How are we to understand our relationship to “God's law” and “human law?” What are we to do when these are in tension? I believe an incident that occurred in the past year allows us a good entry way into these challenging questions.

Last spring Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angles received much criticism when he said that he would instruct the priests of his archdiocese to disobey a law approved by the House of Representatives in December 2005 which would subject church and humanitarian workers to criminal penalties for assisting undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States . He defended his position with the following statement:

Some supporters of the bill have even accused the church of encouraging illegal immigration and meddling in politics. But I stand by my statement. Part of the mission of the Roman Catholic Church is to help people in need. It is our Gospel mandate, in which Christ instructs us to clothe the naked, feed the poor and welcome the stranger. . . .

Providing humanitarian assistance to those in need should not be made a crime, as the House bill decrees. As written, the proposed law is so broad that it would criminalize even minor acts of mercy like offering a meal or administering first aid.

Current law does not require social service agencies to obtain evidence of legal status before rendering aid, nor should it. Denying aid to a fellow human being violates a law with a higher authority than Congress—the law of God. 1

He then continued his defense:

That does not mean that the Catholic Church encourages or supports illegal immigration. Every day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals and schools, we witness the baleful consequences of illegal immigration. Families are separated, workers are exploited and migrants are left by smugglers to die in the desert. Illegal immigration serves neither the migrant nor the common good.

What the church supports is an overhaul of the immigration system so that legal status and legal channels for migration replace illegal status and illegal immigration. . . .

Only comprehensive reform of the immigration system, embodied in the principles of another proposal in Congress, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration bill, will help solve our current immigration crisis. 2

Cardinal Mahony's response says much about what is a very complicated issue: the relation between God's law and civil law and our responsibilities to each.

God's Law

First, “God's law” is primary. In the Hebrew Scriptures obedience is always related to justice. It is not related to being placed under the rule of a king whose power is to be viewed in an unconditional authoritarian manner.

Humans are to respond to God's command to justice and loving kindness. 3 In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus summarizes the fulfillment of the law as love of God and love of neighbor (Matt. 6:12; 22:19).

One basic purpose of civil law is to protect the common good. This is why it is to be generally guarded and upheld. However, at times Christians in conscience disobey civil law because it fails to protect the good of all. If the law were passed, Cardinal Mahony's response would stand in a long tradition of women and men who disobeyed a law judged immoral on the basis of conscience.

When many thought there was nothing to be done to save Jews from being paraded into gas chambers, a handful of people throughout Europe risked their lives to prevent others from the same fate. 4

In the 1960s the image of black and white college students sitting at “white only” lunch counters while receiving abuse was seared into our collective consciousness. Their refusal to “cooperate” with an unjust practice awoke a nation and their illegal action unmasked a reality far more offensive than the fact they violated a law.

James Keenan writes, “Our consciences are not . . . privileged places for whatever goals we set. Our consciences are those privileged places specifically and perpetually summoned by God to avoid sin, be merciful, and to attend to suffering. Our consciences are where we hear the call to act as Christ has. By our consciences we are not free to be idly whoever we wish to be; rather by our consciences we are bound to Christ.” 5

Inevitably whenever it comes to the question of conscience and disobedience, a key deciding factor of the discernment is the one which Cardinal Mahony points to: how can we respond best to the call to love our neighbor?

Civil Law

The importance of the second part of the Cardinal's response, however, is not to be overlooked. Love of neighbor today involves not only charity but also a commitment to the transformation of social structures. Mahony therefore supports an overhaul of the immigration system and gives support to an alternative bill.

While recognizing the many complexities of law, Catholic social teaching expressed in the

• Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World,
• United States Bishops pastorals on peace and the economy and
• encyclicals of Paul VI and John Paul II

has encouraged us to work for the achievement of a more just common good through law. In democratic societies, law is a common responsibility and a social activity which holds the possibilities of constraining racism, sexism, violence, environmental damage and economic disparity. 6

Love of neighbor calls everyone who is able to participate responsibly and according to their calling in the political life of society. This takes day in and day out commitment.

It involves studying elections, knowing candidates, staying current about local and global events and voting responsibly. It is important to find sources of analysis that are trustworthy. These “little duties” of civic life mean sharing in the corporate responsibilities of creating a more just society.

Our search for justice and the common good amid the complexities of the law demands a continual exercise of imagination, prudence, intelligence, networking and discernment. It is not easy to weigh the many implications of actions and decisions or to see the impact one choice will have on other aspects of the community. 7

Demanding as it is, it is important that we take the rights and responsibilities we have in relation to law seriously for it is one way we respond to what God asks of us in justice, charity and mercy.

Footnotes:

1. Roger Mahoney, “Called by God to Help,” New York Times, March 22, 2006 (accessed August 30) http://www.nytimes.com
2. Ibid.
3. Dorothee Solle, Creative Disobedience (Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 1995),19.
4. David Gushee, The Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: A Christian Interpretation (Minneapolis,MN: Fortress, 1994), 69.
5. James Keenan, Moral Wisdom, Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition (NY: Sheed and Ward, 2004) 174.
6. James Bresnahan, “Civil Law,” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, Judith Dwyer, ed. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994), 175-182.
7. Ibid, 82.

About the author: Paulette Skiba, BVM teaches Religious Studies at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa.

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