Post Tagged 'Catholic social doctrine'

May 26, 2026

Freedom and Responsibility: Seven Takeaways from Magnifica Humanitas

The Second Vatican Council grappled with how to approach the “signs of the times” in Gaudium et Spes, giving the following warning: The modern world shows itself at once powerful and weak, capable of the noblest deeds or the foulest; before it lies the path to freedom or to slavery, to progress or retreat, to brotherhood or hatred. Continue Reading...

September 03, 2025

When the State Becomes Shareholder: A Catholic Case Against America’s Drift Toward Socialism

In 1931, Pope Pius XI warned of a “grave evil” in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno: the temptation of centralized power to absorb the functions of families, associations, and businesses. He called it a violation of the natural order—a usurpation of human freedom and responsibility. Continue Reading...

September 29, 2020

Bishop: ‘Undue burdens’ not required to fight COVID-19

Much of our national debate around the COVID-19 pandemic and the appropriate government response to it has been framed as opposition between those who say they follow “science” and those who do not. Continue Reading...

April 15, 2020

Pope Francis endorses universal basic income on Easter Sunday?

For Christians, Easter Sunday commemorates the good news of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. For leftists, this Easter brought the good news that Pope Francis seemingly endorsed a universal basic income. Continue Reading...

November 16, 2016

Rev. Robert A. Sirico: Pope Francis and the condemnation of money

The following article is the Acton Institute’s English translation from the Italian “Il Papa e la condanna dei soldi. Parla Padre Robert Sirico” written by Matteo Matzuzzi and published in the Rome-based daily Il Foglio on November 8. Continue Reading...

July 13, 2011

Catholic Social Teaching and the Federal Budget

Both the religious right and left have weighed in during the heated federal budget battle as Congressman Paul Ryan’s proposed budget has seen its fair share of support and criticism from many religious leaders. Continue Reading...

July 21, 2009

Sowell and Benedict XVI on Economics and Culture

Back in 1983, economist Thomas Sowell wrote The Economics and Politics of Race, an in-depth look at how different ethnic and immigrant groups fared in different countries throughout human history. Continue Reading...

July 09, 2009

A Theory of Gift, Duty, and Rights Based on Caritas in Veritate

One of Pope Benedict XVI’s great emphases in his new social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, is the idea of gift. A gift is something that we have received without earning. As the Pope wisely notes, “The human being is made for gift,” even though man is often “wrongly convinced that he is the sole author of himself, his life and society.” Continue Reading...

July 08, 2009

Caritas in Veritate Not a Leftist Manifesto

A number of journalists and some pundits on the religious left are aiming to own Caritas in Veritate, the new papal encyclical on economics. To them, the encyclical is a polemic against globalization and even the free market itself. Continue Reading...