Conscience as a Political Problem: Faith, Culture, and Christian Statesmanship

The 65th anniversary of the election of the first Catholic U.S. president marks an occasion to examine the historical challenges to Catholic participation in presidential politics, how these challenges were overcome, and the contemporary role of Catholics in public life, giving special attention to how that role has shaped the national debate on abortion. The author proposes the primacy of conscience in guiding the responsibilities of public officials and explores the influence of John Henry Newman, John Courtney Murray, Josef Fuchs, and Reinhard Niebuhr, among others, on these questions. Anderson concludes with a reflection on the witness of St. Thomas More and the anthropology of Vatican II and St. John Paul II as suggesting ways Catholics can advance future discussions of America’s public philosophy.

The book is adapted from Anderson’s 2025 McGivney Lectures, given at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

Carl A. Anderson is Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus and the founding dean of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC.