Reflecting on the good that the co-founder of the Acton Institute has done.
Reflecting on the good that the co-founder of the Acton Institute has done.
I have been a Catholic my entire life.
I’ve heard countless homilies vilifying the rich and extolling socialistic government. After all, the apostle Saint Paul has been misquoted so often that “money is the root of all evil” has become accepted vernacular.
In all my years, though, I had never heard a priest discuss economic liberty and the virtues of the free market. That is, until 2015, when I encountered the Reverend Robert Sirico. For the first time, I listened to a different scriptural understanding of wealth, power, and what we should do with them.
For 31 years, this Catholic priest has been doing just that — both in his addresses to the congregation, and in his work at the helm of a free-market think tank.
“The person that put the skids into Marxism better than anyone else was that little wrinkled nun from Calcutta,” Sirico said in a 2015 debate presented by the Acton Institute, which he co-founded in 1990 and where he has served as president. “We have no right to judge the rich. We do not believe in class warfare. We believe in class encounters. Where the rich save the poor. And the poor save the rich.”
“This is the free and virtuous society I have been defending.”
I heard myself whisper, “Amen.”
Listening to those words six years ago changed the entire trajectory of my career, revealing to me that Christianity and free enterprise are necessary goods that need to work together in harmony. It showed me, too, that my job advocating the free market was not merely a job but a vocation.
And I’m not alone. When people are asked about meeting Sirico, over and over they say, “When I first encountered Father.”
Not met — encountered. As Pope Francis said, “The experience of encounter changes us and it frequently suggests new ways we never thought of taking.”
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Kris Mauren and Robert Sirico founded the Acton Institute above a flower shop in Grand Rapids, Mich, three decades ago. The mission was, and still is, to build a free and virtuous society. Whereas most free-market-oriented think tanks are focused on the mechanisms of freedom, the Acton Institute is concerned with teaching how unregulated markets without a virtuous society will fail.
“Acton realized that economic freedom is essential to creating an environment in which religious freedom can flourish,” says Sirico. He’s also ensured that Acton emphasizes that the market functions best only when people behave morally. “Faith and freedom must go hand in hand.”
Under Sirico’s leadership, the Acton Institute has influenced seats of power, including the U.S. Senate. Senator Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) was on the attack at a Senate Committee hearing in 2016. Sirico responded.
“The point is that we [the Acton Institute] exist for the purpose of helping people understand the moral foundations of the free economy. And it’s a shame that one has to come to the United States Senate to make that case and to be opposed on it.”
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While much of Sirico’s work is about the power of ideas, his influence on others comes from teaching that good ideas and good intent are alone insufficient in improving the lives of others; they must be followed by good action.
He’s a shepherd who wants to smell like his sheep. That has meant serving all aspects of pastoral life: from baptisms and last rites to serving as the pastor to Sacred Heart Academy.
When Sirico became pastor back in 2012, then-bishop of Grand Rapids Walter Hurley told Sirico that he could start shutting down Sacred Heart Academy. By closing the school, Sirico would be able to focus on his small parish and the work of the Acton Institute.
Most priests would have accepted the bishop’s offer: Trying to revive a shrinking parochial school is tough. In 1960, enrollment at Catholic schools in the United States was 5 million. Today, it sits at just 1.6 million.
But Sirico decided to embrace the challenge: Instead of closing the school, he converted Sacred Heart Academy into a classically liberal curriculum, mandated uniforms, eliminated the federal school-lunch program, and asked that all students go to Mass. Not just on Sunday: every day.
Last May, Sirico was in an ice-cream truck, handing out treats to Sacred Heart students, as he’s done every year since he took over the school in 2012. He pays for the entire thing — ice-cream truck and all — as a way to celebrate the anniversary of his ordination.
“When it first started, it wasn’t much of an affair,” said Sean Maltbie, headmaster at Sacred Heart Academy. “There is Father Sirico in the ice cream truck handing out free ice cream, but there were only 68 kids in the entire school.”
This year, on May 13, Sirico served 400 students. The line for the ice cream truck lasted an hour.
Enrollment at Sacred Heart Academy is so high, they’ve had to create a waitlist. Catholic Masses at Sacred Heart are now standing room only — on weekdays.
Two nuns wearing high habits were out in the snow with kids in blazers and ties when a snowball fight broke out. An Acton staff member said, “It sounded like a scene out of a 1950s Norman Rockwell painting. This is like looking into the past.”
Sirico responded, “No, what you’re looking at is the future.”
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Transformation. It’s at the heart of faith. So how does Sirico create it?
For one, with his genuine kindness. And with his empathy and intellect, too. Sirico was not always a staunch evangelist for the powers of free markets and free people. For many years, he was an activist on the left.
“Robert is a sterling example of a leftist who grew up and out of his leftism,” said Larry Reed, former president of the Foundation of Economic Education. “He accomplished what many leftists sadly never do, namely, a maturation as a thinker and observer of reality.”
When Sirico debated socialist Joshua Davis, he knew exactly what to expect because he once was Davis. After a lively back-and-forth, Sirico closed his remarks by saying, “Some people love the poor so much that they want to make systems to ensure that there are more poor people.” It was a mic-drop moment.
The common thread in these encounters is the focus on the person. From popes to parish poor, Sirico’s epistemology starts with a simple belief in the fundamental and essential dignity of the person.
He meets people where they’re at. Years ago, Sirico was providing regular spiritual direction and counseling for one of his parishioners. After five years of working together, the parishioner came in, irate, saying, “I can’t believe that you are on the right! You’ve betrayed me!”
Imagine that: Caring so deeply and focusing your attention so completely on the other person that even after five years he is oblivious to your personal political views.
These are the conditions that allow encounters.
During an encounter with Sirico, people tend to change. And to convert — to the Gospel, or to the fundamental truth of the power of free enterprise.
Last week, Sirico stepped back from his role as president of the Acton Institute. He also recently stepped down as pastor of Sacred Heart Church. But don’t think he is stepping away from his calling.
At the Acton Institute, he is transitioning to president emeritus, where his co-founder, Kris Mauren, will take over as president. Their partnership will continue.
The success at Sacred Heart Parish and Sacred Heart Academy is only a beginning. Sirico is exploring ways to expand the model to Catholic institutions throughout the country.
“It is my hope, that when we have been together exploring ideas, that we will be fortified by the truth of those ideas,” Sirico said. “That you will be able to take this and magnify it throughout the world.”
Sirico will create more encounters, but we are grateful for those he has already made.