The Insights eNewsletter

Insights provides critical perspective on the issues that affect your life as a Catholic today. Delivered twice weekly.

» Subscribe

This Insights eNewsletter was sent to subscribers on September 11, 2012.

eNewsletter Subject: The Public Character of the Church

It has become increasingly obvious that the modern State hopes to eliminate the influence of religion by relegating it to what is called the private sphere. But this is based on the grave misconception that religion is a purely private matter.

I believe it is of critical importance to emphasize the public character of religion, and especially of the Catholic Church, especially since those influenced by our larger culture can too easily slip into the privatization camp without thinking. Consequently, I offer two recent essays:

• On the Culture: In the Face of the State: The Church Too Is a Res Publica, a Public Thing, a commentary on the privatization trend as evidenced by recent news.
• In Depth Analysis: Why Religion and the Church Are the Ultimate Public Things, a clear argument to establish the Catholic position.

Surveying the news of the past few days, I also noticed several items which are of real interest in the ongoing battles over several key issues. Consider the importance of the following, which you might not otherwise hear about:

• Why same-sex marriage makes 3-parent arrangements inevitable
• Homosexuality as a key factor in the sex-abuse scandal
• Abortion drugs, maternal deaths linked
• Accused priests wait years for justice

In other news, I was gratified to see Archbishop Charles Chaput acting not only like a good bishop but like a good Franciscan bishop, with an emphasis on Lady Poverty: Philadelphia archdiocese to sell cardinal’s mansion for $10M....

[more content for subscribers]

There's more to this eNewsletter! Sign up to receive complete Insights!