Resistance Podcast 136: Michael Greaney on Quas Primas, Socialism & Catholic Social Teaching

About this sermon

On the heels of the Feast of Christ the King, Steve welcomes Michael D. Greaney (of the “Socialist Series” fame) for a deep dive into Quas Primas, Pius XI’s program, and the chronic confusion between Christ’s reign and utopian projects like the so-called “Kingdom of God on earth.” We trace the thread from St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Thomas Aquinas to Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, and Pius XI — plus Fulton Sheen, Chesterton, Knox, and even satirist Robert Hugh Benson — to clarify how Catholic social teaching defends natural law, personal sovereignty under God, and properly understood liberal democracy, while rejecting socialism/modernism and their redefinitions of man, society, and Church. What you’ll learn What Quas Primas really teaches (and doesn’t): Christ’s reign is spiritual and moral, not a mandate for divine-right monarchy. Why “religious socialism” is a contradiction and how Quadragesimo Anno frames the issue. How natural law, private property rightly ordered, and virtue ground a just social order. Why nineteenth-century utopian movements (Shakers, Owenites, Fourierists, Icarians, etc.) weren’t harmless curios — they reshaped modern errors. If this helped you understand Christ the King and Catholic social doctrine, like, subscribe, and share it with a friend who’s still puzzling over “theocracy” vs. true kingship of Christ. Timestamps 00:00 – Cold open & housekeeping 00:51 – Guest intro: Michael Greaney; why Christ the King now 02:10 – You can’t please everyone (LaPanto flag banter) 03:18 – The Quas Primas blow-up: “divine-right monarchy” myth 04:19 – Leo XIII, natural law & liberal democracy (properly understood) 06:09 – Context for Quas Primas (Feast origin & intent) 09:04 – “My Kingdom is not of this world”: Pilate, kingship & fear 12:12 – Why Americans misread “kingship” and fear theocracy 15:26 – Pius XI’s larger program; Bellarmine resurges 16:33 – The utopian obsession with a “Kingdom on earth” 18:46 – Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World as satire (not prophecy) 21:03 – Ronald Knox’s Enthusiasm: excess charity breeds disunity 24:34 – Socialism’s religious roots (not just anti-capitalism) 27:56 – Shakers & coded hymns; celibacy as “return” to wholeness 31:02 – Owen’s New Harmony; “Declaration of Mental Independence” (1826) 33:03 – Fourier’s fantasies: lemonade seas & sexualized labor 34:58 – Icarians, Texas flop, and the Nebraska reset 35:34 – Spiritualists & new messiahs; Blavatsky & theosophy 37:05 – Fulton Sheen’s early works: reason vs. modern errors 39:04 – Sheen (1943): why trying to build heaven below makes hell on earth 41:18 – Catholic social teaching vs. the “new things” (socialism/modernism) 45:12 – Vatican I: reason & faith; limits of papal infallibility 48:03 – Leo XIII’s action plan (Rerum Novarum; anti-“Americanism” confusion) 49:00 – Pius X: oath against modernism 50:16 – Benedict XV: “Do old things in new ways” 50:52 – Pius XI’s motto: Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ 52:26 – Thomism revived; integrated encyclicals leading to Quas Primas 53:05 – Condemning moral/legal/social modernism 54:01 – Reign of Christ the King vs. “Kingdom of God on earth” 55:45 – Chesterton’s path to Rome (a plausible read) 57:01 – Saint-Simon’s “New Christianity” & enduring influence 58:41 – Threefold reign in Quas Primas: hearts, spiritual order, civil order via natural law 1:02:24 – Quadragesimo Anno: why socialism can’t be reconciled with the Faith 1:06:07 – “Religious socialism” is self-contradictory 1:07:19 – Society as environment for virtue, not end in itself 1:08:23 – Conclusion: access to the means of virtue (life, liberty, property) 1:10:00 – Wrap-up Center for Economic and Social Justice - https://www.cesj.org/ Michael's website https://just3rdway.blogspot.com/ https://uni-muenster.academia.edu/JulianStrube #ChristTheKing #QuasPrimas #CatholicSocialTeaching #PiusXI #Bellarmine #Aquinas #FultonSheen #Chesterton #QuadragesimoAnno #NaturalLaw #AntiSocialism #Modernism #CatholicPodcast #CatholicApologetics 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.us for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ ▶️ 4. Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311