In a recent article on Catholicism and patriotism, Christine Firer Hinze describes the new emphasis John Paul II gave to Catholic thinking on patriotism, rooting it in the broader Catholic notion of solidarity:
In the post-conciliar era, particularly during the papacy of John Paul II (1979-2005), these teachings on Catholics and patriotism continued to be echoed with . . . notable recent emphases. First and most significantly is the development of the notion of “solidarity” as a framework for contemporary understandings of Christian social participation. A theme in Gaudium et Spes that was self-consciously advanced by Pope John Paul II, solidarity denotes both the fact of human interdependence and the normative response this independence requires. When such interdependence becomes recognized, the proper “correlative response as a moral and soial attitude, as a ‘virture,’ is solidarity. This is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far . . . but rather a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good . . . to the good of all and of each individual.” Pope John Paul’s social writings from the 1980s underscore the fact that solidarity compromises a special preference for the poor and vulnerable. In particular, Christians and the church are called to take their stand beside the poor — “to become a church of and for the poor . . . while keeping in mind the common good.” Ultimately, solidarity is a religious virtue and the “social face of Christian charity.” Solidarity, the late pontiff argued forcefully, is the primary antidote to and weapon for confronting and dismantling sinful social structures and patterns that undermine the well-being and survival of so many today. Patriotism understood from within the framework of solidarity funds a love of country that is infused with a commitment to the common good, which transcends national boundaries. [“A Distinctively Catholic Patriotism?” in God and Country?: Diverse Perspectives on Christinaity and Patriotism, Michael G. Long and Tracy Wenger Sadd, eds. (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007), 129-146.]
For John Paul, patriotism is not a good in itself, but only insofar as it encourages legitimate bonds of solidarity, bonds which ultimately stretch beyond national boundaries. One could, of course, ask the question (as I have here many times before, at time citing theologians who are reflecting on similar questions) whether or not patriotism in John Paul’s understanding must include the nation-state at all. My own take is grounded in John Paul’s understanding of solidarity, but parts ways with him on the question of whether the nation-state project is in fact a help or a hinderance to such a radically conceived solidarity.
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