As the race for the White House enters the final stretch, the recently chosen GOP and Democratic Party picks for vice president are introducing themselves to the nation.
In speeches and political messaging over the last two weeks, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine have discussed how faith has impacted their upbringing and life in public service.
HDS communications reached out to Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Charles Chauncey Stillman Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies, to ask how Kaine’s Catholic faith and Pence’s Catholic upbringing have influenced their careers.
HDS: Kaine worked as a missionary in Honduras while taking time off from Harvard Law School in the 1980s. How would he have been impacted while working there during the height of liberation theology?
FF: In my opinion, his volunteering as a missionary in Honduras speaks first of all to Kaine’s character and the values inculcated in him through his Jesuit education. The Jesuit Volunteer Corp (JVS) is an organization of laypeople who volunteer for a year or more of service in poor communities, in poor inner-city communities or abroad. Having graduated college and then volunteering for this service in Honduras after his first year in Harvard Law School indicates a priority of a commitment to service for others, and a willingness to learn from others in poor countries rather than quickly advancing his progress through law school on the way to a lucrative job.
One of the central teachings of liberation theology has been the “preferential option for the poor.” It was taken over by the Latin American bishops and made a central chapter of their document. Pope John Paul II, who has been critical of some aspects of Latin American theology, took over this principle, but modified it into the phrase “preferential love for the poor.” Pope Benedict XVI has quoted John Paul II’s use of this phrase.
It should not be forgotten that such phrases have been controversial. One can think of the phrase “Black Lives Matter” today and how some critics complain and see it as a divisive phrase rather than an affirmative expression to include those that are often excluded. Similar criticisms took place in regard to the use of the expressions of a preferential option or love for the poor. Critics saw the preferential option as an exclusive affirmation rather than as emphasis on the Christian love for the outcasts and downtrodden of society. It seems to me that if one traces Kaine’s public service and specific legal actions, one can see that he has been influenced by this principle that was first advocated by Latin American theologians and then taken over by bishops and popes.
Pope Francis’s public teaching, statements, and practices from the very beginning exhibited his concern with plight of the poor. In many ways he accentuates the emphasis on the preferential option for the poor.
HDS: Kaine was educated at a Jesuit high school and has been influenced throughout his life by Jesuits, often seen as progressive and open-minded in the U.S. He’s also been called a “Pope Francis Catholic.” What does it mean to be a liberal catholic reformer?
FF: The most famous United States theologian of the twentieth century has been John Courtney Murray. He taught in Woodstock, a seminary and theological school for Jesuits, and was the editor Theological Studies, the most respected Roman Catholic theological journal. One of the central focal points of his theology was the issue of religious freedom. He attempted to contextualize traditional Roman Catholic teaching, especially as expressed by Pope Leo XIII (Pope from 1878-1903). He argued that the Pope was reacting much more to the European situation: For example, the French state dissolved the Jesuits and other teaching orders and it strongly promoted secularist mentality. Murray argued that the American context and view of government was quite different. Therefore, he proposed a liberal view that emphasized the limits of government or the state to impose religious views upon society and the understanding of religious freedom as a human right based upon the dignity of human nature.
This viewpoint came then to expression in Vatican II’s document on religious freedom. This liberal point of view underscores the limitation of government and advocates that a politician in a religiously pluralist society should not impose his religious beliefs on others. In this regard, Senator Kaine’s position represents this viewpoint. He professes his Catholic beliefs and principles, but does not want to impose them on others.
The word “liberalism” often has a dual and contrasting meaning. On the one hand, it has come to mean a government’s increased involvement in social welfare and health care. On the other hand, it also involves an emphasis on religious freedom and the rights of one’s conscience. At times there is obviously a conflict between the two. There are public servants who bring certain religious social commitments into the public realm, but not other commitments. The dividing line is one of the most controversial and debated issues in contemporary Catholicism in the United States.
HDS: Donald Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence, described himself as a “born-again evangelical Catholic.” Is this an unusual faith mix, and what does this combination say about his public service?
FF: I am not quite sure what Governor Pence intends to affirm by a “born-again evangelical Catholic.” He comes from an Irish Catholic background and was raised as such. During college (Indiana’s Hanover College), he had an “evangelical religious experience,” under the influence of a non-denominational group. However, in the following years he still considered himself a Catholic, went to Mass, worked as a youth minister at a Catholic church, and even thought of becoming a priest. However, in the mid-1990s he joined the Grace Evangelical Church, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church in America. One could describe it as a Baptist denomination. It was, however, the church to which he started to take his family in Indianapolis. At that time, he described himself as “Christian, conservative, Republican—in that order.” In this description the word “Catholic” was not present.