Aleš Ušeničnik (1868‒1952) was the main Catholic philosophical and ideological authority in the 20th century until the end of World War II in Slovenian lands. This article deals with his vision of the renewal of Slovenian society. It presents its main components and purposes. It places it in a wider context and sheds light on its origins. In the end, the author gives its assessment. Ušeničnik’s vision of renewal has two main parts: social renewal, the goal of which is to solve the social issue, and spiritual renewal along the path of Christian religious and moral revival, which for Ušeničnik concretely means the (re)Catholicization of Slovenian society. Ušeničnik was convinced that spiritual renewal is the necessary foundation for any successful solution to a social issue. The author outlines the relevant broader context and ideas that influenced Ušeničnik. Among these, he highlights papal (social) encyclicals. He pays special attention to the encyclical “Rerum Novarum”. The author notes the correctness of Ušeničnik’s fundamental social directions, despite the fact that the Catholic Church rightly abandoned the “corporatism” that Ušeničnik advocated. He assesses Ušeničnik’s conception of a Christian harmonious society as less felicitous.
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