Three encyclicals already with Caritas in their title. It looks like the Pope is bidding fair to become “the Pope of Caritapolis,” who sees the whole world—in all its cultural, political, and cultural dimensions—as to be best grasped within the long history of “The City . . . . Continue Reading »
In paragraphs 5 and 6 comes the turn: “Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated.” We need to see the . . . . Continue Reading »
George Weigel writes : “Those with eyes to see and ears to hear will concentrate their attention, in reading Caritas in Veritate, on those parts of the encyclical that are clearly Benedictine, including the Pope’s trademark defense of the necessary conjunction of faith and reason and his . . . . Continue Reading »
You gotta love the political lobbying arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Their 2009 legislative round-up provides an insight into the priorities of Catholic officialdom. One item is particularly interesting. The report sums up Barney Frank’s bill, H.R. 3685, The . . . . Continue Reading »
The role of reason remains central through the opening of the encyclical: Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective . . . . Continue Reading »
There is much advocacy around the issue of cost containment as we enter the great debate over health care “reform.” Here is the gig that seems to be developing: We have to cut costs. People having their lives extended when they can’t be “healed” cost too much. . . . . Continue Reading »
Now, I really, really, really hadn’t intended to post anything on Palin. I have nothing to add that hasn’t already been said. And most of what has been said would have been better unsaid: the delight in speculation without the slightest basis in evidence is among the worst tendencies of . . . . Continue Reading »
The first thing to ask about Caritas in Veritate , Charity in Truth, is why the in truth ? “Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine,” the second paragraph of the new encyclical declares, to no surprise, at all: What else could a Christian account of the social realm . . . . Continue Reading »
Pope Benedict XVI’s eagerly awaited Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate may be found at the Vatican’s website here . . . . . Continue Reading »
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religion Freedom has completed a “thorough examination of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s church-state record,” and finds it “commendable”: While Sotomayor’s written record raises no red flags, it also fails to provide . . . . Continue Reading »
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