en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en ru en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en it it en en en es en es en en en es en en fr en en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr en en fr en en en en en nl en en en en en en en en en en en en en de en sv en en de en en en en en de en en it en en en en en en en en en en en en
Events in Europe and the Middle East probably signal the end of a form of Church - State relationship that emerged during the early modern period
By Massimo Faggioli | International
Pope Francis' refusal to label the terrorist campaign of ISIS as a religious war caused by Islam continues to create controversy. The fact that this debate does continue is a sign of the relevance of the opinion of the bishop of Rome in the global political community, and at the same time also a sign of a weakness in the way our politics deal with non-State actors, such as religions.
And the debate is an important indicator of the present situation in relations between the Church and politics in the Western world. There are indeed many paradoxes evident in what amounts to a name game played between Francis and part of the Western commentariat willing to take the Church (but not themselves) into this theological war.
The first paradox is that the Western "intelligentsia" now insisting that Francis make a theological declaration of war is made up mostly of atheists, secularist politicians, and maîtres à penser, for which religion becomes relevant only when the fight against Islam is politically expedient. It is an updated version of the proxy wars.
The second paradox is that this theologically belligerent intelligentsia is usually very quick in declaring illegitimate the Church's influence in social and political issues domestically, especially when it talks about the poor (where the safety net for the poor no longer exists) and mercy (where social problems have been "solved" through mass incarceration).
The third paradox is that among these commentators are Catholics of the neo-conservative and traditionalist persuasion who did not and still do not grasp the problems (theological and otherwise) created by their "Christening" the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over these last fifteen years.
The fourth paradox is Francis' refusal to let the Church be used as a megaphone to make a theological statement about the theological connection between ISIS and Islam because the pope's refusal is in itself an example of what the French call laïcité: the ability to make a distinction between what pertains to the Church and what pertains to the secular state.
The problem is that the European and American members of this commentariat do not get the deeply historical-political message at the heart of Francis' approach.
The first element of that approach is one of the most important interpretive keys to understand the broader pushback against Francis' pontificate - that Bergoglio's pontificate is problematic for some not from a theological point of view, but from a political one. What is missing from the perception of Francis' reading of the world political-religious map today is that Francis' "materialistic" interpretation of the war (that it is a war about money and power, not about religion) reflects the Church's attention to the "signs of the times".
But there is another element that is, in my opinion, particularly interesting in this moment and in the way pope Francis is dealing with it. In my view, we are witnessing the end of an era.
It has become usual to talk about the wars and the political turmoil in the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia) as the end of the world created by the Sykes–Picot agreement of 1916 between France and Great Britain that created the map of the Middle East that has, for the last century, kept that part of the world relatively stable. This is certainly true.
But something is missing in those who talk politics but do not know history, or know history but know no theology. What is going on between Europe and the Middle East is not just the end of the Sykes-Picot agreement, but probably also the end of the relationship between Church (religion) and State created in Europe in the early modern period.
In other words, it is not possible to analyze separately the different elements that are part of the same picture: the crisis of Europe (not just the European Union but also the crisis of the idea of Europe); the crisis of political representation and of democracy (see the Trump phenomenon and the authoritarian involutions in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and India); the redefinition of the confessional boundaries between the Churches and religions (the relations between faiths are no longer following boundaries drawn by Catechisms and religious laws).
The visibility of pope Francis and of the Catholic Church in this particular geopolitical moment is due not only to the fact that ISIS militants targeted and murdered for the first time a Catholic priest in France.
It is due to the fact that the modern configuration of the Catholic Church and of the nation state are on parallel paths in an historical process that started in late medieval-early modern Europe and found some stability at the end of a century of wars of religion in Europe with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The end of the wars of religion in the seventeenth century gave us the present political context of the Western Churches (especially the Catholic Church) and the modern form of the nation state.
This means that declaring a new century of religious wars today would question in a most radical way a multi-secular system of relations between religion/Church and politics/State in the Western world and not only there. The symptoms of this epochal crisis are evident when the president of the French Republic, the cradle of laïcité, makes a theological statement calling the murder of the Rouen Catholic priest "a desecration of French democracy." (President Hollande made other interesting statements similar to this one at the time of the massacre at Charlie Hebdo in January 2015).
The crisis of the modern nation state is also a theological crisis, even though most Westerners – whether Catholics or non-Catholics, religious or secular – have forgotten how much theology it takes to keep the nation state and secular democracy alive.
Francis is trying to be faithful to the theology of the Second Vatican Council and its vision of common good, politics, democracy, and healthy distinction between Church and State. On this front, Francis' challenges do not come from Islam only, but also from two different fronts within the Western world: secularists who would like Francis to declare a religious war on their behalf, and post-modernist Catholics who believe that laïcité and the secular nation state are part of the problem and not of the solution.
What Francis is doing is not just trying to defuse the ticking time bomb of a theological war (that most enthusiasts seem eager to fight only verbally). Pope Francis is also showing how much raison d'Église (reason of Church) is at the basis of the raison d'État (reasons of state).
Both Church and state are in a situation of crisis and of transition: it is the long transition inaugurated by the end of the early-modern theology of the Church as "perfect society" in the 20th century. The end of the ecclesiology of the "perfect society" is one of the causes of the crisis of the legitimacy of the nation state as "perfect state" born in the early modern period. The problem is that there is not (yet) a viable alternative to the nation state and Francis apparently knows it better than others.
Get the latest from La Croix International. Sign up to receive our daily newsletter.
You may also like
Cardinal Tong rebuffs criticism on China-Vatican negotiations
Get behind me, Satan
Pope Francis condemns gender choice teaching
ISIS affirms that its war is religious
SUPPORT LA CROIX INTERNATIONAL’S COMMUNITY OF READERS
Support La Croix International's unique blend of international Catholic journalism by making it available to people in Asia and Africa who can't afford a subscription and often don't have credit cards to pay for it either.
Vatican "foreign minister" calls for a world without nuclear weapons
Indian Christians cower under anti-religious conversion laws
Catholic bishops in Peru address refugee issue
Water-borne diseases add to Pakistan’s flood woes
"Vote according to your conscience", bishops tell Brazilians
Why Pope Francis did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
Celebrating gay relationships in church is actually quite Catholic
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Elizabeth II, the “last Christian monarch”, has died
A challenge for Europe
Shaking up the economy
Peace, our common good
For 70 years she “was” the United Kingdom
Cooperation rather than competition
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Francis continues his push for a humbler, more open Church
The pope and the praying menace
What was the August meeting of cardinals really about?
Is Christian hospitality enough?
"What fraternity does assisted suicide build?"
Live, learn, forget, repeat
When timing is paramount
The pandemic, Christian faith and the perils of kids living in the digital world
"It’s been powerful to watch people enunciate a theology of care for creation"
Laudato si’ guides Indian archdiocese to help fisherfolk
Brazilian bishops stand up for the Yanomami people
The Gaia Man, James Lovelock
Pope calls for a new relationship with God, others and Creation
| Catholic Digest | UCAN | Living in faith | La Croix Africa | La Croix español
About Us | Contact Us| Newsletter Sign-up| Donate| Terms and Conditions| FAQ| La Croix| Confidentiality Policy| Sitemap