Why History Matters Now

Five of the six Catholic members of the Roberts Court are conservatives. For that reason, many Americans—and many Catholics—assume that the Court’s recent rulings are consistent with Catholic teaching. That is an error. It is true that the tradition of Catholic social thought, at least from Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum to the present, offers ideas that can be appropriated by both parties. Only a small, and shrinking, majority of American Catholics has voted for Democratic candidates in recent years. The Church’s defenses of property rights and opposition to abortion appeal to many Republicans. On the other hand, the Church’s insistence that along with rights come social obligations, particularly the obligation to do justice to the poor, appeals to many Democrats. Ever since the 1960s, the Catholic hierarchy’s emphasis on vexed issues of sexual morality has blurred essential features of Catholic social thought that should be kept in focus. Catholic teaching has condemned not only Marxism and state socialism but also unregulated market capitalism, offering an alternative ideal in which intermediate institutions such as the family, labor unions, and voluntary associations play an important part in securing for every individual a chance to live a life of virtuous flourishing. Read Full Article »