The Vatican Reveals Un-Catholic Clericalist Tendencies
The radical recommendations of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace show an extraordinary level of clericalism.
What is clericalism?
Clericalism is a form of elitism that holds that priests (clerics) are better at managing the affairs of lay people than lay people are at managing their own affairs.
What is elitism?
Elitism is the idea that expert elites are better at managing the lives of the populace than the more ignorant populace would be at managing their own affairs.
Who are the elites that elitists think should be put in charge of the affairs of the populace?
Elitists believe that people at the top of each respective field — attorneys, psychologists, engineers, professors, accountants, physicians, etc. — should be empowered by government to make decisions for everyone else within each expert’s field of expertise. This is often referred to as a managed economy.
What is the anti-elitist philosophy?
The anti-elitist philosophy is called populism. It holds that the populace is better at managing its own affairs than expert elites would be at managing their affairs for them.
Are all elites elitist?
Absolutely not. Elites do tend to be elitist due to fallen human nature and an often well-meaning desire to minimize the risk of the populace making mistakes in their respective fields of expertise that they would never make. Elitism also has the tempting allure of giving elites additional power. However, some elites are populist.
What percentage of Americans are elites?
It is hard to say for certain but a remarkably large amount of Americans are elites. The more developed and diversified an economy is, the more fields there are in which a person can rise to the highest level. America has one of the best economies in human history so a significant minority of Americans are elites.
Is everyone in the populace populist?
The populace is defined as the non-elites. The answer is no. Some in the populace have an infantile belief that some expert should come in and fix all their problems. But the majority of the populace (and, as a result, the majority of Americans) are populist. That is why the majority of Americans believe that the gold standard should replace the central management of the Fed — an idea considered somewhat fringe (although slowly gaining traction) among Washington elites.
Back to clericalism! Are all clericalists priests?
No. Laypeople can be clericalist and so can non-Catholics.
What do clericalists tend to believe?
Non-Catholic clericalists tend to believe that only priests represent the Catholic Church — writing as if lay people were mere spectators of the Church — often referring to “the Church hierarchy” as if its members were from a different species than the laity. Lay clericalists tend to believe that priests should be held to high moral standards that they themselves do not need to hold. Priestly clericalists (like Cardinal Turkson of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) believe that not only should priests provide Church teaching and the sacraments but also give lay people directives on exactly which specific policies they should undertake. However, when it comes right down to it, all clericalists tend to share all three of these beliefs.
Is it surprising that a clericalist document would endorse elitist policy proscriptions such as creating a World Fed and world taxes?
Not in the slightest. Since clericalism is a form of elitism, clericalists will be inclined to endorse elitist policy.
What does the Church teach about clericalism?
Catholic Social Teaching is fiercely opposed to clericalism or any form of elitism. It teaches that subsidiarity should guide all policy decisions. Subsidiarity is the principle that all decisions should be as populist as possible. Thus, all efforts should be made to decentralize decision-making rather than centralizing decision-making.
Furthermore, Vatican II emphasized the Universal Call to Holiness. In other words, not only clerics but also lay people are called to passionately live their Catholic faith and become saints. Provided that clerics are providing excellent formation and the sacraments, lay Catholics and even non-Catholics can put Catholic Social Teaching into effect without being told which specific policy actions to take.
The Church does teach doctrine. How does it do so?
The Church has been in a 2,000 year dialogue with the world developing and refining dogma that has been handed down by Jesus Christ. It acts with the authority of the Magisterium. There are many levels of developing doctrine — some gradual and some instantaneous — Scripture, Vatican Councils, ex Cathedra statements, encyclicals (like the one the document quoted that refuted its entire argument), Apostolic Exhortations, the Catechism, etc.
How much Magisterial authority does this document have?
None. Zero. Zilch. It has no authority in the Magisterium at all.
So how should Catholics react?
When the Vatican issues a clericalist policy recommendation that has no authority from the Magisterium but is in fact in conflict with the Catholic Social Teaching, Catholics are required to condemn that document.
It’s the only Catholic thing to do.