Imagination knows no bounds. We can imagine things that may never have been and may never be. If we strive to attain what we imagine, we may make progress but may also never attain our goal completely.
In 1516 Thomas More wrought a book, Utopia, about an imaginary island where everything was almost perfect. But “utopian” now means a vision of things so idealistic that it is almost a dream and unrealistic.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that aspiring to be or to make things better and better is not a good thing, but realistically perfection is never attainable.
A very popular notion in ecclesiology before and even during much of the last century was that of the perfect society.
The perfect society had basic institutions and structures to ensure the common good, protection of rights, and justice; it included legislative, administrative, and judicial institutions.
A popular teaching in the once Christian part of the world was that there are only two perfect societies, the State and the Church.
Why in the world was the Church identified as on a par with the State? Perhaps it had to do with the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire which left the Church as a quasi-governmental force and institution in central Italy, the Papal States
Perhaps it was the influence of books of the Bible that describe the history of the Jewish people as a nation of believers ruled and guided by God, often speaking through prophets and priests.
The Church’s role became entangled with government’s. The Church had its own laws, rules, and regulations; mechanisms for teaching and enforcement; and penalties.
Although early Christianity was tormented and rejected by the civil society, the Roman Empire, it gradually became the imperial state religion and the Church wielded great power in many countries.
Is there still room for such a role of the Church? Should the Church have a system of laws and punishments as the State does? Should the clergy in varying degrees be a ruling class
You know, it was only as recent as a little over 50 years ago, when Pope St. Paul VI, rejecting this, eliminated the papal coronation and the triple crown itself
It may seem strange and hard to imagine for us now-a-days, but the classic conclusion to a formal letter to a pope used to close with, “humbly prostrate and kissing the sacred purple…”
To what extent should the Church regulate the conditions for and validity of marriages? Clearly the Church may place preconditions before choosing to bless and recognize a marriage. But, the legal regulation of marriages in contemporary societies is seen as the role of the State
The State can and does set conditions for recognizing the existence of a marriage and for ceasing to recognize it. But the heart of any marriage is the mutual consent of the parties, no matter the recognition or not by Church or State.
Thanks be to God the days of Church trials and deadly punishments are long gone—think of Joan of Arc—but the tendency to judge and even publicly punish its members still lingers.
As we study history, hopefully we learn from the mistakes of the past—which, considering the state of the past world and of human knowledge and experience in bygone days, were understandable.
I’m glad I’m not as deaf, dumb, and blind as I once was. There may still be a chance for me after all!
4 July 2021