Government—Church and State

The relations of the Roman Catholic Church with governments were far from a “new thing” when Rerum Novarum appeared in 1891. On the contrary, Christians, both individually and as churches, had consistently struggled to find the right way to deal with any number of secular authorities ever since the legitimate Roman authorities crucified Jesus. Many relationships were tried over the centuries, but none was ever completely satisfactory. My principal argument in this chapter is that none ever will be, because it is impossible to serve both God and Caesar in the way that each master desires. Still, while the political