Robert T. Miller

In a speech at the University of Regensburg concerning the relation of faith and reason, Benedict XVI quotes from an obscure fourteenth-century dialogue by Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus. "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new," the emperor says to his Persian . . . . Continue Reading »

I recently posted on this page concerning Fr. Alberto Bonandi’s article in Teologia , reported on by Sandro Magister. Bonandi argues that Catholics, married in the Church but subsequently divorced and remarried civilly, may be readmitted to Holy Communion, even while they continue adulterous . . . . Continue Reading »

Although little noted on this side of the Atlantic, Jenni Murray, a presenter on BBC’s Woman’s Hour , announced on-air recently that she and two of her friends have entered into a suicide pact (see here and here ). Each of the women has promised to kill (or help kill) either of the . . . . Continue Reading »

I argued here last week that, as morally objectionable as Plan B (the "morning after" drug that prevents conception or acts as an abortifacient) may be, the Bush administration had little choice under the law but to approve it for sale. Much as I expected, some of my pro-life friends . . . . Continue Reading »

The Villanova University School of Law, where I teach, will sponsor the first annual Scarpa Conference on Catholic Legal Studies on Friday, September 15, 2006, at the Connelly Center at Villanova University beginning at 9:00 a.m. The topic for the conference is "From John Paul II to Benedict . . . . Continue Reading »

Charlotte Allen chastises the Bush administration , and even President Bush personally, for the recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve for sale "Plan B," a drug that prevents or terminates pregnancy if taken soon after intercourse. Since I believe that it is always . . . . Continue Reading »

Given our continuing disagreements about human equality, Wesley J. Smith asks what general moral value or principle I think would work better than equality in promoting moral public policies, given our morally and culturally diverse society. Recall that my disagreement with Smith began when, in . . . . Continue Reading »

I continue to disagree with Wesley J. Smith ( here and here ) that the near universal assent to a norm of human equality is likely to help much in making the case for all the positions that Smith and I agree in supporting. As I said in my previous post, when people invoke a principle of equality, . . . . Continue Reading »

I would like to concur with Wesley J. Smith’s hope that talk about equality will be a saving grace in our public discourse by providing a basis on which virtually everyone can agree, but I think that there is little basis for this hope. The reason that virtually everyone agrees on a principle . . . . Continue Reading »

On August 1, I criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s call for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Since then, he has granted an interview to some German journalists in anticipation of his upcoming trip to Bavaria. Asked about the fighting in the Middle East, he said . . . . Continue Reading »