Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching

by Anthony Esolen

Many claim that Catholic Social Teaching implies the existence of a vast welfare state. In these pages, Anthony Esolen pulls back the curtain on these false philosophers, showing how they’ve undermined the authentic social teachings of the Church in order to neutralize the biggest threat to their plans for secularization — the Catholic Church.

With the voluminous writings of Pope Leo XIII as his guide, Esolen explains that Catholic Social Teaching isn’t focused exclusively on serving the poor. Indeed, it offers us a rich treasure of insights about the nature of man, his eternal destiny, the sanctity of marriage, and the important role of the family in building a coherent and harmonious society.

Catholic Social Teaching, explains Pope Leo, offers a unified worldview. What the Church says about the family is inextricable from what She says about the poor; and what She says about the Eucharist informs the essence of Her teachings on education, the arts — and even government.

You will step away from these pages with a profound understanding of the root causes of the ills that afflict our society, and — thanks to Pope Leo and Anthony Esolen — well equipped to propose compelling remedies for them.

Only an authentically Catholic culture provides for a stable and virtuous society that allows Christians to do the real work that can unite rich and poor. We must reclaim Catholic Social Teaching if we are to transform our society into the ideal mapped out by Pope Leo: a land of sinners, yes, but one enriched with love of God and neighbor and sustained by the very heart of the Church’s social teaching: the most holy Eucharist.

Genres: Catholic, Theology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Religion, Faith, Christianity

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2014

About the author

Anthony Esolen is the author of over twenty-five books and over 1,000 articles in both scholarly and general interest journals. A senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, Esolen is known for his elegant essays on the faith and for his clear social commentaries. His articles appear regularly in Touchstone, Crisis, First Things, Public Discourse, The Catholic Thing, Chronicles, Inside the Vatican, and Magnificat, among others. An accomplished poet in his own right, Esolen is known for his widely acclaimed three-volume verse translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Modern Library). His Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child has been described as "a worthy successor to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man." And its sequel, Life Under Compulsion, has been called "essential reading for parents, educators, and anyone who is concerned to rescue children from the tedious and vacuous thing childhood has become." His recent books of social commentary include Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and the forthcoming, No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends upon the Strength of Men.

Anthony Esolen has been writing his own poetry for decades, but until recently most of his published poetry has appeared in his verse translations of the great poets, Dante, Tasso, and Lucretius. More than a hundred of his own poems have appeared in such venues as Fine Madness, The Plains Poetry Journal, and Modern Age. After studying and teaching great poetry for nearly thirty years, Professor Esolen set out to write a book-length unified poem of his own, a project which he hopes will show that serious and significant long poetic works can still be written in our time. The result of his effort is The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord, a book-length single poem composed of 100 parts -- short lyrics, dramatic monologues, and hymns -- centered on the life of Christ. He is working now on a second such long poem, The Twelve-Gated City, a collection of 144 interrelated poems centered on the parable of the prodigal son.

The grandson of Italian immigrants to America, Anthony Esolen was born and raised in the coal-mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Fellow. He is the 2020 recipient of the CIRCE Institute's Russel Kirk Prize, awarded each year to a writer and scholar "in honor of a lifetime dedicated to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue." He is writer-in-residence at Magdalen College in Warner, NH.

For more from the mind and pen of Anthony Esolen, visit his online magazine called Word and Song, at https://anthonyesolen.substack.com

Reviews

[Cameron M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Esolen knocked this book out of the park. He does a great job of breaking the book up into parts that build upon one another that gradually come together to form the great picture that is Catholic Social Teaching; a Catholic State.
God willing we can arrive to something so heavenly someday, especially with writers such as Anthony.

[Andy Simons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Esolen is out of his element. He’d like Catholic social teaching to be part of the GOP platform. But it’s not. So, he takes Rerum Novarum, the 19th C encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, and extrapolates from that where Esolen thinks CST *should* have gone. But it did not go where Esolen thinks it should have gone.

Terrible book. It’ll be a hit with Trump supporters and those who have not read any social encyclicals.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching is a recent book by Dr. Anthony Esolen which dives into the writings and teachings of Pope Leo XIII and seeks to offer "a defense of the Church's true teachings on marriage, family, and the state." The first chapter is entitled "Man, in the Image of God." Dr. Esolen describes this as the most fundamental truth and states that "any society built upon other premises will be radically deficient." He then goes on to explain what would happen to society if we completely removed God from the picture. The next chapter discusses free will and human liberty. His explanation of Dante's vision of Satan in hell is chilling, to say the least, but it gives us a good example of how we think we are free when we are too blind to see we are not.

Esolen then dives into topics of marriage and the family, as he views them as the building blocks of society. In these two chapters, again shows the dignity of the person and explains how society is twisting views of marriage and the family. He doesn't come out and directly blame one issue for this, i.e., divorce or homosexuality, but instead puts them all on equal ground and states that "Every sin against marriage is a sin against the very possibility of any kind of society." The chapter on the family shows how a rightly ordered family mirrors a rightly ordered society, discusses education of children, and explains what the family is for. The remainder of the book discusses social life, the Church as society, work, and the state.

The text in this book is heady material, and the way Dr. Esolen writes comes off that way as well. That's not to say that it wasn't brilliantly written, because despite the philosophical tone of the book, I still found it quite readable without feeling the need to have a dictionary for every other word. He also did a nice job of explaining both the big picture and the details that make up the big picture. I also found it fascinating just how astute Pope Leo XIII was when it comes to society and the direction he saw it heading. I definitely plan to re-visit this book and read it a little more slowly the second time through so that I may absorb more of it. If you have an interest in Catholic social teaching or are looking for a good homeschool text on the subject, I recommend this book!

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introdution to Catholic social teaching, especially as taught through Pope Leo XIII's encyclicals. Anthony Esolen weaves in his own experience living in an earlier time in America and his study of English literature to add great insights into Catholic social teaching. I saw one review claim that this book merely repeats the Republican platform. While Catholic teaching does condemn many items on the Democratic platform, saying that the Republican Party lives up to the demands of Catholic social teaching is a sick joke. This makes sense in light of the fact that Catholic social teaching avoids the excesses of capitalism and socialism.

Anyone wondering what the path to a restored social order with Christ as it's King looks like should read this book. It's inspired me to finally read Pope Leo XIII's encyclicals in full. Would that Americans of every stripe be equipped to strive after this vision for the family, our society, and the state!

[Kerstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If the Catholic Christian view is correct, if man is made by God, in His image, for the enjoyment of the very life of God, then any society built upon other premises will be radically deficient."

This quote from the beginning chapter of Anthony Esolen's book puts Catholic Social Teaching in a nutshell. Based on the extensive and profound writings of Pope Leo XIII on Catholic Social Teaching - which Esolen brings to new light - is not only a welcome but essential contribution far beyond the pope's seminal encyclica Rerum Novarum. Esolen does a beautiful job unveiling Catholic Social Teaching in its completeness which leaves the tired old 'activism-for-activism's-sake-with-a-Catholic-bend' long in the dust.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm tempted to read the whole thing again because the first time through it felt a little too meandering. Toward the end, it all began to come together for me, and when I did reread the beginning, it became clear where he was headed.
Now I would dearly love to see our world live by the eminently coherent Catholic social teaching, and as much as we can in our own lives, it is worth striving for. I guess I'm skeptical, though, as we are SO far away from that. Still, Dr. Esolen does lay it all out clearly and it's worth praying for.

[Andrew Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent review and perspective of true catholic social teaching, as opposed to what we too often hear promoted as social teaching. Anthony Esolen draws on the teachings of Pope Leo XIII to draw us back to true Christian society, based on the family, to the view of state as a society of societies. Highly recommend this for everyone

[Brianna Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting! It would be very difficult to put into practice some of Esolen's suggestions, but I admire his vision. I find the title somewhat misleading, since he spends most of his time on God and the family, and not social justice teachings.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read and a good reminder of what society is, by whom for for who we are created and how we should live in a world when God isn't at the center of the live and rules and laws . Human dignity can't exist outside our Creator who is the one who gives us our worth.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good coverage of the key topics. In the current situation there is more clarity here that Reformed Protestants can share.

[Almachius · Rating 5 out of 5]

One to read and read again, methinks.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good compendium to Rerum Novarum and Leo's other encyclicals. Esolen doesn't provide any groundbreaking ideas, but it's a good read.

[Shelby DeLeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have great respect for Anthony Esolen and overall thoroughly appreciated this book. It was helpful for smashing a slightly-socialistic-POV I had adopted (was I brainwashed? Was I right? Will never know) and helped me understand capitalism more fully and dive into Church teaching in a way I deeply craved.

HOWEVER, I would be grateful for someone who is familiar with New Polity and Jacob Imam to also read this book and let me know what they think. I now have appreciation and am edified by both points of view of society and economics, but think they hang in conflict/tension with each other. I'm no economist, historian, or policy expert, though, so would be grateful for another voice....

Although I'm not sure if this is interesting to anyone else 😂😅

TLDR; I love learning about Catholic Social Teaching as a once-semi-social-justice-warrior & enjoy exploring how our Catholic faith does and should impact the fabric of policy, economy, and social life.

LASTLY, I also agree with many of the comments on this book -- there were some points I didn't necessarily agree with (I do not believe I am right, just at this point in my life, do not agree), and there were several practices I found impossible to implement. Which led me to doubt if they were credible at all or just idealistic.

[Richelle Moral Government · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. So many parts I was clipping to send to people. I’m kind of lost for words. There’s this feeling of being nostalgic for something you’ve never had.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep understanding, quoting heavily from 19th century popes, on the true nature of human society.

[Platypus Lord · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 stars)

[Samantha Pechtl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as part of a book club, the only reason I got all the way through it. Esolen has a very negative tone throughout the book which is draining. He also comes across very high on himself. None of his ideas were revolutionary.

[Daniel Millard · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Esolen book, and this one specifically focused upon Catholic social order, Church-wide. Though he does still provide ample commentary on modern problems (greed, socialism, acedia, etc.). The title is perhaps slightly misleading, as Esolen focuses very largely upon the encyclicals and writings of Pope Leo XIII (though, professedly, because too many consider Leo to be the "Father of Catholic Social Teaching" - a title Esolen and Leo himself would likely reject).

Broadly, Esolen strongly urges unity on social teaching, reminding us that Catholics cannot prioritize one subject while blinding ourselves to another in the wholeness of Christ's truth, as many in the Church seem to do. He also substantiates his claims that the social teaching of the Church - Christ's charity, as it were - was hardly implemented by Leo XIII, but merely commented on heavily in a (comparatively) modern context. Like so many writers of the 19th and early 20th century, Leo's writing is eerily prescient and directly applicable to our modern situation. What little translation is needed is provided expertly by Esolen, and I'll be seeking out yet more of his works.

[Trae Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book on the social teachings of the Church. Esolen, drawing from the writings of Pope Leo XIII, provides a principled and relatively brief exposition on major areas of Catholic social teaching (e.g., Man, Human Liberty, Marriage, Family, Social Life, The Church, Work, and The State). Esolen's summary shows, most importantly, the unity and integrity of Catholic social teaching, for which there exists no truly rational and livable alternative, as is demonstrated (e.g., socialism, communism, various forms of statism, etc.).

In an age where social opinion and policy are dominated by whimsy and sentimentality, Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching provides a principled, clear, orthodox, and fully alive and truly Catholic view of society.

[Stephen Heiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esolen does an excellent job of reflecting on the important encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII and situating them in our current woeful situation. Definitely worth a read.

He does have blind spots when it comes to the current occupants of the Vatican and the narrator for this audio edition is dreadful, mispronouncing basics like "subsidiarity" to more complicated but still fairly accessible phrases like "Humanum Genus." The narrator clearly had no familiarity whatsoever with the concepts he was reading, which is sad in its own way, but is just as much on Esolen for not vetting the person who would be his "voice" as it is on the hubris of the narrator for failing to ask someone, anyone, for help pronouncing Latin, which appears on almost every page of this text.

[Maxwell Ladhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A summary of Pope Leo XIII’s social encyclicals, this book was an excellent exposition of Catholic social teaching as it has been classically understood, touching on the subjects of family, households, labor, government and society, as well as the Church’s place in all of these things.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful synthesis of the corpus of Pope Leo XIII, written for those of us who have only encountered him through the lens of Rerum Novarum.