The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life called Italy’s notorious Law 194 legalizing abortion “a pillar of society” this weekend, insisting that no one is looking to overturn it. Interviewed by Italian state television Rai Tre, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia lauded the 1978 law allowing abortion in Italy, a move that critics called a new … Read more
The caustic and always entertaining British novelist Evelyn Waugh observed: It is better to be narrow-minded than to have no mind, to hold limited and rigid principles than none at all. That is the danger which faces so many people today—to have no considered opinions on any subject, to put up with what is wasteful … Read more
Fifty-five years ago, Pope St. Paul VI promulgated Humanae Vitae, a papal encyclical that unequivocally clarified the Church’s perennial opposition to artificially contracepted sex. Although this teaching faced resistance from several theologians and even bishops at the time, it has been reaffirmed and further developed by subsequent papal teaching, from St. John Paul II’s Evangelium … Read more
In 2016, the Vatican was pulling for Hillary Clinton. Just days before the presidential election, Pope Francis renewed his criticism of politicians who speak about erecting “walls.” This led Slate and other publications to run such headlines as “It Sure Sounds Like Pope Francis Doesn’t Think Americans Should Vote for Trump.” Several Francis-friendly prelates ran … Read more
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said Tuesday that he would be willing to hold the hand of someone dying from assisted suicide, and that he does not see that as lending implicit support for the practice. Paglia spoke at a December 10 press conference preceding a two-day symposium on palliative … Read more
Your Excellency: As a young Catholic I write to share my grave concerns about the looming youth synod. I am grateful for your repeated efforts to promote orthodoxy at this event and your attempt to ask Pope Francis to presently cancel it in light of the sexual abuse crisis. “Right now, the bishops would have absolutely no credibility in addressing this … Read more
The scandal of Cardinal McCarrick’s record of sexual abuse of seminarians and of minor children is sending waves of horror through the Church, as Catholics increasingly meditate on its disturbing implications. It is now clear that McCarrick’s reputation as a sexual predator was widely known in the Catholic hierarchy for decades, and nothing was done … Read more