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Over its two millennia, the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations have provided a moral framework and powerful force for the development of Western civilization. As institutions,
they created room in a dangerous world for art, science, political development, and national alliances. These influences took root imperfectly and slowly, to be sure, but Christianity
provided the framework around which the modern West rose and our understandings of morality and freedoms blossomed.
But what can the Catholic Church now teach us about a global populist movement that may rewrite the direction of political thought in the West? "Populism is an ancient malady," Father Rocco
D'Ambrosio told Crux's Claire Ciangravé ahead of his "Power and Populisms" conference in Rome last week.
"Even Christians have been faced with its force," D'Ambrosio explained, echoing Pope Francis' 2017 observation of the "evil" of populism. "If populism is a perversion," D'Ambrosio declared,
"then we must recover humanity." The conference last week emphasized a return to a broader, inclusive view of humanity and multiculturalism with the force of Christianity to rebuke modern
populism.
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Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York
Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk
radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife,
son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.