Giving thanks for the separation of Church and State

by Russell Shaw | Catholic World Report

In the question period after a talk
I'd given on my new book, American Church, a woman raised an
important point: "If the Church in the U.S. faces as many
problems as you say, why is it doing so much better here than in much
of Europe?"

Great question. My answer--which I
also give in the book--was along these lines.

"It has a lot to do with the
First Amendment principle of separation of Church and State. Yes, I
know--'separation' sometimes is used as a club by secularists who
want to drive religion out of the public square. But on the whole
it's been a great blessing for the Church and for religion in
America.

"For one thing, church-state
separation has generally kept government out of religious affairs,
while also keeping clerics out of inappropriate involvement in
politics. In combination with Cardinal Gibbons' wise decision to
embrace the emerging labor movement in the late 19th century, this
spared the Church the sort of virulent anticlericalism found in
countries like France, Spain, and even 'Catholic' Ireland as a
reaction against the political clericalism of the not so distant
past."

Almost always, I might have added,
clericalism breeds anticlericalism. That we've largely escaped the
worst sort of clericalism in America means we've also been spared the
worst sort of anticlericalism.

But granted all that, the situation of
the Catholic Church in America today is increasingly perilous.
American Church explains why. In brief, the explanation goes
like this.

Continue reading on the CWR blog.