1. Lecture 14: Our Time
Ann T. Orlando
26 April 2011

2. Introduction Historical Review
New Secular Nationalism in Nineteenth Century
Catholicism in America, 19th, 20th C
Papacy in this period
Theological movements
Readings

3. 18th C French and American Political Philosophy
Based upon John Locke
Puritan sermons in 18th C America frequently referred to “the great Mr. Locke”
Voltaire considered Locke one of the most important men of the previous generation
One of Jefferson’s three heroes (the other two being Bacon and Newton)
John Adams thought John Locke one of most important men who ever lived
Emphasize individual liberty and rights over duty to society

4. American Revolution: New Political Structures
American Revolution ( ), based on philosophy of John Locke ( )
Champion of individual rights
Religious toleration
Not clear (still isn’t) what is relation between religion and politics in America
Most States had an official religion; see for instance John Adams’ Constitution of Massachusetts
First Amendment to Constitution says only that Congress will not establish a religion;
Thomas Jefferson extends this to separation of Church and State (1802)

5. French Revolution (1789-1799): Extreme Enlightenment
Impetus comes from group of 18th C French philosophers: philosophes (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Turgot, Condorcet)
Philosophes embraced John Locke and science; encouraged by American Revolution
Franklin, Paine, Jefferson and Adams in France;
Adams writes against Turgot and Condorcet and notion of progress without sense of duty
Jefferson supports the philosophes and the Terror
Use it as a weapon against ‘throne and altar’
Voltaire’s ‘Smile of Reason’ turns into glare of tyranny
Individual rights and toleration get replaced by suspicion of ‘enemy of people’ and a new ‘religion’;
Active persecution of Church

6. Capitalism: New Economic and Social System
Adam Smith author ( ) of Founding Document, Wealth of Nations
Friend of French philosophes Voltaire, Turgot
Close fried of fellow Scot David Hume
Encouraged economic individualism and natural liberty in economies
Encouraged division of labor in new industrial production plants
Lessaiz faire economics: no government intervention
‘Invisible hand’ of supply and demand
Capitalism: derogatory term first used in 19th C by those opposing this economic and social system

7. Communism: New Social and Economic System
Karl Marx ( ) coauthor with Frederic Engels the founding document Communist Manifest
Born in Germany, moved to England as young man
Radical views forced him to flee to England
Opposed to economic slavery of working classes as more and more capital concentrated in hands of a few wealthy industrialists
Price of objects should be based on labor theory of value; that is the number of labor hours to produce,
Not materials
Not supply and demand
Not management of production and distribution processes
In an ideal social and economic system, there should be a balance between production and consumption, no profits for corporations
Social (government) structure should control the economy
From each according to his ability to each according to his need
Marx also wrote a great deal on morality; atheist opposed to role of religion in society

8. 19th and 20th C New Nationalisms
19th and early 20th C period of violent revolutions in Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Russia)
Also a period of violent revolutions and wars of independence throughout Western Hemisphere, Asia and Africa
Growth of labor movements opposed to oppression of laissez faire capitalism
Under the pretense of ‘will of the people’ new secular totalitarian regimes form in many countries
Bismark in Germany tries to enforce uniform ‘German’ cultural and social attitudes in Kulturkampf deeply opposed to CAtholicism
Marxism develops a theory of history and society that portrays religion as a phase that enlightened peoples will out grow
Government takes over role of social, economic and moral administrator
No child of 20th C can think that Enlightenment has led to a golden age: Shoah, gulags, racial wars, World Wars, etc., etc., etc.

9. Epicurean Philosophy in Intellectual American Politics and Society
Jefferson’s acceptance of Epicureanism has become increasingly prevalent in American culture
Ethics based on personal pleasure
although in contemporary society pleasure is often defined as momentary fleeting pleasure, rather than long term peace of mind
Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill) explicitly reference Epicureanism
Importance of individual rights over common good (abortion)
Self-sufficiency of individual is primary virtue, not harmony of society
Importance of science and technology; progress of human mind
God is not recognized as important in people’s lives

10. Catholicism in America Before the Irish
Spanish settlers, 18th, early 19th C
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California
Inter-married with Indians to create small Catholic communities
French settlers 18th C
Louisiana, along Mississippi River, parts of New England
Directly from France or immigrated from French Canada after French-Indian War
English settlers 18th C
Maryland
Founded by Lord Baltimore (Catholic convert) as a place where English Catholics could settle

11. Catholics During the Revolutionary War
Charles Carroll of Maryland, prominent Catholic signed Declaration of Independence
John Carroll, SJ, first Bishop in United States
Continental Army was especially welcoming to Catholics from Canada and Ireland
Over 25% of Washington’s army (soldiers and officers) were Irish
Decisive role of French Navy against British at Yorktown
New country needed colonists who did not have loyalist sympathies

12. 19th C: The Irish in America
Why so prominent in Catholic Church in America
Immigrated to 19th C power centers in Northeast U.S. (i.e., Boston and New York)
So many of them
Several major waves of Irish immigrants
Between 1830 – 1860, 3 M Irish immigrated to US
Total US population in 1860 ~ 30M (including all territories and 4 M slaves)
Irish potato famine
Suppressed economic and political opportunities for Catholics in Ireland during British rule
Irish quickly became leaders in American Church

13. Protestant American Reaction
As numbers of Catholic immigrants increase, reaction and prejudice increases
Ghettos of poor in large cities
Civil unrest
Resentment over jobs lost
Ursuline convent burned in Charlestown 1834
Know-nothing party
Secret Order of Star Spangled Banner
Millard Fillmore ran as their candidate for president in 1856 and lost

14. After American Civil War
Immigration continues
Germans 1880
Italians 1907
Polish 1921
Immigrants (predominantly Catholic and Jewish) become cheap labor source in American factories
Church develops close ties to labor unions
Ethnic Churches developed to minister to immigrant communities in their own language and their own customs

15. Development of American Catholic Institutions
Education
Parochial schools, 40% of parishes had schools as early as 1880
Colleges and Universities;
Jesuits play a major role
Georgetown 1789
Holy Cross founded 1843; BC founded 1863
Hospitals and orphanages
Catholic societies
Ancient Order of Hibernians 1836
Knights of Columbus 1882

16. Catholic Schools Controversy
Thomas Nast, 1875
After war, Catholicism seen as threat to unity of nation, especially by Republicans
Supported Bismark’s Kulturkampf
Many laws passed with support of Presidents Grant, Garfield, Hayes, denying any public support to Catholic schools
Syllabus of Errors used to show that Catholics were opposed to individual freedom, progress and the American way

17. Growth of Importance of Church in 20th C American Society
Catholic Institutions grow in stature and recognition after WWII
Catholic politicians become increasingly prominent in Democratic Party
John Kennedy election in 1960
Catholics aligned with ‘liberals’ on many social causes
Economic justice
Civil rights
War in Vietnam
Prominence of women in education, medicine, media, social activism

18. Catholicism’s Response
Syllabus of Errors, 1864
Series of anathemas of Enlightenment views
Crude and ineffectual
Vatican I ( )
Reaffirmed that we can have sure knowledge in faith and morals (infallibility of Pope, Thomism as official theology)
Reaffirmed that religion is important to society’s well being
Reaffirmed the importance of natural law
Increased spiritual devotion: La Salette 1846; Lourdes 1858, Fatima 1917

19. Pope Leo XIII ( )
Countered Bismark’s anti-Catholic movement, Kulturkampf
Made Henry Newman a Cardinal
Created Pontifical Biblical Commission
Known as the encyclical pontiff

20. Modernist “Americanist Heresy” Controversy
The issue: the ‘Americanization’ of religion, especially Catholicism
Progressive American Catholics; embraced separation of Church and State; American democracy
Isaac Hecker, founder of Paulists, emphasis on social action less on evangelization;
French translation of his biography was modernist
Opposition, ‘traditionalists’:
American governmental system may be best for America, but not necessarily universally;
Catholics in America should not see themselves as part of a national church
Leo XIII Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, 1899; encyclical addressed to American bishops
Importance of religion in social and polical life of a country

21. Rerum Novarum Foundational document of modern Catholic social teaching
Written in response to abuses of both capitalism and communism
Uphold rights of laborers to a fair wage
Concern about poor
Emphasis on common good and dignity of individual

22. Papacy 1870-2005 Leo XIII 1878-1903 Pius X 1903-1922
Benedict XV
Pius XI
Pius XII
John XXIII
Paul IV
John Paul I 1978
John Paul II
Benedict XVI 2005-

23. Pope Pius XII ( )
Vatican diplomat assigned to Germany before WWII
Thought he could negotiate with Nazis, but also thought that direct confrontation would irreparably harm the Church
WWII and the Shoah
Encourage quiet protection of Jews by Church, but did not speak out forcefully
"The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas. He is about the only ruler left on the Continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all". (Editorial, the New York Times, Dec 25, 1941).
"A full explanation of Pope Pius' conduct is needed..It now falls to John Paul and his successors to take the next step toward full acceptance of the Vatican's failure to stand squarely against the evil that swept across Europe" (Editorial, the New York Times, Mar 18, 1998).
See We Remember, A Reflection on the Shoah,
Pontifical Biblical Commission: return to study of ancient languages and support for historical critical method
Declared Assumption of Mary to be infallibly true

24. Theological Developments in 20th C
Liturgical reforms started in early 20th C
Romano Guardini
Continued by VII
Hermeneutics;
Historical Critical Method
Deconstruction
New Theology and Transcendental Thomism
Thomism that returns to critical evaluation of Thomas Aquinas and his sources, especially Augustine;
Expands Thomism, does not merely study and codify Thomas; emphasis on philosophical methods
Key figures: Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner, Bernard Lonergan, Edward Schillebeeckx
Liberation Theology
Driven by WWII (Moltmann, Metz) and Third World economic and social poverty (Gutierez, Boff, Sorvino)
Encourages political and social activism as part of Christian witness and Church’s mission
Opposed to natural law; rather only literal application of Gospel message

25. Vatican II Called by John XXIII in 1962; closed by Paul VI in 1965
Liturgical changes; use of vernacular; RCIA
Renewed emphasis on importance of actions of Catholic laity in world
No change in doctrine
Gaudium et Spes: Final document of Council
Addresses how the Church should be in the World as part of ‘the whole human family’
Part I on the dignity of man and his role in the universe
Part II on modern problems (Marriage, Culture, Economics, Arms Race, Peace)
Note: there were documents written after official close of Council that are considered VII documents

26. Some Critical Issues
Aquinas was worried about ‘Dead Faith’ meaning everyone believed (or said they did), but very few acted with charity. This, according to Aquinas was faith that was not a virtue; IIa IIae Q4 a4
I think the problem now is ‘Dead Love’; many people say they are peaceful loving caring people but try to do this without faith. This is love that is not a virtue
Relation between Church and Individual Catholic
Radical individualism, subjectivism, relativism
Need to understand what it means to form conscience
Pascal was right: many people live in present moment without considering end of life
Relation between Church and Society
Proper model for Church in world
Religious pluralism
Ethical use of science
Ethics in law; what is basis of justice?

27. Readings Read Vidmar 289-341 Skim McManners Ch 11
Read Leo XIII Rerum Novarum
Skim VII Gaudium et Spes