A vociferous media artificially interprets Pope Francis’ words, leading to confusion among so-called traditionalist Catholics. Against all evidence, they worry the pontiff will undermine their beloved non-negotiable doctrines. Often, however, these very culture warriors — like the progressives they oppose — fail to articulate church teaching.
Those whose political identity largely hinges upon a rejection of both abortion and homosexuality, coupled with an embrace of natural right and capitalist ideology, are disturbed by the pope’s appeals for a social teaching far grander than their limited schema. They are torn between their religious and partisan persuasions. For the pope occasionally makes statements contrary to our American conservative rhetoric — particularly concerning global capitalism, just war, torture, and the environment. Thus some reject the church’s Ordinary Magisterium when its prudential judgement differs from their partisan agenda on these matters. They compartmentalize the sacred and the secular for the privileging of political points. The Bishop of Rome rejects this.
In his interview with an Italian Jesuit journal, Pope Francis claimed: “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”
The pope desires that we not prioritize the life issue over and against the Christian encounter with Christ and the church’s larger social teaching. Instead we must oppose the individualistic and consumeristic culture from which abortion arises, all the while practicing Christian virtue and charity. Within this context can our criticisms become both intelligible and attractive.
Francis exhorts us to begin with the “simple, profound, [and] radiant” Gospel. From this outpouring descends the entirety of Christian doctrine, from the dogmatic to the moral. He advises us to center our evangelical (and political) lives upon this core. Then the fullness of church teaching can be authentically presented within its greater context, from euthanasia to the environment.
Both politics and economics involve the communal activities of human persons. Therefore they too must be informed by an ethic consistently rooted in the common good. When the market exploits its lowest participants, Pope Francis dutifully expresses his disapproval. When he tweets that “inequality is the root of social evil,” he does not demand Marxist revolution. Instead he refers to I Timothy 6 and the social injustices caused by an inordinate pursuit of power and wealth. He speaks to the inequalities faced by the poor within a system centered upon insufficient trickle-down theory. And he exhorts us to prioritize the disadvantaged throughout our Christian lives.
Thus Catholics must stress the principle of charity and forgo the cult of individualism. An embrace of the church’s arguments for solidarity and subsidiarity while emphasizing universal human dignity and the “preferential option for the poor” must be the starting point in both political behavior and opinion.
You cannot be a Catholic and a progressive, as many traditionalists insist. Insofar as this is true, neither can you be a Catholic and a neo-conservative, classical liberal, or libertarian, particularly where these positions conflict with church teaching.
Catholics must faithfully shape their identity and therefore their politics according to the witness of Christ and his church. We must not allow the rashness of transitory ideologies to supersede our duty to strive towards social justice and the promotion of the common good.
But don’t just listen to me — I am an imperfect layman and most likely errant on many points. But I implore you to listen to the church first and foremost.
