Catholicism does not offer specific political ideologies or policies. It is a big mistake to consecrate some such system as "Catholic." In its social teaching we receive a loose network of principles to be used prudentially, flexibly, fluidly, creatively in different ways by different individuals and groups. They apply to every conceivable situation as they move us to bring all human life under God's grace and free us from evil and sin. These include: absolute dignity of every person however incompetent, the common good, solidarity (especially with the suffering and deprived), the brotherhood of all peoples, subsidiarity (emphasis on the small, concrete, immediate), conditional (not absolute) right to private property, rule of law, democracy, just war, sacredness of marriage/family/gender/sex, prudential balance between regulative state and free markets, and other.
What follows are my political priorities in USA 2026 at the age of 79. They are not identical with my priorities 30 or 60 years ago. If I live another 20 years they will probably shift in emphasis with history.
1. Subsidiarity, "Benedict Principle" and Decline of Macro-Institutions
The Catholic politics I imbibed with my mother's milk in postwar America knew nothing of subsidiarity as it was enamored of big unions, which countervailed big corporations, which generated immense wealth for everyone, as they were regulated by big government, which triumphed over Nazism and eventually Soviet Communism in maintaining a prosperous/peaceful global Pax Americana and battling racism, poverty, drugs, and later terrorism.
By contrast, subsidiarity prefers that the smaller social organizations, more immediate and concrete, handle situations when possible. This fundamental Catholic principle has become more important through my adult life with the malignant growth of huge organizations, particularly the nation state and global corporations. These have effectively swallowed up many smaller and intermediate institutions and rendered the isolated individual powerless against social gigantism. Our political left is enabling of an expansive, cancerous state; our left of malignant global capitalism.
Even more toxic is the moral degradation of our bipolar national politics. How could anyone with a head on their shoulders not be today a double-hater? It is my view that our 2020 presidencies, Biden and Trump 2, are by far the worst in our 250 year old history...in strongly contrasting ways. Both are startlingly incompetent, disconnected from reality in quasi-psychosis: Biden in debility and senility; Trump in a blindness of narcissism, resentment, grandiose mania and impulsivity. My personal animus is against Biden in his betrayal of "our family." An Irish, Catholic, working class, family man, he is my "Fredo." (Michael Corleone: "Fredo, you're my brother and I love you. But don't takes sides with anyone against the family, ever again.") Trump is nothing personal to me: he is not one of my own, not of my tribe. He is shamelessly, flamboyantly depraved in character; yet in the public realm he, mostly in his first term, has defended what is precious to our Catholic faith in his defiance of elite power.
And so we happily receive in this our time, from Rod Dreher and Providence, the Benedict Option. As the Roman Empire collapsed, St. Benedict did not defend or renew it, but retreated into monastic life. In time his monasteries spread across Europe and were the foundation of an entirely new, medieval civilization. And so, with the decline of our macro-society, we focus more closely on our immediate communities as we detach (emotionally, spiritually, intellectually) from the toxicities of public life. First, always, is our personal union with God: as we come close and open our hearts/souls to him, we become agents of his grace and mercy. Second, immediate family and closer bonds of mutuality. Eventually, strong families and communities of faith/value become fonts of grace, to enlighten all aspects of society.
2. Culture War
For half a century, from Roe 1973 to Dobbs 2022, our society was thrust into the Culture War around abortion and related issues. This caused many of us Catholics to switch our allegiance from the Democrat to the Republican party. This remains, in my estimation, the defining polarization of our time. This was clearly manifest in the campaign of Kamala Harris who spoke of nothing else but "woman's right of choice." As a single issue this dominates; but it flows into an entire way of life: euthanasia, assisted suicide, technological reproduction, cohabitation rather than marriage, embryonic stem cell research, denial of religious liberties, gay marriage, transgenderism and other.
Significantly, Dobbs moved the issue mostly to the states and so relatively reduced its importance on the national level. Importantly it also returned it to the democratic process. The culture war remains but is not so important for our national politics. Since Dobbs, abortions have actually increased, largely due to the availability of chemical means. It also shows that the issue is rooted deeply in the new culture that exploded in the 1960: abortion, contraception, sterile sex, homosexuality, divorce, pornography, euthanasia, reproductive technology and the systemic abuse of women.\
For the foreseeable future, this remains the defining conflict of our time. We have not won this war; we may not; but it is morally incumbent upon us to fight it.
3. Internationalist
Globally, since childhood I have been a passionate internationalist. At the age of seven I learned of starving babies in China and I paced furiously back and forth in my house I was so troubled. This Catholic intuition of the brotherhood of all peoples has more than anything informed my politics. Through high school I was fascinated by the underdeveloped world, reading Maryknoll Magazine, America and NY Times. For four college years I studied to be a Maryknoll missionary priest. Today I consider myself a Catholic Neo-Conservative: supportive of a strong military, aggressive American posture across the glove, and fervently anti-MAGA out of a moral conservatism. This flows deeply from my Catholic values:
1. Solidarity with all people, especially those deprived and suffering. I was horrified by the Trump/Musk devastation of USAID. We can grant that these programs entailed waste, fraud and WOKE ideology. But the DOGE effort efforts directly deprived the needy even as it weakened our own "soft diplomacy" and global influence.
2. Realities of sin and evil. My worldview was formed by American contests in WWII and the Cold War. The defining binary of decision remains Chamberlain/Churchill. My Catholic faith alerts me to the drastic reality of evil actors. Today this is Communist China, Putin's Russia, Islamic terrorism (Iranian Shite and non-state Sunni), and related totalitarian imperialisms. Our country, in alliances like NATO, is uniquely capable of restraining these forces of evil. In the light of these radical evils, my Neoconservatism rejects selfish, chauvinist, xenophobic MAGA as well as progressive, quasi-pacifist, cosmopolitan delusions that such aggression can be prevented by diplomacy, education, science and therapy. Here I differ with Popes Francis and Leo.
3. Catholic, apostolic, missionary urgency requires that our Church have access to share our faith with every people. Therefore, we are morally required to resist anywhere the repression of religious freedom: Communism and Sharia Law, including that of Saudi Arabia and the gulf states. Generic fascism, often but not always, is not such a hindrance to evangelization. By this perspective, the Biden abandonment of Afghanistan is morally repugnant for many reasons but especially in that it leaves the entire country void of the Gospel, the Eucharist, the Church.
4. The dignity of the human person is best protected classic Western liberalism by the freedoms (religion, speech, assembly, etc.), rule of law, democracy, private property, and markets. As we align ourselves with those who agree with this we serve the good of all peoples and our own interests in a peaceful, prosperous world. This is not cultural liberalism nor post-liberalism, but classic, Christ-based liberalism.
Clearly, my convictions here distance me from the cosmopolitan left as well as the isolationist right. But I am not completely alone. Currently, I am not opposed to our war with Iran as they have been at war with us and will continue to be. But I am nauseated with Trump's diesel fuel deal with Putin and his abandonment of the Ukraine.
Regarding globalized capitalism, I am morally ambivalent. It is true that millions have been lifted out of material poverty with adequate nutrition, water and other. This is not nothing. At the same time, however, corporate capitalism erodes traditional bonds of family, faith, location and community. It richly, inordinately rewards the investor class. It fosters envy, anxiety and resentment. It isolates and elevated the Sovereign Self.
But to the degree that it is accompanied by wholesome, family, religious values it can be good.
4. Economically: Moderately Left
In adulthood I have grown in my appreciation for capitalist initiative, market efficiencies and economic freedoms but retain my family's allegiance to governmental care for the poor, a strong safety net, unions, a robust regulatory system and a reasonably progressive tax program. I retain a strong class consciousness as loyalty to the poor and working class, free of resentment of the rich. I strongly renounce identity politics, anti-racism, DEI, and cultural Marxism. In this I align with the emergent Catholic-friendly, populist, culturally conservative, economically liberal New Right. (Sohrab Ahmari, Patrick Dineen, Adrian Vermeule, J.D. Vance.)
5. "Christian Strategy" of Adrian Vermeule
Looking back to Old Testament patriarchs who served fruitfully in evil empires (Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon), Vermeule (First Things Nov. 1, 2017) proposes a "Christian strategy" by which we deny allegiance to any party, movement or ideology as we collaborate with any and all parties in specific actions for the common good. This is a marvelous strategy for our time. First, it balances the Benedict Option which risks complete detachment from the broader common good. Second, in our age of competing political depravities (of the left and right), it frees us from enmeshment in their toxicities. Thirdly, it brings us to acknowledge the valid good in any politics, even those we generally reject, and move our society in the direction of peace and cooperation.
Conclusion
Catholic social teaching is not a doctrinal system. It does not endorse any polity or ideology. It is fluid, organic, flexible, creative. It allows for the freedom, agency and ingenuity of the person and community in any circumstances. It encourages a genuine diversity of viewpoints.
Gloriously, the Church gathers us in the Eucharist, around the Word and Body/Blood of Christ, in the communion of truth and love, across differences of policy, ideology and viewpoint. Rooted in eternal truths, in stability, in permanence, it nevertheless respects, in prudential matters, viewpoint difference and conflict as fruitful and life-giving.
As Catholics we can compete aggressively in the political arena, always serene, abiding in our revealed-received Truth and mutuality in Love.
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