Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Vatican

August 25, 2005

On Prof. Ratzinger

There have been countless analyses of Pope Benedict’s recent trip to World Youth Day in Cologne. But when it comes to looking at what the Pope actually says and does, no one compares to Sandro Magister, who writes for the Italian publication L’Espresso. Continue Reading...
June 28, 2005

Miracles before our eyes

The case is open. Today marks the first day the canonization of John Paul II is officially underway. (Read BBC’s account.) To those for whom the procedures of the Catholic Church in matters such as these seem alien, I point to the lucid explanation of the Reverend Giuseppe D’Alonzo (the man in charge of verifying the claims of John Paul’s miracles):   Asked what he thought about making John Paul II a saint, the Rev D’Alonzo replied that it was not for him to decide, only to “verify the truth”. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2005

Capitalism and Catholic social teaching

Rev. Robert Sirico responded over the weekend in the Detroit News to a letter disputing one of his previous columns. In “Catholic social teaching embraces markets,” (May 21) Rev. Sirico writes that “the fact that the church has no economic models to propose is not the same as saying all economic models are the same. Continue Reading...
May 05, 2005

Benedict XVI on markets and morality

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in his former role as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was more focused on the theological implications of political heresies such as liberation theology than he was on questions of economics. Continue Reading...
April 25, 2005

What can protestants expect from the new pope?

In an excellent survey of the writings of Cardinal Ratzinger, Michael S. Horton explores some of the implications of the election of Pope Benedict XVI for Protestantism. After providing a brief background of the relationship between Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II, Horton addresses “some of the representative statements by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, to obtain a better idea of what we might expect from his pontificate. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2005

True liberalism

In a special edition of Acton Commentary from Rome, Rev. Robert Sirico writes that “insofar as the new papacy has implications for economics and politics, it is in the direction of a humane and unifying liberalism. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2005

The myth of the divine state

If you follow the current controversy surrounding the role of religion in American society, you might conclude that the country faces but two options: throwback theocracy or take-no-prisoners secularism. The following lines sum up an admirably clear and concise understanding of faith and politics: The state is not the whole of human existence and does not embrace the whole of human hope. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2005

Economics and Benedict XVI

Rev. Sirico gives a brief survey of the continuity on economic thought between John Paul II and Benedict XVI in this excerpt of an interview on yesterday’s EWTN show Live from the Vatican. Continue Reading...
April 21, 2005

Too poor to be Catholic?

Reporting on an act of vandalism on the cathedral of Buenos Aires, Reuters asserts that Latin America is a region “whose poor and hungry often cannot afford to follow Roman Catholic doctrine.” Continue Reading...