1. The Syrian Catholic priest who escaped IS captivity
(Hat tip: @BenWeinthal)
2. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks marks an anniversary:
It was, on the face of it, a minor theological gesture, yet it brought about one of the greatest revolutions in religious history. Nostra Aetate, the Catholic Church’s 1965 statement of relationships with non-Christian faiths, declared that “the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from Holy Scripture.” Today as a result, Jews and Catholics meet not as enemies but as cherished and respected friends.
About Nostra Aetate, Princeton professor Robert P. George said to me awhile back during the course of a Q&A:
Nostra Aetate is the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, proclaimed in 1965. Although the Catholic Church is by no means unique in explicating and defending the right to religious liberty, this document offers a rich understanding of the good of religion. In Nostra Aetate, the council fathers do not offer a mutual nonaggression pact with other faiths, or display what the late Judith Shklar labeled a “liberalism of fear,” or, much less, embrace religious relativism. Rather, in paying tribute to all that is true and holy in non-Christian faiths, they recognize the ways in which religion enriches, ennobles, and fulfills the human person in the spiritual dimension of his being. Nostra Aetate also reminds us that a due regard for the human good of religion requires that civil authority respect (and, in appropriate ways, even nurture) conditions or circumstances in which people can engage in the sincere religious quest and live lives of authenticity reflecting their best judgments as to the truth of spiritual matters.
More from that interview about conscience here.
3.
Ss. Simon & Jude, Apostles & Martyrs, pray for us, pray for the Church, persecuted today as in the past because of our fidelity to Jesus.
— Bishop David Kagan (@VescovoDDK) October 28, 20154.
Today is the feast of two of the Apostles,St Simon and St Jude.They share a feast because of their joint evangelisation in the Middle East.
— Westminster Diocese (@RCWestminster) October 28, 20155.
A life of ease is just around the corner called death. You don’t need to jump that gun. There is work to do.
— John Piper (@JohnPiper) October 28, 2015Reminds me of this and this from the K-Lo archives on depression.
6.
Padilla, smirking, blurted out that Ms Rodriguez’s aunt had undergone 10 [abortions], prompting his partner to laugh https://t.co/n8HgB0KrVq
— MeghanGrizzleFischer (@Meghan_ADFIntl) October 28, 20157. I was happy to see this from Michael Sean Winters: Why Liberals Should Oppose Assisted Suicide
8. And this in America magazine:
When we exclude Douthat we set up a self-validating club that protects its own. https://t.co/IhDA9C1Pai@americamagpic.twitter.com/YQ8hlNReSU
— Matt Malone, S.J. (@Americaeditor) October 28, 20159. This, not so much: Single-sex marriage is so yesterday. What do we think about legalising multiple marriages?
10.
“Scholars now agree kids raised by 2 biolog’l parents in stable marriage do better than kids in other family forms” https://t.co/gl2ntYOjXD
— Sissy Willis (@SissyWillis) October 28, 201511. Russell Moore: Debunking 4 Myths about Religious Freedom
12.
Trump: “I am a great Christian… But the evangelicals let me down a little bit this last month.” https://t.co/1EYaBKshUN
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) October 28, 201513.
Starting in January I’m going to every state, calling on America to turn to God & challenging the church to stand for truth & righteousness.
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) October 28, 201514.
When it comes to married parenthood, Virginia breaks the Southern mold: https://t.co/RSjzhSjDic
— W Bradford Wilcox (@WilcoxNMP) October 28, 201515.
You know your team is behind when you start mentally giving yourself the “it’s only a game” speech.
— Tim Herlihy (@MrTimHerlihy) October 28, 201516. The Dominican Order is about to celebrate 800 years:
17. From John Garvey, president of the Catholic University of America:
When Catholic schools provide a community and a curriculum permeated by faith, they will remain an essential tool for Christian education and are worthy of the support of the faithful. When the only distinctive features of a Catholic school are religion classes and school uniforms, however, they become an expensive version of the local public school.
18. I like this a lot:
REI is going to close for Black Friday & will be, as they put it, “paying our employees to head outside:” https://t.co/e4TRxjsPI8
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 27, 2015(Also from archives: Life is not all Shiny Objects.)
19. That America piece gives me this thought: How about thanking the New York Times for publishing Ross Douthat? He’s a refreshing voice, whatever your faith. Send a thank you here.
PLUS:
My new Q&A with Tod Lindberg about heroism is here.
15 things on Jude and Simon day today.