America stands at the crossroads according to a recent call for national renewal: “Liberty and Justice for All.”[1] One of the initial signatories is George Weigel, who suggests that it is “worth reading carefully” and that it “should be especially appealing to Catholics serious about the social doctrine of the Church.”[2] Weigel’s prescriptions deserve our close attention as they are similar to those he has expressed previously,[3] and which pose threats to America’s free society.[4]
Weigel states that “Liberty and Justice for All” affirms or underscores four foundational principles of Catholic social doctrine. The first is Christian personalism. The second is when “mature freedom” is lived for the common good. The third concerns the principle of subsidiarity, which affirms “the importance for a healthy democracy of natural associations (the traditional family) and free associations of civil society (including the Church).” Weigel writes that, taken as a whole, “the statement is a summons to a renewed solidarity in American life, and thus affirms the social doctrine’s fourth foundational principle.”
When a country is racked by division, it is understandable that reconciliation and renewal are attractive to its citizens. But it is possible that the cure can be worse than the disease. All prescriptions for restoring order and harmony deserve the closest scrutiny, but this is especially so when they reflect the thinking of a religious system with an agenda to remake the country in its own image.
I do not intend to rehearse all the arguments that I made in It’s Sunday in America but I will point out that Catholic social doctrine is based upon Catholic natural law, which is presided over by the Supreme Pontiff. It is about hierarchy not democracy. Catholic conceptions of the human person, freedom and the common good are quite different from the conceptions of self-determination and religious liberty that have prevailed in constitutional America since its inception.
Pope Francis recently released an encyclical letter, Fratelli Tutti (On the Fraternity and Social Friendship).[5]Francis claims that St Francis inspired him to write Fratelli Tutti, as well as Laudato Si.[6] Francis notes the lack of a shared roadmap for the world.[7] He thinks that “outdated criteria” continue to rule the world.[8] He believes “it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments, and empowered to impose sanctions.”[9]
Following this line of thought, Francis raises the possibility of “some form of world authority regulated by law.”[10] He had previously raised this issue in Laudato Si.[11] Francis would also like to see reform of the United Nations Organization, economic institutions and international finance “so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.”[12]
Francis’ vision of fraternity and social friendship seems to encompass significant coercive power. There is a contradiction here: real fraternity and social friendship cannot be coerced. Why then does Francis envisage the need for coercion in relation to international power? Perhaps because Francis knows that aspects of his vision would be deeply unpopular.
For example, Francis promotes the “common destination of created goods.”[13] He references the “social purpose of all forms of private property” and “the common use of created goods.”[14] To implement this vision of the redistribution of wealth would require the destruction of the existing international order and the construction of a new “global juridical, political and economic order” for the benefit of the entire world and its people in solidarity.[15] This is a truly radical political vision.
Another reason why coercion enters the picture is the very nature of solidarity; it requires the elimination of all dissent. Peace is a noble objective.[16] But the gospel brings division as well as unity.[17] The unity that God has for His people is of the same type that exists between the Father and Christ.[18] We are told that when Christ comes again He will find little faith upon the earth.[19]
So a coerced universal fraternity, social friendship and unity will not be on the right side of things when Jesus comes again. Scripture warns of a global coercive event at the end of time.[20] God warns His people who have innocently participated in this coercive, global confederacy to leave it, thus approving their dissent.[21]
Francis writes that the principle of subsidiarity is inseparable from the principle of solidarity.[22] Subsidiarity “justifies the participation and activity of communities and organizations on lower levels as a means of integrating and complementing the activity of the state.”[23] In Catholic social doctrine, Francis is at the apex of the international order.[24] So the achievement of Francis’ global fraternity and solidarity would mean the submission of all communities and organizations, including churches, in accordance with the demands of subsidiarity.
In Laudato Si, Francis emphasized how everything is interconnected.[25] Global interconnectedness is also featured in Fratelli Tutti.[26] These two encyclicals are part of Francis’ program to establish control over the international order. Francis wants the Church to be the global “sign of unity.”[27] This highlights the importance of seeing Fratelli Tutti as extending and reinforcing the themes of Laudato Si.
Two models are now before us. Francis is seeking to establish his vision of international solidarity without dissent. The Bible presents us with God’s model of unity on the grounds of truth. If America is at the crossroads, Francis’ escalation of his agenda might just be bringing the world to the crossroads too.
[1] realclearfoundation.org
[2] Weigel, George. “The Hard Road of National Renewal.” First Things. October 14, 2020. Accessed October 15, 2020. www.firstthings.com › web-exclusives › 2020/10 › the-…
[3] Weigel, George. “A New Awakening.” National Affairs, April 22, 2017. Accessed April 27, 2017.www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/details/a-new-awakening
[4] It’s Sunday in America, pp. 175-183.
[5] vatican.va
[6] Fratelli Tutti, On the Fraternity and Social Friendship, 2.
[7] Fratelli Tutti, 31.
[8] Fratelli Tutti, 170.
[9] Fratelli Tutti, 172.
[10] Fratelli Tutti, 172.
[11] Laudato Si, Encyclical on Climate Change & Inequality, 175.
[12]Fratelli Tutti, 173.
[13] Fratelli Tutti, 119.
[14] Fratelli Tutti, 120.
[15] Fratelli Tutti, 138.
[16] Luke 2:14.
[17] Matthew 10:34.
[18] John 17:11.
[19] Luke 18:8 cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.
[20] Revelation 13:11-17.
[21] Revelation 18:1-5.
[22] Fratelli Tutti, 187.
[23] Fratelli Tutti, 175.
[24] It’s Sunday in America, pp. 57-64.
[25] Laudato Si, 138.
[26] Fratelli Tutti, 138, 259.
[27] Fratelli Tutti, 276.
