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Church and
Democracy Reflections by Manfred Hanglberger 1. A true democracy must be a social order in which decisions are not
made by majority vote alone. >> Otherwise such a system is a
dictatorship of majorities over minorities. >> Other than that, this democracy is just a system to settle different large-group interests in
compromises - but at the expense of the interests of the smaller groups. 2. A democracy needs to be value oriented towards the dignity and
human rights of each person, towards the whole of society and towards the
whole of the networks in which its own social system is embedded: >> In the community of nations, >> In the ecological community of the planet. 3. An
orientation towards values is a kind of "faith", since values
cannot be scientifically proven, but it represents a mental and spiritual
reality that requires the recognition and approval of the members of a
community of values. 4. Formulations
of values such as "human dignity is inviolable" in the Basic
Constitutional Law in Germany therefore represent a "creed". 5. The
quality of values in a society shows itself in three aspects: 6. For
that reason, attention is to be paid in case of conflicts between interest
groups within a society that there won't be lost sight of the values, i.e. the dignity of the individual and of the common
welfare (the "big picture") 7. This
not only requires a general legislation that protects the rights of
individuals and groups, but also an institution that protects the
"basics of faith", i.e. the values of this society - even against
the most powerful organs of society: against the government and the majority
decisions in parliament. In the United
States of America the Supreme Court in Washington,
D.C. exercises this function. In addition, all 50 states have a Supreme Court
under the jurisdiction of that state. 8. For
the Federal Constitutional Court to be able to perform this task effectively,
its members, the constitutional judges, must be independent of those groups
in society, which are in political and economic power. 9. The
oath on the Constitution by members of the government, by the constitutional
judges, but also by civil servants as servants of the state is to be seen as
a genuine executed "profession of faith". 10. It is
also essential for a democracy to keep this faith conscious, to proclaim it
again and again on important state occasions, and to bring its contents into
discussion in current disputes and dangerous situations. For faith needs
awareness among the members of society, it needs contemporary, generally
understandable formulations and persuasive power so
that it can have an effect and endure - and thus protect and nourish the soul
of a people. 11. In a
democracy it is known that voting can be done on the "truths of
faith", on the values of a people, and not through majority decisions of
those bodies in which interest groups represent their interests. 12. That's
why the decision-making bodies for the protection of essential values in the
political area are more developed than in the Catholic Church, where there is
not even a separation of powers. 13. From
the above mentioned structural orders of a good
democracy it becomes evident that the argumentation of the Church leadership
is incomprehensible, which claims that democracy is not possible within the
Church because one cannot vote on truth with majority decisions.
Unfortunately, this is a cover-up of the deficits of their structures and
means a clinging of the current ecclesiastical authorities to outdated
positions of power. 14. By
reasoning this way, "democracy" is unfortunately understood to mean
a dictatorship of the majority, too. Being afraid of a "dictatorship of
the majority," the Church leadership therefore adheres rigidly to a
monarchist-authoritarian system whose structural order of values contradicts
the message of the Gospels in many respects, because the values formulated
there have to do with personal responsibility, freedom of conscience and
subsidiarity. 15. Just
as in a democracy the fundamental values of the constitution are not to be
surrendered to arbitrary majority decisions, neither must the principles of
faith of the Church (the truths of faith, which contain the values of
the sense of life, values of the community, of creation and of the
individual) be
surrendered to majority decisions. But even in a religious community there
are always many practical decisions that are best made on the long term by
majority decisions. 16. In
our times, the Church would have to show that true democracy is a
"matter of faith" - and that it must always be about universal
values that exclude no one, which must therefore have a similar structure to
the "catholic" (the " all-encompassing") of the Christian
faith. Since true democracy is a "community of
values" and therefore a kind of community of faith, it seems to not a
few contemporaries that essential values of the Christian faith are better
realized in a good democratic social order than in the present form of the
Catholic Church. For example: - Control
of power - Clarity and
transparency of jurisprudence -
Comprehensibility of formulated values - Culture
of dialogue, of criticism and dispute - Dealing
with dissenters and with differences of opinions -
Transparency of decision-making processes In
contrast, the Catholic Church does not appear to be up-to-date
to many people. Today, their structures and their understanding of authority
have a patronizing and bossy effect on more and more people,
and are not very helpful for the problems and questions of the people
of our times. But the Church as a religious community has tasks
that the state cannot perform! Essential meanings and tasks of the Church in modern
society: - Help to endure all forms of fear of life and - as
far as possible - help to overcome it. - To promote comprehensive life affirmation and
inner peace of the individual, - To offer ways of reconciliation in private
relationships. - To sensitize to vocational experience and to
motivate lived responsibility for a common welfare. - To promote and cultivate solidarity with others
and around the world. - Prophetic task in the face of unjust conditions
(disclosure and offers to help). - To strengthen the affirmation of life in
suffering, strokes of fate, disability, danger of death. - Acceptance of transience and one’s own death. - Mourning and farewell in case of loss of
relatives. - To offer ways of reconciliation and a culture of
solidarity with the deceased. - Interpretation of the meaning of one's own life,
of history of mankind and of the cosmos. - To support a sound governmental order and its
system of values. - Spiritual impulses of reconciliation after wars
and interpersonal hurtful conflicts (socio-political symbolic acts and
therapeutic rites). - To develop and offer meaningful and healing rites
for important changes in life. - To offer and cultivate a culture of perceiving
values (conscience building). - To advocate for human rights in all areas of
society and worldwide. - Special care for the marginalized, the
disadvantaged, the disabled, the poor, the sick and the dying people! Manfred Hanglberger Translated by:
Ingeborg Schmutte Link to
share: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-church-and-democracy.htm
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>>> True Democracy or „Dictatorship of the Majority“ >>> „Entirety
- another word for “Catholic“ |
