Maria Mazzenga , assistant director, IPR, and Julia Young , assistant professor, history, were quoted in a Catholic News Service story covering the IPR panel discussion on how Catholics should respond to the alt-right. See below.
From: Catholic News Service (via The Compass) Date: March 2, 2017Author: Rhina Guidos
... "Exclusionary Catholic Americanism is defensive, adopts a siege mentality, emphasizes persecution of enemies, views other religious traditions as threatening to its very existence," Mazzenga said. "Inclusive Catholic Americanism seeks to reconcile American ideals of religious liberty and ethnic pluralism with Catholic traditions. It seeks continuity with its parent, Judaism, and commonalties rather than differences with other religions to which it's related, like Islam." ...
Julia Young, a historian with The Catholic University of America who also participated in the panel, said similar views have existed before in the country, but this time the "targets" for such views, which some would call nativism, others would call xenophobia, seem to be immigrants and Muslims.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the U.S. has always made clear where it stands, she said. As early as 1919, the U.S. bishops formed an immigration bureau whose sole focus was to speak on behalf of and defend immigrants, to provide legal counsel and defense for them, particularly with the goal of keeping families together, Young said. ...
Robert Christian and Daniel Petri , graduate students in politics and IPR fellows, published commentary in Crux on why they believe no Christian can support the alt-right. See below.
From: Crux Date: March 15, 2017Author: Robert Christian and Daniel Petri
The 2016 election introduced many Americans to what was previously a non-mainstream group in American politics: the alt-right. Last month saw the rise and sudden reversal of alt-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos's incorporation into the conservative mainstream, after his controversial comments on pedophilia surfaced.
But the alt-right is not going anywhere. And with Steve Bannon, who boasted of turning Breitbart into "the platform for the alt-right," serving as a chief adviser to President Donald Trump, it cannot be ignored.The threat this movement poses to foundational American values and the key tenets of the Christian faith are so grave that Christians across the political spectrum should join together with other responsible citizens in opposing its pernicious influence and corrosion of our national character.
For those who are unfamiliar with the goals, methods, and nature of the alt-right, it can be described as a loose collection of individuals and groups that advocate for a far-right, ethno-nationalism that is centered on white identity and the notion that Western Civilization is under attack from immigrants, multiculturalism, feminism, political correctness, Muslims, and Jews. ...
Continue reading here