Over the past couple years I have seen a lot of chatter on Twitter about socialism and Catholicism. Can this economic system be a viable option for a Catholic? Is it compatible with church teaching? In March I had the honor of interviewing two great people on the subject. I asked the question, can a catholic be a socialist?
Background On The Socialist Debate
The two people I interviewed in March are Sam Rocha and Trent Horn. They had a fascinating debate on this subject back in June that I recommend everyone watch.
Sam says it is possible and Trent says it is not. When interviewing them I wanted to have a great conversation and not rehash the debate. I hope I accomplished my goal. Below are my conversations with each.
Sam Rocha: A Catholic Can Be A Socialist
Sam says that it is possible It was an informing conversation for me and Sam discusses some papal documents and the work of saints. I really enjoyed this conversation with Sam. It was engaging, lot of fun, and I learned quite a bit. Sam is an accomplished author, musician, and a professor at the University of British Columbia. Enjoy!
About Sam (From His Website)
In 2014, Rocha was appointed Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. He has also been a Member of the Common Room at Green College and Pastoral Philosopher-in-Residence at St. Mark’s College while at UBC. In 2014, he published the second edition of A Primer for Philosophy and Education with Cascade Books; in 2015 it won the American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Book Award. In 2014, he released Late to Love, an Augustinian soul album, with Wiseblood Records.
In 2015 his book Folk Phenomenology: Education, Study, and the Human Person was published by Pickwick Publications and his essay, “A Tales of Three Cubicles,” won the Outstanding Contribution Award from Visual Arts Research. In 2016, he released Fear and Loving, a soundscape companion album to Folk Phenomenology. In 2017, Rocha published Tell Them Something Beautiful: Essays and Ephemera with Cascade Books and released a single, “A Todo Var.”
Rocha was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded the Killam Teaching Prize at UBC in 2019. At the end of 2019, he released his third full-length album, Anamnesis, and in 2020 he released a single, “The Freedom of Dialectic,” inspired by the life and thought of Maxine Greene. His newest book, The Syllabus as Curriculum: A Reconceptualist Approach, was published in 2020 and received the 2020 Outstanding Book Award from AERA: Division B, Curriculum Studies.
Trent Horn: A Catholic Cannot Be A Socialist
Trent Horn is an accomplished author, an apologist at Catholic Answers, and a profess or apologetics at Holy Apostles College. I really enjoyed my conversation with Trent and learned a lot in the process. I’m sure you will as well. Enjoy!
About Trent (From His Website)
After his conversion to the Catholic faith, Trent Horn earned master’s degrees in the fields of theology, philosophy, and bioethics. He serves as a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, where he specializes in teaching Catholics to graciously and persuasively engage those who disagree with them.
Trent models that approach each week on the radio program Catholic Answers Live and on his own podcast, The Counsel of Trent. He has also been invited to debate at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and Stanford University.
Trent is an adjunct professor of apologetics at Holy Apostles College, has written for The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and is the author of nine books, including Answering Atheism, The Case for Catholicism, and Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love.
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