The analogia communitatis: Leo XIII and the modern quest for fraternity

Date of Award

2016

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Theology

Department

Department of Religious Studies

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Kelly S. Johnson

Abstract

This dissertation examines the social magisterium of Pope Leo XIII as it is developed in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during the nationalizing process of the liberal Italian state. The thesis of the dissertation is that Leo XIII provides Catholic social teaching with a proper vision of human relationship as a mode of analogical participation in the Lord's goodness. In his own historical context, Leo's analogical vision of social relations is developed in tension with the nation-state's proposal of political citizenship as the social relation that relativizes every other relation--most especially one's ecclesial relation. In our own context, Leo's analogical vision of social relations stands in tension with the late-modern proposal of consumerism as the social reality that relativizes every other relation--including one's matrimonial, familial, social, and ecclesial relations.

Keywords

Leo XIII, Pope, 1810-1903 Teachings, Catholic Church History 19th century, Christian sociology Catholic Church, Philosophy, Religious History, Theology, Social Structure, History, Catholic Social Teaching, social theory, political theory, citizenship, nationalism, consumerism, 19th century Catholicism, social Catholicism, Leo XIII, modern papal teaching, Catholic social magisterium, theological anthropology, social anthropology

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2016, author

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