Folia Canonica 8. (2005)
STUDIES - Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi: The Changes of Modern Era Relation of Church and State in Europe
THE CHANGES OF MODERN ERA RELATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN EUROPE 75 the state recognition of Catholic Church’s legal entities.72 The most actual questions are arisen with regard to the management of Church and State relationship within the European Union. In any case that is a fact that the inner standard of the European Union makes an effort to regulate the relationship of member states and Churches and religious communities functioning in them, in accordance with the theory of radical separation and keeping before one’s eyes the prohibition of religious discrimination. IV. “Secularization” of Constitutions It is conspicuous hence the fundamental changes, which resulted at the modern age in the interpretation of secular society’s goal. The middle age states had the same theoretical goal than the Church, i.e. promotion of all men’s salvation, earthly realization of the Kingdom of God. This goal directed the anointed ruler at arranging the norm of societal coexistence even if, when he used every effort to intensify the religious conviction and to support the Church. Historical examples naturally show, too, that the ruler being active for the Kingdom of God, in order to execute his duties, formed claim very often to the determination of Church’s functioning and her inner life. The common goal of the State and the Church moved substantially away from each other as a result of secularization. Above demonstrated changes were the practical phenomena of this process. We can track the theoretical precipitation of this in the text of individual countries’ fundamental laws. Constitutions formulated in 18th and 19th century, such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), Constitution of the United States ( 1787), French Constitution ( 1791,1792, 1795), German Imperial Constitution ( 1849), constitutional laws of December 1867 of the Austrian Empire, or the Constitution of Weimar (1919), ecclesiastical decrees of which were adopted by the F undamental Law of Bonn, show precisely the steps of secularization of state laws.73 Most of them in some form reference to God and Christian belief in a distinguished place. Nevertheless at the same time it catches the eye that this image of God is mostly deist in the interpretation of civil constitutions regarding people’s sovereignty, power share, people’s representation, parliamentarism, and the idea of freedom of reli72 Erdő, P., „Der Einfluss des Rechts der EU auf das innere Recht der Kirchen” in BÁNDI Gy. (ed.), Ünnepi kötet Boytha Györgyné tiszteletére, Budapest 2002. 54-65, especially 55-60. Cf. Esposito, B., “Il diritto intemazionale tra passato e futuro: l’apporto della dottrina cattolica e di Giovanni Paolo II. Una proposta concreta per la sua evoluzione”, in Angelicum 81 (2004) 565-591. 73 Meyesztowitz, V., La religion dans les constitutions des États Modernes (Pontificium Institutum Utriusque Iuris), Roma 1938. 3-10.
