National Sanctification

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 21, 1908

“National Sanctification”

At the opening of the new Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Brooklyn, on a recent Sunday, Mgr. P. F. O’Hare, of the Church of St. Anthony, Brooklyn, preached the sermon, which was reported in the Catholic Mirror. There are some utterances in this sermon which are worthy of attention, as setting forth in a somewhat authoritative manner the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church upon the proper relation between the church and the state.

After declaring that “the primary object of the church is undoubtedly to save each individual in the human family from the wrath to come,” but that when God unfolds the plan of divine redemption, “he deals not with individuals, but with the nations of the earth,” Mgr. O’Hare proceeds to define, from the Roman Catholic standpoint, the position which the church occupies in this divine plan, and says:—

It was ever the design of God to teach the nations of the earth, through the church, what the prophet emphasizes in my text,—the lesson, “I am the Lord,”—and the nations which submitted to the church, and the governments which did not dispute her greater sovereignty, became the powerful empires and kingdoms of the world. . . . Those docile nations received their strength and power and support from the church, whose protector in turn they were.

For a thousand years and more the church carried out most successfully and maintained the sovereignty of God as supreme above all earthly power. But in the sixteenth century, when a new calamity swept over Christendom, it was again the governments’ envy of God’s sovereignty; and by their aid and manipulation, that a fearful and blighting heresy was able to maintain itself, and a large portion of Christendom was led into apostasy. Up to that time the nations disputed God’s sovereignty as expressed in Catholic Christianity in practise only, for the principle was too firmly established. The governments that made war upon the church had to invent some excuse to hide their real motive, and ostensibly they alleged the principle against which they were fighting. Since that time, however, the very principle was openly spurned and denied. Rebellion against the church became a dogma of civil authority, and the aim of subjugating her to civil power was openly and shamelessly proclaimed. The new goddess of liberty, “the sovereignty of the people,” with an extinguished light in her hand, was proclaimed “the queen of the world;” and while the people were enticed by her coquettish ways to worship at her shrines, the rulers forged the chains for the victims which they were to lead away captives. The children of this new goddess have settled in every land under assumed names. It is the name of “liberalism” in one country and “social democracy” in another; the “rights of man” in one land and so-called “natural laws” in another; but always working for the same end; namely, the sovereignty of the people as against the sovereignty of God and his laws. . . .

Unfortunately most of the nations today are in open rebellion against God and his church, and as a consequence we behold on all sides the sad spectacle of the fountains of legislation corrupted, the judiciary debauched, and government made an instrument to register the fatal doctrine of the old Greek sophists, that “might makes right.” Needless to say that the immoral and destructive theories of twentieth-century outlaws,—theories that attack church and state, religion and social order,—must not prevail in America if she is to continue to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; nor shall they prevail if the Catholic body in this fair land unite in proclaiming on all sides, and manifesting in their daily life, the saving and energizing principle of God’s sovereignty and God’s rights over mankind. . . .

The modern catch-words, “separation of church and state,” and “no mixing of religion in politics,” have seduced us; and we have forgotten the lesson of history, that righteousness exalteth a nation, and that it is our mission to teach it. . . . Our duty as citizens, and love of country, make it incumbent upon us to participate in public affairs, to help carry out the administration of government, and while thus engaged, to teach the nation the lesson of national sanctification.

The positions here taken are in harmony with the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and indicate with the utmost plainness that the history of the Middle Ages would be the history of every nation, America not excepted, if the Roman Catholic Church were in the position to apply her doctrine of the relation of the church to civil governments. And with these facts constantly forced upon their attention, it is astonishing that professed Protestants who claim to believe in the separation of church and state should be willing to join hands with Roman Catholics to secure the enactment of such religious legislation as is a long step toward the adoption of the Roman Catholic program.

The views and expectations of Roman Catholics as to the place which their church is to occupy in the future history of America, may be learned from the following paragraph, taken from the same sermon:—

The Catholic Church has certainly gained a firm hold in this country. But how much does the nation know in her organized capacity of the hidden treasures which this “sanctuary of the Lord,” this great invisible Church of ours, contains for her? How far has the nation learned that the Catholic Church is indispensable to her future maintenance and greatness? Has the nation at large learned that the great problems which agitate her from time to time can find their solution in the Catholic Church? Has the jurisprudence in the United States ever felt the directing power of her in whose sanctuary the laws of antiquity were carefully preserved, and who permeated with her spirit the laws of the most civilized peoples of the world? Can we not find courage enough to undertake the task of impressing ourselves on this nation, and tell her what is clearly indicated in the words of my text [Eze. 37:28]; namely, the true source of authority, the sovereignty of Almighty God?

The Reformation of the sixteenth century was “a new calamity,” “a fearful and blighting heresy,” through which “a large portion of Christendom was led into apostasy;” but the principles then taught concerning both religion and civil government have been more fully adopted in America than in any other country. What, then, will become of “the sovereignty of the people,” and of the “rights of man,” and of the “separation of church and state,” if the Roman Catholic Church is successful in its effort to impress itself on this nation, and “to teach the nation the lesson of national sanctification,” or of the subserviency of the state to the behests of that church? The history of every priest-ridden country is the answer to this question.

We grant the right of Mgr. O’Hare to preach these doctrines, but we shall do all we can to prevent the people from accepting them.