Catholic Media Report - Opinion

The Poverty of Michael Novak

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:29:52 -0500

As mentioned yesterday, Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute has produced a short discourse on the Pope’s not-yet released encyclical on social justice over at First Things. Novak’s article is to the encyclical what condoms are to intercourse: Novak is trying, and trying desperately, to frustrate Pope Benedict’s intention in issuing an encyclical on social justice.

As White House Readies Abortion Plan, Packaging Emerges as Major Issue

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:26:57 -0500

As the White House readies its plan for finding "common ground" on reproductive health issues and reducing the need for abortion, a major debate has emerged over how to package the plan's two major components: preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion.

California Death Row's Dicey Math

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:23:47 -0500

When Tuesday's hearings in Sacramento on proposed changes in California's method of executing convicted murderers veered into a discussion of why solutions to the state's budget crisis ought to include the abolition of capital punishment, it was another example of how divided our attitude on this issue remains.

Catholics and Unions

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:21:13 -0500

When I was growing up, it was almost part of the catechism that Catholics backed labor unions. We were taught that papal encyclicals on social and economic justice put us on the side of legitimate demands from workers. That centuries-old support received new clarity in June of 2009 when Catholic health workers and the U.S. Bishops delivered "Respecting the Just Rights of Workers."

Immigration Reform Urgently Needed

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:17:49 -0500

Twelve-year-old Josh Garcia courageously took the stage. Fighting back tears, he told how he came home from school one day to find that his father had been taken into an immigration detention facility.

His father, an entrepreneur who had created dozens of jobs, was "exactly the kind of person we want in this country." And there wasn't a dry eye in the place as this young American boy told the audience how the next time he saw his father, he was traumatized to find him "in a prison" surrounded by men with guns.

A New Report Details Religious Abuse at Guantanamo

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:15:21 -0500

Last winter, I wrote for these pages about reports of religious abuse at Guantánamo (“The Secret Weapon,” December 5, 2008). Among the abuses that had been reported were desecration of the Qur’an, prevention and mockery of prayer, and sexual assaults intended to undermine piety. I argued that the victims of religious abuse considered it worse than anything else they had endured at Guantánamo, though allegations of this kind of abuse have been mainly ignored by the American media.

Pope, President, Likely to Challenge Each Other

mrichards — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:11:29 -0500

On July 10, President Obama and his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, will meet for the first time. They will like each other and find much in common. It is reasonable to suppose that their conversation will be framed as much by the Holy Father's recent encyclical writing as by the president’s policy initiatives.

Indeed, Veritas in Caritate (“Truth in Charity”) – the title and substance of Benedict XVI’s much awaited and soon to be released third encyclical will likely provide an ample agenda for the Rome meeting.

A Stop Sign For Human Trafficking

mrichards — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:21:55 -0500

It's not every day that the US government gives Nigeria a shout-out for a job well done. After all, the State Department labels this African nation's human rights record "poor" and its 2007 presidential election "seriously flawed."

But this week, the State Department praised Africa's most populous country for its progress in prosecuting human traffickers and helping their victims. "I can't talk about Nigeria enough," said Ambassador Luis Cde-Baca, who leads the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The Right's Duplicity Unveiled on Health Care

mrichards — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:16:40 -0500

For decades – from at least the time Joe Torre was a backup first baseman with the Milwaukee Braves – and ever further back than that, the political right has complained that government is the problem, government programs don’t work, and are too costly and inefficient. Meanwhile the right’s mantra has also been that private enterprise does everything better because it's more creative, innovative and efficient than government.

Odd, then, that private insurers fear government competition. Odd they are so dead set against what’s being called “the public option.”

After Tiller: Envisioning A Compromise

mrichards — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:10:32 -0500

The murder, like previous violence against abortion providers, certainly damages the anti-abortion cause. But it will not derail it, nor should it. As recent public opinion polls indicate, the American people have become more uneasy with abortion, not less. Much has changed since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Thanks to the widespread use of ultrasound during pregnancy, the demand for infertility treatments, and the educational efforts of the anti-abortion movement, the average American knows more than ever before about the biology of embryonic and fetal life.