On Universals and Particulars

 

First of all, I should like to thank Lisa for her kind, generous words in her recent posting “International Perspectives on Family” regarding last week’s conference in Rome that celebrated the 30^th anniversary of the Charter of the Rights of the Family (the Charter).

As one of the key presenters of a formal paper (yes, Lisa, I think they will be published—but anyone wishing to see my final draft can request a PDF copy from me), I had to think long and hard about how a major document of the Church intersects not only domestic law principles but international law principles as well.

In doing so I reached a conclusion that I have arrived at probably thousands of times before that there is a connection between human law made by states and natural law reasoning. This became evident once again when I saw parallels between the laws of many national legal systems, several international texts, and the Charter.

The essence of the parallels is how human intelligence that thinks objectively (beyond its comfort zone, if you will) in comprehending the intelligible reality of specific matters can develop normative principles (laws) that are fitting and just not only for a particular place but for all places and all peoples. This claim reveals the truth about the basic structure and substantive content of the Charter.

I think this realization also reflects a further truth about law in general. While different legal cultures need to respond to the issues that are pressing upon that culture, there are, nonetheless matters which are of concern for all people and that necessitate universal norms. The Charter and its substantive content demonstrate this, as do the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several important international human rights instruments of the latter half of the 20^th century. All of these texts rely to a large extent upon the objectivity of natural law reasoning.

Here is where an important element needs to be introduced about the Catholic take on law. Like Lisa, I saw at this conference members of the faithful from virtually every continent who, in spite of their particular concerns back home, largely agree on the need for universal principles designed to promote and protect the fundamental unit of society—the natural family. In this context I reflected on how often I have heard some American Catholics who are, when all is said, very kind and decent people, nonetheless claim that the American (i.e., USA) church is very different from all others because of the uniqueness of the polity in which we live. Well, in some ways, this can be said of all the local churches around the world including those of the several hundred dioceses of the United States. But still, in spite of these differences, there is a need to acknowledge through the application of objective reason that these local and particular differences cannot and must not interfere with the universality of fundamental Church teachings which are of significance to all persons regardless of where they are in the world. The truth of this claim became all the more clear as the conference of which Lisa and I were a part reached its conclusion on midday Saturday.

Again, I extend to Lisa my profound gratitude for her thoughtful words, and I look forward to the publication of the several formal papers delivered at this conference.

On a seemingly different but not unrelated matter, I hope to offer my reflections on Pope Francis’s interview of last week. It was interesting for me, at last week’s conference, to see how others around the world comprehend the pope’s lengthy interview, and how it has been perceived by influential members of our American culture. Again, I hope to tackle this chore soon and to contribute to the thread begun by Rick, given our dedicated purpose of developing Catholic legal theory.

 

RJA sj