Mark Summers, a historian in Virginia, wrote two articles for Religion & Liberty on faith issues in the American Civil War. Summers wrote about the evangelical revival that swept through the Southern armies and then in a subsequent 2011 issue focused on the Catholic Church in the Civil War.
Read more on Summers on Catholics in the American Civil War…
I’m blogging a recent piece I did for NRO on National Public Radio funding but first a quick note on the net neutrality debate. House Speaker John Boehner told a meeting of the National Religious Broadcasters association, meeting in Nashville over the weekend, that “the last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades.” Amen. See my recent response to the Catholic bishops conference statement on net neutrality here.
On the new Reclaiming the Culture radio show, host Dolores Meehan recently interviewed Acton President Rev. Robert A. Sirico on the subject of “The Principle of Subsidiarity and the Service to the Poor.” Here’s how Meehan describes the show’s mission:
Read more on Audio: Rev. Sirico on ‘The Principle of Subsidiarity and the Service to the Poor’…
Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Acton’s Rome office, was asked by Vatican Radio to comment on the debt crisis in Dubai that has been causing concern in world financial markets over the last week. To listen, use the audio player below.
Read more on Acton Media Alert: Jayabalan on the Dubai Debt Crisis…
Rev. Robert A. Sirico had two recent appearances on Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariani Show to discuss the new social encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI. His first appearance was prior to the release of the encyclical and he explained how Christians who support the free economy believe that it should not be based on greed. To have a just society, we must have just people. When money becomes the end of a person, and a person’s whole life is directed to that end, Rev. Sirico points out that then a person is destroyed. Finally, he closes with an important message: If we do no understand love then we do not understand ourselves because we are the result of God’s love.
Read more on Relevant Radio: Rev. Sirico On Caritas in Veritate…
Kevin Schmiesing, research fellow at the Acton Institute, was interviewed by Ave Maria Radio recently on Caritas in Veritate. Schmiesing explains how the idea of human development and progress figure as central themes of the encyclical. It is important to remember that our ethical advancement must be ahead of material human development, and our ethics must be paired with our personal development. Furthermore, Schmiesing explains that Caritas in Veritate warns against an all encompassing role for the state.
Read more on Caritas in Veritate: Schmiesing and Jayabalan Radio Interviews…
Kishore Jayabalan, director of Istituto Acton (the Acton Institute’s Rome office), was interviewed by Vatican Radio concerning the authentic human development concerns of the whole person, which is a topic discussed in Caritas in Veritate. Jayabalan discussed how development schemes throughout the world should look at the aspirations of each individual person. Furthermore, in Caritas in Veritate there is a mention of a “breathing space” used a few times in the encyclical. This breathing space aspect means developing a vibrant and diverse society and not allowing central planning to decide every aspect of a person’s life; it is also important to place the individual at the center of the development.
Read more on Caritas in Veritate: Jayabalan and Gregg Radio Interviews…
Today was a pretty full day that just wrapped up a few minutes ago. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, opened up the day with a keynote address, “Pioneering the New Media for Christ.”
