The Secret of Our Power – Part 4
TimeWatch Editorial
September 23, 2016
R.W. Thompson in his book “The Papacy and the Civil Power” in chapter six entitled “Devotion to Liberty in the United States,” on page 161, describes the immovable devotion of the United States to the concept of the Separation of Church and State.
“SINCE the formation of our Government, there has been, among the people of the United States, much discussion— and some of it angry and exciting—involving the extent and distribution of civil power, and the relations between the National Government and the States; yet no portion of them have been disposed to attack the fundamental principles upon which our institutions are founded. Their differences, although often radical and threatening, have hitherto failed to eradicate from their minds the strong attachment they have always borne to that form of popular freedom and sovereignty which constitutes one of the most distinctive features in our plan of government. Even sectional jealousies and civil war, with all their terrible and deplorable consequences, and with the bad passions they invariably engender, have failed to destroy or weaken this attachment; and to-day there is no single State in the Union which, if it were remodeling its domestic government, would not preserve with the most meticulous care the separation of the Church from the State, so that the people should remain the primary source of all civil power.” R.W. Thompson, “The Papacy and the Civil Power,” page 161
R.W. Thompson’s book was published in the year 1876. His description of the feelings of attachment to the Separation of Church and State in the United States, reveals the relief that filled the hearts of those who passed through the persecutions experienced before the establishment of the First Amendment. However, the position of the Papacy remained unchanged. Notice how Mr. Thompson describes the attitude of the Vatican.
“If God gave “civil principality" to Peter in order that he might establish the Church, then the conclusion is inevitable that the same civil power which Peter possessed is necessary to govern the Church, not only at Rome, but elsewhere. And it must be possessed in the same degree in all parts of the world ; for whatever is necessary to preserve and advance Christianity at one place is equally so, for the same purposes, at all other places. The faith and the Church, as papists insist, must both be unchanging. The whole "Christian commonwealth" must be so wedded together as to become a perfect unity.” R.W. Thompson, “The Papacy and the Civil Power,” page 163
The clarity of the papal position was without blemish. There was no attempt to hide their view of the actions of this new nation called the United States of America. To the papal “authority” the very idea that there was a “Separation of Church and State” was considered heretical. Listen to how R.W. Thompson continues.
“To see what the pope meant in his Encyclical of 1871, when he said that he must have the " fullest liberty " to rule " the entire flock of the Lord," and that, in doing so, he must not be subject to any " civil power," there is no difficulty in seeing where, in his view, we have gone beyond the limits of the temporal order, and offended against the Church and the true faith. All our constitutions, national and state, have forbidden a religious establishment; have separated the affairs of the State from those of the Church, by breaking the old bond of union between them; have left every man's conscience entirely free, so that he may entertain whatsoever form of religious faith it shall dictate, or none, if that shall seem to him consistent with duty.” R.W. Thompson, “The Papacy and the Civil Power,” page 168
The very idea that America has “gone beyond the limits” means that there must be retribution. It might take time, but the facts are clearly defined. The Papal control must be reestablished, says Rome, and the apparent temporary silence that we are now experiencing must not be mistaken for a change of heart on her part. Listen as R.W Thompson continues:
“Is any man so ignorant as not to know that all these have been denounced, not only by Pope Pius IX., but by many of his predecessors? In his view, they involve matters which do not legitimately belong to civil government in the narrow and contracted sphere in which he would confine it. They pertain to the spiritual order, and are, therefore, within the circle of the spiritual jurisdiction! They affect the true faith, infringe upon the rights of the Church, limit the authority of the papacy, curtail the rightful powers of the hierarchy, give encouragement to heresy and infidelity, and for these and other reason are defiant to the laws of God ; therefore, God has imposed upon him, as the successor of Peter, the obligation of declaring that they are impious in his sight, and of employing all the weapons in the pontifical armory for their extermination!” R.W. Thompson, “The Papacy and the Civil Power,” page 168
Notice the term in the above paragraph, “weapons.” This does not only apply to military hardware, but rather includes every available tool that might be employed to accomplish the task at hand. Much of this has already been accomplished today. The subtlety of the operation has succeeded beyond the imagination of many. The final steps remain. R.W Thompson describes one of them.
“And thus, to the extent of being enabled to regulate all these matters according to the command of God and the requirements of the Church, by striking them from our constitutions, and repealing all the statutes passed for their preservation, he considers that God has united both spiritual and temporal authority in his hands, and that the "civil power" of this country has no just right to place the slightest impediment in his way! The nation must bow in humiliation and disgrace before him, so that as the papal car rides in triumph over it, the last remembrance of the work of our fathers shall be crushed out!” R.W. Thompson, “The Papacy and the Civil Power,” page 160
Cameron Bowen
