The Principle of the Healthy Cooperation between the State and the Church for the Benefit of the Institution of Marriage and the Family: An Introduction to the Issue

Abstract

The article deals with two themes that are of fundamental importance for the present and the future of the relations between the state, the Church and the nation. The first issue concerns the principle of Church–state cooperation with respect to the paradigm of religious-political dualism that emerged in European culture following Jesus Christ’s commandment, “So give back to Cesar what is Cesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21), with respect to two legal systems – canon law and Polish law – in the context of social and political transformations leading from the communist totalitarianism to democracy. The second issue relates to the application of the principle of Church–state cooperation to benefit the institution of marriage and the family, in keeping with Article 18 of the Polish Constitution and Article 11 of the Concordat between the Holy See and Poland.