October 15, 2011 – 1:02 pm
Children in Catholic schools in the 1940s, 50s and 60s spent much time raising money to “ransom pagan babies”. But the work of the HCA, the Holy Child Association, was about more than baptism – it was about children helping children.
Links:
Holy Childhood Association – Official website of the HCA in the US
HCA Kids – website of the Holy Child Association with activities and information on the missions
Rerum Ecclesiae – Pope Pius IX’s encyclical on the importance of the missions and the work of the HCA
Account of one Catholic who met her “pagan” brother and how it inspired her faith
Mission Together – HCA website for the United Kingdom
Images and holy cards related to the work of the Holy Child Association in France in the late 19th and early 20th century
Audio interview with former Secretary General of the HCA
Sources:
Harrison, Henrietta. 2008. A penny for the little Chinese:The French Holy Childhood Association in China, 1843-1951. American Historical Review 113, no. 1: 72-92.
Manna, Paolo. The conversion of the pagan world: a treatise upon Catholic foreign missions. Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 1921
Robert, Dana Lee. American women in mission: a social history of their thought and practice. Mercier University Press, 1996.
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#260 – Pagan Babies for Christ
On 14 May 1971, Paul VI issued the Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens. The Letter was addressed to Cardinal Maurice Roy, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The letter was issued in honor of the eightieth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum.
Octogesima Adveniens discusses problems with economic inequality discrimination and other issues of Catholic Social Teaching mentioned in earlier papal documents; but also discusses new issues such as urbanization, the environment, and social communication. It criticizes the problems of Marxism and warns of the dangers of contemporary ideologies which fail to recognize human dignity.
In Octogesima Adveniens, Paul VI notes, “It is to all Christians that we address a fresh and insistent call to action.” Urging laity to “take up as their own proper task the renewal of the temporal order”. In response to this, the bishops of the United States put together the first Call to Action Conference in Detroit, Michigan in 1976. This delegates at this conference in turn would ask for the Catholic Church to reexamine teachings on priestly celibacy, male clergy, birth control and other issues and would lead to the foundation of the Call to Action movement in the United States.
Octogesima Adveniens
On 5 May 1980, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF] issued its Declaration on Euthanasia in order to emphasize the value of the human person and their right to life in light of recent developments of medicine and science. This declaration would become a foundational document for the official teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the morality of euthanasia.
This declaration is especially concerned with the issue of suffering and its relationship to the question of euthanasia. While the CDF reiterates the absolute prohibition on the killing of an innocent, even if that person is suffering or dying; the use of medicine to relieve pain is permissible even if such medicine might shorten the life of the patient if no other means of easing pain is available. The intention, however, must be to ease suffering, not to shorten life. Also, no one is required to take extraordinary means to prolong life.
Life is a gift of God, and on the other hand death is unavoidable; it is necessary, therefore, that we, without in any way hastening the hour of death, should be able to accept it with full responsibility and dignity. It is true that death marks the end of our earthly existence, but at the same time it opens the door to immortal life. Therefore, all must prepare themselves for this event in the light of human values, and Christians even more so in the light of faith.
Declaration on Euthanasia
“We especially urge Catholic men living in developed nations to offer their skills and earnest assistance to public and private organizations, both civil and religious, working to solve the problems of developing nations. They will surely want to be in the first ranks of those who spare no effort to have just and fair laws, based on moral precepts, established among all nations.”
On March 26, 1967 Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Populorum Progressio or “The Development of Peoples”.
This encyclical addresses topics connected to the social teaching of the Catholic Church such as the relationship of rich and poor, the need to promote the formation of authentic human community and development, the responsibility of the wealthy nations to help those in need.
Twenty years later, Pope John Paul II would issue his own encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis, to commemorate this event. Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate was written to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the issuing of Populorum Progressio.
The text of the encyclical
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on the 40th anniversary of Populorum Progressio
Podcast on the importance of Populorum Progressio from the Center for Catholic Thought at Creighton University
January 10, 2010 – 11:30 am
Every week millions of Americans turned on their radios to listen to the fiery and controversial broadcasts of Fr. Charles Coughlin. He was loved and hated, with him there was, as he said, no middle ground.
Links:
Some of Fr. Coughlin’s radio broadcasts
Fr. Coughlin’s “Am I an Anti-Semite?”
The program and principles of the National Union for Social Justice
Cartoons about Fr. Coughlin by Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss
Woody Hockaday meets Fr. Coughlin
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#220 – No Middle Ground
January 5, 2010 – 2:47 pm
Pope Leo XIII began his pontificate with a great vision of the Third Order of Saint Francis bringing about the salvation of Europe and the World. It didn’t quite turn out that way.
Links:
Pope Leo XIII’s Encyclical on Saint Francis and the Franciscans – Auspicato Concessum
The Leonine Rule – Misericors Dei Filius
Previous Catholic:Under The Hood episode on the Secular Franciscans
Website of the Secular Franciscans
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#219 – Missed Opportunity?
September 13, 2009 – 8:00 am
Archbishop Joseph M. Raya was a tireless worker for social justice throughout the Middle East and the United States and he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Hear why his example continues to be valuable for us today. Plus, visiting Salzburg and Munich.
Links:
“Go to the Deep” on Archbishop Raya
Wikipedia site on Archbishop Raya
SQPN website and SQPN Connect Community
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My audioboos
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#204 – Archbishop Joseph M Raya
August 31, 2009 – 1:05 am
I’m back in business with a new episode on how Pope Innocent III began the public hospital in Europe and the patron saint of Holy Fools, Saint Simeon, who reminds us not to judge by appearances as well as things not to do when you are in church. Plus, what I’ve been up to since the last episode.
Links:
SQPN website and SQPN Connect Community
Follow me on Twitter!
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To listen, just click on the link below:
#203 – Hospitals and Holy Fools
February 16, 2009 – 2:46 pm
A special interview with Deirdre McQuade, the assistant director for policy and communications with the USCCB, about FOCA and the Right to Life Movement. Plus, travel in Poland and “What is God Doing In My Life Right Now” Day
Links:
National Committee for a Human Life Amendment
USCCB’s Pro-Life Page
Photos of me celebrating Mass at Czestochowa
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To listen, just click on the link below:
#184 – Protecting Life
September 20, 2007 – 1:02 am
Tales from Salzburg and Munich as I speak French at a German Mass. Summing up Catholic Social Teaching and its importance for the European Union.
Links:
My pictures from Salzburg and Munich
SQPN – Star Quest Production Network
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To listen, just click on the link below:
#127 – Fiddlebacking
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