In 1995, Pope John Paul II spoke to a crowd in Baltimore, MD, saying, “Democracy cannot be sustained without a shared commitment to certain moral truths about the human person and human community. The basic question before a democratic society is: how ought we to live together?” This question has proved important throughout history and has left some people wondering how neutral our founding ideas were and whether particular faith traditions, especially Catholicism, are compatible with the American political order. So what defines our American political order? Is it at odds with Catholic Social Teaching? John C. Pinheiro, professor of history and the founding director of Catholic Studies at Aquinas College, breaks it down.
Check out additional resources for this episode:
Read: “Are Catholicism and America compatible?” by John C. Pinheiro
Buy: “The American Experiment in Ordered Liberty” by John C. Pinheiro
Video: John C. Pinheiro on Virtue and Liberty in the American Founding
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