Liberalism, Catholic Integralism, and the Question of Religious Freedom

This Article investigates new Catholic integralism and its critique of liberalism and aims to answer whether a liberal idea of religious freedom is possible under an integralist regime. To do so, we first sketch the respective views of liberalism and Catholic integralism on each other, with an emphasis on integralism. For integralism, liberalism is not merely a political phenomenon, but a comprehensive worldview with hidden metaphysical and theological implications. Integralism views the function of political rule as ordering human beings to their final cause.

We specifically delve in foundational Catholic principles to guide rulers when governing—prudence and subsidiarity—to establish how their application should influence freedom of religion within an integralist regime. We conclude that religious freedom might be possible under a soft integralist regime and that the answer remains unclear for hard integralist ones, as the ultimate answer lies with the Church.