Fr. Shenan J. Boquet: The Family: The Solution to “Collectivism” and the Degradations of Radical Individualism

“The socialists, therefore, in setting aside the parent and setting up a State supervision, act against natural justice, and destroy the structure of the home.” ― Pope Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, no. 14

On January 1, New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was inaugurated. Mamdani has repeatedly described himself as a “democratic socialist,” and in his inaugural speech he doubled down on this self-identification.

At one point in his speech, Mamdani promised to “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” In a sharply worded post on X, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and the founder of Word on Fire responded to this line, saying that it “took my breath away.”

“Collectivism in its various forms is responsible for the deaths of at least one hundred million people in the last century,” the bishop continued. “Catholic social teaching has consistently condemned socialism and has embraced the market economy, which people like Mayor Mamdani caricature as ‘rugged individualism.’” ….

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