Panel: COMMON GOOD AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN OPPOSITION?



502.2 - "CATHOLIC POST-LIBERALISM AND ANTI-LIBERALISM: CONVERSIONS AND REVERSIONS"

AUTHORS:
Faggioli M. (Trinity College Dublin ~ Dublin ~ Ireland)
Text:
This paper explores the role of religious conversion and reversion in the rise of Catholic post-liberal and anti-liberal thought, focusing on recent cases of individuals who enter or return to Catholicism as part of a broader critique of modern liberal culture. It argues that these conversion narratives are often framed as political and civilizational realignments in which Catholicism is embraced as an alternative to liberal pluralism, individual rights, and secular democracy. Situating these developments within the post-Vatican II history of Catholicism and debates over the common good, the paper examines how conversion is mobilized to legitimate hierarchical authority, moral homogeneity, and nationalist or integralist political projects. It concludes by assessing the theological and ecclesiological implications of politicized conversion narratives and their impact on Catholic engagement with democracy, human rights, and institutional pluralism.