Citoyenneté et identités religieuses dans la doctrine allemande du droit public ecclésiastique au XIXe siècle. Aux sources intellectuelles du modèle allemand de sécularisation

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the legal doctrine of ecclesiastical public law as taught in German universities in the 19th century shaped some of the basic notions of current law, particularly the core idea according to which some churches, or »religious societies«, are privileged by law, whereas others are not. This system was conceived in a context where individual religious freedom and the neutrality of the state were not the leading principles, and where the objective was to create a kind of parity between the two main churches (Catholicism and Protestantism) in bi-confessional societies. The conception of a »Christian state« – that is to say, a state that always seeks to translate Christian principles in its law and in its actions and cannot, therefore, admit non-Christians among its citizens – prevailing among 19th-century scholars, and recognition extended only to Christian churches. This article studies the intellectual transformation of this Staatskirchenrecht shaped by Christianity into a more secularized, »public law« oriented vision. It will emphasize the essential moments of these doctrinal evolutions and their reception in positive law.

Keywords

• christian state
• staatskirchenrecht
• public corporation
• religious identity