This article examines the notion of the ethical commonwealth (EC) in Kant's Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (Religion). EC is usually interpreted as a non-religious transformation of the notion of the highest good (HG), i.e. as a secular community within which we improve ourselves in order to obtain virtue and happiness of the highest degree. Yet, this interpretation does not cohere with the text of Religion. However, comparing EC with the notion of the supreme good (SG), it turns out that EC is rather a religious variation of SG. Furthermore, focusing attention on the role of a church and a holy scripture, it is indicated that a church and a holy scripture provide us means for progress toward the realization of EC by purifying the underlying religion in the direction of a rational religion. In addition to this, the realization of EC has a specific function in Kant's whole ethical theory i.e. it is a possibility condition for hoping for the realization of HG.
The results indicate that EC also reveals an often overlooked social or community dimension of Kant's ethics.

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