R. Michael Birch
Senior Fellowship (Interdisciplinary Honors in Political Science & Religion):

“Catholicism in the Public Square: A New Model for Political Involvement”

The aim of the paper is to ground and defend a new way in which American Catholics can effect change for the public good. Instead of holding an elected position in government, which often places American Catholics in a compromising situation that forces them to choose between their conscience, the dictates of the Catholic Church, and the demands of their constituency, or any combination of the three, the paper argues in favor of a "public Catholicism" that attempts to influence and shape the values and direction of American society through social action in the public sphere.

In order to legitimize the need for this new model, the present model must be shown to be ineffectual and inadequate. The introduction of the paper serves to illustrate the present model as one in which Catholics are faced with the continuing divergence of the values system of the American bourgeois culture from traditional Catholic values and social teaching.

This divergence creates a situation which makes it seemingly difficult, if not impossible, for Catholics to hold political office and remain faithful to Church teaching or their personal Catholic beliefs. For this reason, in addition to the long Christian and American tradition that promotes social action in the interest of the common good, the paper attempts to prove that the new model is supported by the long Christian theological tradition and the tradition of liberalism that is prevalent in the American cultural system.

Saint Augustine of Hippo's theological work, The City of God, sheds light on a possible model for the role of the heavenly citizen in the temporal order. Essentially, Augustine makes it clear that the heavenly citizen who lives in civil society has a duty, out of his or her love of God, to promote true peace and justice in the civil society for the glorification of God and for the good of one's neighbor, and thus, for the common good.

This principle is in accord with the notion of "public Catholicism," in that it enables American Catholics to freely and openly influence and shape the American culture by loving God and neighbor. John Locke's political philosophy and theology serves as the basis for the modern liberal thought that shaped the formation and development of the American political and cultural system. Also, his political and theological works promote a particular understanding of the relationship between church and state that reinforces the assertion that the Church and lay faithful should be encouraged to work for justice and peace outside of the political system.

Once the model of "public Catholicism" is grounded in the Christian and American traditions, the paper delves deep into the history and development of "public Catholicism," citing Jay P. Dolan's book In Search of an American Catholicism. This section serves to support the argument that the Church, understanding the present tension concerning political issues and social values and the burden placed on the Catholic politician to listen to constituents while remaining faithful to Church teaching, endorses the promotion of peace and justice in the interest of the common good through local and national efforts of individuals and groups of lay Catholics as opposed to holding an elected position in the American political regime.

The final section adds to Jay P. Dolan's notion of "public Catholicism" by citing the lives and theological views of three Catholic people who exemplify and embody the characteristics promoted by the model of "public Catholicism."