,
"the commonwealth" (chose publique), that is to say a distinct entity
consisting of generations which succeed each other in it, of infinite
duration and of a superior kind, divine or nearly so, which does not
belong to individuals but to which they belong, an organized body, with
special form and structure, based on traditions, constituted by laws and
ruled by a government. The absolute authority of the community over its
members and the despotic leadership of the community by its chiefs--such
is the Roman notion of the State and, for much stronger reasons, of
the Church. She, thus, is a militant, conquering, governing Rome,
predestined to universal empire, a legitimate sovereign like the other
one, but with a better title, for she derives hers from God. It is God
who, from the beginning, has preconceived and prepared her, who has
bodied her forth in the Old Testament and announced her through the
prophets; it is the Son of God who has built her up, who, to all
eternity, will never fail to maintain and guide her steps, who, through
his constant inspiration, ever remains present in her and active through
her. He has committed to her his revelation. She alone, expressly
delegated by Christ, possesses second sight, the knowledge of the
invisible, the comprehension of the ideal order of things as its Founder
prescribed and instituted, and hence, accordingly, the custodianship
and interpretation of the Scriptures, the right of framing dogmas and
injunctions, of teaching and commanding, of reigning over souls and
intellects, of fashioning belief and morals. Henceforth, the mystic
faculty is to be confined within dikes. At bottom, this is the faculty
for conceiving of the ideal, to obtain a vision of it, to have faith in
this vision and to act upon it; the more precious it is the greater the
necessity of its being under control. To preserve it from itself, to
put it on guard against the arbitrariness and diversity of individual
opinions, to prevent unrestrained digression, theoretically or
practically, either on the side of laxity or of rigor, requires a
government.--That this is a legacy of ancient Rome the Catholic Church
does not dispute. She styles herself the Roman Church. She still writes
and prays in Latin. Rome is always her capital; the title of her chief
is that which formerly designated the head of the pagan cult; after 1378
all the Popes except five, and since 1523 all, have been Italians; at
the present day, thir