The New Authoriphobia

Pope Francis has treated Catholic social doctrine as…well…doctrine. So did the last four popes. (Indeed, the last four are responsible for much of it themselves.)  But the astonishing media coverage of Pope Francis has forced Catholics who identify as economic conservatives to confront doctrines of the Church which are at odds with their politics in a much more direct way. We saw hints of it in response to Pope Benedict’s social doctrine, but it has been the teachings of Pope Francis which have led to many in this group to be upfront about their dissent.

In response, a friend of mine from grad school went off on his Facebook wall recently, describing these Catholics as “authority-phobes.” (Hereafter, “authoriphobes.”) On board with the Church’s claims which fit with their secular politics, they dissent from many doctrinal claims about economics and the structure of labor. Here is one classic example from JPII’s Laborem Excercens: