Small is Beautiful

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 02, 2025

Immediately preceding the Ascension, the Apostles asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) The expectation is as old as Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte—and the world superpowers of the 21st century. We’ve convinced ourselves we won’t be happy unless God delivers big and powerful institutions to do our bidding.

In recent centuries, popes and theologians advanced the principle of subsidiarity in Catholic social teaching (cf. Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, 1891, and Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, 1931). The principle holds that the smallest, lowest, or least centralized component of authority should handle the responsibilities and circumstances of everyday living. The principle of subsidiarity derives from this fact of faith: God applies His saving grace to individuals, not institutions.

Subsidiarity respects human dignity, encourages individual freedom, limits the power of large institutions and states, and balances the duties of local and central authorities. A tall order in the modern world, to be sure. However, it's worth a try in both secular and ecclesial contexts.

The Creed teaches us that the Church is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. The orthodox faith in Jesus unifies the Church. Basic moral teachings of the Church are universal. The Church is holy, the spotless Bride of Christ that sanctifies humanity. The Church carries on the deposit of faith that extends to the apostles throughout all history. Priests come and go. Post-World War II baby boomers have already witnessed the reign of eight popes.

There is great merit in hoping and praying for orthodox, holy, and competent Church leaders. Our happiness is in our response to God’s grace through the Church, regardless of how rickety Church structures may be. If the apostolic lifeline to the teachings of Jesus remains intact, the spigot of God’s sacramental graces remains open to us.

The drama and joy of papal elections are exciting for faithful Catholics but their enthusiasm may be wildly disproportionate. Non-Catholics and Catholics alike often treat the Church as one big, powerful institution. We may conclude that our happiness depends upon the election of the exact pope to suit our liking, the installation of a kindly bishop, or the assignment of the perfect priest as pastor. Good luck.

God does not lavish His graces on inanimate institutions and bureaucracies. God lavishes His grace on individual souls. Church bureaucracies cannot absolve sins. Only a local, validly ordained priest, flaws and all, can offer Mass and hear Confessions for the salvation of souls. Bureaucracies and governments cannot love. Subsidiarity is essential to the sacred mission of the Church.

As institutions expand, they seem to be more susceptible to various forms of corruption. But there are no “sinful social structures” except by analogy. The real evil lurks within the hearts of individuals: from policymakers to employees who have freely consented to become cogs in the institutional wheels. Indeed modern-day slavery includes the forced labor demanded by bureaucracies beholden to sin. There is no shortage of historical examples of organizations that have institutionalized policies and practices that morally undermine otherwise good people.

The enigma of modern war-making sheds light on the dangers of institutional evil. The killing of combatants in a just war is a moral necessity for national self-defense. However, modern centuries have seen the growth of large war-making organizations that have compromised millions of unwitting participants in institutional evil.

Without question, individuals in influential organizations throughout the world carry out national and bureaucratic decisions to deliberately attack innocent civilians in violation of the norms of humanity and Christian just war principles. Pick any war. There are countless stories of combatants on all sides hoping to live “happily ever after” despite the dark secrets of their cooperation with evil during wars.

Many years ago, an elderly priest (now deceased), who was a veteran of WWII, said he was a navigator in an American B-29 Superfortress that fire-bombed Tokyo, killing tens of thousands of non-combatant civilians from the safety of 20,000 feet (later 5,000 feet to expand the carnage). Crew members described seeing the city “glowing like a furnace” and smelling the burning flesh inside the aircraft. With a profoundly sad demeanor, the priest said, “I hope God has forgiven me.”

Another American aviator (in the 1980s) said he finally realized his participation in the fire-bombing of Dresden was evil (he recalled the exact date of his epiphany). He added that not a single Catholic chaplain objected. Taking personal responsibility and rejecting the allure of institutional narratives justifying evil may take decades.

War-related PTSD has become depressingly common. As we carefully reserve judgment subject to the facts, in many cases, a significant cause of PTSD is likely a gnawing sense of personal responsibility for unjust killings in war that violate the Fifth Commandment. If applicable, the treatment of PTSD requires a humble expression of sorrow for evil actions within wars (as distinct from morally correct acts of a legitimate warrior). Large social structures often demand our cooperation with evil.

In 1377, Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome to govern the Church, marking the end of the comforts of the Avignon Papacy (comforts that fall short of a typical American rectory today!). St. Catherine of Siena had urged his return. In one famous line from a letter, she dared to write: "Be a manly man, and not a coward." Her example teaches us about the relationship between courageous individuals and institutional representatives.

Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit upon us to continue His work. If we want to change the world, with God’s grace. examine our conscience. Rediscover conscientious objection within institutions. Speak truth to power. Invoke the example of heroic witnesses such as the priests of Dachau, Bonhoeffer, and Solzhenitsyn.

Small, dispersed, family-oriented organizations tend to respect human freedom and man’s dignity better than excessively bureaucratic institutions. Challenge the monopoly power of big institutions controlled by elites. (Hint: Follow the money.) According to our wits, let’s put into motion the Catholic social principle of subsidiarity. God saves souls, not institutions.

Small is beautiful.