Who does not long for a better kind of politics?

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,  

Ever since October 2020, when Pope Francis first published his encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship), I have used this newsletter to offer my reflections on this wonderfully insightful and inspiring letter addressed to us Catholics but also to all our sisters and brothers everywhere. Today, I want to discuss some ideas from the encyclical’s fifth chapter, “A Better Kind of Politics.”

Who does not long for a better kind of politics? Recent years have shown beyond any doubt that political discourse and activity here in the United States, and in virtually every region of the world, is broken, ineffective and even harmful to the common good of humanity. This is not the way it should be. As Pope Francis observes, “Sadly, politics today often takes forms that hinder progress towards a different world.” As a result, many people have begun to wonder whether there is any hope for the future.

Still, it would be a mistake to give up on politics as a means of organizing social activity and resolving differences among individuals and communities. As Pope Francis writes:

“For many people today, politics is a distasteful word, often due to the mistakes, corruption and inefficiency of some politicians. There are also attempts to discredit politics, to replace it with economics or to twist it to one ideology or another. Yet can our world function without politics? Can there be an effective process of growth towards universal fraternity and social peace without a sound political life?”

What does “a sound political life” look like? How do we distinguish this from the kind of politics that so many people today find distasteful and even destructive?

Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter.