ethics, the traditionalists, or ultramontanists, with their romantic nostalgia
for the Middle Ages, preferred a return to the guild system, distributive
cooperative models instead of labour wages, and a corporative organization
of the polity.
In this struggle, Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) tried to maintain a prudent
balance by gradually opening to modernity and liberal states. He advised
Catholics to accept the republican system where such was in power, but not
to overthrow monarchies where these were the form of government. More
importantly, his lasting contribution to Catholic humanism was his use of
natural law and the establishment of Neo-Thomism. By founding moral
norms on nature (natural law)—that is, on a meta-historical foundation—he
avoided the romantic wish of reinstalling historical models of the past. Natural
law expresses what always is good and evil, independently of varying historical
circumstances. Additionally, by declaring Thomism the relevant theological
system to be taught in the Catholic seminaries and schools, he opened the way
for a future rediscovery of the Thomist unity of nature and grace, a central
element of Christian humanism.
Nouvelle Théologie and Transcendental ThomismAt the beginning of the twentieth century, the ‘Nouvelle théologie’and
‘Transcendental Thomism’movements reacted against a vision of morality
that separated nature and grace.^4 Theologians like Henri de Lubac, Jean
Daniélou, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Karl Rahner turned back to the church
fathers and especially to Gregory of Nyssa, reviving the notion of an inter-
penetration of nature and grace. Even though de Lubac was sceptical about the
phrase‘Christian humanism’,^5 he underscored the great relevance of Chris-
tianity as good news for man. His is the famous sentence that later was
enshrined in the text ofGaudium et spes: Christ fully reveals man to man.^6
In the swing of this discovery, he was able to write:‘It is not true, as is
sometimes said, that man cannot organize the world without God. What is
true is that, without God, he can ultimately only organize it against man.
Exclusive humanism is inhuman humanism.’^7
(^4) For the general importance of these movements see Tracey Rowland,Ratzinger’s Faith: The
Theology of Pope Benedict XVI(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 17–29.
(^5) Henri de Lubac,The Drama of Atheist Humanism(San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1995);
originalLe drame de l’humanisme athée(Paris, 1944), 399f.
(^6) Henri de Lubac,Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man(San Francisco, CA:
Ignatius Press, 1988), 339f.
(^7) de Lubac,Drama, 14.
200 Martin Schlag