Monday, January 7, 2013
406. When is authority exercised in a legitimate way?
(Comp 406) Authority is exercised
legitimately when it acts for the common good and employs morally licit means
to attain it. Therefore, political regimes must be determined by the free
decision of their citizens. They should respect the principle of the “rule of
law” in which the law, and not the arbitrary will of some, is sovereign. Unjust
laws and measures contrary to the moral order are not binding in conscience.
“In brief”
(CCC 1921) Authority is exercised legitimately if it is
committed to the common good of society. To attain this it must employ morally
acceptable means. (CCC 1922) The diversity of political regimes is legitimate,
provided they contribute to the good of the community.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1903) Authority is exercised legitimately only when it
seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit
means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures
contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in
conscience. In such a case, "authority breaks down completely and results
in shameful abuse" (John XXIII PT 51). (CCC 1904) "It is preferable
that each power be balanced by other powers and by other spheres of
responsibility which keep it within proper bounds. This is the principle of the
'rule of law,' in which the law is sovereign and not the arbitrary will of
men" (CA 44).
Reflection
(CCC 2242) The citizen is obliged in conscience not to
follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the
demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the
teachings of the Gospel. Refusing
obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of
an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between
serving God and serving the political community. "Render therefore to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's"
(Mt 22:21). "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29): When
citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its
competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively
demanded of them by the common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend
their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this
authority within the limits of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel (GS 74
§ 5).
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