POPE LEO XIII:
"We have also shown the difference between the Church which is of Divine
Right, and all other associations which subsist by the free will of men...
The Church deems it unlawful to place the various forms of divine worship
on the same footing as the true religion, but does not on that account,
condemn those rulers, who for the sake of securing some great good or of
hindering some great evil, patiently allow custom or usage to be a kind
of sanction for each kind of religion having its place in the State. And,
in fact, the Church is wont to take earnest heed that no one shall be forced
to embrace the Catholic Faith against his will." (Immortale Dei, On the
Christian
Constitution of States, November 1, 1885)
"Of the various governments, the Church does not reject any that are fitted to procure the welfare of the subject; she wishes only -- and this nature itself requires -- that they should be constituted without involving wrong to anyone and especially without violating the rights of the Church... Neither does the Church condemn those who, if it can be done without violation of justice, wish to make their country independent of any foreign or despotic power. Nor does she blame those who wish to secure to the State the power of self-government, and to its citizens the greatest possible measure of prosperity... It is not forbidden to prefer temperate, popular forms of government, without prejudice, however, to Catholic teaching on the origin and use of authority, ....... the Church does not disapprove of any of the various forms of government, provided they be per se capable of securing the good of the citizens" (Libertas, On Human Liberty, June 20, 1888).
"We highly esteem and love exceedingly the young and vigorous American nation, in which we plainly discern latent forces for the advancement alike of civilization and of Christianity... Nor perchance, did the fact which We now recall take place without some design of divine Providence. Precisely at the epoch when the American colonies, having with Catholic aid, achieved liberty and independence, coalesced into a constitutional Republic the ecclesiastical hierarchy was happily established amongst you; and at the very time when the popular suffrage put the great Washington at the helm of the Republic... for without morality the State cannot endure -- a truth which that illustrious citizen of yours, whom we have just mentioned, with a keenness of insight worthy of his genius and statesmanship perceived and proclaimed. But the best and strongest support of morality is religion.... That your Republic is progressing and developing by giant strides is patent to all; and this holds good in religious matters also... The main factor in bringing things to this happy state were the ordinances and decrees of your synods, especially of those which in more recent times were convened and confirmed by the authority of the Apostolic See. But, moreover (a fact which it gives pleasure to acknowledge), thanks are due to the equity of the laws which obtain in America and to the customs of your well-ordered Republic. For the Church amongst you, unopposed by the Constitution and government of your nation, fettered by no hostile legislation, protected against violence by the common laws and the impartiality of the tribunals, is free to live and act without hindrance. Yet, though all this is true, it would be very erroneous to draw the conclusion that in America is to be sought the type of the most desirable status of the Church, or that it would be universally lawful or expedient for State and Church to be, as in America, dissevered and divorced." (Longinque Oceani / Longinqua, On Catholicity in the United States, January 6, 1895).
Americanism: "If, indeed, by that name be designated the
characteristic qualities which reflect honor on the people of America,
just as other nations have what is special to them; or if it implies the
condition of your commonwealths, or the laws and customs which prevail
in them, there is surely no reason why We should deem that it ought to
be discarded." (Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, January 22, 1899)
ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE, Doctor of the Church, whose writings were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence without their source being known to the drafters: "Political power emanates from God. Government was introduced by divine law but the divine law has given this power to no particular man." (De Laicis, Chap. VI, 1)
"Men must be governed by some one, lest they be willing to perish. It is impossible for men to live together without someone to care for the common good. Society must have power to protect and preserve itself." (De Laicis Chap. VI, Notes 1 and 2)
"This power is immediately as in its subject, in the whole multitude." (Chap VI, Note 2) "The people themselves, immediately and directly, hold the power so long as they have not transferred this power to some king or ruler."(De Clericis, Chap. VII) "The commonwealth cannot exercise this power itself, therefore, it is held to transfer it in some one man or some few." (De Laicis, Chap. VI)
"In a commonwealth all men are born naturally free and equal." (De Clericis, Chap. VI). "There is no reason why amongst equals one should rule rather than another." (De Laicis, Chap. VI, Note 2)
"For legitimate reasons they (the people) can change the government to an aristocracy or a democracy or vice versa." (De Laicis, Chap. VI) "It depends upon the consent of men to place over themselves a king, consul. or magistrate." (De Laicis, Chap. VI)
"Unjust laws are, properly speaking, no laws." (De Romano Pontifice,
Book IV, Chap. XV) "A bad law is not a valid law. Good laws
are not a curtailment of liberty, but a charter of every man's right."
(De Laicis, Chap. X)
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Doctor of the Church:
Law: "The constant and perpetual will which concedes to every man his
right; and at the bottom of the law they found love, charity. Reason
is a participation of the eternal law of God; human law is a participation
of reason; if the law and decrees of princes violate reason they
are unjust and not binding." (Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, ques. LVIII a.
i.)
POPE PIUS XII:
"Democracy and a Lasting Peace", December 25, 1944 re educated citizens versus manipulated masses:
"27. Hence follows clearly another conclusion: the masses -- as we have
just defined them -- are the capital enemy of true democracy and of its
ideal of liberty and equality.