I believe Mr. Mannion is a paleolibertarian, or leans in that direction. He quotes Pope Benedict XVI, who has adopted the proposition nation understanding of the United States, which holds the Declaration of Independence to be primarily a statement of natural law and a key by which the Constitution is to be interpreted:
At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.
While the bishops do need to man up and deal with politicians who are Catholic in name only, I think Mr. Mannion underestimates the gravity of the problems confronting the laity if they seek to strengthen their families and parishes. But it is the beginning of a response to "Catholics" like Rick Santorum who claim to be conservative.
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