Now, rebels like Wagner are not alone in trying to adapt to the new age.
The Catholic Church's reactions are very interesting
especially at the end of the 1800s.
The Catholic
Church, in part, tries to adapt itself
to the significance of the Industrial Revolution.
Their Pope, Leo XIII, embarks on bold initiatives to spotlight the dilemmas of
the working class, including their spiritual welfare,
as something the Church cares deeply about.
He wants this to be a Church of the working class.
He wants to train groups of priests who
care about working in the slums. Who care about a social Catholicism.
Indeed, the significance of social Christianity in European
politics is enormous all through the 20th century.
If you look in German politics today and
you see a political party in Bavaria, a Catholic
part of Germany, that's called the Christian Social Union,
or CSU, you might ask yourself where does that phrase
Christian Social Union come from? It comes from this social Catholicism.
This counter attack by Pope Leo XIII.
This way of restoring the relevance of Catholicism to the issues of the day.
Another family of attack against the now conventional liberalism
are arguments about well, who makes up this nation?
Who are the true members of the national community?
Who's a true Frenchman? Who's a true German?
Who's a real American?
Those kinds of debates become really important.
They become debates about immigration, about who should be allowed in.