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Communitarianism, the Vatican, and the New Global Order

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Robert L. Phillips
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Abstract

Pope John Paul's great vision of communitarianism and a New Global Order has yet to receive the recognition it deserves in furthering the understanding that humanity is built on religious values, without which transformations in totalitarian regimes would have been impossible. The essence of communitarianism, as put forth by the Vatican, consists of seeking middle ground between Marxist collectivism and rigid individualism and capitalism. Phillips traces the history of communitarianism through Aristotelian and Judeo-Christian writings, clarifying the proper function of the community in helping individuals help themselves by mobilizing church resources and countering anti-religious movements such as Nazism and communism. Communitarianism presents an encouraging universal notion of freedom, transcending the one-sided stances of Marxism and libertarian capitalism and promoting the vision of a unified human destiny.

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Type
Articles
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Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 5 , March 1991 , pp. 135 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 1991

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References

1 Edward Luttwak, Commentary, Vol. 89, No. 6 (June 1990), p. 17.

2 Fred Bergsten, “The World Economy,”Foreign Affairs (Summer 1990), p. 98.

3 Aristotle, Politics, 11:2, 1263a26, 38–9.

4 John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 173.

5 Thomas Aquinas, Selected Political Writings (London: Basil Blackwell, 1948), p. 167.

6 The following extensive quotes are intended not only to support the argument of this paper, but also to alert the reader to the little known riches of current papal writings on geo-economics/politics. English translations of encyclicals and instructions are available in the USA from the Daughters of St. Paul.

7 John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, (Boston, MA: St.Paul Books and Media, 1981), p. 29.

8 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation (Boston, MA: St. Paul Books and Media, 1986), pp. 8–10.

9 Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, p. 34.

10 Cardinal Ratzinger, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, p. 50.

11 Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights, p. 187.