Cartoon 741: Sovereignty

Historically, especially in the West, church and state were linked. Catholic clergy had a dual role. They served as the foreign diplomats for Portugal and Spain when they ruled the world and they converted people. The church was also the inaugurator of positions of rulership in the major European countries. It supplied the clerks and scribes that were administrators in nations. The church was so important that the eldest son of royalty was destined for a clergy career.

Practically from its earliest established history the church was recognized as a Sovereign State. Officially it resided in a part of territory carved out of Rhome known as the Vatican. It was its own nation. In the modern world that concept of a religion as a nation state is failing. The Catholic church no longer dominates the ruling nations of the world through its authority over their populations. Nation-state purgatives have evaporated accordingly and are increasingly ceremonial.

The sexual improprieties of the clergy have caused out cries in the West. Accompanying those cries are demanded on-going remedies. The demands represent an encroachment of church sovereignty. The church must act. But the actions must appear as those of a sovereign power and not those of a driven organization.