(LifeSiteNews) — In a previous article, I speculated what a chastisement might look like per Our Lady’s warnings and Catholic teaching. At Fatima, Our Lady promised that “in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph” and that “a period of peace will be granted to the world.” It is Church teaching that peace does not exist independently of justice. Here, I offer some more conjectures based on that truth. If we were to build a just society after a chastisement, what characteristics would it have according to Catholic social teaching (CST)?
Authentic Catholic teaching
Sister Lucia tells us that the first two World Wars were chastisements. However, neither led to true and lasting peace. Left to our own devices, a correction by itself does not result in peace and justice. Sinful behavior returned quickly after the Flood. For true conversion to occur, there needs to be a supernatural intervention in peoples’ hearts. To set a solid foundation for peace and a just society, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart may entail an unmistakable, dramatic, and worldwide supernatural act of God that converts a significant part of the world’s population.
In the reconstruction of society, we may see a return to something resembling the pre-Great Depression practice of relying primarily on families, churches, local civic groups, mutual aid societies, fraternities, and other self-help organizations. Many of these societies provided not just economic resources but also a sense of community. In addition, it was the mission of some of these organizations to form good citizenship and virtuous living. These provide concrete examples of subsidiarity and solidarity. Some of these organizations are still with us, such as the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. In CST such organizations are called intermediary, or mediating, associations because they exist between the family and the central government. This is just one example where both CST and Catholic culture can provide the intellectual and practical framework for the rebuilding of a just society.
It needs to be stated that such a society would be far different from what progressive Catholics believe a just society to be like. The progressive view, shared by many bishops, activists, and college professors, rejects foundational elements as laid out in Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno, and subsequent encyclicals. In the past few decades, we have seen renewed scholarship and, most importantly, some translations into English of the writings of those connected with the development of CST. Many of these people, and their theologies, are unfamiliar to most of today’s Catholics. Many currently popular books on CST omit these writers, or they have a few perfunctory sentences about them.
Thankfully, recent scholarly works, such as Thomas Behr’s Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought, correct this omission and provide the backstory to the original development of CST. In addition, Rupert Ederer performed a monumental service in translating the works of Father Heinrich Pesch.
To trace out the genealogical lineage of modern CST, we can start with neo-Thomist Jesuit Luigi Taparelli. His student, Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci, later became Pope Leo XIII. Pope Leo’s longtime friend, Cardinal Tommaso Maria Zigliara, composed the first draft of Rerum Novarum. Taparelli’s close colleague, Matteo Liberatore, also contributed to the document. After the promulgation of the encyclical, the locus of work on CST gravitated from the Italian to the German Jesuits. Fr. Heinrich Pesch wrote his voluminous Lehrbuch, which systematized and applied Catholic social thought to the early twentieth century. His student, Oswald von Nell-Breuning, drafted Quadragesimo Anno and then wrote Reorganization of Social Economy as a guide to both the encyclical and to Rerum Novarum. Another Jesuit in Pesch’s wider circle, Fr. Joseph Husslein, also composed a guide to the two encyclicals entitled The Christian Manifesto. Husslein’s book was approved by Pope Pius XI.
Why is it important to read these men’s writings? They document the true history of CST. Reading them is the antidote to the progressive misinterpretation of CST commonly held today. In addition, they are our guide to the foundational social encyclicals and, therefore, how to reconstruct society according to the principles of CST.
The post-chastisement society
Let’s move to the question of how a society might be reconstituted after a chastisement. CST is clear that it does not provide a detailed blueprint, but it teaches what elements would be present when true justice exists. The details vary by social, cultural, and historical context. Because CST is based on natural law, authentic anthropology, and Scripture, its fundamental principles are constant across time and place.
A key thing we can say about a just society is that it is oriented toward heaven. In short, humans are made to be in the image and likeness of God. We retain the image but lost the likeness through sin. Living the virtues is an act of deciding to change our character to become more like God. Stated another way, building a just society cannot be done without evangelization and conversion. The Church, through its teachings and sacraments, has an active role to play because its mission is to make saints. The implication is that before reconstruction can happen, the Church will be reanimated by the Holy Spirit and undergo renewal. Institutions that support growth in the virtues and spiritual life, such as the family and faithful Catholic education, will have new life breathed into them.
The just society lives out the principle of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity is often conflated with some notion that social problems should be solved at the lowest political level possible. This is false because in authentic subsidiarity the heavy lifting is done in civil society through intermediary associations. The reason is that subsidiarity provides people with a structure through which they have the freedom to live out the virtue of solidarity, to grow spiritually, and to gain merit in preparation for Judgment Day. The proper role of the state is to ensure noninterference with this freedom. When government assimilates a function that rightly belongs to the people, it hampers its citizens from living out their call to holiness. Hence, after the chastisement we can expect small government and many of its current functions done by small groups of people.
Under subsidiarity, how are the intermediary associations likely to be organized? Taparelli gives us some details. The mission of these organizations depends on their function and the needs of their members and of society. They are oriented toward the common good and reorganized or dissolved if they no longer fulfill their function. If they become so large that the leadership no longer knows the members’ needs then they should subdivide into subordinate groups, each with its own authority to represent the members’ good. The state is in the background and helps coordinate negotiations between organizations and steps in only when necessary, such as when an association’s leadership is not fulfilling its mission. It is important to note that when an association is not acting according to its function, then it impinges on members’ virtuous actions. The government’s role is to intervene so that the group once again has the liberty to pursue its mission.
How do we know what are the proper functions of the government, family, and the various mediating associations between the family and the state? The answer lies in the nature of these institutions. Hence it is reasonable to conjecture that universities will return to teaching the natural law.
These associations are very different from what many progressives think they are. To take an example, CST supports organizations of workers in the same occupation. Contrary to what is typically believed, the modern labor union does not meet the criteria for this type of association. Pope Leo XIII accepted unions begrudgingly and with reservations, for reasons such as that they do not work for the common good of both employee and employer, and they are not necessarily voluntary.
Does the hope for a radical “Reconstruction of the Social Order,” as Pope Pius XI titled his encyclical, sound fantastical? Yes. Is it impossible for humans to pull off? Yes. However, Mary promised that her Immaculate Heart will triumph and there will be a time of peace on earth. In 1531 Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to two peasants. Within a decade many millions converted. With Mary’s intercession, it can happen again in our time.