The Nostalgia for a New Christendom

by Mario Ramos-Reyes

Mario Ramos-Reyes explains the political schizophrenia of mid-20th century Latin America and the healing process that sought to fill the void between Enlightenment liberalism and the Catholic tradition. The cure was the work of maritainismo, a proposal inspired by Jacques Maritain (1882-1973), the most admired and criticized Catholic thinker in the first half of the 20th century. Beginning with the Social Christian movement conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1947, the era of the new Latin American Christendom became a model that aspired to be democratic, liberal, and Christian. This project lasted until 1968, when Catholic thought abruptly turned toward liberation theology. Today, remembering the maritainista proposal in the face of the liberal secularist and populist postmodern avalanche is not a futile exercise of nostalgia but an urgent necessity.
 

Hardback: $29.95 | Paperback: $24.95| Kindle: $9.99

TESTIMONIALS

“This important work by Mario Ramos-Reyes traces the influence of Jacques Maritain’s mature social and political philosophy in Latin America in the mid-twentieth century. Maritain’s Catholic philosophical foundation for a democratic pluralist society appealed to a generation of Latin American political and social thinkers who sought to build a democratic order in Latin America based on the dignity of the human person and Catholic social teaching. Ramos-Reyes expresses a hope that after the tragic eclipse of this vision, which was attacked from both the right and the left, this kind of democracy inspired by a Thomistic Catholic philosophy may come once again to be politically fruitful in Latin America and around the world.” – Dr. Lawrence Feingold, Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
“While everybody will not agree with the politics of this book, Latin Americanists should find the argument universally fascinating and enlightening because of its implications for the embeddedness of philosophy and religion (and philosophers and priests) in Latin American politics.” – Elizabeth Kuznesof, Professor and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Kansas
“Amid historical vicissitudes, Mario Ramos Reyes has sought the essentials of Maritain’s spirit: a Constitutional Democracy and the rule of law based on a Christian ethos. These still provide answers to this unmade world between postmodernism and woke ideologies and to this Latin America that, bleeding between socialist Christian utopias and its military-conservative reactions, has not yet found its path to institutional stability.” – Gabriel J. Zanotti, Professor, of UCEMA, and academic director of the Friedman-Hayek Center, and the Acton Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

“Ramos-Reyes is a tragic optimist. The eclipse of Christian Democracy is indisputable. Even its resurgence can seem little more than a nostalgic dream. And yet, to draw from Scripture, he asks whether these ‘dead bones can rise again.’ He tells us that if they do, it will be at the summons of a new generation of Latin American thinkers and activists.” – James Hanink, Past President, American Maritain Association

“In The Nostalgia for a New Christendom, Mario Ramos-Reyes has written a thoughtful analysis of the thought of Jacques Maritain and its influence on Latin America. He both analyzes skillfully the insights and the failures of the Christian Democratic movement that Maritain inspired and offers an impressive defense of the relevance of Maritain’s philosophy of human dignity for the twenty-first century.” – Carl Strikwerda, former president Elizabethtown College and former dean College of William and Mary

“I recall reading William Cavanaugh’s book, Torture and Eucharist, and his call for a more radical, supernatural, Eucharistic approach to politics and his criticism of Maritain as a proponent of the Christian Democratic vision that Cavanaugh thought had marginalized and neutered the Church. Then, liberation theology took up so much of the debate. Against that was a traditional conservatism that called for a Catholic country that did not make much room for liberalism in the best sense. Then, of course, the strong secularization brings with it the legalization of abortion and the rejection of the family. Yes, where have you gone, Jacques Maritain? Well, at least there is an answer to this: the writing of Mario Ramos Reyes.” – Daniel Philpott, University of Notre Dame

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mario Ramos-Reyes is a philosopher, teacher and diplomat. He was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, and has lived in the United States for several decades. He holds a degree in philosophy and law from the Catholic University, Our Lady of Asuncion, where he taught for many years. He has completed postgraduate studies in Natural Law at the University of Navarra, Spain. He holds a master’s degree in Moral Philosophy from Holy Apostles College in Connecticut and a master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from Ave Maria University in Florida. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas, specializing in Political Philosophy and History of Ideas with emphasis on Latin America. He is currently dedicated to teaching and research, and he is a columnist for the newspaper La Nación of Asunción. The Consular Corps of Kansas City conferred upon him the title of Consul General Emeritus.
 
OTHER PUBLICATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
  • En Búsqueda de la República (2023) Intercontinental Editora
  • Filosofía para tiempos misteriosos (2022) Intercontinental Editora
  • La larga marcha hacia la libertad (2019) Biblioteca de Estudios Paraguayos, Vol. 114
    Centro de Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica.
  • Los que se fueron (2014) Biblioteca de Estudios Paraguayos, Vol. 103 Centro de
    Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica.
  • La república como tarea ética (2009) Biblioteca de Estudios Paraguayos, Vol. 77 Centro
    de Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica.
  • Ética y Filosofía. Ensayos Dispersos (2005) Biblioteca de Estudios Paraguayos Vol. 64
    Centro de Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica
  • Filosofía y pensamiento democrático (1998) Biblioteca de Estudios Paraguayos, Vol. 58
    Centro de Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica

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