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Roman Catholic Religion and its dual authorities
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The Roman Catholic Church is the largest organized body of
any world religion and the largest Christian Church. According
to statistics it comprises around one in six of the world’s
population. The Pope is the spiritual leader of the Church
and is considered by Catholics to have “supreme, full,
immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, and
he can always freely exercise this power”.(3,p.134)
Such absolute authority of the Pope over the life of all faithful
is determined by the dogma of papal infallibility, that is
the Pope is preserved from even a probability of an error.
The Pope’s power, hence the power of the Catholic Church,
spreads not only on religious life of people but on their
secular life as well. Today the Pope exercises also the supreme
legislative, executive and judicial power over the State of
Vatican City and the Holy See, the governing body of the Roman
Catholic Church. Such present position of the Pope became
possible due to the long history of the popedom, during which
the Roman Catholic Church acquired dual authority. It began
in the fifth century that bishops started more and more directing
civil affaires in cities of the Roman Empire. The Pope himself
gradually began to play more significant role in political
sphere. In 754 the Frankish leader Pippin the Younger gave
the Pope a parcel of land which formed the main part of the
Papal States. Since 800 the Pope got the prerogative to crown
the Emperor or any monarch. From this point onwards the Pope
was not only the spiritual head of the Church and the territorial
ruler but also a political leader. Such Popes of the Renaissance
as Pope Alexander VI and Pope Julius II were especially active
politicians. In order to highlight immense political influence
of the Roman Catholic Church it’s necessary to cite
several examples of the Pope’s decisions. Throughout
several centuries the Pope was the author of bulls which had
great aftermath. Thus due to such bulls in 1155 Henry II of
England was authorized to invade Ireland, in 1494 the Treaty
of Tordesillas which divided the world into regions of Portuguese
and Spanish rule was signed, in 1570 Elizabeth I of England
was excommunicated and at last in 1582 the Gregorian calendar
was established.
Today the brightest example of dual authority of Roman Catholic
Church is the Vatican City, where the smallest independent
nation in the world lives. The Pope, Benedict XVI, is the
Head of the Vatican City, which appeared in 1929 as a part
of the mentioned above Papal States. In modern Europe it is
the only case of absolute non-hereditary elected monarchy.
Concerning Vatican City the Pope’s official title is
Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City. The Pope is chosen
for a life term by cardinals under the age of 80. All his
main subject governmental officials also belong to the Catholic
Church. They are Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal
Bertone; the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican
City State and the Governor of Vatican City, Archbishop Giovanni
Lajolo.
The Governor fulfils the same duties as a mayor and is occupied
with questions concerning the local security, the state’s
territory, except of foreign relations. It is the Holy See
that is responsible for foreign policy and receives and sends
diplomatic representatives. Legislative power is exercised
by the cardinals, members of the Pontifical Commission for
Vatican City State who are appointed by the Pope every five
years. The legal system of the state is based on the canon
law. The Vatican City has the population of 558 citizens,
which comprises only two groups: the Swiss Guard and the clergy
working as officials of the state. So actually the Roman Catholic
Religion forms an essential part not only of spiritual life
of people but of their everyday life as well. In spite of
the miniature size the Vatican City is a very influential
state in the world.
It is evident that the temporal authority of the Catholic
Church does not spread only on the Vatican City but also embraces
the political, economical, social spheres of life of the Catholics
all over the world. The Pope takes part in international congresses,
conferences, meetings, expressing the opinion of the Roman
Catholic Religion on particular situations in the world, concerning
topics from the euthanasia to the rural life of people. For
example, participating in the conference “Values and
Perspectives for Europe’s Future”, the Pope expressed
an idea that “the European continent is losing confidence
in its future… and seems to be on a path that might
lead to its twilight in history.”(1) The Pope also said:
“A community that is built without respect for the authentic
dignity of human beings, that forgets that each person is
created in God’s image, ends up not doing any one any
good.”(1)
Thus it is obvious that today the Roman Catholic Church embraces
almost every sphere of human life and is an active participant
of present-day developing of the world. Having researching
the subject I learned that it was not recently that the Church
acquired such authority. The dual authority of the Catholic
Religion was conditioned by hundreds of years, since the fifth
century the clergy has been playing a significant role in
politics, economics, spheres which seem to be rather distant
from the Church canons. Nevertheless the influence of the
Church, and of the Pope in particular, on the developing of
some international conflicts, solving the problems within
the Catholic world is immense. Earlier I did not know the
inner organization of the Vatican City in details and so for
me it was rather surprising to learn that there the Pope rules
all three branches of power and in general the clergy fulfils
all the duties of officials. Having read some of the Pope’s
speeches I have learned more particularly the views of the
Roman Catholic Church on some important political and social
issues and have realized that the role that the Church plays
in the modern Catholic world can be equal to the role of the
prominent politicians and leaders.
Bibliography:
1. Europe headed into twilight of history, Pope warns, retrieved
from <http://www.cwnews.com>
2. Grisar Hartmann, History of Rome and the Popes in the Middle
Ages, AMS Press; Reprint edition (1912).
3. Reese J. Thomas, Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization
of the Catholic Church. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
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