Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 8

© 2022. Prof. Dr. Maciej Bazela. This research/review article is distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). You must give appropriate credit to authors and reference this article if parts of the article are reproduced in any manner. Applicable licensing terms are at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ 4.0/. Catholic Liberalism: An Anti-Populist Proposal By Prof. Dr. Maciej Bazela Abstract- This paper explores the axiological convergence between classical liberalism and Catholic Social Thought (CST). The paper argues that CST and classical liberals should build on their complementary values to strengthen public support for liberal democracy and a free-market economy among Catholic voters and in society at large. Although populist regimes, in particular far-right conservative nationalists, portray liberalism as an antithesis of Catholicism, this paper shows that there is a broad consensus between the two traditions. Contrary to far-right populist positions, it is possible to maintain Catholic values in a liberal market democracy without denouncing one’s religious identity. The paper emphasizes the importance of re-constructing a centrist tradition of Catholic liberal thought to mitigate populist assault on political, economic, and social freedoms. GJHSS-A Classification: DDC Code: 282.73 LCC Code: BX1406.2 CatholicLiberalismAnAntiPopulistProposal Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: A Arts & Humanities - Psychology Volume 22 Issue 8 Version 1.0 Year 2022 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Online ISSN: 2249-460x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: