Angelus News | May 7, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 9

of oppressors and oppressed.
Second, they relativize moral value
and see classical morality as an attempt
by the ruling class to maintain
itself in power.
Third, they focus not so much on
the individual as on racial and ethnic
categories, and hence they endorse
the idea of collective guilt and recommend
a sort of reverse discrimination
to address the injustices of the past.
Fourth, they tend to demonize the
market economy and the institutions
of democracy as part of a superstructure
defending the privileged.
Fifth, they push toward equity of outcome
throughout the society, rather
than equality of opportunity.
And finally, “wokeism” employs
divisive and aggressive strategies of
accusation that are contrary to the
Gospel demand to love our enemies.
Suffice it to say that Catholic Social
Teaching stands athwart all of this.
It wants social justice, of course, but
not on “woke” terms. Its heroes are
not Marx, Nietzsche, and Foucault,
but rather Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah,
Jesus the Lord, Ambrose, Aquinas, and
Teresa of Calcutta.
I fear that a lot of Catholics, legitimately
concerned about societal
injustice and eager to do something
about it, will turn, not to our biblically
based and deeply wise social teaching
tradition, but rather to the philosophy
that’s currently in the air. That’s a
main reason I wanted to bring this
collection out.
Couldn’t the argument be made
that Catholics included in the second
half of the book — figures like
Dorothy Day and saints like Teresa
of Calcutta and Oscar Romero —
were “woke” in their own right?
No! I mean, if you want to define
“woke” as simply being alert to social
injustice and passionate about addressing
it, then sure, they were “woke.”
But the term, as I clarified above, has
a much more definite meaning, and
those great figures would not be the
least bit sympathetic with contemporary
“wokeism,” it seems to me. For
one thing, all three of them believed
deeply in God and in the objectivity
of moral values, and all three of them
advocated a cooperative social theory.
Mother Teresa
of Calcutta.
| CNS
Dorothy Day.
| WIKIPEDIA
And none of them believed in programs
of collective guilt.
In an April 15 address to the
Minnesota Catholic Conference,
Archbishop José H. Gomez said that
“in the Catholic vision, social justice
is not about personal identity, or
group power, or getting more material
goods.” Is there a “contributor” to
this book that you find elaborates on
that view particularly well?
In saying that, Archbishop Gomez is
echoing the voices of Leo XIII, Pius
XI, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II,
Benedict XVI, and Francis, the present
Bishop of Rome — all of whom
are represented in our book.
In the excerpt from “Evangelium
Vitae” included in the collection,
John Paul II acknowledges the
difficulty in mounting “an effective
legal defense of life in pluralistic
democracies, because of the presence
of strong cultural currents with
differing outlooks.” Today it seems
the Church is praised in mainstream
culture when she speaks out on
issues like the death penalty and
racism, but less on the fundamental
right to human life. What is the best
way to do that in 2021?
When it comes to matters of intrinsic
evil that seriously compromise the
common good, the Church must
speak strongly and clearly.
As Pope John Paul II often reminded
us, the Church never imposes, only
proposes. So, even as we acknowledge
the difficulty of persuading people of
our point of view, we are obliged to
make cogent public arguments about
all of the great life issues: abortion,
capital punishment, euthanasia,
racism, etc.
Depending on the question, of
course, we will be more popular with
the left or the right within our American
context. So be it. Our job is not to
please any political party. It is to speak
for Gospel values in the public square.
Your apostolate, Word on Fire, has
tried to reach people where they
seem to spend a lot of time nowadays
— online. So what’s the idea behind
releasing this Word on Fire Classics
series in print?
I certainly believe in the importance
of using the new media in evangelization,
but I have always been, deep
down, a book person. And Word on
Fire, from the beginning, has been a
publishing enterprise.
Last year, we brought out the first
volume of our Word on Fire Bible,
which we envision to be a seven-volume
project, and just a few weeks
ago we published a book containing
the four constitutions of the Second
Vatican Council, accompanied by
commentary by the post-conciliar
popes. So I’m delighted when people
watch my videos, but I also want them
to read!
Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of
Angelus.
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