Revisiting the relations between state and church

Pope Francis, in his encyclical "Fratelli Tutti'' on Fraternity and Social Friendship (October 3, 2020), is teaching the Christian world about the borderlessness of love for and service to the people. Following his treatise based on the tenets of Saint Francis of Assisi, there should be no rivalry between the Church and the State in the service to the Filipino people.

Before the reign of Emperor Constantine, the Roman Empire persecuted the Church. Constantine issued the edict of Milan declaring that he won’t allow persecution based on religious beliefs. Following Constantine's conversion in 337 AD, all emperors following him, except Julian the Apostate, adopted Christianity. The medieval rulers adopted the principle of Divine Rights of Kings, meaning monarchs were anointed by God, and that only the Church, in God’s name, could interfere with the rights of the monarchs to rule. King Henry VIII of England wanted the Pope’s blessing to his divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. When the Pope refused, he broke off and founded the Church of England, the official religion of England.

In many other countries, especially in the Middle East, many nations being Islamic, there are official religions. In the Philippines, although 86% Catholic, our Constitution provides for the separation of Church and State and forbids the establishment of a state religion. There is freedom of religion here. And the proper policy in the relation between State and Church should be mutual respect, tolerance, and non-interference. That’s why in elections, the Church shouldn’t openly support certain political parties and candidates. The government also shouldn’t interfere in ecclesiastical matters. For instance, when there was trouble in the Manalo Family of the Iglesia ni Cristo, the government didn’t interfere. When there are labor disputes between a pastor and his sect, DOLE and NLRC will refuse to hear this. It should be settled by the sect itself.

In government, no public fund should be used to build a Catholic chapel or an Islamic prayer room. No public official should suspend work and compel government employees to attend a religious activity. No priest or nun should run for public office, although there were a number of exceptions. Fr. Andres Flores represented the sixth district while Fr. George Kintanar represented the fifth in the 1973 Constitutional Convention. Earlier in history, Bishop Gregorio Aglipay of the Philippine Independent Church ran for president against Manuel Quezon in 1935. President Cory Aquino in 1987, appointed Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, of Ateneo with Sister Christine Tan of St. Scholastica as commissioners who wrote the 1987 Constitution. PNoy appointed Fr. Armin Luistro as Education secretary. And President Duterte appointed to a post in Malacañang, a Catholic priest, who later ran for governor of Bohol, Fr. Leoncio Evasco Jr.

In the nineteenth century, Pope Leo XIII formulated the theory of separation of Church and State amidst the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution. In doing so, he also formulated the principles of social justice as the most humane and just alternative to capitalism of the right and socialism of the left. Social justice is the centrist approach promoted by the Church and embraced by many progressive states. The pope postulated that neither Church nor State can fold its hands while the workers are being oppressed in the factories. Neither could both Church and State stay idle while the working class burns factories, roads, and bridges in revolution against the capitalists. Thus, labor laws and social legislations are Church instruments to lay the foundations of social justice.

The State and the Church should hold hands together in promoting social justice. This the strongest platform that can lead to the cooperation between these institutions to promote justice, which is the foundation of peace, and without which there can be no progress among nations and happiness among people.