A Question About Fratelli Tutti

In his recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, “On Fraternity and Social Friendship,” Pope Francis made some confusing statements regarding private property.  Ordinarily, this would not be an issue, as the Just Third Way is concerned with the natural law and its applications in civil society.  What any religion chooses to do regarding purely religious issues is the business of adherents of that faith.

“Never” is a Long Time

Many people today deplore the consumerism and waste that permeates the developed world, and point out that if (other) people would just share what they have, consumerism would lessen its grip on the economy and waste could be eliminated.  That is true, but only up to a point.

Highlights of the Abraham Federation

Yesterday we gave a very broad overview of a solution we think Pope Francis and others ought to consider, the “Abraham Federation” as a way of defusing the situation in the Holy Land.  Today we said we’d look at some of the specifics of the proposal, the “highlights,” as it were, so here goes.  Again, be aware there might be some slight editing glitches, as the paper from which this is extracted has not been updated for a while, but the fundamentals are there:

The Abraham Federation

In his Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day 2017, Pope Francis mentioned the possibility of a “two state solution” for the Holy Land.  We think this might be something of a problem, if only because what one person means by that term never seems to mesh exactly with what another means.  And that creates a problem if you’re trying to develop a solution instead of pushing an agenda. . . .

Ways and Means

To continue our discussion on Pope Francis’s recent “Urbi et Orbi” Christmas message, we want to address his advocacy of the “two state” solution for Palestine.  We disagree — which should not shock even “ultramontane” Catholics, since anyone can disagree with the application of a principle, as long as there is no change in the principle.

What Pope Leo XIII DID Say

We closed the last posting on this subject by asking, Where do ordinary people, who are ordinarily powerless, get the power to organize and act on the system?  That is, we noted that the way to restructure the social order so as to provide the proper environment within which people can live “the good life” (in the Aristotelian sense) and live and grow in virtue.

An Application of Social Justice

Yesterday we looked at what Pope Francis said in his Urbi et Orbi address about the many problems that afflict modern society, especially as they affect children.  What His Holiness said was necessary and salutary, of course, but he did not get into a solution.  That is understandable, as you can’t do too much in a brief talk, but the impression many people no doubt got was that an increase in goodwill and personal virtue would be adequate.

What Pope Francis Didn’t Say

In the last few postings (with time out for Christmas, New Year’s, and the year-end news roundup), we’ve been going over Pope Francis’s Urbi et Orbi (“The City and the World”) Christmas message.  Although brief, there was a great deal of substance.  In our opinion, however, there was not enough — His Holiness highlighted some serious problems, but gave no more than a hint of a possible solution, and that inadequate (again, in our opinion).

No Room in the Inn

Pope Francis is again causing a bit of a stir, this time with his “Urbi et Orbi” address at Christmas.  This is another one of those things that has to be explained before it can be explained, even (or especially) to Catholics and other Christians, before it can be understood.

“The Kingdom of God on Earth”?

In The Quiet Man (1952)) — one of the greatest films of all time . . . except when Knute Rockne, All American (1940) is showing — one of the minor characters arguing with another (“Mister Maloney”) tries to clinch it by saying, “If you knew your country’s history as well as you claim to know it, you’d know that,” etc.

Taking Shortcuts

Are encyclicals getting too long?  And is anybody reading (or understanding) them?  Judging from all the acrimony over, say Amoris Laetitia (not technically an encyclical, but we’re making a point here), the answer is “no.”  The longer and wordier encyclicals get, the less impact they seem to have.  The message(s) tend(s) to get lost in all the explanations and qualifications.

Cardinal Müller and the Just Third Way, Part II

Yesterday we reported that His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noted in his talk at St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington, Virginia, on Sunday, May 14, 2017, that restoring the Family, the basic unit of society, is a top priority.

Cardinal Müller and the Just Third Way, Part I

This past Sunday, May 14, 2017, at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Virginia, we had the privilege of singing for the Mass celebrated by Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  His Eminence was in the United States as the main celebrant and homilist for the Baccalaureate Mass at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, on May 12.  He was also the commencement speaker for this year’s ceremonies on May 13, where he received an honorary doctorate before delivering his address.

The Anti-Francis Effect, II: Leo’s Vision

Yesterday we looked at how so many people seem to be upset with Pope Francis.  Neither the liberals nor the conservatives seem to be getting their way.  One thing we discovered, however, is that none of this is particularly new.  It’s all happened before, with Pope Leo XIII, with whom Pope Francis has a number of similarities.

The Anti-Francis Effect, I: Leo & Francis

It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic — and, frankly, silly.  With increasing regularity, headlines about Pope Francis appear that seem calculated to shock Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and non-believers alike.  FRANCIS FRENZY FULMINATES FAITHFUL!  PAPAL PRONOUNCEMENTS PROMOTE PONTIFICAL PERVERSION!  VATICAN VEILS VILE VEHEMANCE!”

Liberals v. Conservatives v. Pope Francis, II: What He Didn’t Say

It’s hardly news that “conservatives” have a problem with Pope Francis.  As a rule, they tend to think that he has gone “too far.”  It’s also no secret that “liberals” have a problem with Francis.  As a rule, they think he hasn’t gone far enough.  What neither side has considered is the possibility that Francis hasn’t actually gone anywhere at all, at least, not in any substantive way.

Liberals v. Conservatives v. Pope Francis, I: What He Said

Although the Center for Economic and Social Justice is an interfaith organization, and nobody’s income is tied to its existence (it’s all-volunteer), and the Just Third Way is not a faith-based program (although fully consistent with the natural law-basis of the social teachings of the Catholic Church), there is a strong and vested interest in the matters Pope Francis addresses that are not purely religious in nature.

The Power of Calumny

Now that Pope Francis is winging his way back to Rome, and has probably “deplaned” by now, and let us remark that “deplane” is one of the more patently offensive neologisms of the twentieth century; whatever happened to “disembark” . . . “de-ship”? . . . “de-car”? . . . “de-bus”? . . . “de-train”? . . . but we digress . . . anyway, it’s time to take a brief moment and talk about . . . calumny.

Local or Express?

Louis Kelso once commented that socialism is a commuter train, a “local,” while communism is an express.  Both socialism and communism end up the same place — the abolition of private property and State control of virtually every aspect of life — but communism destroys the basis of State, Church, and Family faster and more efficiently than socialism.

Philosophical Mistakes Revisited

We’ve been getting a lot of commentary on our article on Homiletic and Pastoral Review, “Pope Francis and the Just Third Way.”  The basic issue under discussion seems to be not that our understanding of Catholic social teaching is flawed, but that the whole idea that a religion has a social teaching is flawed.  We’re basically arguing not about what the Catholic Church teaches, but whether it should be teaching it.