New Paper: Dignitatis Humanae: Navigating the Legacy of Vatican II

January 6, 2023 By Francis J. Beckwith

On January 19, 2023 I will be delivering an invited paper at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Catholic Scholars and Artists. I just posted on SSRN the first draft of the paper, which you can find here. Entitled, “Dignitatis Humanae: Navigating the Legacy of Vatican II,” here’s the abstract (which is taken from the paper’s introduction): The Second Vatican Council published its Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, on December 7,1965. At the time, it was seen... Read more

Religious Freedom Institute report: Religious Pro-Life Americans Under Attack

October 19, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

You can find the report here. The abstract states: A range of dangerous actors in the United States today are violently attacking pro-life institutions. As a result, these institutions are facing an increasingly perilous reality in post-Dobbs America: some of the most fervent opponents of pro-life Americans and their institutions have become more malicious and violent in their attacks, which have included arson, death threats, property destruction, and menacing or vile graffiti. These crimes not only imperil American citizens, their... Read more

Advice Gianni Russo (aka “Carlo Rizzi”) once gave me

August 8, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

As a kid I worked in my folks’ candy store, Sweets of Las Vegas. I once delivered an expensive basket to Gianni Russo, who played Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. (Rizzi was married to Michael Corleone’s sister, Connie). Arriving at his high rise condo door, I said, “That’ll be $104.” “Can you break a 20?” “No sir. I’m sorry. I don’t have change.” He then gave me $120 and said, “Good delivery boy never has change.” Never forgot that. Read more

The Heart Has Its Reasons – a reflection on 15 years after my reversion to Catholicism

July 11, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

April 28, 2022 marked 15 years since I returned to the Catholic Church. Last week I published an essay reflecting on my journey. It appeared in Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal. Here’s how it begins: The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things. —Blaise Pascal In summer 2021, when I realized that on April 28, 2022 it would be exactly fifteen years since I had returned to the Catholic Church, I began ruminating... Read more

My contribution to The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era

July 4, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

I am happy to report the release of a new book published by Word on Fire, the Catholic ministry founded by Bishop Robert Barron. Entitled, The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era, it is edited by Matthew Nelson with a foreword by Cardinal Thomas Collins and an afterword by Bishop Barron. Invited to contribute to the volume, my chapter is entitled “Moral Relativism: Arguments For and Against.” (You can download a pre-publication copy of the chapter on my... Read more

Forthcoming chapter: “Violinists, Burglars, People-Seeds, Samaritans, and Reluctant Bone Marrow Donors: Why Do We Need Analogies to Pregnancy in Order to Understand It?”

May 26, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

In late July (2022), Routledge Publishing will be releasing the anthology of original essays: Agency, Pregnancy, and, Persons: Essays in Defense of Human Life, edited by Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce Blackshaw, and Daniel Rodger. I am happy to report that I have contributed a chapter to this volume: “Violinists, Burglars, People-Seeds, Samaritans, and Reluctant Bone Marrow Donors: Why Do We Need Analogies to Pregnancy in Order to Understand It?” I have posted a prepublication version of it on my SSRN page here.... Read more

New Working Paper: “What’s So Special About Religious Liberty? Law, Philosophy, and Serving God”

May 26, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

On March 24-25, 2022, I participated in the conference: “Beyond `Defensive Crouch,’ Religious Freedom.” It was hosted by the Liberty & Law Center of the Antonin Law School at George Mason Univeristy. The paper I delivered at the confernce is now available over at SSRN. Entitled “What’s So Special About Religious Liberty? Law, Philosophy, and Serving God,” a final version of it will be published later this year in GMU’s Civil Rights Law Journal. Here is the paper’s abstract: This... Read more

It’s unwise to publicly comment about who is telling the truth in sexual misconduct cases when you’re not privy to all the evidence [Updated]

May 22, 2022 By Francis J. Beckwith

Update: On May 23, 2022, Princeton University officially fired Joshua Katz, the New York Times reported. Three days later, Dr. Katz’s wife, Solveigh Lucia Gold, published a robust defense of her husband at Bari Weiss’s website Commonsense here. In a piece entitled, “Free Speech and Due Process at Princeton: The Case of Joshua Katz,” Robert P. George, Katz’s colleague in the Princeton politics department, offers a stinging rebuke to the university and its administration. I have known Robby George for over... Read more