Defending Dives, Defunding Lazarus

“Let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation. May the ‘Virgen morena,’ who knew how to reconcile peoples when they were at enmity, grant us all to meet again as brothers and sisters, within her embrace, and thus take a step forward in the construction of a society that is more fraternal, inclusive and respectful of the dignity of all.” — Pope Francis

J.D. Vance, the vice president of the United States, caused a stir this January when he defended President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies in an interview on Fox News and charged that anyone who opposes them “hates America.” The interview would have been another unremarkable example of partisan rancor and hyperbole had Vance not invoked St. Augustine for support, citing the ordo amoris as a prop for his brand of radical and rivalrous nationalism. This brought great commentary from all sides, and even a papal rebuke.

Vance certainly has his defenders, especially on the Right. R.R. Reno, editor of First Things, in endorsing Vance’s nationalism, said that “they [the liberals, I presume] fear ‘nativism,’ or some other manifestation of xenophobia…. [But] the Christian tradition has a consistent teaching that we are to love those near with a greater fervor than those far away.” On Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire website, Richard Clements claimed that “the ordo amoris can be conceptualized as a series of concentric circles radiating outward from ourselves, beginning with loving God,” an idea Pope Francis has specifically rejected. And in the pages of the Chilean Catholic publication Revista Suroeste, José Ignacio Palma claimed:

The abstract idea of ​​a love for humanity, which in practice is not expressed toward any specific person, is usually invoked by privileged and cosmopolitan groups for whom receiving massive migratory flows does not mean any serious impact on their lifestyle or that of their loved ones, and who will hardly make efforts to welcome migrants in their own neighborhoods and communities.

Palma’s charges might be justified, though as someone who lives in one of the most diverse ZIP codes in the United States, I am not convinced this is true. And I’m not sure how you can be “cosmopolitan” without “massive” migration. The “serious impacts” seem to be missing from my city, where, on my daily walks, I encounter people from South Asia, Hispano-America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East. In fact, my city hosts one of the largest mosques in the United States, right across the street from a Catholic church. There have been surprisingly few street battles.