Do “Right” and “Left” Belong in the Catholic Church?

The partisan division that runs deep in America has recently taken a violent turn. Political affiliations manifest competing visions for the country’s future, and increasingly, for human life itself.

Is freedom absolute in a way that should progress no matter the consequences? Or, are there fundamental truths and goods that should be conserved and respected?

We often speak of the fundamental divide between these general positions as right-wing and left-wing, conservative and liberal, as solely political, without realizing the surprising Catholic connection to their origin.