Review article
https://doi.org/10.53745/ccp.48.93.4
The Relationship Between the Church, State and Politics According to Documents of the Papal International Theological Commission
Marija Pehar
; Catholic Faculty of Theology University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper explores the documents of the Papal International Theological Commission, a renowned theological body established after the Second Vatican Council with the intention of fostering a more fruitful collaboration between theology and the church hierarchy. For the purposes of this paper, these documents, totaling 30 and issued between 1969 and 2020, are analyzed in terms of their contribution to the complex relationship between the Church, state and politics. By meticulously examining all the Commission's documents, the paper scrutinizes current theological viewpoints, arguments, and incentives related to the relationship between the Church and politics, seeking an answer to whether church theology merely provides apologetic arguments for existing positions of the church hierarchy regarding states and politics, or whether it in some way conceptualizes, directs, and co-shapes them. An attempt is made to define the concrete contribution of theology to the definition and realization of this complex relationship. These documents are analyzed in relation to the preceding conciliar documents, but also considering the context of the time in which they were produced, especially in relation to the contents of some teaching documents that emerge after them. The research confirms that post-conciliar theological thought, with its positive contribution primarily as a stimulus for ongoing dialogue with the world, greatly influenced and shaped the positive relationship between the Church and politics, or between the Church and state systems. At the same time, it provided strong and reasoned criticism of the world and all social systems that deviate from the fundamental principles of the natural dignity and freedom of every human person and the values of universal human solidarity. In this sense, it is shown how theology is not satisfied with any specific form of social organization, but its criticism is directed at every one, compelling it not to become complacent but to nurture a constant need for self-examination and development towards ever more perfect forms of freedom and the realization of the dignity of every human person and the improvement of society as a whole. Such attitudes demonstrate the importance of theology's prophetic ministry in the Church, supporting the heralding and teaching function of the hierarchy and serving it for the benefit of the world and humanity in every age.
Keywords
International Theological Commission; Church; Politics, State
Hrčak ID:
320531
URI
Publication date:
6.9.2024.
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