In All Things
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Human pastoral quote machine Pope Francis was at it again today in Rome, prying open doors and trying to let more people in. Today's mildly rebuked pharisees are the self-appointed pastoral border guards who hold up a hand in consternation instead of offering one in welcome when the less-than-perfect among us seek to gate crash at the house of the lord. "There is always a temptation," Pope Francis warned, "to try and take possession of the Lord." The pope spoke of an unofficial "8th"...
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Cambridge, MA. As one might expect, the news on religion and tolerance remains mixed. On the one hand, I think it fair to say that more and more people in every culture and religion are learning to live with differences and respect their neighbors’ faiths. This need not translate into doctrines of the equality of all religions, nor need it reduce to relativistic instincts, but at least we can say that religious people are learning, everywhere, that tolerance, respect, and even...
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On economic life, Pope Francis sees his responsibility in clear terms:
The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ’s name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them. The Pope appeals for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics. (5/16/213)
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In a forceful speech at the National Defense University today, President Barack Obama sought to interrupt the possibility of an America trapped in a “perpetual war” footing in its struggle against homegrown and international terrorism. Calling for a comprehensive anti-terror strategy that would reduce the use of military force and protect soft power foreign aid packages, the president sought a better balance between security and civil liberties, including protecting the human rights even of...
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In an hour-long speech Thursday afternoon, President Barack Obama laid out his policies toward global terrorism. He touched on revoking the war powers passed in the wake of 9/11, on drone warfare as a method of defense, on the potentially negative impact of an unending state of war on U.S. civil liberties, and on the need to close the prison for alleged terrorists at Guantanamo.
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America associate editor Kerry Weber recently spoke to a group of young adults on a "Charis retreat" for young adults in New York City. Listen to an actual young adult talk to other actual young adults! It's a great, lively, and spirited talk that involves car chases.
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On Monday May 20th, Secretary of State John Kerry released the annual Religious Freedom Report for 2012. It was grim reading. An Annual report on the state of religious freedom around the world is required by Congress' International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. It follows recommendations submitted to the State Department by the independent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
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Today the Catholic Book Club begins its discussion of Tenth of December by George Saunders. Thanks to those who have already posted questions on the Catholic Book Club page. Thanks, too, to George Saunders, who graciously answered our questions about his book and about the art of fiction. Here, again, are some...
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The Gosnell trial unmasked the horrific violence of abortion and the terrible exploitation of poor women that often comes with it. It reminded us of what abortion is…the destruction of babies before, and now in some documented cases, after they are born.