[stfassisi]

If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said, "excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.40

If we see an erosion of civility, piety, morals, and good order in every liberal democracy ever established, we should not find this particularly surprising. We have had ample warning.

[Kolokotronis]

The God Ordained Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene of the Christian Roman Empire which lasted 1141 years.

This mosaic from Agia Sophia embodies the very real and popular view which that society, from top to bottom, had of itself for over 1000 years. It seems to me an unthinking arrogance for modern Westerners to dismiss out of hand one of the greatest, if not the greatest, human cultures and form of government in favor of the depravity which surrounds us today and which found it's roots in what we euphemistically call the "Enlightenment".