Author Archive for JC Sanders

A Good Friday Meditation on Suffering and Hope
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A Good Friday Meditation on Suffering and Hope

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“The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society. […]

Purgtory Part 3: Faith and Love
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Purgtory Part 3: Faith and Love

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This is the third in a series in which I attempt to address the question, “What is purgatory, and why is it necessary?” by expanding on the simple answer that Purgatory is the state, place, or process by which a soul is purified for entrance into heaven. Part 1 is here and Part 2 can be found here. “So […]

Purgatory Part 2: Salvation, Sanctification, and Atonement
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Purgatory Part 2: Salvation, Sanctification, and Atonement

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This is the second in a series in which I attempt to address the question, “What is purgatory, and why is it necessary?” by expanding on the simple answer that Purgatory is the state, place, or process by which a soul is purified for entrance into heaven. Part 1 can be found here. “The doctrine [of […]

Purgatory Part 1: Conversion as a Process
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Purgatory Part 1: Conversion as a Process

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Question: What is purgatory, and why is it necessary? Purgatory is the state, place, or process by which a soul is purified for entrance into heaven. Conversion as a Process When we are converted to Christ and baptized, we are given grace which allows us to recognize our sins, and which begins to cleanse us […]

Creed and Credibility
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Creed and Credibility

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The Faith may be ever-ancient, ever new, but calls for it to be amended or abridged are nothing new. Always there are clarion calls that the Church is dying out, and that she must adapt her teachings or face a slow death. A variety of heresies and challengers rise up in every age demanding to […]

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part II
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Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part II

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In my previous article, I explored why the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion should not be blamed for Savita Happlanavar’s death. These observations suggest to me three analogies to which this might be likened. In order, they are self-defense; life-support removal at the end of a person’s life; and the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, or, […]

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part I
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Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part I

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I have elsewhere argued that Savita Happlanavar’s tragic death cannot be pinned on either Irish law nor on Catholic teaching. It may be that Irish law concerning abortion, miscarriage, and care for women who are undergoing miscarriage and who are in danger of Septicemia (or other life-threatening situations) needs to be clarified, though as it currently stands we have: The decision […]

The Strange Case of Savita Halappanavar
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The Strange Case of Savita Halappanavar

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At this point, the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar is “old” news, in that most people have been at least somewhat aware of of it. Most people in the Catholic and pro-life blogsopheres—to say nothing of the ideologues who oppose us—who will comment on it have already posted their preliminary thoughts. The forces at work […]