On August 5, the Bishops of Colorado issued a statement that although not technically wrong, was imprecise in ways that can easily mislead an average reader. I think these wordings are imprudent. Although it is right to note that in general COVID-19 vaccines are voluntary, in the opening line and two lines near the end, their wording likely has a reading other than Catholic teaching or reality for most people. “Some”? in the Opening Line The bishops open with, “We,... Read more
After The Pillar’s expose on Msgr. Burrill using Grindr, there have been a whole bunch of people claiming this was a breach of privacy. As a person writing a doctoral thesis on privacy in Catholic theology, I’ve thought about this a bit since then. I think there are some privacy issues with the whole situation, but I think a lot of the concerns are misguided. Sorry, this is coming out a bit late: so many thoughts on this were running... Read more
This weekend, Aleteia published a piece I wrote attempting to explain natural law. I was at a theology conference so didn’t re-post it right away. This is designed to be a simple introduction for the average person as many other explanations I saw were a little complex. Hopefully, it’s helpful for you or for people you know. In discussions on morality and legal issues, we often hear the term “natural law.” However, almost every time I’ve seen it used outside... Read more
One line from the USCCB’s statement on Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill’s resignation has bothered me: they state he is resigning “in order to avoid becoming a distraction.” Fidelity to your priestly vows seems much more than a “distraction”: it’s an important aspect of being a priest and leading as a priest in the Church. We should see celibacy as more than a “distraction.” The statement stated above that line that the bishops “became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper... Read more
Recently concerns have arisen over the bishops following historical pastoral practice and insisting that people repent before the Eucharist. Those who insist on going to Communion when they know they should not are trying to weaponize the Eucharist for their goals. The bishops are not weaponizing the Eucharist. I explain below why this is weaponizing, the long tradition of the Church, and why the arguments of certain politicians fail. Weaponization is taking the Eucharist, God himself, and using it not... Read more
As some of you may know, my current full-time responsibility is writing a doctoral thesis on the right to privacy. To this end, I have read a bunch of secular thinkers on what privacy means. Recently, I was reading Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation by Sissela Bok. She has a chapter on the idea of confessing wrongs. In this chapter, she has a few things about confessing to other persons that are valuable for the sacrament, not just... Read more
One insidious aspect of the culture of death is the idea we can kill “undesirable” or “unsuitable” people. Peter Singer has supported killing those who have yet to achieve suitability or who’ve lost it never to regain it. He just wrote a new piece with coauthors defending eugenics. Let me summarize, then note why Singer matters. Peter Singer Defends Eugenics Everyone Agrees? The authors begin by noting that many contemporary secular bioethicists are eugenicists in practice. They note: Everyone who... Read more
Basic moral theology indicates that we can, and in most cases should, use the vaccines against COVID. I have repeatedly shown how remote this is. One article showed how almost common every medicine (except Gas-X) has been tested on a fetal cell line, just like the two main COVID vaccines in the USA. Jose Trasancos of COG for Life critiqued this. I will respond below. I will begin and end with a bit of the big picture, showing how this... Read more
While Catholics in the USA have been extremely concerned over a rather minor issue regarding COVID vaccines, another – probably larger – ethical issue in their regard has arisen. It is clear that Catholics can (& generally should) vaccinate against COVID. The concern is issues of rich countries not sharing with the poor. Let’s examine both the exaggerated and the under-appreciated issue. Super-Remote Cooperation Over the past months, the most viral question among many Catholics I know has been about... Read more
For decades, Catholic ethicists have approved of several vaccines in the USA which have some connection to abortion. It is worth comparing these to COVID vaccines. I think that given they can ethically be used, a fortiori the main COVID vaccines can be used. I will compare them on various grounds. I focus on rubella and chickenpox here although Hepatitis A has similar issues to the two of them. Here is a summary of the results. (Sources in text.) ... Read more
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