Aquinas
Is Man “for His Own Sake”?
In the Second Vatican Council’s document on The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), the Council Fathers declare that man is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake” (GS, no.24§3). The Catechism quotes this passage in two places (CCC, nos.356 and 1703). How are we to understand…
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…
For University Students: Authentic Common Sense in An Age of Uncommon Nonsense
I just saw an ad for Google TV. It was entitled “Date Night.” The ad featured a man and a woman sitting on a couch together. The perspective of the viewer is seeing the backs of their heads. Both are watching a screen; playing on the screen is an obvious “romance” movie where a woman…
The Natural Law
THE NATURAL LAW Charles E. Rice Professor Emeritus, Notre Dame Law School Address, Canon Law Conference Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe LaCrosse, Wisconsin August 9, 2011 What is the natural law and why do we need it? The “September Pope,” John Paul I, at his general audience on September 6, 1978, gave us a…
