Doctrine and Dogma

...Given all the talk in an election year about the possible problems of a Catholic President, America pointed out, it was strange that only Catholic journals seemed interested in a sophisticated and learned treatment of the issues by a Catholic...

...Such a dialogue can have only fruitful results...

...His interpretation of Catholic doctrine in these areas is that of a liberal...

...He admits that some of his positions are not universally held among American Catholics, and, in fact, criticizes his fellow Catholics for their "know-nothing" attitudes in many areas, as well as for their excessive sensitivity to criticism, and their unwillingness to participate in activities of common concern with non-Catholics...

...There is every evidence that these attitudes are changing, and the election of John Kennedy may serve to hasten the pace of this change by presenting the model of a Catholic President who is, at the same time, a liberal in the broadest sense of the term...

...In this connection, he argues that even if America were to become overwhelmingly (and the word should be underlined) Catholic, the church would not seek to restrict the activities of non-Catholics, although it would probably seek certain minimal recognition in the law...

...intelligent because his work reveals both sound scholarship and a fine capacity for analysis...

...For example, in his effort to preserve the "fiction" that Catholic doctrine does not change, he strives unsuccessfully to reinterpret some of the 19th-century papal encyclicals to prove that the democratic idea is derived as fully from Catholic as from Protestant sources...

...However, given the more likely situation of continued pluralism, even should Catholics some day form a small majority, the requirements of the common good would be such that the church would still avoid seeking recognition of this kind...

...On the whole, then, Liberal fears of "repressive" elements in Catholic doctrine would seem to be less and less warranted...

...The non-Catholic will find much that he disagrees with in Kerwin's book...

...America's criticism was well taken, for Jerome Kerwin's book is sophisticated, intelligent and good-humored: sophisticated because he is equally aware of Catholic and non-Catholic attitudes on some of the problems discussed...

...Liberals do have a legitimate basis for anxiety, however, in the continued anti-intellectualism and authoritarianism exhibited by many Catholics, as revealed by the whole McCarthy episode...

...In fact, Kerwin goes on to argue, in areas such as birth control, where the Church regards its position as deriving from natural law and therefore binding on all men, it would be wise for Catholics to realize that the question is a matter of morals rather than of law, and to cease their opposition to the repeal of anti-birth control laws in those few states which still have them...

...On the whole, American Catholics, as contrasted to European Catholics, have contributed relatively little to intellectual life...

...For whatever reason, this situation is now coming to an end, An ever larger number of Catholic intellectuals is graduating from Catholic as well as non-Catholic universities and participating more and more actively not only in self-examination but in a dialogue with non-Catholics...

...His defense of the church in Spain and in certain countries of Latin America in terms of the traditional attitudes of these people is rather weak, although he legitimately points out that certain Protestant countries still place limits upon the activities of the Catholic church, Further, he tends to identify "good men" with "religious men," and seems to exclude "secularists" from participation in a common dialogue...

...In other words, he joins a growing tendency in Catholic thought to distinguish between dogmatic intolerance as regards "error" and respect for the rights of individuals who hold "erroneous" ideas, and he claims to find good warrant for such a position in the history of Catholic doctrine...

...Such attitudes, however, are not endemic (nor confined) to Catholics but are, at least in part, a function of the American experience and the historical development of the American Catholic community...

...Finally, his arguments for the Catholic position on divorce or on censorship in terms of juvenile delinquency and crime rates are unconvincing...

...These disagreements, however, do not detract from the general worth of the book and the volume itself is an extremely encouraging sign...

...He argues, for example, that while a certain amount of censorship is necessary to any community, nevertheless the church's position is quite compatible with the toleration and even encouragement of a broad diversity of opinions...

...Reviewed by Stanley Rothman Assistant Professor of Government, Smith College SHORTLY AFTER THE appearance of Jerome Kerwin's Catholic Viewpoint on Church and State, the Jesuit weekly, America, noted with some asperity that the volume had not been reviewed in the secular press...

...Kerwin's book begins with a short historical treatment of the development of the relationship between the Catholic church and the state in Europe, followed by a discussion of American developments, The remainder of the essay treats various issues which divide Catholics and non-Catholics today...

...and good-humored because he realizes that not all non-Catholic anxieties in this area are the result of "bigotry...