Inpolitics,integralism,integrationism orintegrism (French:intégrisme) is an interpretation ofCatholic social teaching that argues the principle that the Catholic faith should be the basis ofpublic law and public policy within civil society, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within that society makes this possible. Integralism is anti-pluralist,[1][2] seeking the Catholic faith to be dominant in civil and religious matters. Integralists uphold the 1864 definition of PopePius IX inQuanta cura that the religious neutrality of the civil power cannot be embraced as an ideal situation and the doctrine ofLeo XIII inImmortale Dei on the religious obligations of states.[3] In December 1965, theSecond Vatican Council approved andPope Paul VI promulgated the documentDignitatis humanae–the Council's "Declaration on Religious Freedom"–which states that it "leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ". However, they have simultaneously declared "that the human person has a right toreligious freedom," a move that sometraditionalist Catholics such asArchbishopMarcel Lefebvre, the founder of theSociety of St. Pius X, have argued is at odds with previous doctrinal pronouncements.[4][5]
The term is sometimes used more loosely and in non-Catholic contexts to refer to a set oftheoretical concepts and practicalpolicies that advocate a fully integrated social and political order based on a comprehensive doctrine of human nature. In this generic sense some forms of integralism are focused purely on achieving political and social integration, others national or ethnic unity, while others were more focused on achieving religious and cultural uniformity. Integralism has, thus, also been used[6] to describe non-Catholic religious movements, such asProtestant fundamentalism orIslamism. In the political and social history of the 19th and 20th centuries, the term integralism was often applied totraditionalist conservatism and similar political movements on theright wing of apolitical spectrum, but it was also adopted by variouscentrist movements as a tool of political, national and cultural integration.[7]
As a distinct intellectual and political movement, integralism emerged during the 19th and early 20th century polemics within theCatholic Church, especially inFrance. The term was used as an epithet to describe those who opposed themodernists, who had sought to create a synthesis between Christian theology and theliberal philosophy of secular modernity. Proponents of Catholic political integralism taught that all social and political action ought to be based on the Catholic Faith. They rejected theseparation of church and state, arguing that Catholicism should be the proclaimed religion of the state.[2]
The first polity that formally embraced Christianity was Armenia underTiridates III. However, the establishment of the civil order upheld by integralists is generally thought of as beginning with the conversion of Roman EmperorConstantine I in 312. While Constantine personally embracedChristianity, it was only in 380 thatTheodosius I formally adoptedNicene Christianity as the religion of the empire by theEdict of Thessalonica. WhatR. W. Southern called the identification of the Church with the whole of organised society[8] was intensified by the legal reforms ofJustinian in the 6th century. The climactic stage in the identification began in the Latin West with the papal transference ofTranslatio imperii to Charlemagne in 800. The Constantinian age began to decline with theReformation and is generally treated as ending with theFrench Revolution. In 1950,Pius XII identified the Dominican friar and prophetSavonarola as an early pioneer of integralism in the face of the "neo-pagan" influences of theRenaissance: "Savonarola shows us the strong conscience of the ascetic and an apostle who has a lively sense of things divine and eternal, who takes a stand against rampant paganism, who remains faithful to the evangelical and Pauline ideal of integral Christianity, put into action in public life as well and animating all institutions. This is why he started preaching, prompted by an interior voice and inspired by God."[9]
Catholic integralism is an interpretation ofCatholic social teaching that argues for anauthoritarian[10] and anti-pluralistCatholic state,[1][2] wherever the preponderance of Catholics within that society makes this possible; it was born in 19th-century Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. It was a movement that sought to assert a Catholic underpinning to all social and political action and to minimize or eliminate any competing ideological actors, such assecular humanism andliberalism.[1][2] Integralism arose in opposition toliberalism, which some Catholics saw as a "relentless and destructive ideology".[11]: 1041 Catholic integralism does not support the creation of an autonomous "Catholic" State Church, orErastianism (Gallicanism in French context). Rather, it supports subordinating the state to the moral principles of Catholicism. Thus, it rejects separatingmorality from the state and favours Catholicism as the proclaimed religion of the state.[2]
Catholic integralism appeals to the teaching on the necessity of the subordination of the state and on the subordination of temporal to spiritual power of medieval popes such asPope Gregory VII andPope Boniface VIII. However, Catholic integralism as a more consciously articulated doctrine came about as a reaction against the political and cultural changes that followed the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.[2] The 19th-century papacy challenged the growth of liberalism (with its doctrine of popular sovereignty) as well as new scientific and historical methods and theories (which were thought to threaten the special status of the Christian revelation).Pope Pius IX condemned a list of liberal and Enlightenment ideas in hisSyllabus of Errors. The termintegralism was applied to a Spanish political party founded about 1890, which based its programme on theSyllabus. Catholic integralism reached its "classical" form in the reaction againstmodernism. The term did not, however, become popular till the time ofPope Pius X, whosepapacy lasted from 1903 to 1914. After the papal condemnation of modernism in 1907, those most active in promoting the papal teachings were sometimes referred to as"integral Catholics" (French:Catholiques intégraux), from which the wordsintégrisme (integrism) andintégralisme (integralism) were derived.[2] Encouraged byPope Pius X, they sought out and exposed any co-religionist whom they suspected of modernism or liberalism. An important integralist organization was theSodalitium Pianum, known in France asLa Sapinière (fir plantation), which was founded in 1909 byUmberto Benigni.[2]
Another component of the anti-modernist programme of Pius X was its insistence on the importance ofThomas Aquinas, both in theology and philosophy. In his decreePostquam Sanctissimus of 1914, the pope published a list of 24 philosophical theses to summarise 'the principles and more important thoughts' of St Thomas.[12] Thus integralism is also understood to include a commitment to the teachings of the Angelic Doctor, understood especially as a bulwark against the subjectivist and sceptical philosophies emanating from Descartes and his successors.
The idea that temporal political authority should be subordinated to man's ultimate, spiritual end is a common theme – if not the main theme – of contemporary Catholic integralism.[13][14][15]
Contemporary discussions of integralism were renewed in 2014, focusing on criticism of liberalism and capitalism.[16][17]
In recent years, however, a "revived Catholic integralism" has been noted among the younger generation of Catholics writing for websites such asThe Josias.[18] Integralism could be said to merely be the modern continuation of the traditional Catholic conception of Church–State relations elucidated byPope Gelasius I and expounded upon throughout the centuries up to theSyllabus of Errors, which condemned the idea that the separation of Church and State is a moral good.[19] For example, some Catholics have praised the actions ofPius IX in the 1858Mortara case, in which he ordered the abduction of a six-year-old Jewish boy who had been baptized without his parents' consent.[11]: 1039–1041 A systematic account of Catholic integralism as a coherent political philosophy has recently been attempted by Thomas Crean and Alan Fimister in their work, 'Integralism: a manual of political philosophy'.[20]
Scholars have drawn parallels between Catholic integralism and a view held by a minority in the Reformed churches,Christian reconstructionism.[21][22] In theNational Catholic Reporter, Joshua J. McElwee stated that both Catholic integralists and Reformed Christian reconstructionists have created a non-traditionalecumenical alliance to achieve the goal of establishing a "theocratic type of state".[23][24] Some integralists place themselves on theleft wing of the political spectrum. Tradistae and Tradinista, both groups acknowledge what they see as the duty of the state towards the Catholic Church as well as supportingLiberation Theology and rejectingcapitalism.[25][26][27][28]
Integralism has been identified as a basis for modern legal conceptions that emphasize natural law, includingcommon good constitutionalism. Proposed and popularized byAdrian Vermeule, common good constitutionalism was developed like integralism to "combat the legitimate societal threat of modern liberal individualism".[29] Some Protestant figures, such as Brad Littlejohn, have expressed interest in integralism and contended it more closely resembles a traditionally Protestant account of politics rather than a Catholic one.[30]
There are a number of variants and localized permutations of integralist political theory, often named by their country of origin.
The term "intégrisme" is largely used generically and pejoratively in French philosophical and sociopolitical parlance, particularly to label any religious extremism. Integralism in the narrow sense is often but controversially applied to theintegral nationalism andAction Française movement founded byCharles Maurras although Maurras was an atheist and his movement was condemned by Rome as 'political modernism' in 1926.[31]Jacques Maritain claimed that his own position ofIntegral humanism, which he adopted after rejectingAction Française, was the authentically integralist stance,[32] although it is generally viewed as its antithesis.[33]
Integralismo Lusitano (Lusitanian Integralism) was the integralist movement ofPortugal, founded in 1914. Portuguese integralism was traditionalist, but not conservative. It was againstparliamentarism and, instead, it favoreddecentralization,Catholicism and the monarchy.[34]
Somewhat rooted in the Portuguese integralist tradition, the Brazilian integralist movement led byPlínio Salgado –Ação Integralista Brasileira – was founded in Brazil in 7 October 1932; it lasted less than six years as a legally recognized organization. Salgado's organization was, however, anintegral nationalist movement only tangentially connected to Catholic integralism.[35]
The political implications of Catholic integralism are apparent in theBasque-Navarrese context of Spain, where that Integrism or Traditionalist Catholicism refers to a 19th- and 20th-century anti-Liberal movement advocating for the re-establishment of not only clerical but also native institutions lost in the context of theFirst Carlist War (1833, 1840). One of its branches evolved by the turn of the 20th century intoBasque nationalism.
The term may also refer to theSpanish formation (1888–1932) led byRamón Nocedal andJuan Olazábal.
TheSouthern Poverty Law Center uses the term "integrism" to refer to "radical traditional Catholics" who reject theSecond Vatican Council. SPLC describes them asantisemitic and "extremely conservative" regarding women, and also notes that some claimrecent popes are illegitimate.[36]
Critics and opponents of integralism, such asGeorge Weigel, argue that the movement can be associated withfascism.[37] Supporters of integralism argue that it is a mistake to associate the movement with fascism, stating that it developed before fascism, and that collaboration between fascist and integralist groups is overstated.[38] John Zmirak criticizes contemporary Catholic integralists as enemies of "religious liberty",[39] while authors such as Thomas Pink insist integralism is compatible with Vatican II's account of religious freedom.[40]
Patrick J. Ryan has suggested the term 'integralism' for the Iranian phenomena, by analogy with the Roman Catholic movement by that name and largely because of the role of the 'ulamã' ('Islamic Fundamentalism: a Questionable Category', America, December 29, 1984, pp . 437-440), and this suggestion has some merit.
Hackett drove to Washington D.C. on Thursday from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he lives in a Catholic worker house part of the Catholic Worker Movement. This was his sixth year attending the March for Life. The Catholic Worker Movement was founded by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day in 1933, amid the Great Depression. According to its website, there are 187 Catholic Worker Movement communities worldwide that "live a simple lifestyle in community, serve the poor, and resist war and social injustice." Hackett is also the co-founder of the Catholic worker organization Tradistae. "Something we're really interested in as Catholic workers and part of the mission of Tradistae is, as Peter Maurin said, sort of blow the dynamite of Catholic social teaching," Hackett said. "He really believed that Catholic social teaching has this dynamism, and it can influence society."
