Augustine - Patron of State Catholic Conferences?
by
Christopher Dodson
Executive Director
North Dakota Catholic Conference
November 2007
Do state
Catholic conferences have their roots in the work of Saint
Augustine? Maybe not directly, but many parallels exist
between the actions of the fourth century convert, bishop,
and Doctor of the Church, and today's state Catholic
conferences.
As the Christian Church grew in both numbers and acceptance
in the Roman Empire, questions arose concerning the
relationship between the church and the state. Church
leaders, with persecutions a still recent memory, sometimes
hesitated to publicly challenge affairs of state. Imperial
leaders, meanwhile, went so far as to openly question
whether the teachings of Christ were compatible with the
realities of government.
Saint Augustine, however, saw it as his obligation as a
bishop to challenge injustices carried out by the
government. Most scholars agree that Augustine did not
consider such actions as engaging in politics. Rather, he
viewed them simply as a response to the Gospel. To him,
society should be just and Christ was the truly Just Man.
For example, Augustine hated the slave trade and spoke
against government policies that allowed slave traders to
capture and enslave farmers. He actively intervened for the
right of asylum and decried efforts to dehumanize enemies
through rhetorical devices. Even enemies, he reminded
others, are children of God.
Some of the injustices Augustine took on are still with us
today. He frequently appealed to government officials to
grant mercy and justice to the poor. He even called upon
the emperor to appoint a defender of the poor in judicial
and administrative matters. He called for penal reform and,
like today's bishops, he called on government officials to
refrain from using capital punishment and torture.
Also like today's bishops, Augustine received criticism
from those that thought religion, and particularly clergy,
should stay out of matters of state. Augustine, however,
saw no choice in the matter. To him, such involvement was
part of what it meant to be a bishop and a Christian.
It is not, however, just Augustine's “political
activism” that gives rise to the comparisons to state
Catholic conferences. Saint Augustine often pursued these
in collaboration with his fellow bishops from North Africa.
Indeed, some church historians consider these councils of
African bishops involving Augustine as the precursors to
today's regional episcopal conferences.
Today's bishop conferences, like the councils of North
Africa, provide a way for bishops to work collaboratively,
including in matters of public policy. The federal system
of government in the United States gives states significant
decision-making authority. This makes state bishop
conferences uniquely suited to address public policy
issues. This fact might explain why all but two of the
states with more than one diocese have a state Catholic
conference.
The similarities between Augustine's work and today's state
Catholic conferences gets even more interesting. At one of
their councils, the North African bishops agreed to send
representatives to Rome to petition officials on behalf of
the church and the poor. The representatives were probably
laymen. I like to think of these representatives as the
first state Catholic conference directors. We do not know
who they were, but if they are in Heaven with Saint
Augustine, maybe they are praying for today's bishops and
today's state Catholic conference directors.
