Pope Francis has just published a far-reaching encyclical that is destined, with time, to become his spiritual legacy to mankind in the realm of social issues. It is not surprising, therefore, that the pontiff wished to sign and present his document in Assisi, Italy, before the tomb of his beloved Saint Francis, from whom he…
“Schuman’s European Vision” by Rafael Domingo
The French politician Robert Schuman (1886-1963) embodies the most genuine spirit of European reconciliation after the Second World War. One of the founding fathers of the European Union, a convinced Christian Democrat of German education and French heart, he was raised in the contested border area of Alsace-Lorraine and thus experienced from his youth the…
“Great Christian Jurists in French History” by Olivier Descamps and Rafael Domingo
Great Christian Jurists in French History edited by Olivier Descamps and Rafael Domingo This volume is part of a fifty-volume series on “Great Christian Jurists in World History, “presenting the interaction of law and Christianity through the biographies of 1000 legal figures of the past two millennia. Commissioned by the Center for the Study of…
“Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History” by Rafael Domingo and Javier Martínez-Torrón
Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History edited byRafael Domingo and Javier Martínez-Torrón This volume is part of a 50-volume series on “Great Christian Jurists in World History, “presenting the interaction of law and Christianity through the biographies of 1000 legal figures of the past two millennia. Commissioned by the Center for the Study of Law…
“Christianity and Global Law” edited by Rafael Domingo and John Witte, Jr.
Christianity and Global Lawedited by Rafael Domingo and John Witte Jr. This volume is one of several new introductions to Christianity and Law commissioned by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. Each volume is an anthology of some two dozen chapters written by leading scholars. The volumes contain historical,…
“God and the Law in the Age of Secularization” by Rafael Domingo
Over the last few years, I have attempted to present a universal and coherent legal framework for the treatment of God, religion, and conscience by secular legal systems. This project is based on my objections to both traditional religious and current liberal approaches to religious freedom. The religious approach fails because it requires the concept…
“Why Does the Catholic Church Insist on Celibacy?” by Rafael Domingo
An earlier Spanish-language version of this essay was recently published on CNN en Español. Recently, the Catholic Church has begun an internal conversation about ordaining married men as priests. This move would mark a significant change from what has been the settled policy of the Latin Church for a thousand years, under which priests are…
“Spiritual Influences on the Law” by Rafael Domingo
While often viewed as opposing forces, law and spirituality are deeply connected. In this and other essays in this series, we explore some of the connections between legal and spiritual dimensions of human experience. Here, we note that spirituality can push legal systems to change; indeed, history suggests that legal systems evolve through spiritualization in…
“REVIEW: Law and the Christian Tradition in Italy by Condorelli and Domingo”
Law and the Christian Tradition in Italy edited by Orazio Condorelli and Rafael Domingo Review by John Witte Jr. This volume is part of a 50-volume series on “Great Christian Jurists in World History,” presenting the interaction of law and Christianity through the biographies of 1000 legal figures of the past two millennia. Commissioned by…
Fratelli Tutti
Foreground of “Angels Unawares” by Timothy Schmalz / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Pope Francis’s recently published Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (“All Brothers”), is an important tour de force of many of the societal, social, and justice concerns that the Pope has made a central concern of his papacy. In eight chapters, Pope Francis explores and offers a firm, but not dogmatic…