With the recent news about Fulton Sheen’s “cause” for
canonization being suspended, we are faced with the possibility of a very Chestertonian
paradox relating to the “American Chesterton”: the bad news of the suspension could
be very good news, indeed. It could, in our
opinion, be a signal that the American hierarchy is finally going to be forced
to deal with the problems created by Monsignor John A. Ryan and settle them,
once and for all.
Assuming (with the aid of the Holy Spirit or whatever
inspires you) that truth and reason finally triumph after more than a century
of being denigrated and marginalized, and both liberal and conservative modernism/positivism
is finally rooted out in religious and civil society, respectively, we believe
that we will then see Sheen’s cause again on the fast track. Further, the restructuring of the social
order for which nearly every pope since Leo XIII has called will finally get
under way.
This is why, in fact, it is important that the CESJ core
group meet with Pope Francis as soon as possible. Not to remove Sheen’s cause from suspension,
although (in our opinion) that would be one outcome of a successful meeting, and
His Holiness begins insisting that reason and justice once again assume their
proper places, and are fulfilled and guided by faith and charity instead of
demoted and replaced.
No, it is becoming increasingly obvious that, due to CESJ’s
strict adherence to the Aristotelian-Thomist understanding of the natural law,
and its embodiment of the three principles of economic justice and the
completed doctrine of social justice into the Just Third Way, we can present Francis
with philosophically sound and, at the same time, practical principles of
economic and social justice. These can
guide the restoration of global society, whether you call it “an economically
just society,” or “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”
We also have possible applications of those same principles
that are both financially feasible and sustainable. These can be used to address seemingly
insoluble problems such as the growing wealth and income gap if not with ease,
at least with more effectiveness than existing efforts and programs.
#30#
