via the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life:
At this timely dialogue in Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, in a context of prayer, reflection, and conversation, four leading Catholic thinkers and scholars examined the foundations, challenges, and opportunities for a principled relationship between faith and democracy in our current moment.
The United States is struggling to address the erosion of core constitutional freedoms; the uses and abuses of executive, legislative, and judicial power; intense polarization; and even horrific political violence. In this context, some are uncertain or wary of the role of our Catholic faith in our challenged pluralist democracy, while others see an urgent need and opportunity to renew our commitment to the principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching.
Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J., whose thought changed the course of the Catholic Church’s engagement with modern democracy, proposed a way forward: human dignity, the foundational principle of Catholic social teaching, is best served when people pursue truth and the common good in a free and deliberative way, and when states defend the freedoms necessary for people to do so.
Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, moderated the dialogue, which featured Cardinal Robert McElroy, Cathleen Kaveny, Vincent Rougeau, and Rob Vischer.
Millennial 