Ecclesia y polis

Abstract

76

The relationships Church and State are governed by the principle of freedom of the Church to carry out her mission to preach the Gospel and confront with it whatever doctrine or situation. It follows that what is called Christian dualism comes from the very essence of the Church, the People of God distinct from the terrestrial kingdoms. In the history of those relationships, circumstantial elements are constantly discovered. One of them is that, in every epoch, the juridical political figure of the Church is determined not only by the ecclesiology but also by the political configuration of the civil society. The Church presents herself to the world, in good measure, as the world presents itself to her. Another element constant is the 'ratio peccati', the title upon which the Church founds her right and duty to intervene in temporal matters. The manner, the extension, and consequences of such intervention vary in time, but the foundation is always the same, fro the 'Novit ille' (1204) until the c.1401. The political liberalism imposes a radical change in the relationschips Church and State thus requiring that they be guided by principles of rational natural order and not by revealed order. A laborious process has led to center them to the service of the person and to the rights which his dignity bears, principally the religious freedom. The change of perspective which has supposed the acceptance in the doctrine of the religious freedom has not yet been assimilated by all.

Keywords

Christian Dualism, Ratio peccati, Libertas Ecclesiae