American Catholics and the Structure of Life Attitudes

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2005

Publication Title

University of St. Thomas Law Journal

Volume

2

Issue

2

First page number:

397

Last page number:

420

Abstract

In his defense of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' 1983 pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago sought to expand the scope of the letter's moral arguments by suggesting that Catholic positions on a number of issues be integrated to embrace a "consistent ethic of life." This general pro-life gestalt, according to Bernardin, would cut across a number of issues, including abortion, capital punishment, the conduct of warfare, and "the care of the terminally iIl." Bernardin suggested that these issue positions, and others, are part of a single, life-affirming dimension, which he likened to a "seamless garment."

Keywords

Abortion; Abortion--Religious aspects; Abortion--Religious aspects--Catholic Church; Capital punishment; Capital punishment--Religious aspects; Catholic Church; Catholics; Pro-life movement

Disciplines

American Politics | Catholic Studies | Political Science | Religion

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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