EA_Man:
This is true. However, one of the mistakes of Catholic Church was the assumption of temporal power. For a brief period, it was beneficial. But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. It cannot be won or maintained by the sword.
Peace
True, Christ’s Kingdom is not *of *this world, but it surely is *in *this world too, the Church.
Another thing - there are no “mistakes” of the Catholic Church; as the Body and Bride of Christ, she is without error, without taint:
25: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26: that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27: that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Ephesians 5
Of course, the Church’s members are all sinners, and we all make mistakes. Mother Church is, however, without error. Also, the Church does holds both spiritual and temporal power; the Church in the person of St. Peter received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and notice that Christ gave authority to Peter in heaven
and on earth. Christ said, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Clearly, Christ conferred not only spiritual but also temporal power. Why might he do this? Well sure enough, the Church is the Kingdom of Christ, and he rules it. All the kings of the earth are subject to Christ and his Kingdom, giving the Church the pre-eminent position among all other institutions on earth. When Peter presented two swords to Christ before they left for the Garden of Gethsemanee, Christ didn’t say, “Throw one back,” but rather he said, “It is sufficient.” The two swords represent two forms of power, temporal and spiritual. Hence, the idea of the Church’s glory on earth headed by his Vicar, the idea of Christendom, was an ideal of medieval Europe. All kings, according to St. Paul, receive their authority from God, and therefore, Christians are subject to their rulers. However, the king must rule in accord with God’s law, which is given by the Church. If he disobey’s the Divine Law, he abuses his power. That is why Christians although subject to Caesar, refused to worship him as a deity although it was demanded by secular law. Therefore, the relationship between the Church and the State is very close, and the ideal government should be one that is in perfect accord with the Church.
During the Middle Ages, this ideal was sought after, but not perfectly attained. Just as treason was a grave offense against the State, heresy was and is a grave offense to the Faith. Commited to protecting the Kingdom of God, rulers saw the attack of heresy against the Church as an attack against God himself, and hence, it was his right to punish, although it should have been done with mercy and the goal of repentence in mind. Overzealous kings sometimes felt that death was the most appropriate sentence, similar to how the ancient Israelites prescribed death for blasphemy. The Church, however, never exectuted punishments; rather, it determined whether a convict was guity of a certain crime, such as heresy, and whether or not the convict would repent. Then the convict had to be handed over to the State for just punishment. Although in theory this method was just, in practice the State often gave unnessary punishments.
Today, the Church still possesses temporal power, espcially the Vatican state that belongs to the Church of Rome. The Pope is also ruler of Vatican City and at the same time, ruler of the Church. The Church has always held a certain degree of temporal power, which although isnt her primary power, still belongs to Christ’s Kingdom.
