By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture, June 01, 2020
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington who has also served as a financial administrator in the Diocese of Lincoln. Trained in business and accounting, he also holds a Master of Divinity and a Master’s in moral theology. Father Pokorsky co-founded both CREDO and Adoremus ….
What is the nature of the Church? Is “Catholicism” an ideology? If not, what is the danger in viewing or using Church teaching as an ideology?
An ideology is an idea or system, devised by man and imposed on society by elites, if and when those elites have the power to do so. Communism, socialism, capitalism, libertarianism, tribalism, nationalism, racism, and even multiculturalism are habits of the mind. Of course there are many more ideologies, often variations on the same themes.
Ideologies may reflect some degree of reality, but always fall short of the whole. Proponents of these human designs submit them as templates for happiness in this life. But history teaches harsher lessons. For better or for worse, failed ideological social-systems fill the trash bin of history. ….