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European Reconciliation

Currently, visitors to the Vatican Museums in Rome have the opportunity to visit an exhibition devoted to Cardinal Bolesław Kominek (1903-1974), aptly titled “Europe’s Forgotten Founding Father.” The author of the “Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops to Their German Brothers,” sent . . . . Continue Reading »

Popes in These United States

The history of popes in these United States is full of surprises. And one of them, to begin at the beginning, includes the little-known fact that Blessed Paul VI was not the first pontiff to set foot on American territory, when he landed at newly-renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on . . . . Continue Reading »

Pope Francis's Words of Affirmation

During a recent televised video conference hosted by ABC’s 20/20, Pope Francis spoke to several American Catholics who had personal testimonies to share. Among them was seventeen-year-old Valerie Herrera, a student at Chicago’s Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. She has long struggled with . . . . Continue Reading »

Jacob and Esau

From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965 by John Connelly Harvard, 384 pages, $35 The Jewish religion,” said John Paul II on the occasion of his historic visit to the Chief Synagogue of Rome, “is not ‘extrinsic’ to us, but in a certain way is . . . . Continue Reading »

Russell Shaw Discusses Writing the Way

“I guess all of us live a double life in a sense or at least we are tempted in that direction.  We split our lives in two between the religious part and the everday part.  Escriva’s message is that it is all meant to hang together as a life lived in the service of God and other . . . . Continue Reading »

The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century

In the best that has been thought and said about the twentieth century, its Christian martyrs have hardly been mentioned. This should come as no surprise. From our vantage point at the beginning of a new millennium, it seems a little far-fetched that someone would be killed because he is Christian, . . . . Continue Reading »

Letters

Natural Law and Metaphysics I was puzzled by many aspects of Phillip E. Johnson’s exposition of the Grisez-Finnis natural law theory in his review of my book In Defense of Natural Law (November 1999). One mistake, however, is so fundamental and important that it cannot be passed over in silence. . . . . Continue Reading »

John Paul II and the Crisis of Humanism

As Time and other premillennial makers-of-lists have discovered in recent months, there is no lack of candidates for the position of emblematic figure of the twentieth century. In the world of politics alone, there are several plausible nominees on a slate that includes the admirable and the odious . . . . Continue Reading »

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