I contend that the Middle Ages were neither religious nor secular because the religious and the secular are two features of a single construction: the modern, Western social architecture of “Church” and “State,” “private” and “public.” The societies of the Middle Ages had a different architecture based on different assumptions and different concepts, ultimately on [...]
So, is Christianity nationalist? The Church clearly thinks the nation is essential and worthy of defense, but what is it? To answer this, we must explore the historical genesis of the modern “nation” itself. John Paul II asserted with confidence that the two natural societies recognized by the Church’s social teaching are the family and [...]
The truth of Pope Innocent III’s world is naturally dependent on a move out of nature and into faith. The political was a fundamental aspect of the pastoral. The movement of ascent to God passed always through the carnal, through the law, and on to liberty through grace. We are trapped within the historical, but [...]
The fundamental principle of Christian politics is that all power ought to be used for the common good. As Pope St. John XXIII put it, the realization of the common good is the “sole reason for the existence of civil authorities.” But what is the common good? The political right is in a state of [...]
From its birth, the Church worked to overthrow tyrannies and establish societies of justice. But it did this in a manner unlike any other revolutionary movement. Christianity has always redeemed politics by surpassing it, fulfilling it beyond itself. It defeats violence through peace and not with more powerful violence. My mother always told me that [...]
There is a lot of talk these days about an increasing interest in socialism. It is quite the conundrum if approached within the assumptions of late liberalism: why indeed would the victors in the Cold War seek to become their vanquished enemies? Pope Pius XI helps us through this problem. He helps us see that [...]
As the father guides the son deeper into virtue through the son’s obedience, through his good inclinations, his particular instantiation of the virtues, so the prince serves as a father to the city itself. The collapse of liberal moral and political order has led to a welcome revival in Catholic political thought. This revival, however, [...]