successor of the Apostles--for Governor, and each Bishop has priests to
assist him in the spiritual government of the diocese. The Constitution
of this Republic was made by Jesus Christ. It cannot be changed or
altered at all, either by the President, or by the votes of its
citizens. St. Peter and the other Apostles, and their lawful successors,
were bound in conscience, by Jesus Christ, to keep His Constitution--His
doctrine--and teach others to keep it, under pain of forfeiture of
eternal life. The President and the Governors of this Republic--the
Pope and the Catholic Bishops--are not at liberty to govern its
citizens, the Catholics, as they please; they have to govern them
according to the Constitution--the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. Now
Almighty God governs men in accordance with the nature with which He has
created them, as beings endowed with reason and free-will. God adapts
His government to our rational and voluntary faculties, and governs us
without violence to either, and by really satisfying both. The rulers of
the Catholic Church have to do the same; they must govern men as
freemen. Hence the Catholic Church leaves to every people its own
nationality, and to every State its own independence; she ameliorates
the political and social order, only by infusing into the hearts of the
people and their rulers the principles of justice and love, and a sense
of accountability to God. The action of the Church in political and
social matters is indirect, not direct, and in strict accordance with
the free-will of individuals and the autonomy of states. Servile fear
does not rank very high among Catholic theologians. The Church, when she
can, resorts to coercive measures only to repress disorders in the
public body. Hence her rulers are called shepherds, not lords, and
shepherds of their Master's flock, not of their own, and are to feed,
tend, protect the flock, and take care of its increase for Him, with
sole reference to His will, and His honor and glory. The Catholic Church
proffers to all every assistance necessary for the attainment of the
most heroic sanctity, but she forces no man to accept that assistance.
Catholics believe the doctrines of the Church, because they believe the
Catholic Church the Church of God--they believe that Jesus Christ
commissioned St. Peter and the Apostles, and their lawful successors, to
teach all men in His name--to teach them infallibly and authoritatively
His divine doctrine--they belie