By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
IRVING — Ahead of the fireworks and the flag-waving, and before the barbeques, ceremonies, and parades, American Catholics approaching the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence this Fourth of July may well pause to ask: Is all this pomp truly patriotism? And further: What is patriotism in the Catholic understanding, and how can it be practiced well?
In recognition of the upcoming semiquincentennial anniversary of the nation, University of Dallas professors Philip Harold and Adam Eitel pulled from their rich understandings of politics and theology to offer some reflections on what a Catholic patriotism rooted in Gospel values looks like, as well as to share their studied insights on how Catholics in America can live civilly, even in times of deep division.
So, what is patriotism?
“When we talk about it, we usually reduce it to a sentiment, like a warm feeling that you have at a parade, a sense of pride at some Olympic achievement,” said Eitel, who is an associate professor of theology at UD, as well as the university’s director of the National Fellowships Program and presidential advisor for strategic engagements. Rather than a fuzzy feeling or rousing sentiment, Eitel argued, patriotism is better understood as a part of piety.
“When I say the word ‘piety,’ first thing you think of often is the kind of reverence we owe to God specifically,” he said. Drawing on the thoughts of St. Thomas Aquinas, however, the professor maintained that piety also extends to one’s parents and one’s “patria,” or homeland, since each person owes much to the people and place that raised him.
“All people owe a certain reverence, a kind of gratitude, toward the country in which they live,” Eitel said. “We are obliged to revere it, to give thanks for it, to offer to show service and tokens of gratitude, to fulfill our obligations to our country.”
Harold, who is dean of the Constantin College of Liberal Arts and a politics professor at UD, described patriotism similarly: as a love of country that is deeply rooted in gratitude for what one has received from one’s nation, including the protection of precious freedoms.
“We should be aware of all these blessings we’ve been given,” he said, “and then, as a result of that, we love our county; we love where we’re from; and we have an attitude of ‘Okay, well what should I do then? How can I contribute to this?’”
Patriotism gone awry
While true and holy patriotism in rooted in piety, which places God in a primary position of honor and parents and country in a secondary place, a warped but prevalent view of patriotism inordinately elevates the state to something almost divine, the professors warned.
“You see the ‘My country, right or wrong!’ attitude. But for Catholics, things have to be integrated; things have to be balanced,” Harold said. “Your country isn’t the Church, and it isn’t your salvation.”
Instead, Catholics believe that salvation is found ultimately in a kingdom that is not of this world. A healthy patriotism, then, frames love of country in relation to love of God, not in place of or above it.
“God is the first principle of our being,” Eitel said. “He’s the first principle without which our country wouldn’t exist.”
Political friendship
A rightly ordered patriotism, grounded in love of the Creator, cannot stop at words of reverence but must express itself in deeds of gratitude too, the professors said.
“The Church always has the idea that we’re not self-contained monads, that we find our fulfillment in community, which means in loving and serving others,” Harold explained. Patriotism inspires people to go outside of themselves for the sake of the common good: to be “engaged, active, aware citizens.”
Of course, the politics professor admitted, engaging in community is risky. It requires citizens to step beyond their bubbles of individualism and into spaces where they are bound to encounter viewpoints that differ from their own — perhaps even some they find repulsive — while still engaging peacefully and honestly with each other in the midst of those serious disagreements.
“Conflict happens as soon as you step your toes outside that bubble, so you have to sacrifice to do that,” Harold said. “You have to have a citizenry that’s willing to do that, that’s engaged.”
In that place of encounter and engagement, Eitel shared, is precisely where civility comes in.
A “close cousin to piety and gratitude,” civility is a kind of “political friendship,” according to the theology professor: a way of relating to other people that goes beyond merely what the law demands.
“Civility is not something that is really regulated by law, but it is still something we actually owe each other,” he said. “We owe it to each other to show tokens of friendship. We owe it to each other to do things that are just part of common courtesy. We owe it to strangers to be friendly.”
This political friendliness, Eitel emphasized, does not entail sidestepping conflict, whether through total avoidance of one’s adversaries or indiscriminate acceptance of all ideas. Rather, civility means engaging in frank deliberation, even criticism, without veering into irreverence or violence.
“We have to think about the institutions of public life and then the habits that govern our interpersonal and institutional lives that can signal to people deliberately that goodwill,” he said.
‘We’ve been given great gifts’
As the United States approaches its semiquincentennial anniversary, which falls during a time of deep division in the country, the need to establish that sense of goodwill is immense; but it is not hopeless.
“I am filled with hope and optimism, because of what we’ve been through and our heritage and enormous blessings available to us,” Harold said. “Life is always difficult. Always. And there’s things that could be better and be changed, but we’ve been given great gifts, and there’s hope for even greater gifts.”
Eitel echoed this sentiment.
“We really are in a moment where we have a lot to give,” he said. “My hope for the country would be my hope for Catholics: to stand boldly in the public square in charity and love as examples both of what national citizenship … and heavenly citizenship really look like.”
Cutline for featured image: American flags flutter in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Nov. 7, 2025. (NATHAN HOWARD/Reuters via OSV News)
