Subsidiarity in Politics, Culture, and Economy

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) While there are many emerging questions in America’s current political landscape, one consistently rises to the top: Who is better positioned to make decisions about how particular communities thrive — the federal government or the communities themselves?

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida addresses how subsidiarity can serve as a guiding principle for communities at “Subsidiarity in Politics, Culture, and Economy,” a symposium hosted by the new Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America.

Joseph Capizzi, executive director of the Institute for Human Ecology, remarked, “A longstanding principle of Catholic social teaching is the idea that society should be organized around different levels of communities in order for people to thrive.”

Rooney, who formerly served as the Ambassador to the Holy See from 2005 to 2008, is joined by the following panelists:

• Jonathan Reyes, executive director, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will speak on the role of well-functioning religious communities.
• David Cloutier, associate professor of moral theology and ethics, The Catholic University of America, is author of The Vice of Luxury: Economic Excess in a Consumer Age.
• Bradley Lewis, associate professor of philosophy, The Catholic University of America, writes and comments on politics and the common good.
• Andreas Widmer, director, Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, The Catholic University of America.

Watch it the livestream here.