Church and State in the writings
of the young Joseph Ratzinger
Following Augustine, 'we must avoid the ecclesialization of the Church
as well as the statalization of the Church'
by Cesare Cavalleri
Translated from
January 27, 2010
In 1962, the 35-year-old Professor Joseph Ratzinger gave a lecture at the Salzburger Hochshule on the relationship between the element of nation, and the human and universal, in the eyes of the Fathers of the Church, specifically Origen and Augustine.
The text, first published in journals, was issued as a book in 1970, translated to Italian by Morcelliana [publishers] in 1973, and now deservedly reissued with the same title,
L'unità delle nazioni. Una visione dei Padri della Chiesa (The unity of nations: A vision of the Fathers of the Church) (144 pp, euro 12.00).
The editor of
L'Osservatore Romano writes in the Introduction to the new edition: "All of Ratzinger is already in this little book, so much more valuable though it is little known".
In these pages, indeed, there is the Biblicist Ratzinger who follows the canonical interpretation of Scripture, and therefore, analyzes individual passages within Church canon,
There is Ratzinger the theologian who never loses sight of the ultimate significance of historical events.
There is the Ratzinger who was an impassioned scholar of the Fathers, and who had dedicated his doctoral thesis to St. Augustine.
And there is always Ratzinger the professor who couples expository clarity with the rigor of his methodology, and documents every statement with the sources punctiliously annotated in his footnotes.
The subject of the study, which might seem to be an erudite area of research - 'political theology' - is still of outstanding relevance.
Let us see a bit of it. At the peak of Romanity, Augustus Caesar ordered the construction of the Ara Pacis (altar of peace), with a depiction of Mother Earth as the symbol of the unity of the human race in the cosmic dimension represented by the empire.
The motto
Augustei pax in terra (Augustan peace on earth) would be re-echoed with a completely different meaning by the angels in announcing the birth of the Savior to the shepherds.
In the Bible, however, the unity of the human race is shattered with the construction of the Tower of Babel, and the subsequent dispersion of mankind which continues to our day has punitive significance.
Against gnosticism which opposed every form of state organization - seen to be an expression of a radically evil world - Origen did not veer away from the Christian interpretation that the world, although corroded by sin, is nonetheless teh work of God the Creator.
And even if he considered nation States governed by archons
[Greek term for absolute sovereigns] as demoniacal, Origen distinguished two laws - natural law, which is of divine origin; and the law of States which, in case of conflict, should be subordinated to natural law.
On the other hand, Augustine considered political religion as founded only on custom and habit, where the Christian religion possesses the truth that emancipates man from the power of demons.
Augustinian political theology was antithetical both to stoicism which identified God with the world, and with platonism which excluded every contact between God and the world.
By virtue of the Incarnation, God the Creator is also the God of history, in history, and Augustine could oppose to the confusion of languages in Babel the miracle of tongues at Pentecost.
The Augustinian doctrine of the two cities [city of God and city of man] "aims neither at the 'ecclesialization' of the State, nor the 'statalization' of the Church, but in the midst of worldly orders, which remain and should remain wordily orders, it aims to manifest the new power of faith in the unity of mankind in the Body of Christ, as an element of transformation, whose fulfillment would be brought about by God himself when history comes to an end", Prof. Ratzinger wrote.
Augustine thus hopes for a renewal of the Roman Empire, even as he remains faithful to eschatological thinking which relativizes every worldly order.
Even this rough synthesis conveys the thinking which the then professor would subsequently develop in later writings and in the documents he issued as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now, as Pope.
First, I would note that the publication of an Italian edition of an academic lecture by a relatively obscure German professor in 1973 is quite extraordinary - and a tribute to the intellectual outlook of Italian publishers and the readers they serve. A reissue at this time indicates that the outlook and the need it serves are very much alive in Italy today, where apparently, there is an ongoing sub-industry in the publishing world that is flourishing on the publication of any and all books by and about Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/01/2010 10:50]