3 – The Practical Results of Occupying the Spaces of the Social Order

John Rao discusses how Church Theory is often defeated by Church practice. Papal teaching in the interwar period theoretically confirmed the message of the nineteenth century revival movement regarding how to build the Social Kingship of Christ. This required the recognition of the value of all of nature’s “spaces”–that is to say, all of nature’s activities–but purgation of their evil use and their transformation through grace as well. Building the Social Kingship of Christ was seen as requiring a cooperation of the natural and the supernatural and the recognition of the complimentary character of the individual and social authorities in all of their complexity. In practice, however, the Papacy, national episcopacies, the clergy, and much of the lay Catholic Action movement seemed more willing to allow the existing governments and ways of life of the world around them to thrive, so long as the liturgy were protected and communism was fought. This meant living a double life: one theoretically committed to Christ the King, and another practically committed to continuing Liberalism, Americanism, and one form or another of anti-communist Fascism.

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