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Laicism

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

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Laicization

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(Latin: laicus, lay)

Exclusive administration of the affairs of the church by lay-men. Anti-clerical proponents of a separation of Church and State laicize, by measures of governmental supervision and control, functions that for ages belonged to the Church: education, marriage, hospitals, and charity organizations and maintenance of parishes, churches, convents and other religious institutions. Historically it appeared under various forms: Gallicanism, Febronianism, Josephinism. In more recent times laicization has also been called secularization, e.g., the anti-religious laws of France and Mexico. A laicistic program, denying the value of religious ideals for the civic,political, and social life of man, prevents the Church from functioning beyond the vestibule of her temples of worship.