By M.S. Malaszczyk

For a Ukranian-American  cradle Catholic,  my journey toward democratic socialism was a process of distilling the ethical core of the "Social Gospel" from the traumatic political history of Eastern Europe that I learned sitting at my parents' knees. Having taught Modern World History for 32 years, I spent over three decades parsing the distinction between the authoritarian state-socialism of the Soviet Union—which inflicted the Holodomor upon the Ukrainian people, my Ukrainian people—and the decentralist, worker-oriented democratic socialism practiced in Western social democracies. My scholarly background allowed for a nuanced rejection of "atheistic communism" while simultaneously embracing the Distributism championed by such Catholic thinkers as G.K. Chesterton. In my classroom, I saw that achieving  the "American Dream" was increasingly impossible for generations of students.

My transition was further solidified by the lived reality of "adjunctification" at Nassau Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. This gig labor provided a firsthand look at the "despotic economic dictatorship" warned against in Quadragesimo Anno. The experience bridged the gap between the Sanctity of Labor and the structural critiques of capitalism. When I witnessed institutions of knowledge treated largely as profit centers rather than engines for the Common Good, the Catholic call for Subsidiarity—empowering local communities and workers over multinational corporate interests—became the logical political solution.

Ultimately, my evolution culminated in a Consistent Ethic of Life, often referred to as the Seamless Garment. As a proud Ukrainian-American, the preservation of human dignity against both military aggression and economic exploitation is for me a singular, constant moral struggle. After three decades in the Babylon USFD (NY), I recognized that a "Culture of Life" cannot flourish in a "Throwaway Culture" that treats the poor and the environment as disposable. By aligning with democratic socialism, I believe that I apply the radical mercy of the Beatitudes to modern policy, advocating for a society where healthcare, housing, and a living wage are viewed not as commodities, but as Human Rights rooted in the fact that every person is made in the Imago Dei (Image of God). In the essay below, I pull together the strands of Catholicism and democratic socialism that led to my evolution.

For many, the terms "devout Catholic" and "democratic socialist" occupy opposite ends of a cultural and political spectrum. In the U.S. imagination specifically, Catholicism is often associated with traditionalism and hierarchical order, while socialism is frequently dismissed as an atheistic relic of the Cold War. However, for those who look closely at the radical demands of the Gospel and the robust body of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), the marriage between these two identities isn’t just a possibility—it is a deeply logical, moral, and spiritual homecoming.

To be a devout Catholic is to believe that the "Word became flesh" and dwelt among us. This Incarnation sanctifies the material world. It means that the hunger of a child, the dignity of a laborer, and the greed of a billionaire are not merely "political" issues; they are theological ones. When we look at the structural critiques offered by democratic socialism, we find a framework that, perhaps better than any other modern political system, seeks to institutionalize the very mercy and justice that Christ commanded.

The Common Good and Private Property

At the heart of Catholic Social Teaching lies the principle of the Common Good: the sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.

Modern neoliberal capitalism operates on a contradictory premise. It suggests that if everyone pursues their own selfish interests, a "hidden hand" will somehow balance the scales for everyone. The Catholic tradition rejects this. From St. Thomas Aquinas to Pope Francis, the Church has consistently taught that private property is not an absolute right; it is subordinate to the universal destination of goods.

Democratic socialism mirrors this theological priority. It posits that essential human needs—healthcare, housing, education, and a livable environment—should not be subject to the whims of the market. When a democratic socialist argues that a billionaire’s third yacht is less important than a community’s access to clean water, they are not being "envious." They are practicing a form of distributive justice that finds its roots in the Acts of the Apostles, where the early Church "held all things in common" and distributed to each "as any had need."

The Sanctity of Labor

One of the most profound overlaps between Catholicism and democratic socialism is the Sanctity of Labor. In his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII defended the rights of workers to organize into unions and demanded that they be paid a living wage. He famously critiqued the "misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class."

Democratic socialism takes this critique to its structural conclusion. It argues that capital should not have priority over labor. In our current system, the worker is often treated as a "cost" to be minimized rather than a human person with a soul. Democratic socialism advocates for:

• Workplace Democracy: Giving workers a say in the management of the firms where they spend most of their waking lives.
• Strong Labor Unions: Viewing collective bargaining as a necessary check on the "despotic economic dictatorship" that Pope Pius XI warned against in Quadragesimo Anno.
• Elimination of Poverty: Recognizing that a "starvation wage" is a violation of the Seventh Commandment ("Thou shalt not steal").

Integral Ecology

Perhaps the most contemporary and urgent bridge between these two worlds is Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home). In this document, the Pope articulates a vision of Integral Ecology, which asserts that we cannot separate the cry of the earth from the cry of the poor.

Pope Francis offers a scathing critique of the "technocratic paradigm" and the "throwaway culture" driven by a blind pursuit of profit. This is where the devout Catholic finds a natural ally in democratic socialism. Both acknowledge that an economic system predicated on infinite growth on a finite planet is not only unsustainable—it is sinful.

Democratic socialism’s call for a Green New Deal is a practical application of the Pope’s call for an "ecological conversion." When the Pope writes that "the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone," he is challenging the very foundations of extractivist capitalism.

Subsidiarity and Solidarity

Critics often argue that socialism is synonymous with a "big government" that crushes local initiative. However, Democratic Socialism is distinct from authoritarian state-socialism because it values the Catholic principle of Subsidiarity.

Subsidiarity suggests that matters should be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralized competent authority. Democratic socialism seeks to decentralize power through community-owned cooperatives and local credit unions. Balanced with this is Solidarity. Pope John Paul II described solidarity as a "firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good."

Addressing the Critics

The most common hurdle for the Catholic socialist is the historical condemnation of socialism by past popes. Modern apologists like Trent Horn have argued that Catholic teaching and socialism are inherently incompatible.

However, this perspective often overlooks the distinction between ideological (atheistic) socialism and programmatic democratic socialism. While the Church defends the right to private property, it insists that this right is never absolute. By focusing on the "democratic" half of the equation, the Catholic socialist rejects the atheistic materialism Horn fears, instead embracing a system where the state is a tool for popular will.

Many of the greatest Catholic figures of the last century—Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Cesar Chavez—embraced socialist critiques of capitalism. Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, lived a life of voluntary poverty and radical resistance, proving one can be "more Catholic than the Pope" while calling for the overthrow of the capitalist order.

A Consistent Ethic of Life

Finally, being a Catholic socialist allows for a "consistent ethic of life," often called the Seamless Garment. A devout Catholic believes in the dignity of life from conception to natural death.

While the secular Left and the religious Right often split these issues, the Catholic socialist sees them as intertwined. We cannot claim to be "pro-life" while supporting an economic system that makes it impossible for a poor mother to afford prenatal care. Democratic socialism provides the material tools to support a culture of life by guaranteeing healthcare, maternity leave, and a living wage.

To be a devout Catholic and a democratic socialist is to inhabit a space of radical tension. It is a call to return to the basics: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the stranger. If our current economic system makes those tasks harder, then as Catholics, we have a moral obligation to change that system.

Bibliography and Recommended Reading

Primary Church Documents

• Leo XIII. Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor), 1891.
• Pius XI. Quadragesimo Anno (On Reconstruction of the Social Order), 1931.
• John Paul II. Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year), 1991.
• Francis. Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), 2015.
• Francis. Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship), 2020.

Books and Essays

• Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness. HarperOne, 1952.
• Horn, Trent. Can a Catholic Be a Socialist? Catholic Answers Press, 2020. (For an overview of the opposing view discussed).
• Merton, Thomas. Seeds of Destruction. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1964.
• Cort, John C. Christian Socialism: An Informal History. Orbis Books, 1988, 2nd edition, 2020, with a new introduction by Gary Dorrien.
• Eagleton, Terry. Why Marx Was Right. Yale University Press, 2011.
• Bernardin, Joseph Cardinal. The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life. Orbis Books, 2008.

The author is a DSA member and a retired Advanced Placement public school teacher in the Babylon UFSD [Babylon, NY]. Holding an earned Doctorate in Modern World History, he is also currently an adjunct professor at Nassau Community College [Garden City, NY and Southern New Hampshire University.

Image credit: Miracle of the Bread and Fish by Giovanni Lanfranco, 1623 (National Gallery of Ireland)