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Pope Francis attends the morning session on the final day of extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at Vatican, Oct. 18.
The love between a man and a woman stands as an image of the love of God. The call to family life is written into human nature. This vocation takes the form of a demanding voyage that is sometimes full of conflict—as is all of human life, after all. The vital force, the human energy contained
From 1995: To its members, Opus Dei is nothing less than The Work of God. To its critics, it is a powerful, even dangerous organization.
Archbishop Fisichella has served as the first president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization since 2010 and president of the International Council for Catechesis since 2013.
The St. Louis Jesuits at their final concert, on Sept. 29 at Powell Hall in St. Louis. From left, Tim Manion, John Foley, S.J., Bob Dufford, S.J., Dan Schutte and Roc O'Connor, S.J. (Don Doll, S.J.)
We asked America readers for their 10 favorite hymns of all time, as well as their favorite St. Louis Jesuit hymns, to mark the farewell concert by the St. Louis Jesuits. There was some crossover on both lists.
'Underdogs’ Winning in Congress, Rural Life Advocates SayRural life and family-farm advocates say they are winning the legislative fight on the 2002 farm bill, but the game is not yet over. "We’re in the third quarter of [debate on] this year’s farm bill. We’re the u
Jesuit Holocaust MartyrThe Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem has formally recognized Adam Sztark, S.J., (1907-42) as Righteous Among Gentiles, a title awarded to those who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II. Father Sztark was rector of a Marian s
Over the past months, America asked several prominent Catholics in the United States to look ahead to the challenges that will face the next pope. These American Catholics come from various parts of the country and represent a variety of perspectives. They are theologians, teachers, activists, write
Roberts Nominated to Supreme CourtJudge John G. Roberts, 50, was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court on July 19 by President George W. Bush, who called him a man of extraordinary accomplishment and ability who has a good heart. Roberts has been a judge of the federal appeals court for the District o

Open to God

John A. Coleman, S.J., is rightly concerned by a theory of civil law that is excessively entangled with theological doctrine (Religious Liberty, 11/28). The official Catholic position on the numerous moral issues to which he refers certainly is theological doctrine. But it is also the objective teaching of human, moral reasoning. If not based on such reason, civil law runs the risk of a tyrannical positivism with no determining criterion other than the wish of the most powerful (which is not necessarily the majority).

Furthermore, if objective moral reasoning is not to be the content of civil law (in matters, of course, which evoke morality), then what else is to replace it? Legislating immorality or amorality seems to be, as experience proves, the only alternative. There is no moral neutrality. While that might save us from distasteful theories of too much God in civil law, it might well lead to irrational or nonrational law and to a society that follows suit. The fact that a society is open to God does not mean it is bereft of reason. Indeed, the opposite is more likely.

(Msgr.) Peter Magee

Cautionary Note

Thank you for publishing Thomas A. Shannon’s clear and concise article (2/18) about the complex moral and ethical issues surrounding attempts at human cloning to obtain stem cells for therapeutic use, and the related question of induced parthenogenic cell division of human eggs for the same purpose. This article documents the need for care and caution by the scientific community in continuing such research and, importantly, emphasizes the very preliminary stage of our knowledge in the use of stem cells. Implied also is a cautionary note for the magisterium in its authoritative pronouncements about the beginning of human life, when it fails to consider at all the advances in the science of embryology over the last several decades. I hope we can all benefit from the expertise of Professor Shannon and his colleagues.

Robert M. Rowden