Surprising contributions by Francis to the Magisterium...
Do good and avoid evil…without doubt that’s everyone’s obligation, since no one is able to stifle that inner voice that, in the depths of the heart, constantly indicates this obligation. But…is everyone able to respond to this call in the same manner, with equal clarity and equivalent effects?Continue Reading
There are some uncomfortable truths that we would like to forget…to make things easier. Though there is certainly no benefit derived from this mentality, some people persist in it, thinking that by the fact of insistently denying the truth, it will just cease to exist.Continue Reading
St. Pius X warned about pastors only committed ‘to doing good, above all to resolving the problems of the people,’ but who were concerned ‘greatly about nourishment and care of the body, while silencing the salvation of the soul and the gravest obligations of the Christian faith.’ This admonition, made in a time when society was incomparably more Christian than it is today, makes us recall the words of the Divine Master: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Deut 8:3).Continue Reading
Long ago, the Greeks already philosophized about man’s inherent desire to discover truth, affirming that ‘doubt is the beginning of knowledge;’ while Socratic maieutics taught that ‘knowledge is the principle element of happiness.’Continue Reading
It’s no novelty that the enemies of the Holy Church try to manipulate the words of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in favor of their own illegitimate interests.Continue Reading
‘We all adore the same God’… This type of expression, of significant theological imprecision, is often to be heard when of people from different religions engage in careless ecumenical chatter.Continue Reading
Even the soul of the most perverse man holds an inextinguishable spark reminding him at each moment of his obligation to do good and avoid evil. Consequently, no one is able to do wrong without having first justified himself before his conscience.Continue Reading
‘Conscience, conscience! Divine instinct, immortal and celestial voice, sure guide of a being that is ignorant and limited, but intelligent and free; infallible judge of good and evil that makes man like unto God;’ Just as Jean-Jacques Rousseau did 250 years ago, Pope Francis and the atheistic, socialist journalist Eugenio Scalfari — in a prolific and widely publicised exchange of ideas — put particular focus on the riveting theme of the morality of human conduct. Read on…
‘There will be one flock, one shepherd’ (Jn 10:16)…This was Christ’s desire in leaving the mandate for the Apostles to ‘proclaim the gospel to every creature’ (Mk 16:15). Continue Reading
Within any society, people encounter certain difficulties in carrying out their activities for, to a greater or lesser extent, differences of criteria naturally demand that one give in to others for things to run smoothly, for obstacles to be overcome and a common objective to be achieved. As such, marriage also requires significant renunciations in the interests of a greater good. Read more…
