Mary and the Human Law
by Fr. Maximilian M. Zangheratti, FI
The participation of a Christian in social and political life calls for a prudent evaluation of the moral character of the laws of the State. The objective criteria for evaluating them are the Ten Commandments and the demonstrable legitimacy of the legislating authority. Mary's attitude of humility and obedience toward the census at Bethlehem is an outstanding example for us, as is the respect she showed for Jewish ritual prescriptions.
One day the Pharisees decided to put Our Lord in a difficult situation, looking for an accusation to use against Him before the Roman authorities and before His followers, who were increasingly hopeful that He was the Messiah and liberator of Israel. So they decided to present him with a trap in the form of an economic-political question, a topic to which many were sensitive back then, just as they are today. They asked him if it was just to pay Caesar the tribute which every conquered people had to send to Rome. Jesus' only answer was to ask for a coin and inquire whose image was stamped on it. The Pharisees replied, "Caesar's," and Jesus responded, "Render there fore to Caesar the things that are the Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (cf. Mt 22:15-22).
This well-known episode has always been read by the Church as a basis for the legitimacy of civil power. This power should neither be confused with nor opposed to sacred power. St. Paul indicates that Christians must, according to justice, submit to the authorities (cf. Rom 13:1-7).
But "submit" in this context is not to be understood in the way in which we often understand this term, where it connotes humiliation, but in the sense of a just respect, which is a manifestation of the respect (holy fear) due to God. The reason for this is that civil authorities are part of the plan of creation, in which man is willed as a social creature. Now wherever there is any kind of society there must be an authority which orders and coordinates the various parts of the society in such a way that it can achieve its proper end, namely the promotion of the common good. The duty to obey and to pray for the authorities (cf. 1 Pt 2:13-17; 1 Tm 2:1-2) is a con sequence of this.
At this point an obvious question arises: what if the authorities are despots like Hitler and Stalin? We need to make some distinctions. The first thing to consider is whether or not the authority is legitimate, that is, whether or not the person invested with power came to office peacefully and in the manner generally accepted by the society for the attainment of that position. If so, then he already has a right to respect and obedience. If not, then the citizen--and still more so the Christian--is not, per se bound to obey him or to show him any sign of respect. Nevertheless, if failing to so would open the door to a state of anarchy more dangerous than the illegitimately held power, prudence dictates that the laws promulgated by such an authority should be followed until legitimate power can be restored. Of course, one is never obliged to obey unjust laws, contrary to the natural law or to the legitimate rights of the Church, even if they are promulgated by a legitimate authority. The history of Christianity offers us shining examples of such resistance-even when it meant death--in every age, from the martyrs of the first centuries to Catholics who suffered in Communist China.
One is not always bound to obey even just laws promulgated by civil authority. You could be exempted by legitimate authority or by the special circum stances in which you find yourself. Nevertheless, one could still hold oneself to observance of the law in order to give good example, as a concrete sign of respect for authority, or for a greater good.
Mary chose to follow St. Joseph when he went to Bethlehem, not only because the Messiah had to be born in the city of David and to fulfill her role as spouse by following her husband (cf. I Pt 3:1-6), but also to obey the emperor's decree, even though it came from an occupying authority and women were not obliged by this particular decree. In the same way she submitted to ritual purification after giving birth, even though the virginal mode of Jesus' birth exempted her from the rite (cf. Lev 12). Similarly, she also submitted, until Salvation had been won, to all the Jewish prescriptions regarding prayer and to the ritual precepts in a spirit of total self-offering to God.
Christians, then, must al ways obey civil authority inasmuch as it truly represents God for the good of the society. The measure of this obedience is not left to mere personal opinion. Rather, it must be consonant with well-defined criteria, which can be summarized thus: the directives must come from legitimate authority or at least not be contrary to the Ten Commandments.
As human directives, civil laws are limited and so may not be observable always and in every case. When such exceptions arise, they can be dispensed from.
This article is taken from Missio Immaculatae vol. 3, March, 2006. The Missio Immaculatae is a monthly Marian magazine maintained by the Franciscans of the Immaculate. It is available both in English and Italian.
