Deus Caritas Est

It's here: Benedict XVI's first encyclical Deus Caritas Est.

Check it out at the Vatican website.

As many of us know, Sunday was the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I have studied abortion in depth this past year, and as I continue to do so, I return again and again to the paramount problem that the secular position presents. Abortion is evidence of a deep-rooted selfishness, where the child is viewed as a thing, an object, which may be eliminated or manipulated. The human race cannot survive with this attitude, because we were made to give and to love selflessly. Abortion is the total rejection of life and of love, because a husband and wife are supposed to be open to life. When they reject life, they reject love, and destroy themselves in the process. And that is the loss of the respect for human life. They are saying that the unborn child is just a thing that can be thrown away if it presents an inconvenience. This is the fundamental problem with abortion: it is the willful and conscious murder of a human person, a person that has been denied recognition of their humanity.

But coming back to BXVI's encyclical, we are reminded, from just the title, that God is love and that He loves everyone; the parents, the unborn child, everyone. And maybe through this encyclical we will be able to see again more clearly and understand this Love. Then perhaps the love of parents for all children will flourish, and fill the earth.

In the news there is talk that Roe v. Wade will be overturned within the next ten, even five, years. But a law isn't going to put love in people's hearts; each person has to choose love for himself, for God, and for others.


“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5)


God Bless