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Religious Freedom after the Sexual Revolution: A Catholic Guide
Laws mandating cooperation with the state's new sexual orthodoxy are among the leading contemporary threats to the religious freedom of Catholic institutions in the United States. These demand that Catholic schools, health-care providers, or social services cooperate with contraception, cohabitation, abortion, same-sex marriage, or transgender identity and surgeries.
But Catholic institutions' responses seem thin and uninspiring to many. They are criticized as legalistic, authoritarian, bureaucratic, retrograde and hurtful to women and to persons who identify as LGBTQ. They are even called "un-Christian." They invite disrespect both for Catholic sexual responsibility norms and for religious freedom generally, not only among lawmakers and judges, but also in the court of public opinion, which includes skeptical Catholics.
The U.S. Constitution protects Catholic institutions' "autonomy" – their authority over faith and doctrine, internal operations, and the personnel involved in personifying and transmitting the faith. Other constitutional and statutory provisions also safeguard religious freedom, if not always perfectly. Catholic institutions could take far better advantage of all of these existing protections if they communicated, first, how they differ from secular how their missions emerge from their faith in Jesus Christ, and their efforts both to make his presence felt in the world today, and to display the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. Second, they need to draw out the link between their teachings on sexual responsibility and love of God and neighbor.
Drawing upon Scripture, tradition, history, theology and empirical evidence, Helen Alvaré frames a more complete, inspiring and appealing response to current laws' attempts to impose a new sexual orthodoxy upon Catholic institutions. It clarifies the "ecclesial" nature of Catholic schools, hospitals and social services. It summarizes the empirical evidence supporting the link between personnel decisions and mission, and between Catholic sexual responsibility norms and human flourishing. It grounds Catholic sexual responsibility teachings in the same love of God and neighbor that animate the existence, operations, and services of Catholic institutions.
But Catholic institutions' responses seem thin and uninspiring to many. They are criticized as legalistic, authoritarian, bureaucratic, retrograde and hurtful to women and to persons who identify as LGBTQ. They are even called "un-Christian." They invite disrespect both for Catholic sexual responsibility norms and for religious freedom generally, not only among lawmakers and judges, but also in the court of public opinion, which includes skeptical Catholics.
The U.S. Constitution protects Catholic institutions' "autonomy" – their authority over faith and doctrine, internal operations, and the personnel involved in personifying and transmitting the faith. Other constitutional and statutory provisions also safeguard religious freedom, if not always perfectly. Catholic institutions could take far better advantage of all of these existing protections if they communicated, first, how they differ from secular how their missions emerge from their faith in Jesus Christ, and their efforts both to make his presence felt in the world today, and to display the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. Second, they need to draw out the link between their teachings on sexual responsibility and love of God and neighbor.
Drawing upon Scripture, tradition, history, theology and empirical evidence, Helen Alvaré frames a more complete, inspiring and appealing response to current laws' attempts to impose a new sexual orthodoxy upon Catholic institutions. It clarifies the "ecclesial" nature of Catholic schools, hospitals and social services. It summarizes the empirical evidence supporting the link between personnel decisions and mission, and between Catholic sexual responsibility norms and human flourishing. It grounds Catholic sexual responsibility teachings in the same love of God and neighbor that animate the existence, operations, and services of Catholic institutions.
256 pages, Paperback
Published September 16, 2022
44 people want to read
About the author
Helen Alvare
4 books10 followersHelen Alvaré is a Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, abortion and the First Amendment religion clauses. She is faculty advisor to the law school’s Civil Rights Law Journal, chair of the Task Force on Conscience Protection of the Witherspoon Institute (Princeton, New Jersey), president of the Chiaroscuro Institute (New York, New York), chair of the Catholic Women’s Forum, a consultor for the Pontifical Council of the Laity (Vatican City), an advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Washington, D.C.), and an ABC news consultant. She cooperates with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations as a speaker and a delegate to various United Nations conferences concerning women and the family.
In addition to her publications in law reviews and other academic journals, Professor Alvaré publishes regularly at thepublicdiscourse.com, and in news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the Weekly Standard, and the Washington Examiner. She also speaks at academic and professional conferences in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia.
Prior to joining the faculty of George Mason University, Professor Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America; represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops before legislative bodies, academic audiences and the media; and was a litigation attorney for the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young.
Professor Alvaré received her law degree from Cornell University School of Law and her master’s degree in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America.
In addition to her publications in law reviews and other academic journals, Professor Alvaré publishes regularly at thepublicdiscourse.com, and in news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the Weekly Standard, and the Washington Examiner. She also speaks at academic and professional conferences in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia.
Prior to joining the faculty of George Mason University, Professor Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America; represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops before legislative bodies, academic audiences and the media; and was a litigation attorney for the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young.
Professor Alvaré received her law degree from Cornell University School of Law and her master’s degree in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 8, 2023
The absolute best book on how to make the case for the Church's teaching. Christian institutions witness to the inbreaking of God's love and the kingdom on earth, in a radical way. They aren't just social services. And as such, their members are called to live and serve in such a way as to make Jesus Christ present and visible. That transcends every aspect of mission and requires employees who witness as such and that the services reflect that radical love. Highly recommend this work.
August 19, 2025
Good book. The author does a great job at putting the Catholic Church’s view of sexual expression issues in its proper context. The Church’s view is not about following negative rules, but rather about a proper ordering of love. This flows naturally from our love of God and neighbor. We should not lose sight of that love.
June 13, 2023
Too hit-and-miss in terms of its stated objective, which was to provide legal and cultural language that could be used by Catholic institutions (and the attorneys defending them) in both legal and cultural arenas to defend their more countercultural positions, particularly vis-a-vis their lonely rearguard or insurgency action against the triumphant sexual revolution. Some parts were excellent, but others seemed to fall short of one of the critical baselines of Catholic scholarly debate, which is the principle of charity--counterarguments should always be addressed to the most positive and most convincing arguments of the opponent. The result is that Alvare's proposed counterarguments in places ring hollow simply because they are addressed to weaker or more tangential points that would be advanced, in court or in the media, by secular defenders of the sexual revolution, which would lead to being easily brushed off not just by those most committed defenders (since that would happen anyway), but also by potentially persuadable neutral observers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews