NEWS PROVIDED BY
Catholic Answers
Feb. 25, 2020

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 25, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- The latest book from Catholic Answers Press sizes up the growing popular support for socialism in light of Church teaching, world history, and economic common sense. In "Can a Catholic Be a Socialist?" Trent Horn and Catherine R. Pakaluk show how socialism's basic principles must be rejected by any Catholic—and any other Christian, and indeed any person who desires prosperity and economic justice.

"Lots of people have no idea what socialism really is," says Pakaluk, an economist at The Catholic University of America. "They think it's about making everything fair and equal, or having general concern for the poor. But they're not aware of its horrific consequences throughout history."

And the problems with socialism go beyond its track record. "Socialism denies basic human and economic realities," says Horn, a veteran apologist and author. "The reason socialism has always failed isn't that it hasn't been 'done right' yet—it's a perverse system that tries in vain to wish away the rights and behaviors that underlie economic activity in the real world."

For this reason and more, the authors show, the Catholic Church has always condemned socialism in the strongest possible terms. Instead of abandoning private property and handing over the market to a collectivist state, Catholic Social Teaching calls for an economy that truly improves the lives of the poor through markets "enriched with virtue" while also properly subordinating wealth and material progress to the higher goods of faith, community, and family.

About the Authors:
After his conversion to the Catholic faith, Trent Horn earned master's degrees in the fields of theology, philosophy, and bioethics. He serves as a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, where he specializes in teaching Catholics to graciously and persuasively engage those who disagree with them. Trent is an adjunct professor of apologetics at Holy Apostles College, has written for The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and is the author of nine books, including Answering Atheism, The Case for Catholicism, and Why We're Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love.

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Ph.D, is assistant professor at The Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. She specializes in the economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought, and political economy. Pakaluk earned her doctorate at Harvard University in 2010 where she studied under 2016 Nobel-laureate Oliver Hart. She has authored and co-authored highly cited articles in journals including Economic Inquiry, Journal of Markets and Morality, Demography, and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Pakaluk is a widely admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein.

SOURCE Catholic Answers

CONTACT: Kerry Beck, 619-387-7200, kbeck@catholic.com

Related Links

www.catholic.com