Conscience articles from December 2007

Conscience archives from December 2007

Editor's Note.(Editorial)
December 22, 2007... IT'S DIFFICULT TO GET TWO PEOPLE IN ANY CONVERSATION TO AGREE about the right role for religion in public fife. Conservatives and liberals and everybody in between can and do disagree about whether there is a role for religion in the public...

In the Autumn 2007 issue, we misspelled Dr. Rosemarie Tong's name in the Editor's Note, on the table of contents and in her byline--but miraculously not in her bio.(EDITOR'S NOTE)(Correction notice)
December 22, 2007... In the Autumn 2007 issue, we misspelled Dr. Rosemarie Tong's name in the Editor's Note, on the table of contents and in her byline--but miraculously not in her bio. I apologize for the error and will attend a cross-referencing boot camp in the...

Plaudits.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
December 22, 2007... I WANTED TO OFFER A FEW of my thoughts and possibly win the T-shirt. I loved the Autumn 2007 issue, which dealt with topics such as abortion, contraception and euthanasia. So many Americans, especially Catholics, wrestle with their beliefs...

Stem-Cell Research.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
December 22, 2007... THANK YOU FOR PUBLISHING the article "Stem-Cell Research and the Affirmation of Life" (Autumn 2007). Since 1978, more than 1 million babies have been born through the use of assisted reproductive technologies. This experience often includes a...

Personhood.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
December 22, 2007... DANIEL DOMBROWSKI'S examination of Catholic views on personhood from the perspective of the appreciated--but not always present--characteristics of the undecorated, basic, biologically valid, dictionary definition of a person: a human...

Wafer wars.(The Church and Abortion)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... BISHOPS IN THE US AND Europe have taken different stances on whether to refuse communion to prochoice Catholic politicians. The archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, made his case for denying communion to prochoice politicians during an...

Irish Bishops seek to apply brakes to increasing support for abortion.(The Church and Abortion)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... FOLLOWING A SERIES OF polls showing that a majority of people in Ireland support legislation permitting abortion in certain circumstances, the Irish bishops issued a firm decree opposing any such move. Still very much on the defensive following...

Catholics in the UK support abortion rights.(The Church and Abortion)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... A POLL IN THE UK COMMISSIONED by Catholics for Choice shows definitive support for a woman's right to have an abortion in cases of unwanted pregnancy. The YouGov poll shows a majority of the nearly 2,000 respondents to be more liberal than the...

US Bishops decide abortion is pre-eminent election issue.(The Church and State)
December 22, 2007... IN NOVEMBER, THE UNITED States Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a new election document, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship." For the first time, the bishops state that abortion is the most important issue and above all...

Economist supports a "See Change".(The Church and State)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... THE ISSUE OF WHETHER the Holy See should be considered a state emerged in the late summer as the Economist magazine revisited some of the key issues that concern proponents of church-state separation. The magazine concluded that perhaps the...

Poll of Catholics shows massive support for condom use.(The Church and Condoms)
December 22, 2007... A NEW MULTINATIONAL poll by Catholics for Choice shows that Catholics the world over believe that using condoms is prolife because it prevents the spread of HIV and AIDS. According to the poll, which interviewed Catholics living in Ghana,...

Come again?(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... Operation Rescue and the IRS "They say it was revoked. We gave it back. We had long debates with the ms agent and attorneys, and they came to the opinion that I couldn't say that John Kerry was a baby-killing hypocrite. In my mind, that's...

Italian ad mentions the word "condom" for the first time.(The Church and Condoms)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... IN ITALY, A GOVERNMENT-funded AIDS awareness advertisement will mention the word "condom" for the first time. Previously the ad campaign, which has been running since the 1980s, has only used images of condoms in its ads and has not mentioned...

Bishops forced to back down over EC in Catholic hospitals.(The Church and Contraception)(emergency contraception )
December 22, 2007... FOLLOWING A TWO-YEAR battle with the state's lawmakers, the Catholic bishops of Connecticut have agreed to allow Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception to women who seek treatment after a sexual assault. CFC President Jon...

Canadian Catholic Hospital settles claim over sterilization denial.(The Church and Contraception)(Leann Gunther )(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... A CANADIAN WOMAN WHO was refused a tubal ligation by her local Catholic hospital sued and received a cash payment in compensation. The Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation is giving Leann Gunther $7,875 (Canadian) and the hospital is...

The San Diego diocese agreed to pay the second-largest settlement in the country, $198 million, to 144 victims who were sexually abused by clergy between 1938 and 1993.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * The San Diego diocese agreed to pay the second-largest settlement in the country, $198 million, to 144 victims who were sexually abused by clergy between 1938 and 1993. The diocese filed for bankruptcy just before the first abuse trial was to...

The Diocese of Scranton, Pa., has agreed to pay $3 million--one of the largest individual payouts--to a 22-year-old man who was molested as a teenager for three years by former priest Albert M. Liberatore Jr.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * The Diocese of Scranton, Pa., has agreed to pay $3 million--one of the largest individual payouts--to a 22-year-old man who was molested as a teenager for three years by former priest Albert M. Liberatore Jr. In 2005, Liberatore pleaded...

A priest in Germany, Peter Kramer, who was convicted of pedophilia in 2000, has been arrested on further child-sex charges.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * A priest in Germany, Peter Kramer, who was convicted of pedophilia in 2000, has been arrested on further child-sex charges. German bishops issued guidelines on pedophilia in 2002 that explicitly stated that anyone who had ever been convicted...

In an address to the 125th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone railed against lawyers for victims in clergy sexual abuse trials.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * In an address to the 125th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone railed against lawyers for victims in clergy sexual abuse trials, saying their work "has nothing to do with respect...

Jesuits in Alaska agreed to pay go million to some 100 victims of sexual abuse by their members.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * Jesuits in Alaska agreed to pay go million to some moo victims of sexual abuse by their members. No priest was ever charged with any criminal offenses.

The Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, will pay out $37 million to more than 150 victims in cases of abuse.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)
December 22, 2007... * The Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, will pay out $37 million to more than 150 victims in cases of abuse dating back to the 1930s.

Thirty-two people who were abused by priests in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will share a payout of $1.25 million.(The Sex Abuse Scandal)(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... * Thirty-two people who were abused by priests in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will share a payout of $1.25 million. The amount is not as much as the plaintiffs or their lawyers had hoped, but since the cases were past the statute of limitations,...

Argentinean priest gets life for role in dirty war.(End Notes)(Fr. Christian von Wernich )(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... A CATHOLIC PRIEST WAS sentenced to life imprisonment in Argentina for his involvement in the country's "dirty war" against left-wing opponents during the late 1970s and early 1980s. According to a report in the New York Times, Fr. Christian von...

Catholic university drops planned parenthood ads.(End Notes)(Duquesne University )(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... AFTER RUNNING PLANNED Parenthood advertisements for two days, Pittsburgh radio station WDUQ was instructed by its parent body Duquesne University to stop airing the ads immediately and return over $5,000 in donations from the organization. The...

Playing with fire: mixing politics and religion can be a dangerous game.
December 22, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LESS THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE IOWANS WOULD GO to their caucuses, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a "faithful citizenship statement" urging Catholics to "use the values of their faith to shape...

A true balancing act: religion, reproduction and public policy.
December 22, 2007... THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY HAS a long history of involving itself in debates over public policy. From advocating for the poor to opposing war and the death penalty, there is much good the church has done in this arena. However, in the area for...

For whom the bell tolls: is it too early to sound the death knell for religion in Europe?
December 22, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN DENMARK, THORKILD GROSBOEL, a Lutheran priest, declares, "There is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life and there is no resurrection." His local bishop, LiseLotte Rebel, suspends but cannot dismiss him. Not...

Religion and Politics in the New Europe.(Brief article)
December 22, 2007... GROUND-BREAKING FORUM at the European Parliament in November discussed the front-burner issue of the relationship between European government institutions and organized religious influences. There were more than 100 attendees, one-half of whom...

The validity of marriage: who gets to decide? Who gets to choose?
December 22, 2007... ONE OF THE MOST WIDESPREAD myths about the history of marriage is that it has always had to be solemnly validated by the church or the state. In fact, for most of Western history, marriage was a private contract between two families. It was the...

Freedom of conscience and the secular state in Latin America.
December 22, 2007... THERE WAS A TIME IN LATIN America when we were all equal. Or rather, we thought we were. And although in reality that equality only hid privileges and discrimination, we refused to accept it or to recognize that the world is better when we...

The Catholic church in a Unified Europe.
December 22, 2007... AS PART OF MY JOB AS A PROFESSOR of political science, I regularly have the privilege of accompanying undergraduate students on visits to the institutions of the European Union in Brussels. Being young and admirably straightforward, the...

Bearing witness to America's invisible constituency.(Lake of Fire)(Critical essay)
December 22, 2007... OF THE MANY memorable images in the documentary Lake of Fire, the most telling--to this reviewer, at least--is that of the women seeking abortions who appear with their faces turned away from the camera. Tony Kaye's monumental film takes us...

Flawed, but still the best: the birthplace of church-state separation remains its finest defender.
December 22, 2007... INSTINCTIVELY CRINGE WHEN THE need for a new paradigm in church-state relations is suggested. It suggests that the old, tried-and-true model has not worked. I would suggest that the historic, constitutionally mandated formula has worked well,...

Mining the depths of a complex identity.(American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church )(Book review)
December 22, 2007... American Catholics Today: New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church William D' Antonio, James D. Davidson, Dean R. Hoge and Mary L. Gautier (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007, 183pp) 978-0742552159, $24.95 FOUR OF THE MOST...

Silence in Court.(Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas )(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher (Doubleday, 2007, 422pp) 978-0385510806, $26.95 ANITA HILL'S APPEARANCE as a witness late in the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation...

Abortion Law Reformers: Pioneers of Change.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Abortion Law Reformers: Pioneers of Change Ann Furedi and Mick Hume, eds. (bpas, 2007, 88pp) Originally published in 1977 by Birth Control Trust, Abortion Law Reformers is a collection of interviews with many of the key players in the...

Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient: The Catholic Debate.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient: The Catholic Debate Ronald P. Hamel and James J. Walter, eds. (Georgetown University Press, 2007, 294pp) Physicians, ethicists, theologians and clergy are all...

The Beginning of All Things: Science and Religion.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... The Beginning of All Things: Science and Religion Hans Kung (Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007, 220pp) The president of the Global Ethic Foundation and a former professor of ecumenical theology attempts to pull theologians and scientists...

Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman (Free Press, 2006, 321pp) In Born to Believe, the authors pull from scientific, psychological and religious...

Choices.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Choices Kate Buckley (iUniverse, 2007, 169pp) Choices is a novel that points to the collision of Catholicism, reproductive health care and coming of age. Through the story of a teenage rape survivor in a Catholic school, the author captures...

Managing decline.(The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative Perspectives Paul Christopher Manuel, Lawrence Christopher Reardon and Clyde Wilcox (eds.) (Georgetown University Press, 2006, 283pp) 978-1589011151, $26.95 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND the...

Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution Alister E. McGrath (HarperOne, 2007, 552pp) An Oxford historical theology professor looks at how a core tenet of Protestantism, each person's right to interpret the Bible for...

Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome Rodney Stark (HarperOne, 2007, 288pp) Stark presents archeological and historical evidence as well as quantitative data to build a case about the...

Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief Rodney Stark (HarperOne, 2007, 496pp) Discovering God documents the progression of the world's great religions and historical notions of a higher power from the...

A Dynamic God: Living an Unconventional Catholic Faith.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... A Dynamic God: Living an Unconventional Catholic Faith Nancy Mairs (Beacon Press, 2007, 142pp) A progressive, feminist Catholic delivers essays which speak to the depth of her devotion and her unwavering commitment to living a life in...

Finding the Voice of the Church.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... Finding the Voice of the Church George Dennis O'Brien (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007, 240pp) In response to the divide between papal teaching and the opinions of both the Catholic left and the Catholic right, O'Brien opens an...

A Faith that Frees: Catholic Matters for the 21st Century.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... A Faith that Frees: Catholic Matters for the 21st Century Richard G. Malloy (Orbis Books, 200, 227pp) As a priest and assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, Malloy suggests Catholicism has the potential to be a cornerstone for...

God's Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... God's Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America E. Brooks Holifeld (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007, 356pp) Through a detailed historical and analytical account of clerical authority and practice in the United States...

God and Hillary Clinton: A Spiritual Life.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... God and Hillary Clinton: A Spiritual Life Paul Kengor (Harper, 2007, 333pp) Kengor offers a spiritual biography of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton which looks back on her upbringing in a devout Methodist family and how...

On God: An Uncommon Conversation.(Bookshelf)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 22, 2007... On God: An Uncommon Conversation Norman Mailer with Michael Lennon (Random House, 2007, 240pp) In a dialogue with his literary executor, Michael Lennon, Mailer unpacks his concept of the nature of God as a system of beliefs that are an...

Postscript.
December 22, 2007... "The Catholic church in England has been working-class Irish for yonks and we've only become socially acceptable in the last 30 years. It can be very flattering when you're courted by the establishment." --A London priest explains why...

Index: the state of separation.
December 22, 2007... US adults concerned that faith-based programs might lead to too much government involvement with religion 68% US adults opposed to government programs that allow religious groups to hire only staffwho share their beliefs...