Miniature of God creating animals and birds

IN his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas, in which he designated the last Sunday of October as the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI explained the doctrine of the Social Reign of Christ the King. God has rights not just over the individual conscience, but over society at large. The separation of religion and politics, particularly the one true religion and politics, is a world disaster:

17. It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat caelestia.

18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.” [Quas Primas, Dec. 11, 1925]

Most people today obviously do not accept this proposition. Secular democracy is considered the height of enlightenment. God is too spiritual to be involved in the temporal affairs of government. He is no universal and absolute Monarch, but a kind of supreme personal therapist. It is best for government to proclaim religious neutrality and pluralism so that all can be free to practice their beliefs in private.

There are many problems with this thinking, as the Holy Father explained. First and foremost, society itself is the creation of God.

Now God has endowed man with a nature such that he cannot live otherwise than in society. As a social being, then, man must have God as his final and supreme end. Unless we hold this we must hold that man finds the end of society in society itself, which would be to make of society an idol. Societies are not eternal. It is clear then that their ultimate end lies in this — that, in and through them, the intellect and will of their members should attain to God. [The Social Rights of Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ the King, adapted from the French of the Rev. A. Philippe, CSS.R. by the Rev. Denis Fahey, C.S.Sr.; 1932]

Societies as much as individuals have two choices: to recognize God or reject him. Societies are either atheist or religious. There is no such thing as a neutral government. Fr. Robert Mader wrote in his book Cross and Crown:

Religious neutrality is an impossibility.  No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be subject to the one and despise the other. That is God’s word and therefore an article of faith… There are no neutral governments, no neutral schools, no neutral press, no neutral clubs, no neutral families … This applies to the life of nations. Periods of neutrality are periods of transition, of groping indecision. They are time of twilight between day and night. After the time of neutrality comes the time of service of one master, in which either Christ or Satan will be king. After the liberal twilight comes either the Russian night of persecution or the new Sun-Day of the Kingdom of Christ.

Secular government is never truly secular. Secular democracy deifies the people, asserting that power and authority come from the people when in reality they come from God. The people can only select their leaders, not become the source of authority itself. No human being can rule unless God allows it and every human being is subject to his moral authority.

“Hear ye therefore, ye kings and understand; learn, ye that are judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that ruleth the people, and that please ourselves in multitudes of nations; for power is given to you by the Lord, and strength by the most High …” (Wisdom 6:2-4)

See further reflections on this great feast in defense of the supernatural order on earth by Dr. Thomas Droleskey. Every traditionalist should be a supernaturalist, someone who abhors the pretense in public life that there are no divine realities that are meaningful and no civil obligations to God. In the end all the serious social problems of our day are affected by the immense, overarching problem of institutionalized naturalism, which says that this world is all, and the systematic dethronement of Christ the King. “Wherever the breath of Naturalism has passed,” wrote the great Cardinal Pie of Poitiers, France, “the very source of Christian life has dried up. Naturalism means complete sterility in regard to salvation and eternal life.” In the face of almost universal naturalism, we must, at the risk of ridicule, indifference and scorn for our supposed backwardness, uphold Christ’s ancient and everlasting dominion over the entire social order. As Saint Pius X wrote:

“That the state must be separated from the Church is an absolutely false thesis, a very pernicious error … This thesis inflicts grave damage onto civil society itself; for it cannot prosper or last a long time when place is not given there to religion, which is for man a supreme rule and sovereign mistress for the protection of his rights and duties. [Vehementer Nos, 1906]

Do you think you will “win friends and influence people,” as Dale Carnegie liked to say, if you uphold this doctrine? No way! It is sheer heresy against our civil religion, which falsely holds that civil authority comes from the people, not God. So what! Go ahead and be backward. Influence yourself by openly proclaiming it, without the slightest illusion that secularism will be defeated in your lifetime. Save yourself from the social nihilism — that atomizing, dispiriting spirit — that surrounds us.

Secrets d’histoire naturelle Centre ouest de la France; 1480

[Images courtesy of It’s About Time blog.]

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