Building better than they knew: John Courtney Murray’s american, catholic view of the true foundation of our country

Abstract

"John Courtney Murray (1904–1967) was a member of the Society of Jesus. He taught at the Jesuit theologiate in Woodstock, Maryland and was editor of the Jesuit journal Theological Studies from 1941 until his death. He became a leading American public figure – the subject of a 1960 Time cover story. He was known mainly for his work on the relationships between the Catholic Church and America’s country’s political life, his interpretation of the American view of religious liberty, and his resolutely Catholic view of the true ground of that liberty. His affirmation of the basic continuity between the Catholic and the American views of human nature and human liberty led to tensions with and even his silencing by the Vatican Curia, but something like his view of religious liberty was affirmed by the Second Vatican Council. "(...)