The American Spectator

Liberal Reader| 7.9.09 @ 11:42AM

The pope is obviously not "more liberal" than people who are pro-choice.

I think what's interesting is that the pope is reemphasizing (not that it's not always there) the commitment of the Church to social justice.

While the Church is decidedly not inclined to Marxism or socialism, the last pope having offered a stern and compelling rebuke to these philosophies, it is also not a wing of the Republican party, out pleading for corporate interests and bombing Arabs.

The Church continues to advance a culture of life around the world, of course, but the pope makes it clear that working on behalf of the poor is a central aspect of the Church's mission. Included in that mission are in fact support ideas usually associated in America with the Democratic party, such as a support of organized labor.

It seems we are ALL capable of supermarket Catholicism.

Kelpius| 7.9.09 @ 12:30PM

Dionne the Catholicism obfuscator and Washington media mediocrity, honored by the smart set with one of those mysterious lifetime "wise man" certificates (see also David Gergen). On and on he goes, his mind a warehouse of bumper sticker slogans, reshuffled for column after whining column in that tiresome, womanish style. Makes him a nice living and a "fellow" at some name-brand think tank.

Angel| 7.9.09 @ 2:01PM

The Pope supports infanticide? First I've heard that little nugget.

Kingsmill| 7.9.09 @ 2:13PM

It's absurd to fling around "liberal" or "conservative" in regards to Catholic social doctrine. It matters nothing if the Pope is personally liberal or conservative on this or that issue. The important matter is whether he explicates Catholic doctrine or not-and he does. Prudential matters of economics, concerning rates of taxation or structure of a welfare system or monetarism vs Keynesianism are left to the laity working within the world. Roman Catholics must inform their consciences with sound Catholic doctrine and work within the world.

JP| 7.9.09 @ 4:35PM

Liberal Reader,
I think you should first read Caritas in Veritate before you make general announcements. The same should hold true for pundits like Dionne. Believe it or not, Pope BXVI again stress the Right to Life supercedes all other rights (including the rights to profits and comfortable living).

This is the 3rd Encyclical of Pope BXVI. In each of them he uses the Latin word Caritas. In Catholic Theology, Caritas always refers to God's Love. The word charity derives from it, and unfortunately, the English translation for Caritas is love. But Caritas is something far different from any kind of love that humans fell or contain in themselves. Truth in God's Love refers to the devine love God has for all humans, his children. Christ commanded us to love eachother as God loves us, is a direct reference to Caritas. But as Pope BXVI rightfully stated, that kind of love cannot be found in Eros, nor in humans in general. It is not felt nor can it be deduced from human reason. Christ died because he loved us. That love transcended human emotions and thought. To say that BXVI puts social justice before abortion is absurd in the context of Caritas. God does not favor abortion in any means, and without life there can be no fullfillment of Caritas in the human realm.

What the Pope has done is to turn economics away from the material. Yes, that includes both Adam Smith and Karl Marx; Socialism and Capitalism. There is no social or political realm for Caritas; but there is an inward mystical one. The Pope's ideas predate the Modern. It is a call for inward absorbtion of God's grace through obedience, prayer, and striving to fullfill what Protestants sometimes call The Great Commission. The Pope's vision is an ancient one, and would therefore be considered conservative.

Things like the redistribution of wealth; complex financial dealings that only benefit institutional investors; speculation of the sort that made Soros a billionaire; or extreme defecit spending are mainly modern ailments. The encouragement of illegal immigration for political reasons as well as short term financial reasons rob the native worker of his vocation and his wage. Catholic social teaching doesn't require that we feed the poor while robbing the working poor.

There's a lot to think about.

Liberal Reader| 7.9.09 @ 4:45PM

JP --

Fair enough, although I'm not sure if you thought I was claiming the pope is now an advocate of illegal immigration.

Caritas might be understood by comparing it to its opposite, cupiditas, often associated with lust and greed.

At any rate, the pope seems to be reaffirming the Church's support of political and social policies that redress human suffering and increase conditions in which people can flourish.

The pope is not an advocate of quietism or resignation in the face of poverty and injustice. I think that's pretty clear. You're right, though. I have not read the encyclical and am relying on what I hear in mass and what I read elsewhere.

I still think many "conservative" Catholics have come to believe that because the Republican party is right on abortion, they're right on everything, which is of course nonsense.

Now I'm not saying the Republican party is evil. I'm only saying its the Moloch-worshiping spawn of Satan.

But that's just me, and I'm not the pope. Clearly I have a way to go in my own learning about the faith, but I'm not convinced I'm alone.

KIngsmill| 7.9.09 @ 8:34PM

The free market economist who came closest to laying an economic framework closest to Catholic social thought was Wilhelm Ropke, an architect of the post war German economic recovery . His "The Humane Economy" and "The Social Crisis of our Time" should be read by all conservatives.