Ordo amoris

The USA is the gift that keeps on giving this blog :)

Now, by "ordo amoris" is not meant anything to do with romance. If you're looking for advice on romance, this post is not going to help you.

It may or may not help you in respect of marriage and family ... because it is a notion, partly rooted way back into Aristotle, thence through Augustine and Aquinas, with more than a dose of common sense and natural affection at its core, that we care for family first, then neighbours, then [etc], and finally the most distant strangers and aliens - the last meaning, if there is any residual love left.

On the one hand, virtually no one, whether they have heard of ordo amoris or not wants to save the world at the expense of loving their most immediate family (cf. a character called Mrs Jellyby in Dickens' Bleak House).

On the other hand, it is also common sense that we can love more than one people group at a time (e.g. a loving family might choose to channel their love for each other at Christmas time by not buying each other presents but contributing gifts to support the poorest people furtherest away). Alternatively, I love my wife and my children and generally work on avoiding situations where I must choose one over the other; and if my neighbour rings with an urgent need for help in the midst of a family meal, I do not look up ordo amoris to see whether I am obligated to respond - I respond a la the Parable of the Good Samaritan etc: the need immediately in front of me is also compelling within the everyday hierarchies of my love for others.

So this past week JD Vance, Vice-President, offered a justification for some Trumpian changes (how illegal immigrants are dealt with; withdrawal of US aid from projects overseas) on the basis of ordo amoris: family first = American family first. Nevermind that "America First" with all the anxieties that phrase is inducing around the world, to say nothing of America First justifications for imposing tariffs on neighbours or should that be neighbours who are not far off countries (and, simultaneously, reneging on trade agreements), apparently its all good under the theological hood what Trump/Vance/Musk are doing (and dare we note other news over the weekend as USAID being dismantled (including projects being abruptly stopped right now), the FBI is purged, government workers are made redundant, etc).

Catherine Pepinster has an excellent summary of the situation here. As an aside, this article was sparked by a fascinating theological debate on X between JD Vance and Rory Stewart. We should also note a measured response from the US Catholic bishops to the specific challenge of what to do about illegal immigration.

Now, on the specific debate question "has Vance properly understood the teaching of ordo amoris?" I suggest you head to social media, X in particular and see the to-ing and fro-ing there. I do not propose to say more here. For what it is worth, I do not think he does, not least because it is inconceivable to me that nuanced thinkers such as Augustine and Aquinas would be happy to be cited in endorsement of the unnuanced crash and burn policies of Trumpism!

But there are some other adjoining observations to make from afar, not least because theology is always global and, er, US policies have impacts even ... Down Under.

1. Noting that some pretty intense debates over ordo amoris this past week have been between Catholics (including notable names on X such as Edward Feser, Chad Pecknold, and Fr James Martin), we are reminded that, despite some claims sometimes that "the [Roman] Catholic faith is this unity of truth [postscript: note all Protestant divisions and fractionations]", in reality no one branch of Christianity has dibs on truth. (And let's keep reminding ourselves of divisions in Eastern Orthodoxy over Putinism ... what is it about Trump and Putin which have Christians in thrall to them????).

2. The work of theology is important and this past week highlights that. That work is to discern, debate, discover and delinate the truth about God and God's will for us. While it is unfortunate that we are not more united as Christians on matters of truth, we are fortunate that God has given us minds, voices and these days laptops and thus opportunity to pray and to ponder what is truth. Let the work of theology continue. Let theologians be encouraged rather than discouraged by this past week: theology has a role to play in public life.

3. (Noting that yesterday was The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and part of the scriptural discourse therein is about the secrets of hearts being revealed, Luke 2:35) this does seem to be a time of revelation when some realities of leaders, both inside and outside the church, are being revealed. I remain shocked to find out who among church leaders and theological leaders are willing to give Trump a pass (or even their fervent support) - some of which has been revealed by those stepping up in this past week to support JD Vance's take on ordo amoris in the service of the Trumpian cause. But, even in comments on X supporting Vance, made by "ordinary" Christians, there is an "aha" moment of realising what an inadequate understanding of Jesus' teaching is informing many Christians.

4. To be honest, I don't think I had heard of ordo amoris before this past week. But learning about it reminded me of something often heard more locally, "charity begins at home." A pretty similar concept in my understanding because it has a similar blocking effect to JD Vance's invocation of ordo amoris: we can ignore concerns faraway and/or among people not of my own kind.

Whatever ordo amoris may mean in the abstract or in some general guide to how we dispense resources of time, energy and money, whether at a personal level or a governmental level, the Parable of the Good Samaritan trumps ordo amoris inasmuch as Jesus himself says, in my words, respond with love to what is immediately in front of you.