
morals and its external manifestation, of providing
adequate means of sanctification for her members,
and of caring for Divine worship, and over all bound
by the eternal principles of integritj' and justice
declared in the natural and positive Law of God.
In all purely temporal subject-matter, so long as it remains such, the jurisdiction of the State over its own subjects stands not only supreme, but, as far as the Church is concerned, alone. Purelj- temporal matter is that which has a necessary relation of help or hindrance to man's temporal happiness, the ulti- mate end of civil society or the State, in such wise that it is at the same time indifferent in itself as a help or hindrance to man's eternal happiness. It is of two kinds: primarily it includes all human acts so related, and secondarily persons or external things as far as they are involved in such acts. In all purely spiritual subject-matter, so long as it remains such, the jurisdiction of the Church over her ecclesias- tical subjects obtains to the complete exclusion of the State; nor is the Church therein juridically depen- dent in any way upon the State for the exercise of its legitimate powers. Purely spiritual subject-matter is primarily made up of human acts necessarily related as help or hindrance to man's eternal happiness, the last end of the Church, and at the same time indiff- erent in themselves as a help or hindrance to man's temporal happiness; secondarily it extends to all persons and external objects as involved in such acts. In all subject-matter not purely spiritual nor purely temporal, but at the same time both spiritual and temporal in character, both jurisdictions may enter, and so entering give occasion to collision, for which there must be a principle of solution. In case of direct contradiction, making it impossible for both jurisdictions to be exercised, the jurisdiction of the Church prevails, and that of the State is excluded. The reason of this is obvious: both authorities come from (5od in fulfillment of his purposes in the life of man: He cannot contradict Himself; He cannot au- thorize contradictory powers. His real will and con- cession of power is determined by the higher purpose of His Providence and man's need, which is the eternal happiness of man, the ultimate end of the Church. In view of this end God concedes to her the only authority that can exist in the case in point.
In a case where there is no direct contradiction, but a possibility of both jurisdictions being exercised without hurt to the higher, though neither jurisdic- tion is voided, and they both might, ab.«olutely speaking, be exercised without mutual consultation, practically there is a clear opening for some adjust- ment between the two. since both jurisdictions are interested in avoiding friction. Though concordats were not devised precisely for this purjxjse, they have in many cases been used for such adjustment (see Concordat). Consistently with the superiority of essential purpose indicated above, the judicial deci-
