Digital Marian Helper Winter_2019

J oseph Pearce is one of the best-known Catholic con- verts writing today. A noted literary biographer, Pearce may seem like he must have always been dedicated to peaceful scholarship. But in his youth, Pearce was a leading racist, national- istic activist in England. Primarily, he says, his mind and heart were changed by discovering great Christian writers like G.K. Chester- ton, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis while he was in prison. Their living faith allowed the truth to shine transparently through their work, ultimately helping draw Pearce into Holy Mother Church. The story of his conversion from racism to Catholicism is told in his memoir, Race With the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love . Given the upsurge of extrem- ist and new nationalist movements across the world, his testimony is more timely than ever. Why? Because it vividly highlights that Catholicism and racism are utterly incompatible. From the time of the founding of the Church, a key Christian tenet has been that there is no essential differ- ence between the peoples of the earth. All are called to ‘Brethren all are we’ Catholic social teaching is one of the great treasures of the Church, and yet all too often, it’s neglected or overlooked entirely. In this issue of Marian Helper, we continue our exploration of the Church’s social teaching, this time focusing on race, nationality, and our common humanity. By Chris Sparks Catholic Social Teaching on our common humanity 22 M arian H elper • W inter 2019-20 • marian . org Joseph Pearce discusses Race with the Devil