Among American conservative intellectuals, few political projects have drawn more attention than the recent Catholic revival of “integralism.” Drawing on the political theory of medieval Christendom, this latter-day project boldly asserts that, ultimately, all political power ought to be rendered subject to the spiritual authority of the Catholic Church.[1] For integralists, such a model is no relic of history, rather it flows consistently from both sacred tradition and Roman magisterium. So much so, in fact, that even the Second Vatican Council, though widely perceived as Rome’s reconciliation with modernity, did not—could not—abrogate the Church’s perennial political teaching, instead the Council merely rephrased it.[2]
This integralism has emerged at a time of political reorientation. In the mid-2010s, the surge of populist movements around the globe testified powerfully to the perceived failures of neoliberal ideology. Since world history might not, it seems, necessarily culminate in a global consumer society, new—or old—directions for political philosophy have once again become available.
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