Is Catholic Social Teaching Liberal?

Dear Mr. Disimon,

Have you ever wondered why so many Catholics think it is perfectly acceptable to support pro-abortion politicians based on their other policies? Apparently it is because some secularized Catholic intellectuals mistakenly believe that the policies of the Democratic Partynecessarily line up very well with Catholic social teaching. Phil Lawler, for one, is tired of hearing it. See his excellent commentary article: Is Catholic Social Teaching Inherently Liberal? (And please: This is not an argument that Republican policies are always more Catholic.)

The Pope, of course, is a member of neither party, and it is very clear that—like every authentic Catholic thinker—he is perfectly capable of transcending the conservative-liberal dialectic, the mistaken notion that everything must always be either left or right.

Jeff Mirus President Trinity Consulting