JD Vance, Pope Francis, and the Ordo Amoris
On February 10th, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the bishops of the United States responding to Vice President Vance's statement about the Ordo Amoris.
While not widely recognized as a formal doctrine today, the Ordo Amoris (order of loves) has played an important role throughout Christian theology. Augustine most famously expressed this doctrine in his theological writings.
In his On Christian Doctrine, Augustine wrote:
"The person who lives a just and holy life is one who is a sound judge of these things. He is also a person who has ordered his love, so that he does not love what it is wrong to love, or fail to love what should be loved, or love too much what should be loved less (or love too little what should be loved more), or love two things equally if one of them should be loved either less or more than the other, or love things either more or less if they should be loved equally" (1.27).
At its core, this is one of the most fundamental Christian doctrines. Every evangelical marriage book or speaker includes some variation of "you must prioritize your marriage/spouse over your children." This, in its simplest form, represents the doctrine of Ordo Amoris.
Yet the Ordo Amoris isn't about excluding people from love; rather, it teaches us how to love maximally. It instructs us to love each person according to who they are: I love my wife as my wife, my children as my children, and my friends as friends.
When Vance spoke about the Ordo Amoris, he appeared to underemphasize the doctrine's purpose of teaching maximal love. Perhaps this is why Pope Francis wrote his letter to the U.S. Bishops.
In that letter, Francis explains, "The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the 'Good Samaritan' (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception."
Francis's position isn't merely a reaction to Vance's argument. In 2020, he wrote an Encyclical letter on human brotherhood (Fratelli Tutti) in which he frequently referenced the Good Samaritan story.
In §80 of that letter, Francis points to an ordo amoris that looks beyond who is closest to us, teaching that the Good Samaritan story instructs us to become neighbors to all people:
"Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan in answer to the question: Who is my neighbour? The word 'neighbour', in the society of Jesus' time, usually meant those nearest us. It was felt that help should be given primarily to those of one's own group and race. For some Jews of that time, Samaritans were looked down upon, considered impure. They were not among those to be helped. Jesus, himself a Jew, completely transforms this approach. He asks us not to decide who is close enough to be our neighbour, but rather that we ourselves become neighbours to all."
For a fuller discussion of Pope Francis's letter and its context, check out the recent podcast episode I recorded with my friend Steven Wedgeworth. This new podcast of The Davenant Institute aims to retrieve past wisdom for today's church—make sure to subscribe (YouTube, Spotify, Apple)!
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Further Reading
Thomas Aquinas on the Order of Charity (II-II Q26)
It's been fascinating seeing this age old principle reinvigorated. I guess one key element of Ordo is to love God more than your country?