US Catholics At Crossroads on Trump’s ‘American Dream’: Massimo Faggioli

Feb 1, 2025 | 0 comments

Theologian Massimo Faggioli

Calling Donald Trump’s vision of America’s future an ‘extreme and perverse version of the American dream’ the renowned Catholic Theologian Massimo Faggioli has called upon the US Catholic church instead ‘to defend democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.’ 

Contrasting the demeanour of New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan with the appeal for mercy made to the president by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde soon after, Faggioli identifies two streams of thought in American Catholicism – one that is socially conscious and democratic, in the tradition of Vatican II theologian Fr John Courtney Murray, and the other ‘enchanted by the destruction of language brought by populism and desensitized to the most disruptive aspect of Trumpism‘.

Calling Trumpism not truly conservative but ‘ultra modern’ in its embracing of an ‘America first’ that is supreme in technological power, Faggioli argues that this echoes the ultra-nationalism and futurism of the 1920s and 30s in Europe and that true conservatism today is defined by alignment with the constitution and the rule of law – and that in this sense too many US bishops ‘are not conservative enough‘.

“Trump is the latest, extreme, and perverse version of the American dream. The dilemma is that today one can defend an unqualified aspiration to the American dream, or one can defend democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. But it’s impossible to do both. This has been evident for a while. Now it should be evident to many more Americans and American Catholics. It’s time for a new generation of Catholic social and political thought for the 21st century.”

To read Massimo Faggioli’s complete article in La Croix International click here.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ACI’s Campaign for Lumen Gentium 37

The Promise of Synodality

What we have experienced of synodality so far gives ACI real hope that a longstanding structural injustice in the church may at last be acknowledged and overcome.

As all Irish bishops well know, the 'co-responsibility' they urge lay people to share - as numbers and energies of clergy decline - has been sabotaged time and again by canonical rules that deny representational authority and continuity to parish pastoral councils.  ACI's 2019 call for the immediate honouring of Lumen Gentium Article 37 becomes more urgent by the day and is supported by the following documents - also presented to the ICBC in October 2019.

The Common Priesthood of the People of God and the Renewal of the Church
It was Catholic parents and victims of clerical abuse who taught Catholic Bishops to prioritise the safeguarding of children in the church

Jesus as Model for the Common Priesthood of the People of God
It was for challenging religious hypocrisy and injustice that Jesus was accused and crucified. He is therefore a model for the common priesthood of the laity and for the challenging of injustice - in society and within the church.

A Suggested Strategy for the Recovery of the Irish and Western Catholic Church
Recovery of the church depends upon acknowledgment of the indispensable role of the common priesthood of the lay people of God and the explicit abandonment by bishops and clergy of paternalism and clericalism - the expectation of deference from lay people rather than honesty and integrity.

For the full story of ACI's campaign for the honouring of Article 37 of Lumen Gentium, click here.

Prayer

"Come Holy Spirit, Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen."

Saint Pope John XXIII, 1962 - In preparation for Vatican Council II, 1962-65.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This