Free Republic

Help us gauge the historical significance of Pope John Paul II.There are only two possible competitors to John Paul II being the most significant pope since the Reformation: Pius IX in the 19th century, who was also one of the youngest popes ever and reigned for a long, long time. Vatican I and the doctrine of papal infallibility happened under him, along with the loss of the papal states. The other competitor would be John XXIII, and that's just because of Vatican II. But his pontificate was so brief, it was almost like a flare against the darkness. So...

Theologian Points Up a Key Problem in Florida Battle ROME, MARCH 22, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Unless U.S. justice steps in to save her, Terri Schiavo's agony will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," which warned of an encroaching "culture of death." In that 1995 document John Paul II wrote "on the value and inviolability of human life," particularly in the last phases of existence. "The Schiavo case demonstrates that that document was prophetic," said Legionary of Christ Father Thomas Williams, dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. "The Holy Father coined the expression...

Embryonic Stem Cells and A Brave New World In 1932, Aldous Huxley shocked his readers.  He wrote of about a brave new world.  Babies would be created in test tubes.  The laboratories would be called hatcheries.  2005. The shock is gone.  When it comes to science and technology, we live in a new world that can be more fearless than brave, more pragmatic than principled.  New discoveries raise hopes of cures and long life.  Too often the moral issues are summarily brushed aside.  We need to be in the lead in research and development of new medicines, some would argue,...