15 Mar 2025

Casti Connubii – Defending Catholic Matrimony from Attack – Part 4

by | posted in: Catholic Church, Catholic Marriage, Encyclicals | 0

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Casti Connubii – Part 4 In the last article on this great encyclical ‘Casti Connubii’, Pope Pius XI began to look at one of the most contentious issues for many Catholic women today. The teaching that wives are to be subject to their … Read More
10 Mar 2025

A Catholic’s Analysis Of Exclusion – Part 1

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When Donald Trump’s policy of building a wall along the U. S. – Mexico border was in the news, Pope Francis was reported to have advocated a contrary policy of (metaphorically) building bridges. Probably His Holiness would not have needed to ponder for long before realising that each of those alternatives is useful in appropriate circumstances. It depends on the desired purpose. Bridges facilitate access, and walls facilitate security, but access is not always desirable and security can be taken … Read More
8 Feb 2025

Giving (And Not Giving) Catholicism Political Effect

by | posted in: Catholic Church, Resistance movement | 0

Many years ago, the BBC showed “By The People – The Election of Barack Obama,” a documentary film of the campaign which culminated in his becoming the United States’ President. While watching the film, I was aware of questions, lessons, and/or potentialities arising from the election of a man who, according to commentators, approved of abortion. For as long as I can remember during the period since abortion became a significant subject in U.S. elections, prominent Democratic Party candidates have … Read More
27 Jan 2025

Casti Connubii – Defending Catholic Matrimony from Attack – Part 3

by | posted in: Casti Connubi, Catholic Marriage, Encyclicals, Family | 0

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Casti Connubii – Part 3 Pope Pius XI now turns his attention to the second blessing of marriage which is conjugal faith. “The second blessing of matrimony which We said was mentioned by St. Augustine, is the blessing of conjugal honour which consists … Read More
9 Jan 2025

Joy Despite Adversity – Part 2

by | posted in: Catholic Church, Encyclicals | 0

If considered from a religious ‘angle,’ celebration of Christmas is logical. Celebrating the commencement of a new year seems utterly illogical, but probably that fact is of no concern to people who do so (‘Why allow rationality to thwart fun?’).      Joy has, undoubtedly, a natural capacity for being attractive and ‘infectious,’ which ‘explains’ New Year’s Night’s euphoria in ignorance of what the new year will bring. Instead of attributing joy to hopefulness,1 why not wait to see whether the hope … Read More
11 Dec 2024

Joy Despite Adversity – Part 1

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As each Christmas approaches, encouragements to joyfulness increase. Because joy is enjoyable, the encouragements seem to encounter no adverse reactions, even if they are at odds with matters which weigh on people’s minds. Various factors can induce joy, and it is not mere cynicism to believe that most of the joyfulness each December has no consciously-religious ‘root’. Try an amateur test of that belief. ‘Engineer’ a brief chat with some strangers and ‘steer’ it in a way which leads to … Read More
5 Nov 2024

Is It Worth The Bother? – Part 2

by | posted in: Catholic Church, Family, Resistance movement | 0

The question of what can be done, individually, to reverse the watering-down of Christianity in Western societies can be asked with a positive attitude or with an apathetic, fatalistic one. The natural disposition of seemingly-typical Catholics in many places is the latter, and to ‘settle’ for a comparatively-more-‘comfortable’ life of merely stating a religious opinion (if occasion arises and cannot be evaded) rather than trying to get it adopted in practice.  Take the example of abortion, representing a chasm which … Read More
30 Oct 2024

Casti Connubii – Defending Catholic Matrimony from Attack – Part 2

by | posted in: Casti Connubi, Catholic Marriage, Family | 0

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Casti Connubii – Part 2 In the previous article, we saw that Pope Pius XI, after noting that holy matrimony is under grave attack, gave us a basic understanding of the nature of true marriage and of the limits to the authority of … Read More

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