Thesis: some excerpts

Contents

Table of Contents

Abstract

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction and Literature Review

1.1 The Church and the Authoritarian State

1.2 The Church Reacts to the Modern State

1.3 The Second Vatican Council: Detente

1.4 Universal Principles and the Local Context: a Literature Review

CHAPTER TWO: Resisting Authoritarianism in Spain and Poland                                                                                        

SPAIN

2.1 Salvation Through Politics

2.2 Estrangement

POLAND

2.3 The Primate

2.4 The Polish Pope

2.5 The Last Years of Polish Communism

CHAPTER THREE – An Analysis

3.1 Religion and Absolutism

3.2 Pluralism and Tolerance

3.3 Summing-up

CHAPTER FOUR – Conclusions and Further Analysis:
The Church, Civil Society, and Democratic Consolidation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(9977 words)

Abstract

A study of official Church documents and papal pronouncements shows that the Roman Catholic Church has moved from ambivalence towards the state apparatus, through a close union of altar and throne, and an estrangement during the liberal revolutionary movements to the more constructive and open view of the state following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). While the teachings of the Catholic Church are universal and are addressed uniformly to all Catholics, in practice Catholic reaction to authoritarianism has varied under different contexts and circumstances. This paper, then, attempts to answer the question: what leads a national Catholic Church to oppose authoritarianism? It contributes to existing literature by extending the study of Catholic resistance to authoritarianism beyond Latin America into Catholic Spain and Poland. Adopting a historical-institutional perspective, I argue that, in each case, the Church’s perception of the state plays a large role in determining how strongly it resists authoritarianism. I also argue that this perception is strongly affected by two variables – the type of regime, as well as the underlying historical relationship between altar and throne.

Acknowledgements

This thesis certainly was not a solitary effort, and so I am immensely grateful to:

Dr Kate Nicholls, my supervisor, for her gentle advice, wisdom and encouragement. The effort she took to help edit and improve my work has been beyond what I hoped for in a supervisor. This thesis would not have been possible without her.

Nick Chui whose suggestions were invaluable as I formulated the arguments contained in this paper.

My parents who, though far away physically, have been with me through their love, support and prayers. I always know that I can count on their support and guidance in any endeavour I take up. They have been my greatest strength.

My sister, for her loving care and company.

The members of the Legion of Mary in NUS. They have been family during my four years in Singapore and I cherish their friendship, prayers and encouragement.

My friends in the Catholic Students’ Society for their prayers and encouragement; and those in the Political Science cohort of 2008/2009 for their company. Good friends are a treasure during struggles with frustration and writers’ block!

Almighty God, Whose bountiful love and mercy I have witnessed over the years;

the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who inspires me, as She has inspired Catholics throughout the centuries;

and for the Holy Catholic Church, who, I believe, despite the occasional shortcomings of her members, continues to be lumen gentium, a light to the world.

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This paper, employing a historical-institutional approach, has explained how a close association of altar and throne can affect the willingness of a national Church to oppose authoritarian rule. By the end of the 1990s, Poland had consolidated its democracy.[1] The examination of its initial apathy, then, illustrates that the Church as an institution, and Catholics as citizens, cannot afford a withdrawal from politics if they are to play a formative role in a country’s civil society. Also, in the long-term establishment of democracy, the Church must not be subservient to the state (as it was in Spain), but neither must it perpetually retain a preponderance of influence, eclipsing other institutions of society (as it did in Poland). If it wishes to play a healthy role in fostering democracy, a national Church must avoid the extremes and live its mission of serving the human community and engaging in the common good of humankind within a pluralistic civil society.

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[1] See Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, “Poland and Romania”, in eds. Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino Assessing the Quality of Democracy (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), 213-237.