Published July 11, 2024
Interview conducted by Franziska Harter
TAGESPOST: The U.S.A. is undergoing the same process of secularization as Germany: the total number Catholics in the population is declining. Nevertheless, the Church’s reaction is not the same. In the U.S., there is no Synodal Way, but a Eucharistic Congress. Why is that?
GW: I can think of several reasons: 1) Because the Church in the United States took a decisive turn toward the New Evangelization at and after World Youth Day-1993 in Denver. 2) Because the U.S. episcopate is filled with men inspired by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. 3) Because the most creative voices in American theology are committed to dynamic orthodoxy rather to than the reinvention of Catholicism according to the Zeitgeist. 4) Because we have active lay renewal movements rather than bloated diocesan bureaucracies at the local Church level. 5) Because we have growing communities of consecrated life filled with men and women committed to both dynamic orthodoxy and the New Evangelization. 6) Because we have a broad network of publications and institutions that foster the true teaching of Vatican II rather than the amorphous “spirit of Vatican.” 7) Because we pay our own way rather than relying on the state for funding.
TAGESPOST: You use the term “dynamic orthodoxy,” with which we’re not familiar in Germany. Could you explain that?
GW: “Dynamic orthodoxy” is the mode of theology practiced by, among others, Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, Karol Wojtyła/Pope John Paul II, and Servais Pinckaers, O.P., among others. It is theology that begins from knowing and revering the biblically-informed Catholic Tradition, and then develops the Tradition in conversation with contemporary thought in order that theology might be at the service of an authentic New Evangelization. Dynamic orthodoxy seeks to make the perennial and eternal truths of Catholic faith intelligible to contemporary minds, hearts, and souls, for the sake of converting others to friendship with the incarnate son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Dynamic orthodoxy begins from the premise that divine revelation is real and binding over time; it rejects the notion that contemporary mores “correct” revealed truths about what makes for happiness and beatitude. It is not, alas, what is on offer in many German theological faculties today, and the deconstruction of the Tradition, rather than dynamic orthodoxy, seems to be shaping the dynamics of the German Synodal Path. It is, however, alive and well in North America and Africa.
TAGESPOST: Is the National Eucharistic Congress a one-time event or a sign of a real departure towards a new evangelization?
GW: The National Eucharistic Congress will further energize a New Evangelization that has been underway for years, even decades.
TAGESPOST: Especially in Washington—but not only!—there is a very dynamic academic Catholic milieu. How do you assess the importance of Catholic universities for the renewal of the Church and society?
GW: There are U.S. Catholic universities that are Catholic in name only. There are U.S. Catholic universities where there is an ongoing battle to sustain a distinctive Catholic intellectual and spiritual identity. And there are Catholic universities that fully embody the vision of John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. As “elite” American universities decay into playpens for rowdy children with radical politics, U.S. Catholic universities that are authentically Catholic—and the many excellent Catholic campus ministries throughout the United States—are playing an important role in saving and renewing American higher education. U.S. Catholicism also benefits from the intellectual work of free-standing research institutes like my own (the Ethics and Public Policy Center).
TAGESPOST: Is it true that the traditionalist milieu is growing in the U.S.A.? If so, what is the reason for this?
GW: It depends on what you mean by the “traditionalist milieu.” Young people are seeking awe and wonder in the liturgy, and in that search, many are finding an answer, for the moment at least, in what they call the Traditional Latin Mass (which is better celebrated today than it was when I was a boy, and which is in fact as “traditional” as 1962).
TAGESPOST: Is there really a danger in this milieu—as the discussions about Traditionis Custodes suggest—that a parallel church will develop here that rejects Vatican II?
GW: That’s a false “narrative” being marketed by people who are either ignorant of the facts on the ground or ideologically opposed to the legitimate liturgical pluralism envisioned by Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum. Traditionis Custodes was unnecessary, cruel, and ought to be repealed by the next pontificate. And I say that as a committed Novus Ordoman!
TAGESPOST: Unlike conservative Protestants, Catholics are divided on the issue of the protection of life, even though the teachings of the Church offer no room for interpretation. Why is that?
GW: I don’t think Catholics are all that divided at the level of principle. But there is a serious division on legal protection for the unborn and on euthanasia. Catholic politicians like President Biden and former House Speaker Pelosi are not in full communion with the Church because of their “choice” politics. And the pastors of the Church should draw the necessary conclusions in terms of the sacramental life of public officials like that.
TAGESPOST: Catholics vote both Democratic and Republican. What influence do issues such as pro-life, LGBT ideology and wokeness have on the voting behavior of Catholics?
GW: Practicing Catholics (i.e., regular weekly Mass-goers) voted overwhelmingly Republican. Lax Catholics (Christmas and Easter Mass attendance) vote overwhelmingly Democratic. And the scale slides between those two poles. In other words, the frequency of Mass attendance is a good predictor of voting behavior.
TAGESPOST: In terms of society as a whole, how much of an impact will the abortion issue have on elections?
GW: It would be helpful if Republicans would learn to talk about this issue sensibly, taking what gains in favor of protecting unborn life can be made in different local situations, now that the abortion issue has been returned to the states, where it always belonged. The pro-life movement as a whole must always work to change the culture as well as the law, while providing compassionate alternatives to abortion for women in a crisis pregnancy.
TAGESPOST: How politically minded are young Catholic Americans? Is there an awareness that they have a mission with regard to society, such as defending the Christian view of humanity and religious and educational freedom?
GW: Our most active and engaged young people, especially those formed in the universities and campus ministries I mentioned or in young adult ministries like the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, certainly see themselves as missionary disciples whose adult lives will be spent renewing the culture and defending basic human rights.
[Finally, a question that did not make it into the printed interview for space reasons.
TAGESPOST: Do you have the impression that the American bishops are more resolutely opposed to dangerous tendencies in society than the German bishops?
GW: Far, far more resolutely opposed. Thank God.]
George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America’s leading public intellectuals. He holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.
