Diocese of Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea formally appointed Nathan Schlueter, professor of philosophy and religion, to the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching on Nov. 22.
Schlueter said he hopes to help the commission articulate and defend teachings of the Catholic Church through his 20 years of experience in political philosophy and ethical theory.
“I think I have a fairly deep knowledge of this subject,” Schlueter said. “I also bring to it an academic perspective of the range of non-Catholic social teaching questions; a robust historical and philosophical perspective being an academic and being trained in the history of political philosophy, the great books and the tradition which I think is richly embedded in Catholic social teaching background, but they’re not usually cited in the text in an explicit way.”
Michael Andrews, chancellor of the Diocese of Lansing, said Schlueter’s background and skills will enhance the work of the commission, which meets monthly.
“Dr. Schlueter brings an impressive background and an informed passion for the work of the commission,” Andrews said. “His insights on faith and society will greatly assist in our purpose to help people across the diocese to become well-formed in the rich heritage of Catholic social teaching.”
According to commission chair Kishore Jayabalan, its members aim to inform and inspire Catholics to live out their faith in their everyday lives.
“The commission is really focused on teaching the catechetical or formative aspects of Catholic social teaching,” Jayabalan said. “So we want the lay faithful of the diocese to be able to take the principles of Catholic social teaching and apply it to their professional, social, familial, personal circumstances.”
The commission’s goal is to encourage people to use their individual skills and careers to promote the principles of Catholic social teaching.
“There’s a lot of room for lay professionals – doctors, lawyers, businessmen, journalists, whoever – since they know their fields better, to be able to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching to their fields,” Jayabalan said.
The commission encourages parishes in the diocese to submit grant proposals for projects related to social teaching and has already helped fund speakers in the diocese about gender dysphoria and Proposal 3. Jayabalan said he also hopes the commission can work towards bridging political divides within the church community.
“We tend to break down issues by left and right. So even in church circles, sometimes you end up with the pro-life, pro-family activity being looked at as conservative or right-wing and social justice, anti-poverty, environmental, and racism issues being seen as left-wing issues,” Jayabalan said. “As a church, we should be able to address all social issues through the lens of Catholic social teaching.”
Because the Diocese of Lansing covers a wide array of areas including Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Jackson, and Hillsdale, the commission has sought to reflect that diversity by bringing in commission members from a variety of backgrounds. Jayabalan said Schuleter’s background in social teaching will be a valuable asset.
“Dr. Schlueter, because of his academic and intellectual background, has been very involved in Catholic social teaching at the parish level and teaching it to different courses at Hillsdale College.” Jayabalan said. “I think the biggest takeaway is that having Hillsdale represented and Dr. Schlueter’s personal background is a great benefit for the diocese.”
Schlueter said he grew up suspicious of Catholic social teaching in the ’70s and ’80s because it had been politicized in certain areas.
“It seemed like Catholic social teaching was really Catholic socialist teaching,” Schlueter said. “When I went back in the later ’90s it was a surprise to see that this was not just a narrow political agenda. It had been politicized but it was not that, it was something actually properly understood, very rich and deep.”
Schlueter said since he is new to the commission he sees his current role as “incremental and exploratory,” but he hopes to advocate for the principles of Catholic social teaching both on campus and within the larger Hillsdale community.
“In some ways the unfortunate thing is that it’s called Catholic social teaching, because it really is addressed to all men of goodwill, not just Catholics,” Schlueter said. “The church very, very much wants to propose this as something that even non-Catholics, I think even non-Christians could in principle recognize, see the value of, and accept and embrace.”
