Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/133



CHRISTIAN CONSTITUTION OF STATES. 127

anything contrary to Catholic doctrine, and all of them are capable, if wisely and justly managed, to insure the welfare of the State. Neither is it blameworthy in itself, in any manner, for the people to have a share, greater or less, in the government: for at certain times, and under certain laws, such participation may not only be of benefit to the citizens, but may even be of obhgation. Nor is there any reason why any one should accuse the Church of being wanting in gentleness of action or largeness of view, or of being opposed to real and lawful liberty. The Church, indeed, deems it unlawful to place the various forms of divine worship on the same footing as the true religion, but does not, on that account, condemn those rulers who, for the sake of securing some great good or of hindering some great evil, allow patiently custom or usage to be a kind of sanction for each kind of religion having its place in the State. And in fact the Church is wont to take earnest heed that no one shall be forced to embrace the Catholic faith against his will, for, as St. Augustine udsely reminds us, "Man cannot believe other- wise than of his own free will."

In the same way the Church cannot approve of that | liberty which begets a contempt of the most sacred laws ^ of God, and casts off the obedience due to lawful authority, for this is not liberty so much as license, and is most correctly styled by St. Augustine the "hberty of self- ruin," and by the apostle St. Peter the cloak of malice} Indeed, since it is opposed to reason, it is a true slavery, for whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin} On the other hand, that liberty is truly genuine, and to be sought after which in re^jard to the individual does not allow men to be the slaves of error and of passion, the worst of all masters; which, too, in public administration guides the citizens in wisdom and provides for them increased means of well-being; and which, further, protects the State from foreign interference.

' 1 Peter ii. 16. ^ John viii. 34.