Church and state in Europe.

The "wall of separation" between church and state in America, which was so hotly debated in the last presidential election, gives the impression that many Americans believe collaboration between the spiritual and the temporal smacks of monarchy--Throne and Altar--and Roman Catholicism. As far as Europe is concerned, this is far from true.

Various European countries had or still have established churches of one Christian denomination while they tolerate or even support other denominations. In fact, it is accurate to say that all governments of Western Europe collaborate in one way or another with religious bodies. Naturally, treatment of the various faiths differs from country to country and sometimes even from one region of a country to another. In the past, Spain prohibited non-Catholic denominations from spreading their teachings and insisted that they had to worship "in private," meaning that they couldn't have any church tower or bells. But members of these denominations weren't curtailed in their civic rights. Sweden, for its part, permitted Catholics to spread their teachings, but until 1952 it wouldn't permit a Catholic to become a cabinet member or to teach in an elementary school. To obtain a passport, Catholics had to have a certificate of good moral behavior from the Lutheran pastor in whose parish they lived. Until a generation ago, Norway denied entry to Jesuits; and Switzerland, unable to deport its own Jesuits (Swiss citizens, after all), didn't permit them to teach or to preach sermons. They could address the congregation in street clothes --but not from the pulpit.

The Federal Republic of Germany supports its churches financially by means of a payroll tax. The amount distributed is the same for the Lutherans and the Catholics, and this naturally gives the Catholic Church a big edge, since its clergy is unmarried.

Unlike the situation in the United States, religion is taught in public schools in most countries of Western Europe, with the exception of France. In Austria the churches have their own tax bureau that can call on the government for assistance. Belgium pays salaries to all clerics (and this includes rabbis) as does Luxembourg. In other words, there are established churches, state-supported churches, state-related churches, and so forth.

BUT THERE are two countries where church and state were and still are separated: Portugal and France. In Portugal, this was even true under the pious Antonio Salazar. Religion was taught only in church buildings (though in the Portuguese colonies it crept into the public schools). In France, the public schools offer no religious instruction, but religion is taught in the lycee--high school--by chaplains authorized by the local bishop. Even non-Catholics can receive religious instruction from the chaplains, religion being considered part and parcel of higher general education. Without such knowledge, the Reformation, large sections of history, or even the essential nature of the great cathedrals is incomprehensible.

Besides the public schools, France has state-supported ecoles libres--free schools--90 per cent of which are Catholic, but there also are Calvinist, Lutheran, and Jewish ecoles libres. The Mitterrand government wanted to nationalize all these schools, but this provoked vast denominations that have forced the government to reconsider. Unlike Switzerland, France's "anticlerical" laws, directed largely against the religious orders, have fallen into abeyance without being formally abrogated.

In Italy, the clergy is salaried, though miserably. Even in liberal Denmark the Catholic clergy acts as registrar of births, deaths, and marriages. Finland, which has a Lutheran state church, has always been most generous toward Catholics; with only three thousand Catholics, it opened diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1939, whereas Sweden, with 120,000 Catholics, did so only in 1984.

Thus, in free Europe the governments don't shy away from collaboration with churches. No state can be indifferent to the moral climate within its own boundaries or outside them, for that matter. The inclinations of all nations aren't the same, but it's well-nigh certain that a decline of religious conviction will coincide, not coincidentally, with a decline of ethical standards. "If you take their religion from people," Napoleon declared, "you will have nothing but highway robbers."