Through the insightful and thought-provoking commentaries of ten distinguished Catholic writers, Building the Free Society critically examines a century of Catholic reflection and argument on human freedom, the just society, and the international order.

Adopting the best from A Century of Catholic Social Thought, published in 1991 by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, this substantially revised, updated, and expanded volume focuses on the eleven key documents of modern Catholic social doctrine, beginning with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) and concluding with Pope John Paul II's revolutionary Centesimus Annus (1991).

Renowned theologian Richard John Neuhaus opens the book with a challenging foreword on Christians as "resident aliens" of any earthly city, setting the tone for the compelling essays that follow.

Contributors: William Murphy, Thomas C. Kohler, Robert A. Sirico, George Weigel, Mary Eberstadt, Kenneth L. Grasso, Robert Royal, James Finn, Robert A. Destro, and William McGurn.