“The ethical aspect of economic doctrine”: The social thought of John A. Ryan and the making of American Catholic liberalism, 1900–1940

This dissertation examines the development and maturation of an American Catholic tradition of social ethical thought, focused largely on economic issues, between 1900 and 1940. The dissertation considers in particular the thought of Rev. John A. Ryan, Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America and Director of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. During the early decades of the twentieth century, Ryan applied concepts from the papal social encyclicals Rerum Novarum (1891) and Quadragesimo Anno (1931) to issues in American economic life. The result was an influential body of ethical thought which transformed the intellectual and political orientation of the American Catholic Church.