Exploring Catholic Social Teaching

High School Chapter: Different Types of Justice
181
change of regime may occur. “Armed resistance to oppression by political
authority is not legitimate, unless all the following conditions are met: 1)
there is certain, grave, and prolonged violation of fundamental rights; 2)
all other means of redress have been exhausted; 3) such resistance will
not provoke worse disorders; 4) there is well-founded hope of success;
and 5) it is impossible reasonably to foresee any better solution” ( CCC
2243). Another alternative, anarchy, never brings effective change and is always
contrary to justice, since it completely disregards the rule of law.
One last consideration of legal justice is that we are never obligated
to obey a civil law that violates God’s moral law. In fact, we are directly
commanded not to follow it! “The citizen is obliged in conscience not to
follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the
demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or
the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities,
when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience,
finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving
the political community” ( CCC 2242). This is what Jesus meant, in
part, when he taught that we ought to “repay to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar and to God what belongs to God” ( Matt. 22:21). Civil and divine
Vocabulary
Anarchy (n.): A state of
lawlessness. In political
terms, it is a nation or
polity lacking any authority
and governance.
Moral Law (n.): A rule
of conduct established
by competent authority
for the common good.
In biblical terms, the
moral law is the fatherly
instruction of God, setting
forth the ways that lead to
happiness and proscribing
those that lead to evil.
St. Peter Preaching in Jerusalem by Charles Poerson (1642).
St. Peter declared to the
early Church “we must
obey God rather than
men” (Acts 5:29).
© Sophia Institute for Teachers
© Sophia Institute for Teachers
High School Chapter: Different Types of Justice
151