The Strange Drift of liberal Catholicism

I write to remark a strange state of affairs within the American Catholic Church that induces, for instance, the Jesuit weekly America to feature an article by George H. Dunne, S.J. (May 13), called “How We Look to Others.” One could as easily point to a subsequent offering by the same Fr. Dunne (an anti-American tirade which America featured on June 17); but I choose the earlier piece because it has some structure to it, and so provides better, more schematic insights into the kind of thing that is being preached under Catholic auspices.

Fr. Dunne’s article, while an extreme case, falls well within the ideational structure of what has come to be the dominant strain of articulate Catholic opinion in the United States—a domination that is most complete in the journal-of-opinion field where America and her secular sister, Commonweal, hold sway.

LB

About the Author

L. Brent Bozell Jr.

Featured Tags

I write to remark a strange state of affairs within the American Catholic Church that induces, for instance, the Jesuit weekly America to feature an article by George H. Dunne, S.J. (May 13), called “How We Look to Others.” One could as easily point to a subsequent offering by the same Fr. Dunne (an anti-American tirade which America featured on June 17); but I choose the earlier piece because it has some structure to it, and so provides better, more schematic insights into the kind of thing that is being preached under Catholic auspices.

Fr. Dunne’s article, while an extreme case, falls well within the ideational structure of what has come to be the dominant strain of articulate Catholic opinion in the United States—a domination that is most complete in the journal-of-opinion field where America and her secular sister, Commonweal, hold sway.