Leftist Catholics Attack Religious Nationalism

A Vatican-reviewed journal is decrying "religious nationalism."

La Civiltà Cattolica, whose articles are directly approved by the Vatican secretariat of state, published on Tuesday an essay entitled "Against Religious Nationalism." 

The piece was written by a Jesuit, Fr. Joseph Lobo, who depicts God in this way: "In India, we call him 'Antharyamin,' the indweller. Hence, if he is within us and among us, it should be possible to every one of us to make those choices, guided by him, that make our life deeply meaningful and avoid those that could eventually destroy us."

Lobo believes nationalism is "narcissistic self-love, which Christianity cannot condone," despite the Faith and the national tradition being intertwined in Europe for the majority of Church history.

He argues that, due to globalism, nations with common ethnicity, culture and specifically religion do not exist. 

Critics are slamming his assertion, noting, for example, that Saudi Arabia is 93% Muslim and Poland is 92% Catholic.

The piece targets the United States, specifically claiming Americans idolize the Founding Fathers and that they're wrong to believe the country is blessed by God.

Lobo's sentiments mirror similar criticisms mounted against Church Militant in recent years, i.e., La Civiltà Cattolica's editor-in-chief, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, attacking the apostolate's "ultra-conservatism" and accusing faithful Catholics of being part of an "ecumenism of hate" with evangelical fundamentalism to elect President Donald Trump.

Father Lobo concludes his essay by asserting that religious and cultural nationalism must be fought against, and that religious identity and national identity should never be intertwined.