Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon gave this address at the April 25-28 General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, on "Globalization and the Common Humanity: Ethical and Institutional Concerns."
PRI recently completed its first-ever survey of the health care needs of the African people. Carried out in the West African country of Ghana, the survey results indicate zero demand for "reproductive health care." There are huge, unmet needs for many kinds of primary health care in Africa, but the claim of the population control lobby that there is an "huge unmet need" for contraception, sterilization, and abortion is demonstrably false.
Jennifer Roback Morse, an economist by trade, was captivated by laissez-faire theory...until she became a mom. It was then she realized that a self-interested approach to family life does not result in personal happiness or the common good of a free, democratic society.
Many have unwittingly embraced the myth that Galileo Galilei, a 17th-century Italian astronomer, discovered the heliocentricity of the solar system and, because his discovery conflicted with Catholic teaching, was tortured until he recanted. All this is pure fabrication.
Why is only Christian participation in the democratic process perceived as a threat to constitutional safety?
Cohabiting is far from harmless, said Father Vic. Did you know that sociological studies show that living together before marriage increases the risk of divorce by as much as 50%? Former cohabiters have higher levels of conflict, abuse and violence, plus overall lower levels of happiness. He called cohabitation training for divorce.
The government in Khartoum regularly bombs clinics, schools, and food stations in the southern part of the country and in the Nuba Mountains. As a local bishop put it to me during a visit to Sudan last year, They are trying to blow out the candle of Christianity in Sudan.
Americans were shocked when our European allies took the lead in ousting us from the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Having served as a member of the U.S. delegation at the recently concluded annual session of the commission, I was less surprised. Contrary to reports in the media, the ouster was not a reaction to American unilateralism on issues such as missile defense and global warming. Rather, the Europeans action reflects the abandonment of their historical commitment to human rights.
Religious liberty is far more than just liberty for the religious. It is vital for all citizens. Putting religion back into the place where the framers intended it is not just a policy item on the order of tax cuts, health care, and missile defense. It is taking care of our foundation.
The Church is absolutely medieval! How often have we heard that remark? It is meant to convey that Catholicism has not kept up with the intellectual, technological, and social advances of modernity, and is merely a throwback to those vilified centuries weve been taught to call the Dark Ages. In Ignatius Press new release Those Terrible Middle Ages! historian Regine Pernoud demonstrates that this attitude is not only mistaken about the Church, but about the Middle Ages as well.
