By Stephen Sammut, PhD Stephen Sammut, BPharm, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Dr. Sammut received a BPharm from Monash University in Victoria, Australia and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Malta. For more than 20 years Dr. Sammut has conducted varied research in animal models to investigate questions related to psychopathology, including depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and drug abuse. One thing can be stated for certain—the COVID-19 scar on humanity will be clearly visible for many years to come. If immediate steps are not taken to counter the narrative of misinformation as well …
Category: Apologetics
Lord David Alton Is Not Remaining Silent on China and Human Rights
K.V. Turley is the Register’s U.K. correspondent. He writes from London. LONDON — On March 26, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed sanctions on the British Catholic parliamentarian Lord David Alton. The reason? He had highlighted widespread human-rights abuses in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. The Chinese authorities imposed these measures on Alton and eight other British citizens, as well as on four institutions, all deemed critical of China’s human rights’ record. Alton told the Register April 20, “These sanctions have been imposed as a crude attempt to intimidate and silence parliamentarians.” He added, “Those who have been sanctioned have been …
Fetal-Tissue Research: Bioethicists Weigh in on Biden Administration’s Removal of Restrictions
Experts outline the costs of disregarding the ethical considerations of such research. Lauretta Brown is the Register’s Washington-based staff writer. WASHINGTON — Former members of the Trump-era National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board and a pro-life expert on the topic are speaking out against the Biden administration’s recent decision to remove the requirement that the board review human fetal-tissue research from elective abortions. In addition to highlighting the importance of ethical considerations, they also pointed out past ethical violations on the part of researchers that demonstrate the continuing need for such a review board. …
To Rise With Christ, We Must Die With Christ
Prof. Michael Ogunu is the Coordinator of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Africa “No slave is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20) Throughout the history of the Church, from the time of the Roman persecutions until the present, Christians have been called upon to suffer and die for the Faith if situations demand it. The martyrdom of the Apostles and their contemporaries is proof of the historical reality of the Gospel story. For the Apostles were willing to attest in their blood what they had seen, what they had heard, …
The Pro-Life Argument of ‘The Guns of Navarone’
John M. Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is the former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. He is especially interested in moral theology and the thought of John Paul II The Guns of Navarone is the epic adventure of six Allied saboteurs dispatched to knock out two large caliber German guns positioned within a natural rock fortress on the fictional Greek island of Navarone. The mission is undertaken so that British warships can safely pass the island to rescue British troops stranded on a neighboring island, Kheros (also fictional). The movie, based on the Alistair …
How might the pandemic affect religious practice? A look at the current data
Filip Mazurczak is a journalist, translator, and historian. His writing has appeared in the National Catholic Register, First Things, Tygodnik Powszechny, and other publications. There is much pessimism across the West about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious practice. Luxembourg’s Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, for example, has grimly predicted that the disruption of normal religious life may have accelerated the secularization of Europe by a decade. If this proves true for Europe, the same phenomena will likely occur, in some way and to some degree, in North America, Australia, and other outposts of Western culture. A close look at some sociological research from …
Five reasons to read Dei Verbum—and five things you’ll learn in doing so
Dr. Leroy Huizenga is Administrative Chair of Arts and Letters and Professor of Theology at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. Dr. Huizenga has a B.A. in Religion from Jamestown College (N.D.), a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University. During his doctoral studies, he received a Fulbright Grant to study and teach at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt, Germany. After teaching at Wheaton College (Ill.) for five years, Dr. Huizenga was reconciled with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 2011. Dr. Huizenga is the author of The New Isaac: …
The Church of England’s Imminent Death Brings Opportunities
By David Larson David Larson is an editor and/or writer for a number of publications and has a master’s in theological studies from Spring Hill College. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. The Church of England is crumbling so quickly it may barely reach its 500th birthday, in 2034. This is not just my opinion—it’s the opinion of the church itself, which in the United States is known as the Episcopal Church and in Canada and elsewhere is typically known as the Anglican Church. Here in the U.S., the Episcopal Church’s numbers are rapidly spiraling to zero. …
The Battle Against Satan: A Review
By Brian Welter Brian Welter has degrees in history, theology, and (soon) education. He is a Canadian who teaches in Taiwan. His interests include history, philosophy, and critical thinking. Experienced exorcist Fr. Vincent Lampert provides pastoral, theological, spiritual, and biblical insights into the nature and purpose of the Rite of Exorcism. He bases the discussion on his own experience and on the biblical witness, mostly from the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel depicts the reality of evil during the New Testament era and how Jesus triumphantly confronted it. The New Testament world was infested with demons. While Lampert evaluates at length …
Do No Harm. . .To Freedom?
By Brady Stiller Brady Stiller is a Fellow at the Christ Medicus Foundation (CMF). He studied Biological Sciences and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, and he is currently pursuing a Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from the same institution. During this 117th Congressional Session, certain Members of Congress reintroduced the “Equality Act” (H.R. 5, S. 393), which would, among other provisions, amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Adoption of this bill would release one of the final restraints on abuse in health care, which from ancient times has …