Liberty. Patriarchy. And the Catholic Church. One of the reasons why these are the three Pillars of Western Civilization is because these pillars correspond to the three “necessary societies” in a civilization – Liberty to the State, Patriarchy to the Family, and the Catholic Church to the Church.
The Family is necessary because it is the first society, arising naturally out of the sexual relationship between man and woman and the propagation of the human race. The State is necessary because it naturally arises as the organized use of violence in a society or over a territory. The Church is necessary because it was instituted by Christ, the God-man, as His instrument for gathering men into the society of salvation.
The Family, the State, and the Church experience different degrees of corruption, corresponding to their fulfillment of their proper ends, but all three necessarily exist, and so will endure in some form until the end of human civilization. Each society has an effect on the other two – the Family on the State and the Church, the State on the Family and the Church, and the Church on the Family and the State. The Family and the State have been present in all civilizations, the Church only to the extent of evangelization. What we are calling the West corresponds to Christendom, that is, where Christianity and the Church is, or until recently was, the predominant moral and religious force.
But why Liberty, Patriarchy, and the Catholic Church? Because these three pillars represent the proper relationship of the individual to the corresponding society. In brief:
The chief relationship between the individual and the State must be Liberty. Liberty is necessary because man was created free by God. Freedom is necessary both for the achievement of man’s natural ends and his supernatural end.
The chief relationship between the individual and the Family must be Patriarchy. Patriarchy is necessary because man and woman are made for each other in marriage. Patriarchy is necessary both for the formation of marriages and the fulfillment of the purposes of marriage.
And the chief relationship between the individual and the Church must be as a baptized Christian in communion with the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is necessary because Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and He established His Church as His instrument for man’s salvation.
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