Category: Articles

by J. Marlow Gazzoli

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On Easter Sunday in 1146 at Vézelay, King Louis VII took the Cross of crusade. He had announced his intention to go to Jerusalem to his court at Christmas, and it was decided that the court would meet again at Vézelay, with those who would take the Cross doing so at Easter.^[1] Meanwhile the city of Edessa had fallen at the end of 1144. The bishop of Jabala, Syria, came to the papal court in November 1145 and informed Pope Eugenius III of the predicament of the Church in the East. On 1 December 1145 the pontiff published for the first time Quantum prædecessores nostri in which he called for a crusade. However, this had not reached France by Christmas when Louis made public his intention.^[2] Otto of Freising says that Louis wanted to go on Crusade because his brother Philip had died before he could fulfil his own vow to do so and that this is why Louis gathered his court.^[3] When the pope’s letter did reach France, King Louis wrote back to him, and the pope gave a favourable reply. On 1 March 1146 Pope Eugenius published a second version of Quantum prædecessores nostri which named Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, as the preacher of the Crusade.^[4]

Continue reading “St. Bernard and the Theology of Crusade”

by Peter Kwasniewski

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Today we present the second half of the article posted yesterday, which is forthcoming in the next issue of The Latin Mass,vol. 23, n. 4 (Winter/Spring 2015): 28–35, and appears here at The Josias by permission. A Spanish version can be found here.

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The Human Self is Fulfilled in the Common Good

Up to this point in our reflections we have seen that the way in which “the problem of love” is usually cast—that allegiance must be given to altruism or egoism—involves a false opposition from the start, built upon a superficial metaphysics. Because neither position recognizes ecstatic generosity as the rule of creation, neither position recognizes the fundamental distinction between private goods, which cannot be shared by many, and common goods, which can be shared by many. To this distinction we now turn.

Continue reading “The Foundations of Christian Ethics and Social Order: Egoism and Altruism vs. Love for the Common Good (Part II)”

by Peter Kwasniewski

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This is the first half of an article published in the The Latin Mass, vol. 23, n. 4 (Winter/Spring 2015): 28–35, and appears here at The Josias by permission.  The second half is here. A Spanish version can be found here, and an Italian version here.

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It is a well-known axiom of Thomistic ethics that whatever good a person loves he loves as his own good (bonum suum). How, then, can there be a true “ecstasy,” that is, a true going out of oneself in love for the other?^[1]  How can there be authentic love of the other for the other’s sake?  Does not love collapse into egoism?  And would not the only practical or theoretical alternative be altruism—a sort of spontaneous giving away to others that has no reference whatsoever to oneself or one’s good?

Continue reading “The Foundations of Christian Ethics and Social Order: Egoism and Altruism vs. Love for the Common Good”

by John C. Rao

Editor’s Note:  This is the final installment of a three-part essay by Dr. John Rao on the roots of current Catholic ideas about the relationship between the Church and the secular order. The first was mainly concerned with the work of Fr. John Courtney Murray, SJ; the second, with the Uriage movement in France; the third, below, looks at the implications of pluralism for the Church’s self-understanding vis-à-vis the State since Vatican II. A version of this paper appeared in: Revista VERBO número 527-528: actas Ciudad Católica (September-October, 2014).
Continue reading “The Question of Res publica Christiana in Post-conciliar Catholic Doctrines (Part III)”

by John C. Rao

Editor’s Note:  This is the second part of a three-part essay by Dr. John Rao on the roots of current Catholic ideas about the relationship between the Church and the secular order. The first, posted here, was mainly concerned with the work of Fr. John Courtney Murray, SJ; the second, below, with the Uriage movement in France; the third will look at the implications of pluralism for the Church’s self-understanding vis-à-vis the State since Vatican II. A version of this paper appeared in: Revista VERBO número 527-528: actas Ciudad Católica (September-October, 2014).
Continue reading “The Question of Res publica Christiana in Post-conciliar Catholic Doctrines (Part II)”

by John C. Rao

Editor’s Note:  Dr. John C. Rao has kindly allowed The Josias to publish this brief survey of the roots of the present situation of the Church with respect to the secular order.  We will publish it in three parts. The first, found below, is largely concerned with the work of Fr. John Courtney Murray, SJ; the second, with the Uriage movement in France; and the third with the implications of pluralism for the Church’s self-understanding vis-à-vis the State since Vatican II. A version of this paper appeared in: Revista VERBO número 527-528: actas Ciudad Católica (September-October, 2014).

Continue reading “The Question of Res publica Christiana in Post-conciliar Catholic Doctrines”

By Beatrice Freccia

This is the second part of an investigation Aristotle’s account of the relation of the Household and the state. Part One can be found here. A printable version of the whole essay can be found here.

Continue reading “Understanding Aristotle’s Account of the Relationship of the Household to the State (Part II)”

By Beatrice Freccia

The relation of the state to the household (or family) is one of the most important questions of political philosophy and of Catholic social teaching. There is an apparent disagreement on this question between Aristotle and Pope Leo XIII—Aristotle writes, “the state is by nature clearly prior to the household” (Politics, 1253a19), while Pope Leo writes, “the domestic household is antecedent, as well in idea as in fact, to the gathering of men into a community” (Rerum Novarum 13). It is therefore important to determine precisely what they mean, and on what arguments they base these statements. Beatrice Freccia’s first contribution to The Josias attempts to do this for Aristotle, showing by a careful reading of the relevant texts what Aristotle means by saying that the state is prior to the household. This is the first of two parts. Part Two will be posted on Wednesday. A printable version of the piece can be found here. – Pater Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist.

Continue reading “Understanding Aristotle’s Account of the Relationship of the Household to the State”

The following thirty-seven theses give a basic overview of the Aristotelian-Thomist account of the good, as interpreted by Laval School Thomists such as Charles De Koninck, Duane Berquist, and Marcus Berquist. A printable version can be found here. A Spanish version can be found here, and a German version here.

Continue reading “The Good, the Highest Good, and the Common Good”

Catholic integralism (sometimes referred to as “integrism”) is today dismissed as a relic of a bygone era which received its final chance at life through a number of ostensibly misguided socio-political movements during the early decades of the last century. Though the term “integralism” would be appropriated and reworked by several prominent 20th Century theologians, it is largely associated with hyper-traditionalist reactionaries who refuse to recognize the ideological realignment of the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council. Whether or not this ideological realignment has been either prudent or wise remains a vexing question. Serious inquiry into this matter is too often taken as a sign of flagrant disobedience, and there remain forces within the Church which wish to uphold that the ideological realignment toward liberalism is the direct result of, or coeval with, authentic doctrinal development. That thesis has come under significant and sustained scrutiny in recent years, as evidenced by Pater Edmund Waldstein’s four-part article, “Religious Liberty and Tradition” (available here, here, here, and here) and theologian John Lamont’s paper, “Catholic Teaching on Religion and the State.” Some, naturally, remain unconvinced, including those who believe that Vatican II’s document on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae, not only conflicts with pre-conciliar magisterial statements, but has had the practical effect of obscuring the social rights of Christ the King. That the Kingship of Christ has become, for many Catholics now living, a “lost doctrine” is almost beyond dispute. Nevertheless, as the Dominican theologian Fr. Aidan Nichols recently opined, “[P]ublicly recognising divine revelation is an entailment of the Kingship of Christ on which, despite its difficulties in a post-Enlightenment society, we must not renege.” It is for the restoration of this public recognition that Catholic integralism continues to strive.

Continue reading “Catholic Integralism and the Social Kingship of Christ”