Catholics and Politics

by Heyer, Kristin E.; Rozell, Mark J.; Genovese, Michael A.

• ISBN13: 9781589012165
• ISBN10: 158901216X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-01
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

Catholic political identity and engagement defy categorization. The complexities of political realities and the human nature of such institutions as church and government often produce a more fractured reality than the pure unity depicted in doctrine. Yet, in 2003 under the leadership of then-prefect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a "Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life." The note explicitly asserts, "The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church's social doctrine does not exhaust one's responsibility toward the common good." Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension between Faith and Power takes up the political and theological significance of this "integral unity," the universal scope of Catholic concern that can make for strange political bedfellows, confound predictable voting patterns, and leave the church poised to critique narrowly partisan agendas across the spectrum. Catholics and Politics depicts the ambivalent character of Catholics' mainstream "arrival" in the U.S. over the past forty years, integrating social scientific, historical and moral accounts of persistent tensions between faith and power. Divided into four parts?Catholics Leaders in U.S. Politics; The Catholic Public; Catholics and the Federal Government; and International Policy and the Vatican?it describes the implications of Catholic universalism for voting patterns, international policymaking, and partisan alliances. The book reveals complex intersections of Catholicism and politics and the new opportunities for influence and risks of cooptation of political power produced by these shifts. Contributors include political scientists, ethicists, and theologians. The book will be of interest to scholars in political science, religious studies, and Christian ethics and all lay Catholics interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the tensions that can exist between church doctrine and partisan politics.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Introduction	p. 1
Catholic Leaders in U.S. Politics
The Politics of the U.S. Catholic Bishops: The Centrality of Abortion	p. 11
Political Marriage of Convenience? The Evolution of the Conservative Catholic-Evangelical Alliance in the Republican Party	p. 27
One Church, Many Messages: The Politics of the U.S. Catholic Clergy	p. 43
Catholics in the Political Arena: How Faith Should Inform Catholic Voters and Politicians	p. 61
The Catholic Public
Between Church, Party, and Conscience: Protecting Life and Promoting Social Justice among U.S. Catholics	p. 75
The Myth of a Distinct Catholic Vote	p. 93
Politics y la Iglesia: Attitudes toward the Role of Religion in Politics among Latino Catholics	p. 113
Catholics and the Federal Government
Catholicism, Abortion, and the Emergence of the "Culture Wars" in the U.S. Congress, 1971-2006	p. 129
Catholics and the Supreme Court: From the "Catholic Seat" to the New Majority	p. 155
White House Outreach to Catholics	p. 175
International Policy and the Vatican
The United States-Vatican Relationship: "Parallel Endeavors for Peace," Competing Visions of Justice	p. 201
Reforming the Vatican: The Tradition of Best Practices	p. 213
Acknowledgments	p. 221
Contributors	p. 223
Index	p. 227
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.