Fifty years ago this week, Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on marital love, responsible parenthood, and artificial contraception. Because contraception profoundly influences so many areas of life—from the family to national policies—this statement on human anthropology and sexuality has e a one of the most significant documents of Catholic social thought. In honor of the anniversary, here are 30 key quotes from the papal encyclical: The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which...

Poland has an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population, a putatively pro-life government, and a popular initiative to protect the lives of children suffering from genetic conditions like Down syndrome – so, why has it gone nowhere? Politicians candidly admit allowing sick children to survive would cost the state-run health care system too much money. At Acton’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website, Polish author Marcin Rzegocki writes: A report from an official parliamentary body, the Bureau of Parliamentary Analysis, stated that “adoption...

The EU is considering a $12-billion peace plan that would supply weapons to war-torn western and central Africa, known as the Sahel region. But Ibrahim Anoba – who hails from Lagos, Nigeria – says trade and economic development, including lower EU tariffs, would go a long way toward bringing peace to the area. At Acton’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website, Anoba writes: [T]he recruitment strategy of [al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate] – like most terror organizations – focuses on exploiting munities already...

No two words in the English language create the feeling of relaxation as perfectly as “summertime weekend.” But the two days of physical and spiritual rest we enjoy each week are not the inevitable products of the cosmic order: They have been made possible by the unique marriage of the free market and faith. In the state of nature, rest follows work – or precedes death. Abraham Maslow codified in a precise way the fact that, only after we have...

Some Catholic leaders have called the Supreme Court’s Janus decision “disappointing.” But a bishop says the Court ruled correctly, both because the union funds immoral activity and pulsory union dues violate Catholic teachings on the freedom of association. Illinois government worker Mark Janus sued for the right to sever financial ties with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)filed an amicus curiae briefon behalf of ASCME, the bishop of...

In an article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Kay Coles James, president of the Heritage Foundation, argues that “the health of a civil society is dependent on religious expression and liberty.” James is also the author of Transforming America from the Inside Out and has been featured by the Acton Institute before. Religion has always been a central aspect of civil society because it makes up a very significant portion of those cultural institutions that unite, inspire, and guide...

Although popular in his own day, C.S. Lewis has e even more influential since his death in 1963. One of the most enduring of Lewis’s works is his book Mere Christianity, which started out as a series of radio lectures that aired on the BBC during World War II. A YouTube channel called CSLewisDoodle contains a number of videos that illustrate some of Lewis’s selected essays to make them easier to understand. The video below is from the third radio...

In 2000, two parents founded a pizzeria in Rome with the goal of employing people with Down syndrome. Inspired by their son, who had the condition, they named itLa Locanda dei Girasoli (translated as “The Sunflower Inn”). Today, the restaurant employs eight differently-abled people (five with Down syndrome) and boasts a 4.5-star review on TripAdvisor, making it a destination of sorts. According to their website, the restaurant’s goal is to “promote the employment of people with Down syndrome, ennobling and...

Note: This is post #86 in a weekly video series on basic economics. As we’ve seen in recent entries in this series, ideas play a key role in economic advancement. If we can predict the future of ideas we can, in part, predict the future of economic growth. But how do we do that? To answer that question, economist Alex Tabarrok look at the “Idea Equation.” In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Tabarrok explain how Ideas = Population x...

I am tired of hearing Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission hailed as a “victory” for religious liberty; it was no such thing—unless we’re also going to start counting forfeits and rain delays as wins. Masterpiece was a bunt, and not a very promising one at that. Although the e of the decision was in favor of Jack Phillips, the Christian baker in Colorado who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, the reasoning of the decision...