Episode 309: Dr. Virginia Arbery and George Hawley on the book Catholics and the American Polity (November 19, 2025)

In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder interview Dr. Virginia Arbery & George Hawley on a book co-edited by Pieter Vree and Thomas Storck entitled Catholics and the American Polity: Approaches & Contestations.

"Anti-Catholicism is one of the distinguishing marks of American history. Today, as the Church's institutional influence wanes, anti-Catholicism is once again surging. Yet Catholics mustn't retreat from civic engagement, for the Catechism says that 'intervening directly' in the 'political structuring and organization of social life' is our 'vocation.' How are we to accomplish this? Three theories have gained prominence: integralism, regime change, and the 'Benedict Option.' In this book, twenty-five thinkers grapple with the questions of whether Catholics have a 'place at the table' of American public life and how we might fulfill our vocation vis-à-vis the structuring and organization of the same." -PIETER VREE

"What is America-a nation, a proposition, an experiment? And if a proposition or an experiment, how does America relate to the Church's own robust tradition of political thought? Is it something that a Catholic can or ought to make his peace with? This timely collection of essays highlights a range of opinion, from enthusiastic acceptance of a propositional Americanism to an equally strong rejection of such. Catholics who have not closely examined the philosophical or theological roots of American tradition or the implications of our own Church's thought, will find in this volume more than one helpful starting point for their own pondering on what it means to be both Catholic and American in the twenty-first century." -THOMAS STORCK

Contributors Virginia L. Arbey - Casey Chalk - Will Hoyt - George Hawley - Kan Ito - A. James McAdamsPreston R. Simpson - Mark Barrett - Charles A. Coulombe - Christopher BeitingKarl Keating - Gracjan Kraszewski - Jude Russo - Marek Jan Chodakiewicz - Christopher ZehnderJohn M. Grondelski - James G. Hanink - Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist. - Thomas Storck - Edwin DygaRobert McTeigue, S.J. - Jason M. Morgan - Thaddeus Kozinski - John C. Médaille - Al Kresta

https://www.amazon.com/Catholics-American-Polity-Approaches-Contestations/dp/1998492583/