Integralism - Opus Publicum

January 26, 2015 Catholic Social Thought, Integralism, Politics

Liberal, Radical, and Integralist Catholics

Liberal, radical, and integralist Catholics — all three are the subject of my piece over at Front Porch Republic, “Illiberal Catholicism One Year On.” From the article:

Stepping out from the shadows to accompany the radical Catholic critique of liberalism is a refreshed iteration of Catholic integralism (sometimes called “integrist”) which takes its bearings from the classic Thomistic tradition and the Church’s modern social magisterium which first appeared in the anti-French Revolutionary declarations of Pope Pius VI; received forceful reaffirmation in Blessed Pius IX’s Syllabus Errorum; and was deepened through such seminal magisterial pronouncements as Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, St. Pius X’s Notre Charge Apostolique, and Pius XI’s Quas Primas, along with Quadragessimo Anno. This integralism, which is neither romantic nor pessimistic, asks in solidarity with the Thomistic philosopher-theologian Charles De Koninck, “When those in whose charge the common good lies do not order it explicitly to God, is society not corrupted at its very root?”

For more on Catholic integralism, see my latest offering at The Josias: “Catholic Integralism and the Social Kingship of Christ.”

January 23, 2015 Catholic Social Thought, Integralism

Catholic Integralism and the Social Kingship of Christ

My latest contribution to The Josias.

July 12, 2014 Catholic Social Thought, Integralism, Theology

A Note on Illiberal Catholicism

Thursday’s post, “The Other Illiberal Catholicism,” became an inadvertent source of confusion—if not scandal—for some well-intentioned folks on Facebook and Twitter. To be honest, I don’t know why. The post was not written, as some have suggested, to dismiss the form, brand, school, etc. of illiberal Catholicism discussed and defended by Patrick Deneen. Rather, the post was intended to highlight the “other wing” of illiberal Catholicism, one which may fittingly be titled “traditionalist illiberal Catholicism” or, if one prefers, “integralist illiberal Catholicism” (or just “integralism”). The lines between the camps can get blurry, however—and that’s a good thing. Too often Catholics of a certain stripe grow complacent with insider speak and preaching to their own choir. They deny that there is anything useful or right to learn from another perspective and so they dismiss it a priori. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I am not, in this instance, referring primarily to traditional Catholics. In today’s mainstream Catholic theological-philosophical environment, contestable positions such as the rejection of natura pura, the dismissal of the commentarial tradition, and the backwatering of Scholastic precision are used as litmus tests of (academic) orthodoxy. Communio, according to some, is the only real bulwark against the theological excesses and errors which broke out in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council and any attempt to “dabble” in the pre-conciliar social magisterium is rendered automatically suspect.

July 10, 2014 Catholic Social Thought, Integralism, Politics

The Other Illiberal Catholicism

Several months ago University of Notre Dame Professor Patrick Deneen made a bit of a splash with his American Conservative piece, “A Catholic Showdown Worth Watching.” The article was occasioned, in part, by neo-Catholic apologist John Zmirak’s “Illiberal Catholicism,” a childish polemic which inadvertently gave rise to a number of Catholics, including yours truly, adopting the title of Zmirak’s piece as their new moniker. Deneen doesn’t go quite that far terminologically with respect to himself and a host of other Catholic thinkers he identifies as anti-liberal: Alasdair MacIntyre, David Schindler, William Cavanaugh, John Medaille, C.C. Pecknold, and Andrew Haines, along with many of the contributors to Ethika Politika. Deneen prefers the label “radical Catholic,” though at the end of the day they oppose the ideology Zmirak and the old neo-Catholic guard—the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Michael Novak, and George Weigel—strenuously defended: the unnatural union of Catholicism and liberalism, specifically American-style liberal democracy. While neo-Catholicism spent a great deal of the 1990s and 00s allied with neoconservatism and the Republican Party, a sizable wave of Americanist Catholics are now embracing the tenets of high-octane economic liberalism and social freedom, better known as libertarianism. Some examples include Tom Woods and Jeffrey Tucker along with many of the movers-and-shakers at the Acton Institute.

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