[Brian Kopp DPM]

Some important facts and concepts every Catholic should know.

[STJPII]

Ping

[goodwithagun]

How would the Founders feel about the USCCB backing obama?

[Coleus]

 "The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial aid and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions."

-- J.L. Heilbron University of California at Berkley.   

The Catholic Church: Impacting History

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

How the (Catholic) Church Built Western Civilization

How Catholicism Created Capitalism  

How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and the Success of the West

It is all very well to point out that important scientists, like Louis Pasteur, have been Catholic. More revealing is how many priests have distinguished themselves in the sciences. It turns out, for instance, that the first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a freely falling body was Fr. Giambattista Riccioli. The man who has been called the father of Egyptology was Fr. Athanasius Kircher (also called "master of a hundred arts" for the breadth of his knowledge). Fr. Roger Boscovich, who has been described as "the greatest genius that Yugoslavia ever produced," has often been called the father of modern atomic theory.

In the sciences it was the Jesuits in particular who distinguished themselves; some 35 craters on the moon, in fact, are named after Jesuit scientists and mathematicians.

By the eighteenth century, the Jesuits

had contributed to the development of pendulum clocks, pantographs, barometers, reflecting telescopes and microscopes, to scientific fields as various as magnetism, optics and electricity. They observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands on Jupiter’s surface, the Andromeda nebula and Saturn’s rings. They theorized about the circulation of the blood (independently of Harvey), the theoretical possibility of flight, the way the moon effected the tides, and the wave-like nature of light. Star maps of the southern hemisphere, symbolic logic, flood-control measures on the Po and Adige rivers, introducing plus and minus signs into Italian mathematics — all were typical Jesuit achievements, and scientists as influential as Fermat, Huygens, Leibniz and Newton were not alone in counting Jesuits among their most prized correspondents [Jonathan Wright, The Jesuits, 2004, p. 189].

Seismology, the study of earthquakes, has been so dominated by Jesuits that it has become known as "the Jesuit science." It was a Jesuit, Fr. J.B. Macelwane, who wrote Introduction to Theoretical Seismology, the first seismology textbook in America, in 1936. To this day, the American Geophysical Union, which Fr. Macelwane once headed, gives an annual medal named after this brilliant priest to a promising young geophysicist. 
  

The Jesuits were also the first to introduce Western science into such far-off places as China and India. In seventeenth-century China in particular, Jesuits introduced a substantial body of scientific knowledge and a vast array of mental tools for understanding the physical universe, including the Euclidean geometry that made planetary motion comprehensible. Jesuits made important contributions to the scientific knowledge and infrastructure of other less developed nations not only in Asia but also in Africa and Central and South America.

Beginning in the nineteenth century, these continents saw the opening of Jesuit observatories that studied such fields as astronomy, geomagnetism, meteorology, seismology, and solar physics. Such observatories provided these places with accurate time keeping, weather forecasts (particularly important in the cases of hurricanes and typhoons), earthquake risk assessments, and cartography. In Central and South America the Jesuits worked primarily in meteorology and seismology, essentially laying the foundations of those disciplines there. The scientific development of these countries, ranging from Ecuador to Lebanon to the Philippines, is indebted to Jesuit efforts.

[RnMomof7]

Any attempt to tie Rome to democracy is laughable..

[Just mythoughts]

These people are so far out in ‘left’ field it will take a knock down from Christ Himself to get their attention. This nation was established as a ‘representative’ republic without any need to filter through Rome. The ‘mess’ this nation is headed is not going to get any better and part of the problem is self appointed men revise the WORD and rewrite history.

The Heavenly Father is in control and HE never set up shop in Rome regardless of what some religious organizations claim. IT is WRITTEN.

[LetMarch]

“....if you can bear the truth twisted by knaves.”...

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”

To have liberty under the Roman Catholics is as to have had liberty under the Romans.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Lord of Lords, and Kings of Kings; and He shall reign for ever and ever.

“My Lord said unto My Lord, sit thou at My right hand until I make thine enemies Thy footstool.”

[Mariner]

How bizarre.

All of the history I have read clearly indicates the the American Experiment is the product of the Magna Carta (Challenging the authority of divinely appointed Kings by Rome) and the Enlightenment (Voltaire, Locke and Newton).

What a bizarre claim to that which the Church fought for centuries.

[DonaldC]

Note to read later when the laughter stops.

[dangus]

If you’re not familiar with Schaff, who the article spends great attention, he is the son of Philip Schaff, who loved writing about the mythical proto-Baptist Christian remnant, which has not only evaded detection by history, relying on a strange conspiracy which obliterates this remnant’s records while glorying in the triumph over other dissidents, but stands in direct contrast to any motives that can be deduced by either the Church or any such cyrptically dissident group, as can be inferred by any negative space.

Philip Schaff gained considerable prominence by writing what Protestant apologists wanted to hear. He was impressively knowledgeable, giving his claims great currency, but his claims were not, in fact, supported by any of his knowledge; his purely invented claim that Jefferson never heard of Bellarmine is one such example.

[dangus]

I find it fascinating that a purely rational, thoroughly documented article about Catholicism’s influence on American democracy is met by hatred, derision, and overt bigotry; one hate-mongerer even called Catholics, “fifth columnists.”

Yet for all the frothing, slobbering, knee-jerk hatred, there’s not a single rational thought represented by these anti-Catholics.

[boatbums]

With this identity of American and Catholic political principle established, and with plausible evidence of most probable contact of the formulator of our American Declaration with prominent Catholic sources of democratic theory, why should it be taken from the Catholic American citizen proudly to claim identity and uniformity of political thought with that of his fellow-citizen, and why should he not rejoice in the belief that his co-religionist forebears have taken actual part in the laying of that political foundation upon which rests, today, the greatest, happiest and most prosperous nation in the world?

"The right of deposing kings is inherent in the supreme sovereignty which the popes, as vice-regents of Christ, exercise over all Christian nations." (Cardinal Henry Manning, 1892, Archbishop of Westminster. The Jesuits in History, Hector MacPherson, 1900, pg. 115)

"And just as the end at which the Church aims is by far the noblest of ends, so is its authority the most exalted of all authority, nor can it be looked upon as inferior to the civil power, or in any manner dependent upon it." (Pope Leo XIII in Encyclical Letters, pg 112)

"Such, too, is the purpose of the seizing of the temporal power, conferred many centuries ago by Divine Providence on the Bishop of Rome , that he might without let or hindrance use the authority conferred by Christ for the eternal welfare of the nations." (Pope Leo XIII, Evils Affecting Modern Society Encyclical, pg. 11)

"The Rome of the middle ages claimed universal monarchy. The modern Church of Rome has abandoned nothing, retracted nothing." (The Present Crisis of the Holy See, H. E. Manning, D.D., 1861, pg. 75)

"The Pope by Divine right, hath spiritual and temporal power as supreme King of the world. The Pope of Rome, as head of the Papal government, claims absolute sovereignty and supremacy over all the governments of the Earth. So that, he can impose taxes on all Christians and destroy towns and cities for the preservation of Christianity." (Thomas Aquinas, Romanism as a World Power, Luther Kauffman, 1922, pg. 30)

"On account of the excellence of his supreme dignity, he is called Bishop of Bishops, Ordinary of Ordinaries, Universal Bishop of the Church, Bishop or Diocesan of the whole world, Divine Monarch, Supreme Emperor and King of Kings." (Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 1763)

[ALPAPilot]

Thanks for the Post.

I'll leave to you, and those less enlightened on this post, Pope John Paul II's reflection on the founding principles of the U.S.A. He had a deeper understanding than many Americans, and apparently many posters here at FR.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Vatican for presentation of the Letters of Credence by which you are appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See. I am grateful for the greetings which you convey from President Clinton, and I reciprocate with good wishes to him and the American people.

You represent a nation that plays a crucial role in world events today. The United States carries a weighty and far-reaching responsibility, not only for the well-being of its own people, but for the development and destiny of peoples throughout the world. With a deep sense of participation in the joys and hopes, the sorrows, anxieties, and aspirations of the entire human family, the Holy See is a willing partner in every effort to build a world of genuine peace and justice for all. I am certain that, following upon the good work of your predecessors, you will apply your many personal talents and your long experience of public life to strengthening understanding and cooperation between us.

The Founding Fathers of the United States asserted their claim to freedom and independence on the basis of certain "self-evident" truths about the human person: truths which could be discerned in human nature, built into it by "nature’s God." Thus they meant to bring into being, not just an independent territory, but a great experiment in what George Washington called "ordered liberty": an experiment in which men and women would enjoy equality of rights and opportunities in the pursuit of happiness and in service to the common good. Reading the founding documents of the United States, one has to be impressed by the concept of freedom they enshrine: a freedom designed to enable people to fulfill their duties and responsibilities toward the family and toward the common good of the community. Their authors clearly understood that there could be no true freedom without moral responsibility and accountability, and no happiness without respect and support for the natural units or groupings through which people exist, develop, and seek the higher purposes of life in concert with others.

The American democratic experiment has been successful in many ways. Millions of people around the world look to the United States as a model in their search for freedom, dignity, and prosperity. But the continuing success of American democracy depends on the degree to which each new generation, native-born and immigrant, makes its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked the future of your Republic. Their commitment to build a free society with liberty and justice for all must be constantly renewed if the United States is to fulfill the destiny to which the Founders pledged their "lives . . . fortunes . . . and sacred honor."

I am happy to take note of your words confirming the importance that your government attaches, in its relations with countries around the world, to the promotion of human rights and particularly to the fundamental human right of religious freedom, which is the guarantee of every other human right. Respect for religious conviction played no small part in the birth and early development of the United States. Thus John Dickinson, Chairman of the Committee for the Declaration of Independence, said in 1776: "Our liberties do not come from charters; for these are only the declaration of preexisting rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth." Indeed it may be asked whether the American democratic experiment would have been possible, or how well it will succeed in the future, without a deeply rooted vision of divine providence over the individual and over the fate of nations.

As the year 2000 draws near and Christians prepare to celebrate the bi-millennium of the birth of Christ, I have appealed for a serious examination of conscience regarding the shadows that darken our times. Nations and states too can make this a time of reflection on the spiritual and moral conditions of their success in promoting the integral good of their people. It would truly be a sad thing if the religious and moral convictions upon which the American experiment was founded could now somehow be considered a danger to free society, such that those who would bring these convictions to bear upon your nation’s public life would be denied a voice in debating and resolving issues of public policy. The original separation of church and state in the United States was certainly not an effort to ban all religious conviction from the public sphere, a kind of banishment of God from civil society. Indeed, the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their religious persuasion, are convinced that religious conviction and religiously informed moral argument have a vital role in public life.

No expression of today’s commitment to liberty and justice for all can be more basic than the protection afforded to those in society who are most vulnerable. The United States of America was founded on the conviction that an inalienable right to life was a self-evident moral truth, fidelity to which was a primary criterion of social justice. The moral history of your country is the story of your people’s efforts to widen the circle of inclusion in society, so that all Americans might enjoy the protection of law, participate in the responsibilities of citizenship, and have the opportunity to make a contribution to the common good. Whenever a certain category of people—the unborn or the sick and old—are excluded from that protection, a deadly anarchy subverts the original understanding of justice. The credibility of the United States will depend more and more on its promotion of a genuine culture of life, and on a renewed commitment to building a world in which the weakest and most vulnerable are welcomed and protected.

As they have done throughout your country’s history, the Catholic people in the United States will continue to make an important contribution to the development of American culture and society. The recently completed Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America has highlighted the range and variety of activity which Catholics, out of commitment to Christ, undertake for the betterment of society. May this transforming and elevating work continue to flourish for the good of individuals, the strengthening of families, and the benefit of the American people as a whole.

Your Excellency, these are some of the thoughts prompted by your presence here as your country’s diplomatic representative. These reflections evoke a prayer: that your country will experience a new birth of freedom, freedom grounded in truth and ordered to goodness. Thus will the American people be able to harness their boundless spiritual energy in service of the genuine good of all humanity. Be assured that the various Offices of the Holy See will be ready to assist you in the fulfillment of your mission. Upon you and upon the people of the United States of America I cordially invoke abundant divine blessings.

[Dutchboy88]

"“There is no reason why among equals one should rule rather than another” (ibid.)."

Thus the "pope" is about to step down? We have been awaiting his wake-up call.

[stfassisi]

Dear brother,

This is an interesting article, but the reality is the DOI is not complete Catholic teaching,there are only parts that are and the un catholic parts leads to pluralistic societies which is far from Catholic/Orthodox teaching.

The truth of the matter is that it’s impossible to maintain any kind of Christian identity and separate it from Catholicism.Like many heretics like Nestorius and others the FF’s of the US try and reconcile heretical teaching with Christianity. Thus, we see things like the US Constitution not much different from many other heretical ideas that fail in there completion because they only are based in half truths

[Diamond]

...In view of the arbitrary and despotic rule established by Calvin in Geneva over the consciences and natural liberties of men, it is difficult to associate the origins of civil and religious liberty and of popular sovereignty with Geneva and to regard it as a cradle of democracy. Lord Acton (“History of Freedom,” p. 42) wrote, “Calvin judged that the people are unfit to govern themselves and declared the popular assembly an abuse.” The principles of democracy antedate by many centuries the Geneva of the sixteenth century. John Neville Figgis in his Political Thought of the Sixteenth Century (Cambridge Modern History, Vol. III, p. 761), wrote, “The Huguenot movement (which proceeded from Geneva) was not democratic.”

...The testimony of Emilio Castelar, the famous Spanish statesman, orator and scholar, is interesting and valuable. Castelar had been professor of Philosophy in the University of Madrid before he entered politics, and he was made president of the republic which was set up by the Liberals in 1873. As a Roman Catholic he hated Calvin and Calvinism. Says he: "It was necessary for the republican movement that there should come a morality more austere than Luther's, the morality of Calvin, and a Church more democratic than the German, the Church of Geneva. The Anglo-Saxon democracy has for its lineage a book of a primitive society — the Bible. It is the product of a severe theology learned by the few Christian fugitives in the gloomy cities of Holland and Switzerland, where the morose shade of Calvin still wanders . . . And it remains serenely in its grandeur, forming the most dignified, most moral and most enlightened portion of the human race."4

...It is, of course, not claimed that the Presbyterian Church was the only source from which sprang the principles upon which this republic is founded, but it is claimed that the principles found in the Westminster Standards were the chief basis for the republic, and that "The Presbyterian Church taught, practiced, and maintained in fulness, first in this land that form of government in accordance with which the Republic has been organized." (Roberts).

_____

This striking similarity between the principles set forth in the Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church and those set forth in the Constitution of the United States has caused much comment. "When the fathers of our Republic sat down to frame a system of representative and popular government," says Dr. E. W. Smith, "their task was not so difficult as some have imagined. They had a model to work by."11

"If the average American citizen were asked, who was the founder of America, the true author of our great Republic, he might be puzzled to answer. We can imagine his amazement at hearing the answer given to this question by the famous German historian, Ranke, one of the profoundest scholars of modern times. Says Ranke, 'John Calvin was the virtual founder of America.'"12

D'Aubigne, whose history of the Reformation is a classic, writes: "Calvin was the founder of the greatest of republics. The Pilgrims who left their country in the reign of James I, and landing on the barren soil of New England, founded populous and mighty colonies, were his sons, his direct and legitimate sons; and that American nation which we have seen growing so rapidly boasts as its father the humble Reformer on the shore of Lake Leman."13

Dr. E. W. Smith says, "These revolutionary principles of republican liberty and self-government, taught and embodied in the system of Calvin, were brought to America, and in this new land where they have borne so mighty a harvest were planted, by whose hands? — the hands of the Calvinists. The vital relation of Calvin and Calvinism to the founding of the free institutions of America, however strange in some ears the statement of Ranke may have sounded, is recognized and affirmed by historians of all lands and creeds."14

All this has been thoroughly understood and candidly acknowledged by such penetrating and philosophic historians as Bancroft, who far though he was from being Calvinistic in his own personal convictions, simply calls Calvin "the father of America," and adds: "He who will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin knows but little of the origin of American liberty."
Calvinism in America

Cordially,

[Uri’el-2012]

Catholic Sources and the Declaration of Independence - Democracy not a "child of the Reformation"

Either JOHN C. RAGER is blazingly ignorant or cunningly duplicitous.

He claims that the United States is a democracy fifty-four times in his article.

Any freshman prep school student can cite Benjamin Franklin :

“Well, Doctor, what have we got: a Republic or a Monarchy?”

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

As there was never any serious discussion of a Democracy.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach