Takeaways from AP’s report on JD Vance and the Catholic postliberals in his circle of influence

Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism helped shape his political worldview, he has written.

It has also put him in close touch with a Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that has been little known to the American public.

That’s changing with Vance’s rise to the national stage as the Republican vice presidential nominee and running mate to former President Donald Trump.

The professors and media personalities in this network are generally known as “postliberal.” Vance has used that term to describe himself as well.

Here are some takeaways from the AP’s reporting on Vance’s Catholicism and the Catholic thinkers in his circle of influence.

What is postliberalism?

It’s a movement primarily among Catholic intellectuals that rejects both the progressive left, with its focus on individual rights and identity, and “economic liberalism,” the ideology that favors a free market and small government.

Postliberals do share Catholic conservatives’ longstanding opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

But Catholic postliberals want a muscular government — one that they control.

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