When Tony Blair — ex-Prime-Minister of Britain — converted to Catholicism, I wanted to ask him: “So, what do you think about abortion now?” It did not seem possible that he could convert without being reconciled on that issue to Catholic teaching. And, since Tony Blair had been involved in much support for abortion in [...]

It is certainly true that Scripture instructs us to honor the emperor (1Pe 2:17) — which is to say, all those who derive their authority from God, being entrusted with power to serve the common good. But honor is to be granted for the good that is done, not the evil. So if a ruler [...]

Looking through the various memos released detailing the United States involvement in torture, among all the many shocks, are some nasty details concerning torture that was based on the religion of the victims. A torture not only physical but also spiritual, since attempts were made to coerce the conscience of the victims. Look at these [...]

It seems like the anguished questions around the principle of double effect will never end. Another bout of them has cropped up in the comments on Mark Shea’s blog.
This time it deals with the difference between something being directly intended, and something being indirectly intended. (Of course, many of the commenters don’t realize that this [...]

As a follow-up to my previous posting, I am commenting on the relevant parts of the Pope's statement on providing food and water to those in a persistent vegetative state (PVS):
I cordially greet all of you who took part in the International Congress: "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas".

I quote this because [...]

Over at Vox Nova, a blogger somehow manages to de-clarify the clear teaching of the Pope as it relates to the nutrition and hydration of of those in a persistent vegetative state (such as was Terry Schiavo).
The Pope's statement on this can be read here, and it is worth looking at how the blog posting [...]

As far as I can tell, the blogger Morning's Minion (MM), on the blog Vox Nova (for example, here and here), is one of many that have not grasped all of the teaching in (e.g.) the encyclical Veritatis Splendor. He says:
Take abortion and torture, two instrinsically evil acts. If one chooses torture instead of abortion on the grounds [...]

Although many posts have referred to issues of prudential judgment — especially as it relates to issues of politics, war, and capital punishment — few of them are especially clear about exactly what prudential judgment is.
To begin with: what is prudence? As is usual, if Aquinas has something to say on the matter, it will be [...]

 Jimmy Akin has written some postings (here, here, and here) in an attempt to narrow down what 'torture' might mean when it was condemned as an intrinsic evil by Vatican II and Pope John Paul II. I think his reflections are interesting, but often as much off-course as on-course.
For example, he proposes two parameters to guide the [...]

In the comment boxes of Catholic and Enjoying It! I put down an amazed remark wondering if the owner of the blog, Mark Shea, was somehow drifting towards the Sungenis end of an unfortunate spectrum. That was a remark quite definitely (and non-fallaciously)  aimed in an ad hominem way at Mark Shea's own thinking, as [...]