Pope Pius XI's Extraordinary - but Undeserved - Praise of the American Supreme Court

David R. Upham

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion

Abstract

In 2012, Roman Catholic institutions in the United States were challenged by a new law that many American Catholics deemed not only unjust, but also unconstitutional. In February, the Secretary of Health and Human Services adopted a regulation that generally required employers, including many Catholic institutions, to provide artificial contraception as part of any offered healthcare plan. Believing such regulation to be an infringement of religious liberty, various Catholic dioceses and other Catholic organizations filed lawsuits in federal court seeking to enjoin the enforcement of the regulation Ninety years ago, in 1922, American Catholics met a similar challenge. In the fall elections of that year, Oregon voters approved a state law compelling all the state's children to attend public schools. The law would have effectively closed all the Catholic grade schools (and other private schools) in the state. Emboldened by their success in Oregon, proponents of compulsory public education initiated efforts to adopt similar laws in other states. In response, Catholics nationwide mobilized; and in Oregon, with the support of the National Catholic Welfare Council, the Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to enjoin the law's enforcement. The lawsuit was successful, and the federal district court granted the injunction. On appeal, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the Supreme Court unanimously concluded that the Constitution prohibited the states from compelling students to attend only public schools. The law, the Court affirmed, interfered with the right of parents to direct the education of their own children, and the Sisters' right to teach. American Catholics rejoiced in the victory. Even the Bishop of Rome joined in the celebration. In his 1929 encyclical letter on Christian education, Divini Illius Magistri, Pope Pius XI explicitly praised the Supreme Court's decision. In vindicating the right and duty of parents to direct their own children's education, he cited, as supporting authorities, not only Thomas Aquinas, Canon Law, and papal encyclicals, but also the United States Supreme Court: This incontestable right of the family has at various times been recognized by nations anxious to respect the natural law in their civil enactments. Thus, to give one recent example, the Supreme Court of the United States of America, in a decision on an important controversy, declared that it is not in the competence of the State to fix any uniform standard of education by forcing children to receive instruction exclusively in public schools, and it bases its decision on the natural law: the child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty, to educate him and prepare him for the fulfillment of his obligations. The "important controversy" mentioned here was Pierce v. Society of Sisters.

First Page

25

Last Page

68

Publication Date

Fall 2012

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS