Cardinal Timothy Dolan penned an article for his archdiocesan newspaper about the recent elections. As in his comments before the election, Dolan's words are measured. I agree with much of what he writes but would have qualified other things a bit. But, I wholeheartedly endorse this, his penultimate paragraph:
And I fear the dictatorship of the self: those on one side who insist that my money, my property, my income are all mine, and I have no duty to others, especially the poor; those on the other side who claim that my body, my urges, my sexual preferences, my life, my choices are supreme, and will not be subject to the common good. (Even to the right to life of the baby in the womb).
As I have written before, the challenge to Catholic teaching in our day is libertarianism and I really like Dolan's phrase "the dictatorship of the self," and intend to steal it and use it regularly. And, as I have written before, Dolan's historical sensibilities are critically needed at this moment in the life of the Church and they are on full display in this measured commentary.
