Imani Mfuru

An athlete in the greatest of all contests—the struggle not to be overwhelmed by anything that happens.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Europe as we know it, with its spiritual and moral heritage, is rooted in the lives and work of men and women who lived, preached, and shared the teachings of the Gospel. From this heritage, the moral foundations of the world in which we live have been handed down to us: principles such as the primacy of the person and the sacred and inviolable nature of human life; the protection of freedom; the primary importance of the family; care for the poor and those most in need; welcoming the stranger; and respect for the elderly. #ApostolicJourney #France

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

We cannot speak of #Europe without mentioning Christianity. Robert Schuman was well aware of this when he stated: “Christianity has taught that all people are equal by nature, children of the same God, redeemed by the same Christ, without distinction of race, colour, class, or profession. The universal law of love and charity has made every person our neighbour, and it is on this law that social relations in the Christian world have been based ever since.” #ApostolicJourney #France https://t.co/IkDJ3VwNGB

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@ManCity

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@EndWokeness

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@FilmUpdates

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@shre_vid

[Mountain Cabins @cabinsmountain]

We used to care about the little things…

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@GreatLakesWife_

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@Ingridpilled

[Imani Mfuru @ImaniMfuru]

@Being__Mukesh @grok

[Catholic Arena @CatholicArena]

Mural of Sister Clare Crockett in her hometown of Derry

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

In a recent interview, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, former grand chancellor of the John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family Life, confirmed the worst suspicions that many of us had.

He admitted that the changes he made at the Institute during the Pope Francis years were designed to initiate a "very profound" reform of the idea of the natural law.

Instead of absolute moral norms grounded in a keen understanding of the basic goods, he and his colleagues were proposing a moral theory rooted in historical discernment of subjective and cultural experience--not an "armchair theology" but one operating "within history and within people's lives."

This, of course, is the language of trendy postmodernism, and it is dangerous indeed.

Allow me to illustrate the principle with one example. Is slavery wrong?

Intrinsically wrong? Wrong no matter what public opinion polls say about it, no matter what the current consensus on it might be? I imagine any decent person would say yes.

But that yes is predicated upon precisely what the tradition calls the natural law and the basic goods. There are some values so fundamental that acts repugnant to them are by their very nature wicked.

If you want a highly articulate presentation of this idea, go to St. John Paul II's Veritatis Splendor.

If we say that this is just "armchair theologizing" and that morality is a function of ever-shifting cultural and experiential data, then why couldn't slavery be justified?

One of the very smartest persons that ever lived, the philosopher Aristotle, thought it was; extremely bright and morally upright persons in our country, well into the 19th century, thought it was permissible.

Who is to say whether the consensus might shift back again? Who is to say that "lived experience" might come to justify it?

What any truly coherent moral program requires is the very thing that Archbishop Paglia and his colleagues were endeavoring to eliminate, namely, absolute moral norms.

Ridding ourselves of these in the name of freedom or pastoral sensitivity actually renders moral discourse dysfunctional, just as relativizing the basic principle of logic would render any rational conversation impossible.

The Archbishop's interview, frankly, reminded me of the discussions I had at the Synod on Synodality with some of my German colleagues. Under the rubric of the development of doctrine, they were eager to relativize or radically change the principles undergirding classical morality. If this was and is truly the game, we have ventured onto perilous seas.

Link to the article below.

[Pascal @KnowsPascal]

God alone suffices.

― St. Teresa of Avila

[Magister Iācōbus @latinedisce]

Nil sine Deo — “Nothing without God.”

[That Catholic Guy 🇻🇦 @Catholic_bro]

Live simple

[Matters of History @HlSTORYmatters]

Happy Saint George’s Day!

[Magister Iācōbus @latinedisce]

Sic transit gloria mundi – “Thus passes the glory of the world.”