BLURRING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL DIVIDE BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE
(…as Congress enthusiastically welcomed a charismatic Pope with multiple ovations)

Pope Francis’ arrival in America has had all the appearance of another Beatles invasion, complete with wildly cheering and enthusiastic throngs mobbing him with absolute adulation wherever he has shown up. Even those official moments of greeting, when his plane landed in Washington, had more than just the usual ambiance of a personal greeting by the President for a friendly head-of-state…which he is…besides being the Supreme Pontiff of the largest religious denomination in the world.

The fact that Pope Francis is also the first-ever Pope born in this hemisphere, instead of Europe, and thus an “Americano” like the rest of us, may further explain the apparent enthusiasm everyone here, Catholic or not, seems to have for him; and, the genuineness of his personality combined with his obvious pleasure at making personal contact with anyone able to reach him, simply shows folks that this is not just another of those phony celebrity or politico types which otherwise clutter up our landscape these days. He is…for real.

The climax of his first stop in Washington, of course, was his invitation to address a joint session of the Congress. There have been other heads of state to do so, and this was not just an historic occasion but also an unprecedented one…blurring our constitutional divide between church and state…as Congress enthusiastically welcomed a charismatic Pope with multiple ovations. While we don’t begrudge him receiving such honors, it does raise some concerns because this seems to be another accumulating pinhole in the dike which our Founders established to hold back the waters of religious sectarianism, a “separation” which has been the mainstay of our pluralist society.

Of course we haven’t always been successful in maintaining that “separation”. There are any number of religious elements in our society which, given the opportunity, would be readily prepared to establish and enforce their absolutist perspectives on everyone else, regardless of any of our constitutionally based laws to the contrary. The evidence of religious history, of whatever faith, has clearly shown that…and we’ve had our share of such efforts. Religious faith has its place in peoples’ lives, of course, mainly for providing a moral and spiritual compass as they live them; but, with such a polyglot and pluralistic “melting pot” as ours is, the Founders understood the necessity of maintaining a clear separation between it and our political process and structure…if our republic was to endure.

The crux of all that being this question: When it comes to such issues, which loyalty must prevail…to one’s faith…or to the Constitution? There are no easy answers to that question, and everyone has to answer it for themselves.

CENTURION