Labeling Catholics Conservatives or Liberals Makes No Sense
Most secular journalists will never get Catholicism right.
One of my favorite signs of secular journalists not getting Catholicism was from the original plans of a group seeking to stage a coup of the Catholic Church. The new organization was to be centrist with its own constitution ready to put into place after the “revolution". The movement would be neither conservative nor liberal, to the left or the right. None of the journalists caught the gaffe. You can build a political movement that is centrist. In Catholicism, the centrist makes Jesus vomit, literally. (cf Rev. 3:16).
You cannot use political words to describe Catholics, you need to find terms embedded into our culture. It is not left or right you should use that describes us, rather it is actually those who follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the law.
Letter vs Spirit
Read the Gospels carefully, Jesus fights the Pharisees and others over the interpretation of the law. For example, when he heals someone on the sabbath, Pharisees call him a lawbreaker and a sinner. He is supposedly not keeping the sabbath holy by doing “work” on that day, in the Temple no less. Jesus responds he is living by the spirit of the law which is to do acts of love even on the Sabbath. His opponents follow the letter of the law demanding he not even heal or save a person’s life. This is the clash. There is a similar letter vs spirit of the law clash in Catholicism.
Political terms cannot adequately describe Catholics. There are no right-wing Catholics or left-wing Catholics because disagreements are not over political positions but interpretations of the teachings from scripture and tradition. The dichotomy is between our doctrine and how we interpret it. This again is letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. Following the rules versus doing the most loving act to God and neighbor.
Living by the minimum standard
St. Paul in the New Testament says we must live by a standard higher than the law. I always teach if we follow the church rules perfectly, we will live perfectly at the minimum level of our faith. The spirit of the rules is the higher bar. The former is the easy road, the latter is the narrow one. Many in the news industry get that all wrong and while their friends applaud them for their articles, well-formed Catholics dismiss them for their blindness.
We know the Catholic position on abortion, for example. What is the Catholic position on the economy? Are there Catholics who reject capitalism? Do others embrace socialism? Politically those categories exist but spiritually they do not. Have you ever heard of a Christian anarchist? Can you name one*?
In the Catholic Church, everyone has a right to private property but each is responsible for how they use it. Some live well with capitalism others live in voluntary poverty outside of the promises of its economics.
Catholic doctrine does not support government-mandated socialism but we believe in being responsible for every dollar one possesses. So, if I support political policies that make me rich and allow me to hoard every dollar I make while I follow every rule of the Church, I am not living the spirit of our teaching. I may appear to be a good Catholic, Jesus will decide if I am a good steward of my benefits from the economy. If I am not helping the poor in any way then I am living the minimum standard of the rules but not the spirit of the law. The prophets, speaking for God, condemned that lifestyle as an abomination.
One of my favorite examples to illustrate this difference between common perceptions and true positions is Pope St. John Paul II’s stand on abortion and war. Many against abortion applauded the Pope’spro-life position while those supporting abortion told him to mind his own business. When the United States debated invading Iraq after 9/11 the pope warned against it. Those who were against abortion told him to mind his own business on the war and those for abortion applauded the pope’s position against the invasion. This is because we cannot put our teaching into monolithic right or left-wing categories.
a mandate to be good citizens
Catholics have a mandate to be good citizens. Was it a good Catholic witness to be at the stop the steal rallies following the election? I preached against anyone participating in them (although since I am surrounded by Harvard University, it was like preaching to the choir). Was I left-wing or right-wing for saying no Catholics belonged at these rallies? My preaching followed seeing images from the first one via RUPTLY. No, I was neither being conservative nor liberal. Our constitution has mechanics in place to address election problems. We must live in a way that is most conducive not to prosperity but to the Gospel. I saw no reason why attending these post-election rallies promoted the Gospel, if anything I saw the opposite.
Catholics do not hold typical right or left-wing positions and many outside our faith do not understand. Some will talk about progressive or conservative Christianity this is actually Catholics who hold politically progressive positions not those who hold religiously progressive ones. Community organizers and journalists think that this is earth-shattering to be a progressive Catholic. In many issues, Catholicism is by default progressive in others conservative.
The arms race, the second amendment and self-defense
The Vatican II documents contain a statement against the arms race. This history of the statement is more interesting. Dorothy Day went to Rome during the council and instead of holding meetings to lobby for her position against spending money to build up for war, she prayed on the steps of the Vatican and as every priest, bishop and cardinal walked by she told them they were to do the right thing. She, a pacifist, wanted to ensure the church took a stand against the arms race. Many outsiders would consider that an obvious position for Catholics to take, they would be wrong.
I support the second amendment. The reason for the right to bear arms is to promote the security of the state and the freedoms of the people. I also support my right not to own a weapon and I do not, even though I am a veteran. I do not possess an FID card and do not plan to apply for one.
In some states, I have the legal right to kill an intruder to my property. As a Catholic, I believe I would have to answer for that action. I choose not to embrace that right. I am not married so protecting my family is not a factor. There are many Catholics who believe they have the right to use deadly force for self-defense, to protect their property and their belongings. They stand on the letter of the law. I lean to the spirit of the law, I believe I have no right or duty to use deadly force against an intruder unless it is an absolute last resort.
We draw not only on scripture but also tradition. Do you see all those people that other Christians condemn to Hell? They will cite one Bible verse or another proclaiming eternal damnation to all those sinners. St. John Vianney warned, however, that the most secular of human beings has a greater chance of going to Heaven than the lukewarm [centrist] Catholic for whom he had little hope.
Pope Francis calls us to make a mess
Pope Francis challenges many people, some applaud him and others call for his resignation. What does he call Catholics to do? Be people who pray well and be contemplative. Put the fruit of your prayer in action. We will then make a mess and that is what he wants us to do: make a mess and then clean it up.
Many condemn him for not allowing the blessing of same-sex marriage. They do not realize, we do not bless any marriage heterosexual or homosexual which is not sacramental and open to life. We do, however, consider friendship including same-sex friendships not only blessed but a requirement for holiness.
Jesus made a mess when he challenged the authorities as he spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit. He challenged the people of his day to stop standing on the letter of the law and embrace the spirit as the higher standard.
Catholics must root themselves in Christ and live in prophetic ways that challenge the Church and the world.
If we do this well, we will be neither conservative nor progressive nor will be centrists. We will be Catholics who continue to confuse the media.
*Dorothy Day — one of many