V. The Authorities In Civil
Society
2234
God's fourth commandment also enjoins us to honor all who for our good have
received authority in society from God. It clarifies the duties of those who
exercise authority as well as those who benefit from it.
Duties of
civil authorities
2235
Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be
great among you must be your servant."41 The exercise of authority
is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and
its specific object. No one can command or establish what is contrary to the
dignity of persons and the natural law.
2236
The exercise of authority is meant to give outward expression to a just
hierarchy of values in order to facilitate the exercise of freedom and
responsibility by all. Those in authority should practice distributive justice
wisely, taking account of the needs and contribution of each, with a view to
harmony and peace. They should take care that the regulations and measures they
adopt are not a source of temptation by setting personal interest against that
of the community.42
2237
Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the
human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights of
everyone, especially of families and the disadvantaged.
The political rights attached to citizenship can and should be granted
according to the requirements of the common good. They cannot be suspended by
public authorities without legitimate and proportionate reasons. Political
rights are meant to be exercised for the common good of the nation and the
human community.
The duties
of citizens
2238
Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives
of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts:43 "Be subject for
the Lord's sake to every human institution.... Live as free men, yet without
using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of
God."44 Their loyal collaboration includes the right, and at times
the duty, to voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the
dignity of persons and to the good of the community.
2239
It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to
the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. the
love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong
to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of
the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the
political community.
2240
Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it
morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend
one's country:
Pay to all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to
whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is
due.45
[Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They
participate in all things as citizens and endure all things as foreigners....
They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws.... So
noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed
to desert it.46
The Apostle
exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise
authority, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and
respectful in every way."47
2241
The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to
welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood
which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to
it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection
of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they
are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to
various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties
toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with
gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives
them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.
2242
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. "Render therefore to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."48
"We must obey God rather than men":49
When citizens are under the
oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should
still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the
common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those
of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits
of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel.50
2243
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.
The
political community and the Church
2244
Every institution is inspired, at least implicitly, by a vision of man and his
destiny, from which it derives the point of reference for its judgment, its
hierarchy of values, its line of conduct. Most societies have formed their
institutions in the recognition of a certain preeminence of man over things.
Only the divinely revealed religion has clearly recognized man's origin and
destiny in God, the Creator and Redeemer. the Church invites political
authorities to measure their judgments and decisions against this inspired
truth about God and man:
Societies not recognizing this
vision or rejecting it in the name of their independence from God are brought
to seek their criteria and goal in themselves or to borrow them from some
ideology. Since they do not admit that one can defend an objective criterion of
good and evil, they arrogate to themselves an explicit or implicit totalitarian
power over man and his destiny, as history shows.51
2245
The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in
any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of
the transcendent character of the human person. "The Church respects and
encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen."52
2246
It is a part of the Church's mission "to pass moral judgments even in
matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the
salvation of souls requires it. the means, the only means, she may use are
those which are in accord with the Gospel and the welfare of all men according
to the diversity of times and circumstances."53
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