Catholic Social Science Review

Volume 4, 1999

John Paul II in America: the Pontiffs Political Science

Barilleaux, citing examples from Pope John Paul IPs 1995 visit to the United States, argues that the pontiff is a more preeminent political scientist than most scholars believe. The pope forsakes mathematical models for a more traditional approach, emphasizing certain universal questions that preoccupied the likes of Madison and Tocquevile. John Paul's politics, according to Barilleaux, emphasize the relation of the human person to the government, the latter of which must protect and affirm the rights and freedom of the former. If the American people, however, forget that freedom and virtue are inseparable, then the American experiment will fail.