Thomas Melady In the States’ Donor Meeting of November 4, 1996, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Holy See made public its grave dissatisfaction with UNICEF by noting that it could no longer provide its small, but symbolically important, $2,000 annual contribution to that agency. In the past UNICEF has relied … Read more
With his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II brings a new urgency to a call that has echoed throughout the papacy: the need for a renewed understanding of and commitment to evangelization. Already, in Christifideles laici the pope referred to evangelization as “the fundamental apostolate” of the Church. In Evangelium vitae, he expands on … Read more
The current discussion on the proposed Vatican action to void the right of Father Charles E. Curran to teach Roman Catholic doctrine has aroused a variety of comments and responses. All are interesting, but only several focus on the central issue. Let us say in the beginning that all parties would be well served to … Read more
Today’s urban underclass, fast becoming a permanent part of the American scene, raises ethical questions as well as posing a significant political challenge for the future. Vast numbers of American Blacks and some Hispanics are the third and fourth generations of Americans living in the welfare sub-culture communities of our urban centers. Now as we … Read more
Justice, the virtue by which we give to others what is owed them, has fallen on hard times in a self-centered world. The hallowed halls of our nation’s colleges and universities have proven to be no sanctuary from this invasion. Well-publicized reports of students cheating, vandalism, and defaulting on government loans are making headlines. Extensive … Read more
Despite widespread media coverage in the last decade of the supposed breakup of the family, we are discovering now what we always expected to be true: that the family unit is still very healthy, and still very much the centerpiece of our society. In the 1970’s the family faced serious and debilitating problems that almost … Read more