Posts

Just War is An Act of Charity

I recently had a brief exchange with a friend over the Obama Administration’s posture towards Syria and the recent words of Pope Francis at his Sunday Angelus where he echoed the words of his predecessor Pope Paul VI, “War never again!”  My friend who is an astute and brilliant attorney, was dissatisfied with the pope’s…

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Footnote 43: Notre Dame led Academic Independence movement

https://media.blubrry.com/bellarmineforumfootnote/bellarmineforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BF-Footnote-43-Rice-ND-money-073113.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadProfessor Rice: 45 years ago, Notre Dame led a group of Catholic universities in declaring independence from the Catholic Church. Did it lead to academic excellence? Or more money for the school and more debt for the students?

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From Under the Rubble…Big Brother Makes It Personal

Four years ago, Obama’s Chicago crew borrowed a page from the Three-Card-Monte hustlers in Manhattan’s Central Park. With the nation distracted by the perils of Obamacare, Democrats quietly hijacked the student loan program from the private sector and handed it to the federal government. “We’ve eliminated the middleman,” they cawed, “and the savings will go…

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L’Affaire Bottum

Among the vicissitudes of life, Belloc asserted that the loss of affection among friends is the worst thing in the world.  I thought of this when reading Joseph Bottum’s recent coming out as a supporter of same-sex marriage.   It struck me that this coming out should not go without comment in that Dr. Bottum was…

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Footnote 42: Christians Suffering in the Middle East

https://media.blubrry.com/bellarmineforumfootnote/bellarmineforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BF-Footnote-42-Christians-suffering-in-ME-073113.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTen years ago, President George W. Bush invaded Iraq to “end evil in the world.” How has that worked out for Christians in the Middle East?

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Exorcising the Vatican? Pope Francis style. With Fatima, St. Michael, and Leo XIII

Recently the news ran headlines that Pope Francis called for the Fatima Statue of Mary to be brought to the Vatican — in their words “to consecrate the world.”  I…

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Buzzword Compliant or Kool-Aid Drunk?

The National St. Vincent de Paul Council and its subsidiaries have an honorable history of addressing serious social problems at their roots, within the family, using a holistic approach long before the concept of a “holistic” approach was in vogue. If ever there was an organization engaged in a compassionate and genuinely helpful response to…

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From Under the Rubble…A Bang and a Whimper

Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg recently complained, “I am convinced that many so called Pro-Life groups are not really pro-life but merely anti-abortion.” Of course, this canard is common among the professional pro-abortion crowd, but it sounds strangely out of tune coming from a Bishop who, in the past, has been supportive of the pro-life…

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Footnote 40: Professor Charlie Rice on His Book, Right or Wrong

https://media.blubrry.com/bellarmineforumfootnote/bellarmineforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BF-Footnote-40-Rice-ND-HV-073113.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFootnote discusses Right or Wrong, the impressive new book by Bellarmine Forum Chairman Charles E. Rice, professor of Constitutional Law at Notre Dame Law School. What is Notre Dame’s approach to Church teaching, especially Humanae Vitae?

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Lynching the Population Research Institute

Florida’s Bishop Lynch gets defensive over complaints against Catholic Relief Services Bishop Robert Lynch, ordinary for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, writes the blog titled For His Friends. On August 7, he posted “Hurricane Heading towards Africa,” an article in which he excoriates the Population Research Institute (PRI) for revealing that several African bishops have…

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