Consequences of having an official Catholic party

I am not saying that all officially Catholic parties are based on such a deception. There are some that truly fulfil a useful function and defend the Church’s interests by providing a united front and strength to the Catholic citizens. But experience clearly shows that, although an officially Catholic party usually arises to serve the Church, I think it is almost impossible for it not to end up making use of the Church.

The reason is that sooner or later the exceptional situation that has made necessary this special unity among Catholics in public life will return to normal, and so the need for a single and compulsory party for Catholics will disappear.

Then something very human but also very disagreeable usually happens. The official Catholics who lead the party are not willing to lose their privileged position and try to maintain it at all costs. To achieve this, they can go so far as to exert a kind of moral blackmail: either they stay in power with the backing of the hierarchy, or everything will collapse, because the enemies of the Church will have a free reign.

And they are right. With their exclusivist and tyrannical policies they have caused all the other organizations and groups made up of Catholics to atrophy and be side-lined. As a result, only they are in a position to act with some strength. Then the moment comes when the Church feels that she is fully committed and is tightly bound to the destiny of the official Catholic party.