PJPII: Defender of God's Dominion over man.

Fire of Liberty

Jonah Goldberg has written a wonderful piece on the Pope today in his syndicated column. Jonah notes in his column that the critics who try to paint the Pope arguments as either of the "left" or the "right" seem to completely miss the boat on the argument. What the Pope advocates rises not from the politics of the dominion of man but comes from a more higher realm which is the dominion of God. Unlike a politician who can play a pragmatic role on Earth to please a mass audience to get elected, the Pope must defend the doctrine and tenets of the Catholic faith and God. While the politician may bend with the political winds the Pope has to ensure that the rock that St. Peter built God's Church on remains in tact for the flock to cling to. When you back down from the cemented doctrine of the Church for the will of reporters, critics and opinion polls then you lose the authority of the Church and the devotion to God's ideas. I have said a considerable amount on this but feel that Jonah provides a better take, see for yourself.

But what gets less attention is the fact that it was the Catholic Church that launched the very notion of a sphere of liberty and morality not bound to the state. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, Fareed Zakaria recounts in The Future of Freedom, the Catholic Church remained as an imperfect conscience for rulers who would define the rules of kings as synonymous with the whims of kings. When Emperor Theodosius slaughtered the Thessalonians, Ambrose, the archbishop of Milan, was so repulsed he refused to give the emperor Holy Communion. The emperor cried, No fair! He argued that David had done worse in the bible, to which Ambrose replied, “You have imitated David in his crime, then imitate him in his repentance!” Off and on for eight months, the most powerful ruler in the entire world mimicked the biblical David, dressing in rags like a beggar in order to plea for forgiveness outside the Ambrose’s cathedral.

Over time, the papacy’s moral authority increased. Pope Leo III may have been forced to anoint Charlemagne as Roman emperor, but by doing so he also cemented the notion that even kings were answerable to a higher authority. When Emperor Henry IV challenged the pope’s power of investiture he ended up, as legend has it, kneeling in the snows at Canossa to beg for forgiveness. It was only in modern times, best symbolized by Napoleon crowning himself emperor of the French, that this external authority was firmly rejected in favor of his own will-to-power. It is no coincidence that Napoleon is widely considered the first modern dictator.

Good Stuff.