o resist
them, a sin to render obedience.

And consider how many fields there are in which the laws of a
democratic state do and forever must contravene the "laws of God" as
interpreted by the Catholic Church. Consider for example, that the
Pope, in his decree #Ne Temere#, has declared that Catholics who are
married by civil authorities or by Protestant clergymen will be living
in "filthy concubinage"! Consider, in the same way, the problems of
education, burial, prison discipline, blasphemy, poor relief,
incorporation, mortmain, religious endowments, vows of celibacy. To
the above list, as given by Gladstone, one might add many issues, such
as birth control, which have arisen since his time.

What the Church means is to rule. Her literature is full of
expressions of that intention, set forth in the boldest and haughtiest
and most uncompromising manner. For example, Cardinal Manning, in the
Pro-Cathedral at Kensington, speaking in the name of the Pope:

I acknowledge no civil power; I am the subject of no prince;
I claim more than this--I claim to be the supreme judge and
director of the consciences of men--of the peasant that
tills the field, and of the prince that sits upon the
throne; of the household of privacy, and the legislator that
makes laws for kingdoms; I am the sole, last supreme judge
of what is right and wrong.

#Temporal Power#

What this means is, that here in our American democracy the Catholic
Church is a rebel; a prisoner of war who bides his time, watching for
the moment to rise in revolt, and meantime making no secret of his
intentions. The pious Leo XIII, addressing all true believers in
America, instructed them as to their attitude in captivity:

The Church amongst you, unopposed by the Constitution and
government of your nation, fettered by no hostile
legislation, protected against violence by the common laws
and the impartiality of the tribunals, is free to live and
act without hindrance. Yet, though all this is true, it
would be very erroneous to draw the conclusion that in
America is to be sought the type of the most desirable
status of the church, or that it would be universally lawful
or expedient for state and church to be, as in America,
dissevered and divorced. The fact that Catholicity with you
is in good condition, nay, is even enjoying a prosperous
growth, is by all means to be