Hungarian Conservative

‘The Constitution is ideological in nature, as it implicates modern features such as the separation of powers and the protection of individual rights. We all remember the definition of Article 16 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789. Today, the situation has undergone major changes. Thus, just as the Constitution displaced the law, the jurisprudence of the constitutional courts (based on supposed “principles” and “rights”) is displacing constitutions. Thus, some embrace the latter against the so-called “new law” of activist judges.’

‘Christian doctrine as taught by the Church of Rome had historically provided society with a point of reference for moral guidance, which subsequently “ensure[d] that politics remain[ed] rational and d[id] not fall into the trap of ideologies”. Yet since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the institutional Church, or some who speak for Her, have steadily dismantled the remnants of Christendom with ambiguous, if not erroneous teachings.’

We present a brief introduction to the political thinking of an eminent contemporary Catholic theologian, Joseph Ratzinger (1927–), the subsequent Pope Benedict XVI.