Joseph Cardinal Höffner CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ... - Ordo Socialis

2. Objection to the Doctrine of the Nation as Original Holder of Governmental Authority
Otto von Gierke reproached the Spanish theologians of the sixteenth century with having
worked as „the most zealous opponents of the Reformation...with all the weapons of the spirit
to put a purely worldly construction on the state and the right to rule.“ 15 They thereby took
from the state, Wilhelm Windelband adds, „its higher authority and, to a certain extent, its
metaphysical roots.“ 16 In reality, the Catholic doctrine of the state clearly distinguishes between
the natural and supernatural order and seeks at the same time to protect the freedom of
man from every pseudoreligious and mystical veil enshrouding the state and its authority.
Incidentally, the conception of the great Spanish theologians is essentially different from the
contract theory of the Enlightenment, since, according to the Christian understanding, governmental
authority does not rest on arbitrary human agreements, but is grounded in natural
law: „Thus, just as we say that the authority of the people as a state is anchored in God and
the natural law, so we must say exactly the same of royal authority,“ which is ultimately a
work of God and not a work of man (Francisco de Vitoria). 17
It was asserted a few decades ago, especially by Heinrich Schrörs, that the teaching of the
Spanish theologians concerning the origin of governmental power was condemned by Leo
XIII; Leo allegedly declared that the princes received their authority directly and not indirectly
from God. This objection is not justified. Leo XIII was objecting to Rousseau and did
not employ the terms ‘directly’ and ‘indirectly’ at all.
3. The Historical Conditionedness of the Form of Government
It follows from the foregoing considerations that the Christian doctrine of the state is not tied
to any given form of government. Of course, every form of government stands under the law
of the common good. Which form of government merits preference at a given time and under
given conditions is to a large extent historically conditioned. Democracy seems to correspond
best to the awareness of life and way of thinking of modern man, although a life worthy of
man is also possible under other forms of government, for example, a monarchy. It would,
however, be disastrous to distort the democratic principle as a utopian, pseudoreligious messianism,
instead of applying it in an objective, sober manner. In this question, the exhortation of
Leo XIII should be taken to heart as a matter of principle: „In matters purely political, as for
instance, the best form of government, and this or that system of administration, a difference
of opinion is lawful. People therefore cannot be accounted as bad men because they disagree
as to the subjects We have mentioned; and still graver wrong will be done them, if - as We
have more than once perceived with regret - they are accused of violating, or of wavering in,
the Catholic faith“ 18 .
Experience with the totalitarian ideologies of Fascism, National Socialism and Marxist Socialism
has increasingly led the Church to advocate constitutional democracy. This was already
manifest in various speeches by Pius XII during the Second World War and emerged
fully in the encyclical „Pacem in terris“ (1963) or the Pastoral Constitution of the Second
Vatican Council „Gaudium et spes“ (1964). Based on the principle that it is always the individual
who is to be regarded as the „source, the centre, and the purpose of all economic and
social life“ (63.1 ), more recent Church teachings on social ethics clearly opt for a political
system based on freedom and the rule of law 19 .
15
O. v. Gierke, Joh. Althusius und die Entwicklung der naturrechtlichen Staatstheorien, 3rd ed. (Breslau, 1913),
65.
16
Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie, l3th ed. (Tübingen, 1935), 359.
17
Op. cit., (Getino), II:187.
18
Encyclical Immortale Dei; Cf. also Gaudium et spes, 43, 75, 92
19
Cf. in particular „Pacem in terris“ 60-79; „Gaudium et spes“ 31.3; 73-75
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