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THE FOUNDATION OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY
- 393.
- “The Church has always considered different ways of understanding authority, taking care to defend and propose a model of authority that is founded on the social nature of the person.”
- “Political authority is therefore necessary because of the responsibilities assigned to it. Political authority is and must be a positive and irreplaceable component of civil life.”
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1898.
- Saint Thomas Aquinas, De Regno. Ad Regem Cypri, I, 1: Ed. Leon. 42, 450: “Si igitur naturale est homini quod in societate multorum uiuat, necesse est in omnibus esse aliquid per quod multitudo regatur. Multis enim existentibus hominibus et unoquoque id quod est sibi congruum prouidente, multitudo in diuersa dispergetur nisi etiam esset aliquid de eo quod ad bonum multitudinis pertinet curam habens, sicut et corpus hominis et cuiuslibet animalis deflueret nisi esset aliqua uis regitiua communis in corpore, quae ad bonum commune omnium membrorum intenderet. Quod considerans Salomon dixit: ‘Ubi non est gubernator, dissipabitur populus'”.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1897.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 279.
- 394.
- “Political authority must guarantee an ordered and upright community life without usurping the free activity of individuals and groups but disciplining and orienting this freedom, by respecting and defending the independence of the individual and social subjects, for the attainment of the common good.”
- 395.
- “The subject of political authority is the people considered in its entirety as those who have sovereignty.”
AUTHORITY AS MORAL FORCE
- 396.
- “Authority must be guided by the moral law. All of its dignity derives from its being exercised within the context of the moral order, ‘which in turn has God for its first source and final end.’”
- Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 270.
- Pius XII, Christmas Radio Message of 24 December 1944: AAS 37 (1945), 15.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2235.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 449-450.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 450.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 269-270.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1902.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 258-259.
- Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 432-433.
- 397.
- “Authority must recognize, respect and promote essential human and moral values.”
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 71: AAS 87 (1995), 483.
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 70: AAS 87 (1995), 481- 483.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 258-259, 279-280.
- Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 423.
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 70: AAS 87 (1995), 481- 483.
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 97, 99: AAS 85 (1993), 1209- 1211.
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life (24 November 2002), 5-6, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2002, pp. 11-14.
- 398.
- “Authority must enact just laws, that is, laws that correspond to the dignity of the human person and to what is required by right reason.”
- Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 93, a. 3, ad 2um: Ed. Leon. 7, 164: “Lex humana intantum habet rationem legis, inquantum est secundum rationem rectam: et secundum hoc manifestum est quod a lege aeterna derivatur. Inquantum vero a ratione recedit, sic dicitur lex iniqua: et sic non habet rationem legis, sed magis violentiae cuiusdam”.
- John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 270.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1899-1900.
- Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1901.
THE RIGHT TO CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION
- 399.
- “Citizens are not obligated in conscience to follow the prescriptions of civil authorities if their precepts are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or to the teachings of the Gospel.”
- “It is a grave duty of conscience not to cooperate, not even formally, in practices which, although permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to the Law of God.”
THE RIGHT TO RESIST
- 400.
- “Recognizing that natural law is the basis for and places limits on positive law means admitting that it is legitimate to resist authority should it violate in a serious or repeated manner the essential principles of natural law.”
- 401.
- “The Church’s social doctrine indicates the criteria for exercising the right to resistance.”
INFLICTING PUNISHMENT
- 402.
- “In order to protect the common good, the lawful public authority must exercise the right and the duty to inflict punishments according to the seriousness of the crimes committed.”
- 403.
- “Punishment does not serve merely the purpose of defending the public order and guaranteeing the safety of persons; it becomes as well an instrument for the correction of the offender, a correction that also takes on the moral value of expiation when the guilty party voluntarily accepts his punishment.”
- “In this regard, the activity that prison chaplains are called to undertake is important, not only in the specifically religious dimension of this activity but also in defence of the dignity of those detained.”
- 404.
- “The activity of offices charged with establishing criminal responsibility, which is always personal in character, must strive to be a meticulous search for truth and must be conducted in full respect for the dignity and rights of the human person.”
- “Officials of the court are especially called to exercise due discretion in their investigations.”
- 405.
- “The Church sees as a sign of hope ‘a growing public opposition to the death penalty.’”
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 27: AAS 87 (1995), 432.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267.
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 56: AAS 87 (1995), 464.
- John Paul II, Message for the 2001 World Day of Peace, 19: AAS 93 (2001), 244, where recourse to the death penalty is described as “unnecessary”.
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