My 101 Reasons for Leaving the Catholic Church:
Concordats What is it ?
A concordat is an agreement between parties. They reach a "concord." Related to the Catholic Church, the Catholic Encyclopedia defines a concordat as "a law, ecclesiastical and civil, made for a certain country in regard to matters which in some way concern both Church and State, a law moreover, possessing the force of a treaty entered into by both the ecclesiastical and civil power and to a certain extent binding upon both." The parties to the concordat are the Pope and the supreme magistrate of the State. Usually, concordats were only entered into with governments that do not hold to a representative form of government, where an emperor, king or president could unilaterally enter into the agreement. As an example, the French Concordat of 1801 was negotiated between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Catholic Church and all the citizens of the country are bound by the concordat, as it is a form of civil law.
How did it come about ?
Concordats did not exist in early church history, since for the first three centuries the church was persecuted by the Roman empire. In the Middle Ages, concordats were also unnecessary, since the Catholic Church was recognized and supported by the State; in fact the Church herself often controlled many aspects of the workings of the State. Before the eighteenth century there were only six concordats. In the eighteenth century there were fifteen. Then in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, threatened by the rise of representative governments, the Church agreed to a large number.
In 1929, Pope Pius XI and Mussolini entered into a concordat (the Lateran Treaty); in this concordat, by national law Catholicism was made the sole religion of Italy, and the Church received 750 million lire in cash and 1 billion lire in state bonds. In return, the Pope required Catholics to withdraw from participation in politics and gave church backing to Mussolini. The pope and cardinals also made statements strongly supporting Mussolini. In 1985, the Vatican and Italy signed a new concordat that guarantees religious freedom for non-Catholics.
In 1933 a concordat was negotiated between the Catholic Church and Hitler. This was negotiated by Eugenio Pacelli (the Vatican's Secretary of State), who would later become Pope Pius XII, pope during World War II. As part of this Concordat, hundreds of millions of dollars would flow to the Roman Catholic Church via the German national church tax throughout the war. In return, the Catholic Church publicly supported the Nazi regime. John Toland, in his book Adolph Hitler, writes:
The Vatican was so appreciative of being recognized as a full partner that it asked God to bless the Reich. On a more practical level, it ordered German bishops to swear allegiance to the National Socialist regime. The new oath concluded with these significant words: "in the performance of my spiritual office and in my solicitude for the welfare and interest of the German Reich, I will endeavor to avoid all detrimental acts which might endanger it."
The Vatican later assisted fleeing Nazi war criminals to escape to Latin America through what has come to be known as the Vatican RATLINES.
In 1862, PIUS IX entered into a concordat with Ecuador, establishing the Catholic Church as the State religion, and forbidding all other religions. The following year, Colombia enacted a law which established religious freedom, ending the Catholic Church's religious and educational monopoly over the country. Pius IX, incensed, wrote the encyclical Incredibili Afflicamur, which asserted his right to rescind the laws of Colombia:
We with Apostolic Authority denounce and condemn all such laws and decrees with all their consequences, and by the same authority we abrogate those laws and declare them entirely null and without binding power.
In 1948 Colombia entered into a concordat with the papacy which ultimately led to persecution of the Protestant "sects" in the country, the burning down of Protestant churches, and the closure of Protestant schools.
Why is it wrong?
1) ...because of the Church's infringement upon the citizen's freedom of religion and conscience in countries enacting concordats;
2) ...because the Church, by supporting those leaders with whom they made agreements, effectively became accomplices to the leaders' repressions and violent aggressions;
3) ...because it is not the business of the church of Jesus Christ to achieve spiritual ends through such macro-religious means.
Warnings from Scripture:
But Jesus called them [the Apostles] to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Matt. 20:25-27
[The angel said to John] "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great [code name for Rome]... For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her... Rev. 17:18-18:1,2b,3
For though we [Christians] walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh [we have spiritual weapons], but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 2 Cor. 10:3-4
And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they [the Jewish leaders] were amazed at Him. Mk. 12:17
? - Point to Ponder
In Islamic countries, it is forbidden for a Muslim to convert to Christianity under penalty of death.
Should religious leaders use political means to promote and foster their religion? "Force is the negation of power."
