Various posts and points pertinent to today’s anniversary:
Mike Aquilina reminds us that times have not changed – and neither has our responsibility.
The Church Fathers were familiar with this line of thinking. In pagan Rome, a child did not achieve personhood until recognized by the head of the family, the father. When the mother had given birth, a midwife placed the child on the floor and summoned the father. He examined the child with his criteria of selection in mind.
Was the child his? If the man suspected his wife of adultery — ancient Rome’s favorite pastime — he might reject the child without so much as a glance.
If the child was an “odious daughter” (the common Roman phrase for female offspring), he would likely turn on his heel and leave the room.
If the child was “defective” in any way, he would do the same. As the philosopher Seneca said: “What is good must be set apart from what is good for nothing.”
Life or death? It all depended upon the will of a man. Human life began when the child was accepted into society. A man did not “have a child.” He “took a child.” The father “raised up” the child by picking it up from the floor.
Those non-persons who were left on the floor — while their mothers watched from a birthing chair — would be drowned immediately, or exposed to scavenging animals at the town dump.
Against these customs, the Church consistently taught that life begins at conception and should continue till natural death. In such matters, Christianity contradicted pagan mores on almost every point. What were virtuous acts to the Romans and Greeks — contraception, abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia — were abominations to the Christians.
(A useful book on the subject: When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity)
A Catholic-sponsored debate between Peter Kreeft and a pro-choice philosopher occurred last Friday on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. A report:
Closing the evening, Boonin thanked the Aquinas Institute for hosting him. “There is something quite extraordinary about the fact that the Aquinas Institute invited me to speak this weekend, giving me equal time with a national representative of the views that obviously they are passionately committed to.”
Father Kevin Augustyn, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, closed the meeting with a description of the lecture series’ aim.
“Reason can lead to the threshold of faith, and once across that threshold of faith, then reason still has a role for us to understand God’s word and God’s ways in our lives. The Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought exists for that reason, for the search for truth.”
Speaking to CNA at a post-debate reception, Father Augustyn further explained the institute’s goals.
“The Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought is basically our arm for outreach to both Catholic students that come to us, and the university at large. We’re trying to engage an important secular university with the Catholic faith. How do you do that? You begin with dialogue, and what we have in common, and we believe reason is on our side,” he said.
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