Community and People in Catholic Thought, 1830-1870
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3354836 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roberto Romani (0000-0001-9983-3640, University of Teramo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 845-864 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Church History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-6407 • E-ISSN: 1755-2613 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009640723002792 |
| OpenAlex | W4389204816 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
Far from being limited to denunciations of modernity, nineteenth-century Catholic thought had a programmatic and visionary side. This article deals with the models of community put forward by Lamennais inL'Avenir, Antonio Rosmini, Luigi Taparelli d'Azeglio, and Wilhelm Ketteler. These writers reimagined the foundations of public life against the claims of self-interested individualism and state omnipotence. Three theses in particular capture their vision of the future polity: 1) societies, which were not "mechanisms," needed Catholicism as animating spirit; 2) political representation should be "organic"; and 3) whereas the liberal elites imposed their vested interests on the common people, the Catholic polity reflected their needs and beliefs. The four writers envisaged a community of the gentle and caring, which, like the family, was hierarchical, self-governed, local, and supportive. In contrast, it was argued that the people had no voice under liberalism because the elite's values were not the people's and because the political system was a mere arena for the clash of special interests. This was a communitarian and populist Catholicism, prizing self-government, denouncing parliamentary politics, and siding with "the people
Aesthetics · Elite · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Individualism · Liberalism · Modernity · Omnipotence · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Representation (politics) · Sociology · State (computer science) · European Political History Analysis · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |