Catholic Social Teaching and American Politics: How Can a Church Contribute to Civic Dialogue in a Liberal Democracy?

See Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998). Also see Mark S. Cladis, “Painting Landscapes of Religion in America: Four Models of Religion in Democracy,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76, no. 4 (2008), 874–904; Cristina Lafont, “Religion and the Public Sphere: What are the Deliberative Obligations of Democratic Citizenship?,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 35, no. 1/2 (2009), 127–150; Seymour Martin Lipset, “The Social Requisites of Democracy Revisited,” American Sociological Review 59, no. 1 (1994), 1–22; Michael Minkenberg, “Democracy and Religion: Theoretical and Empirical Observations on the Relationship between Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy,” Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 33, no. 6 (2007), 887–909; Antonin Wagner “Religion and Civil Society: A Critical Reappraisal of America’s Civic Engagement Debate,” Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly 37, no. 4 (2008), 626–645.

See useful discussion on the density of a religious community’s self-identity by Hans Urs von Balthasar, translated by Edward T. Oakes, in Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4: Spirit and Institution (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1995). The work was originally published in German in 1974.

http://www.catholic-action.org/cst.htm.

The Association of Religion Data Archives: http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/maps/Ardamap.asp?GRP=1&map1=15.

The American Cardinals heading a diocese in 2013 include Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo (Galveston-Houston); Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan (New York); Cardinal Francis E. George (Chicago); Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley (Boston); and Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl (Washington). The three cardinals are not currently diocesan bishops include Cardinal Raymond L. Burke (Prefect, Apostolic Signatura); Cardinal James M. Harvey ( Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls); and Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien (Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher). There are also eleven retired American Cardinals. See http://www.usccb.org/about/bishops-and-dioceses/.

In addition, the Roman Catholic Church has been ordaining permanent deacons since 1967. Prior to that date, the Church only conferred deacon status to those men intending to join Holy Orders (i.e., the priesthood). Today, single men who enter the deaconate may not marry, married men may become deacons only if they have the consent of their wife, and those men may not remarry if they are widowed. Information gathered from http://www.catholic-action.org/cst.htm.

John T. McGreevy, “Anti-Catholicism in the United States: The View from History,” in American Catholics, American Culture: Tradition and Resistance (American Catholics in the Public Square), ed. Margaret O’Brien Steinfels (Lantham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004). Also see Gary D. Glenn and John Stack, “Is American Democracy Safe for Catholicism?” Review of Politics 62, no. 1 (2000), pp. 5–48.

Gene Burns, The Frontiers of Catholicism: The Politics of Ideology in a Liberal World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), p. 74.

See useful discussion in Ted Jelen, “The American Church: Being Catholic and American,” in The Catholic Church and Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives, eds. Paul Christopher Manuel, Lawrence Reardon and Clyde Wilcox (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2006), pp. 69–88 (especially pp. 72–74). See also Ted Jelen, To Serve God and Mammon: Church-State Relations in American Politics (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000) and Clyde Wilcox and Ted Jelen, “Religion and Politics in an Open Market” in Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, The Few, and The Many (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 289–314.

See John Courtney Murray, We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (Oxford: Sheed & Ward Classic, 1960). Also see the wonderful discussion of five key themes in the work of John Courtney Murray by Gary D. Glenn, “Murray After 50 Years: Five Themes,” Catholic Social Science Review 16 (2011), pp. 113–122.

Michael J. Himes and Kenneth R. Himes, O. F. M., Fullness of Faith: The Public Significance of Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 1993), p. 3.

Dulles, 55–56. Dulles notes that “the importance of an encounter between faith and culture,” as noted by Avery Dulles, S. J., “has been a major theme of the present [John Paul II] pontificate. See Avery Dulles, S. J., “Catholicism and American Culture: The Uneasy Dialogue,” America 162 no. 3 (1990), 54–59. Also please see Thomas G. Guarino, “Why Avery Dulles Matters” http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/04/why-avery-dulles-matters-1243317340.

See James F. Hitchcock, The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life, 2 vols. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004) Ralph Martin, Will Many Be Saved?: What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization (Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012).

See George Weigel, Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Catholic Church (New York: Basic Books, 2013); Michael Novak, Writing from Left to Right: My Journey from Liberal to Conservative (New York: Random House, 2013).

See Charles E. Curran, Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian(Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1986); Daniel Maguire, Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

Daniel Berrigan, And the Risen Bread: Selected and New Poems 1957–1997 (New York: Fordham University Press, 1998); Matthew Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2006).

Ibid.

Ibid., 57. See also Avery Cardinal Dulles, Church and Society: The Laurence J. McGinley Lectures, 1988–2007 (New York: Fordham University Press, 2008).

E. J. Dionne, “There is no ‘Catholic Vote.’ And Yet, it Matters,” Washington Post B1 (18 June 2000).

William V. D’Antonio, Michele Dillon and Mary L. Gautier, American Catholics in Transition (Lantham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012), p. 154.

Ibid. See discussion on pp. 134–138.

See Ted Jelen, “The American Church: Of Being Catholic and American,” in The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives, eds. Paul Christopher Manuel, Lawrence C. Reardon and Clyde Wilcox (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2006), pp. 69–89.

Notably, Reagan was the only republican to win a Catholic landslide in these fifteen elections, all of the others were democrats.

Dionne, “There is no ‘Catholic Vote.’ And Yet, it Matters,” Washington Post B1 (18 June 2000).

http://www.catholic-action.org/cst.htm.

The Catholic Community Action Commission notes that “(Catholic Social) Teaching is rooted in biblical orientations and reflections on Christian tradition. It is a living tradition of thought and action. This tradition calls on all members of the Church, rich and poor alike, to work to eliminate the occurrence and effect of poverty, to speak out against injustice, and to shape a more caring society and a more peaceful world.” http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/foundational-documents.cfm.

Excerpted from “Political Responsibility: Revitalizing American Democracy” and “Political Responsibility: Proclaiming the Gospel of Life, Protecting the Least Among Us, and Pursuing the Common Good.” Statements of the United States Catholic Conference Administrative Board, September 1991 and September 1995. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/.

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/See useful discussion in Joe Holland and Peter Henriot, S.J., Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1985).

http://www.catholic-action.org/cst.htm.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Economic Justice for All (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 1986).

In line with previous papal encyclicals, and inspired by the teaching of Vatican II regarding the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern world, the pastoral letter Economic Justice for Allwas issued in 1986. It was preceded by a long process of discussion with experts, and was an important event in the life of the church.

David Hollenbach, S. J., Claims in Conflict: Retrieving and Renewing the Catholic Human Rights Tradition (New York: Paulist Press, 1979), p. 42.

See discussion in Paul Christopher Manuel, “The United States-Vatican Relationship: “Parallel Endeavors of Peace, Competing Visions of Justice,” in Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension Between Faith and Power, eds. Kristin E. Heyer, Mark J. Rozell and Michael A. Genovese, (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008), pp. 201–212.

John A. Ryan, A Living Wage (New York: Macmillan, 1906); John A. Ryan, The Church and Labor (New York: Macmillan, 1920); John A. Ryan. Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of our Present Distribution of Wealth (New York: Macmillan, 1927); John A. Ryan, A Better Economic Order (New York: Harper, 1935).

Philip Gleason, “American Catholics and Liberalism, 1798–1960,” in Catholicism and Liberalism: Contributions to American Public Philosophy, eds. R. Bruce Douglass and David Hollenbach (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 57.

Nancy L. Roberts, Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker (Albany: SUNY, 1984).

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Tenth Anniversary Edition of Economic Justice For All (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1987), p. 17.

Philip J. Wogman, “Emerging Issues in Economic Ethics,” in The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics, ed. Larry Rasmussen (1984), pp. 93–122.

Gerald Mara, “Poverty and Justice,” inCatholic Social Teaching and the United States Economy: Working Papers for a Bishops’ Pastoral, eds. John W. Houck and Oliver F. Williams, C. F. C. (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), p. 158.

David Hollenbach, S. J. “The Bishops and the US Economy,” in Theological Studies, 111 (June, 1986), 101–114. See also Oliver F. Williams and John W. Houck, eds. The Common Good and US Capitalism (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987).

The bishops confront the key assumptions of American liberalism (e.g., individualism and private property). For the bishops, social justice is best defined as a relational concept (i.e., the ability to fully participate as members of a community.) In a related point, this Catholic challenge is also directed against what they view as “excessive individualism” of American politics and society. See also Andrew Yuengert “Economics and Interdisciplinary Exchange in Catholic Social Teaching” in Journal of Business Ethics, 100, Supplement 1: and the encyclical-letter “Caritas in Veritate: Ethical Challenges for Business” (2011), pp. 41–54.

There are many Episcopal letters which encompass CST objectives, including Economic Justice for All, Brothers and Sisters to us, Statement on Capital Punishment, The Challenge of Peace,and To the Ends of the Earth. See http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/foundational-documents.cfm.

Mary C. Segers, Church Polity and American Politics: Issues in Contemporary Catholicism (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990), p. 12.

Task Force on Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Education, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions (Washington, DC: US Catholic Conference, 1996). See also: http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/1192-political-responsibility-proclaiming-the-gospel-of-life-protecting-the-least-among-us-and-pursuing-the-common-good.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/12/the-pope-on-the-idolatry-of-money.html; http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1305014.htm; http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/27/the_pope_slams_tyranny_of_capitalism.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/pope-francis-outreach-atheists-not-controversial-it-seems.

See R. Bruce Douglass and William J. Gould, “After the Pastoral: The Beginning of a Discussion,” Commonweal 113 (5 December 1986), p. 653. See also Amy Gutmann, “Communitarian Critics of Liberalism,” Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs 14 (1985), pp. 321–322. John Courtney Murray wrote extensively on this subject. See We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1960).

Donal Dorr, Option for the Poor (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000), p. 336.

Michael Novak, “A Conversation with Archbishop Rumbert Weakland, Catholic Social Teaching and the US Economy” American Enterprise Institute, 25 (8 May 1985). See also J. Bryan Hehir, “Church-State and Church-World: The Ecclesiological Implications,” Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America 41, (1986).

See very useful discussion by David Hollenbach, Theological Studies 46, no 1 (1985), 101–114. http://www.ts.mu.edu/readers/content/pdf/46/46.1/46.1.7.pdf.

These journals were cited by Gerry Mara, in “Poverty and Justice,” p. 158. See also Oliver F. Williams, “The Making of a Pastoral Letter,” in Catholic Social Teaching, op. cit. pp. 1–22.

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf (see page 21).

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/upload/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship.pdf.

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship-document.cfm (see page 19).

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/politics/issues/abortion-and-faithful-citizenship/.

The Association of Religion Data Archives: http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/maps/Ardamap.asp?GRP=1&map1=15.

Ericka Costa and Tommaso Ramus, “The Italian ‘Economia Atiendale’” and “Catholic Social Teaching: How to Apply the Common Good Principle at the Managerial Level,” Journal of Business Ethics 106, no. 1, Special Issue on Which Values for Which Organizations? – The EBEN 23rd Annual Conference (March 2012), pp. 103–116.