Acton Institute PowerBlog

What Happens When ‘Free’ is Unaffordable?

Jordan J. Ballor — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:42:31 +0000

As I noted yesterday, I’m in Montreal for the next couple of weeks, and today I had the chance to see some of the student protests firsthand. These protests have been going on now for over three months, and have to do with the raising of tuition for college in Quebec.

Small Scale Subsidiarity

Joe Carter — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:14:10 +0000

Nowhere in his article for The Atlantic does Joshua Foust use the “s” word. But it’s obvious from the examples he mentions that the key to providing aid to Pakistan is applying the principle of subsidiarity:

Read more on Small Scale Subsidiarity…

Video: Rev. Sirico on his new book Defending the Free Market

John Couretas — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:06:11 +0000

Order Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy here.

Audio: Sirico on the Moral Case for the Free Economy

Marc Vander Maas — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:01:31 +0000

Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, is making the rounds in the national media promoting his new book, Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy.

Media Events for “Defending the Free Market”

Elise Hilton — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:36:36 +0000

Fr. Robert Sirico, President and Co-founder of the Acton Insitute, has a busy media schedule to promote his new book, Defending the Free Market: the Moral Case for a Free Economy. Here are just a few that you might want to catch:

The Death of Liberal Catholicism

Elise Hilton — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:57:14 +0000

Is it “game-over” for so-called cafeteria or dissenting Catholics? In a Crisis Magazine article, Acton’s Samuel Gregg, Director of Research, says it is.

The demographic evidence for impending extinction is striking. The average age of members of female religious orders that are moving “beyond Jesus” into an alternative spiritual universe is over 70. This contrasts with those orders who joyfully embrace Catholic faith in all its fullness. They’re positively flourishing. Similarly, it’s very hard to find dissenters among seminarians – also growing in numbers – and priests below 50.

Gregg points to the internal crisis within “liberal” Catholicism: they’ve raised children who care little or nothing about the Church and therefore have no one to carry forth their banner, and their reliance on “feelings” to guide their efforts to change immutable truths. They never learned reason, only skepticism.

The Spiritual Temptation of the Welfare State

Joe Carter — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:00:59 +0000

The conditions under which the government transfers wealth are different than the conditions under which the church transfers wealth, says James R. Rodgers. Yet many Christian leaders are tempted to use the power of the state to do what is required of the church:

Discerning God’s Call

Jordan J. Ballor — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:02:50 +0000

For the next two weeks I’m privileged to be teaching a course on Christian ethics and contemporary culture at Farel Reformed Theological Seminary in Montreal, Quebec. This morning’s class focused on the issue of calling and the Christian life. We discussed some of the ways in which God’s call to follow Christ comes to different individuals in a variety of circumstances and in a variety of means.

Catholic Diocese of Washington, DC and Forty Other Groups Sue Obama Administration

Elise Hilton — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:36:11 +0000

At least forty Catholic dioceses and organizations in the United States have filed suit against the Obama Administration for violation of First Amendment rights. According to CNSnews.com,

The suits filed by the Catholic organizations focus on the regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last August and finalized in January that requires virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives, including those that can cause abortions.

Defending the Free Market review: More than Mere Economics

John Couretas — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:51:17 +0000

On his Koinonia blog, Rev. Gregory Jensen reviews Rev. Robert Sirico’s new book, Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy.

Jensen:

“Daring though the argument is, especially for a Catholic priest, it is also essential that it be made since for too many people (including business people), free market economic theory and policies are little more than a justification for greed. While not denying the excesses of capitalism and real sins of capitalists, Fr Sirico wisely doesn’t allow sin to have the last word. Rather, and like St Augustine who inspired his own spiritual journey, the helps us see the goodness hidden beneath the distorting effects of moral failure.