“The word of Jesus Christ is fruitful, it stirs many souls to dedication and fidelity. The life and conduct of those who serve God have changed history. Even many of those who do not know our Lord are motivated, perhaps unconsciously, by ideals which derive from Christianity.” (Saint Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By)
Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, by Jiří Liška et al., edited by David Svoboda and Cóílín O’Connor, translated by Cóílín O’Connor, Ian Willoughby, Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská, and Markéta Hofmannová (Prague: Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2011).
The audio recordings of the proceedings (in the original languages) are available in mp3 through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which also contains the text of the Declaration on Crimes of Communism issued by the participants at the Conference.
See also these related texts:
Albanian Catholic Bulletin (Buletini Katholik Shqiptar), Vol. 6 (Santa Clara, California: Albanian Catholic Information Center, 1985). In 108 pages. Available at the Gleeson Library Digital Collections. [N.B., This issue commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Communist persecution of Catholic Albanians.]
Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika. In English it contains the subtitle: Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania.]
“Communist Interrogation and Indoctrination of ‘Enemies of the State’: Analysis of Methods Used by the Communist State Police (A Special Report)”, by Lawrence E. Hinkle Jr., M.D. and Harold G. Wolff, M.D. Reprinted from the AMA [American Medical Association ] Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. 76, no. 2 (1956), pp.: 115-174. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Central Intelligence Agency Library (“Approved For Release 2000/09/06”) [N.B., This is evidently not a Catholic Christian source, but it contains information on methods used against Catholics like Cardinal Mindszenty, and notes that Catholics were particularly targeted by Communist regimes.]
Crimes against Humanity under Communist Regimes: Research Review, by Klas-Göran Karlsson and Michael Schoenhals (Stockholm: Forum for Living History, 2008). Available in pdf format at the Forum for Living History (Forum för levande historia).
Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes: Crimes and Other Gross and Large Scale Human Rights Violations Committed during the Reign of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe: Cross-National Survey of Crimes Committed and of Their Remembrance, Recognition, Redress, and Reconciliation: Reports and Proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, Organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January–June 2008) and the European Commission, edited by Peter Jambrek (Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2008). The “draft before final editing” is available in pdf format at the Republic of Slovenia Ministry of Justice, at Academia.edu, and at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
“The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary: National Report”, compiled by János M. Rainer. Available in pdf format (through this page) at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Part of the larger work Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010.
Encyclical Letter “Iniquis Afflictisque” on the Persecution of the Church in Mexico, by Pope Pius XI (18 November 1926). Available at the Holy See.
“Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall”, by Paul Hollander (Development Policy Analysis No. 11, November 2, 2009) (Washingto, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009). Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Cato Institute.
“[M]illions… were killed in anonymity by Communism’s brutal hand. They include innocent Ukrainians starved to death in Stalin’s Great Famine; or Russians killed in Stalin’s purges; Lithuanians and Latvians and Estonians loaded onto cattle cars and deported to Arctic death camps of Soviet Communism. They include Chinese killed in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; Cambodians slain in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields; East Germans shot attempting to scale the Berlin Wall in order to make it to freedom; Poles massacred in the Katyn Forest; and Ethiopians slaughtered in the “Red Terror”; Miskito Indians murdered by Nicaragua’s Sandinista dictatorship; and Cuban balseros who drowned escaping tyranny. We’ll never know the names of all who perished, but… we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory…
“[W]e recall the great lessons of the Cold War: that freedom is precious and cannot be taken for granted; that evil is real and must be confronted; and that given the chance, men commanded by harsh and hateful ideologies will commit unspeakable crimes and take the lives of millions.”
Prayers for the Faithful Departed, in Honour of the Three-and-Thirty Years of Our Lord’s Life, by a Father of the Society of Jesus, reprinted from the first edition, 1641, edited by Edward G.K. Browne (London, 1860). May be read online, and available in mobi, epub, pdf, and other formats, at Internet Archive.
The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized by the Catholic Church, Extracted from the Roman & Other Martyrologies, compiled by the Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Ramsgate (London: A. & C. Black, Ltd., 1921). With Imprimatur. May be read online, and available in mobi, epub, pdf, and other formats, at Internet Archive and Open Library, and available at Hathitrust Digital Library.
Encyclical of Our Holy Father by Divine Providence Leo XIIIon the Christian Constitution of States: Latin Text and Authorised Translation (London, 1886). Available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats at Internet Archive.
The encyclical is also included in these collections:
The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII:Translations from Approved Sources, with Preface by Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J. (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1903). With Imprimatur.
The audiobook, read by Maria Therese, may be listened to online and downloaded in mp3 and other formats at LibriVox and at Internet Archive. [N.B., The recording states that it is in the public domain.]
The Pope and the People; select letters and addresses on social questions, by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, edited by the Rev. William H Eyre (London and Leamington: Art and Book Company; New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1895). With Imprimatur. Available at Internet Archive and Open Library.
Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers by S. Thomas Aquinas: St. Luke, new edition, translated by John Henry Newman (Oxford, London: John Henry Parker, 1874). Available in 2 volumes:
The first edition (Oxford: John Henry Parker; London: J. Rivington, 1843) is also available in 2 parts:
Part I may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive, with a 2nd copy at Internet Archive.
Part II may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive, with a 2nd copy at Internet Archive.
Both parts of the first edition are available in a single pdf file at Saints’ Books, with part II beginning of page 393 of the pdf file; and its entire text may be read online, together with the catenae aureae on the other gospels, through this page at e-Catholic 2000, beginning with the preface by J.H.N.
“Many have been at pains to set forth the history of what time has brought to fulfilment among us, following the tradition of those first eye-witnesses who gave themselves up to the service of the word. And I too, most noble Theophilus, have resolved to put the story in writing for thee as it befell, having first traced it carefully from its beginnings, that thou mayst understand the instruction thou hast already received, in all its certainty.” (St. Luke i, 1-4)
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Christifideles Laici” on the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, by Pope John Paul II, December 30, 1988. May be read online ar the Holy See and at IntraText.
“The Place of Eucharistic Adoration in the Apostolate of the Laity in Light of Magisterial Teaching”, by Jessica Leach (2014). Thesis for the degree of Master of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology), University of Notre Dame Australia. Available in pdf format at University of Notre Dame Australia.
“Reflections on John Paul II’s Theology of the Laity: 20th Anniversary of Christifideles Laici (1989)”, by Peter N.V. Hai. Available in pdf format at Australian Catholic University.
“The Role of the Laity: An Examination of Vatican II and Christifideles Laici”, by Carl E. Olson. May be read online at Ignatius Insight: may be Part I and Part II. According to the text, “A slightly different version of this article appeared in the September/October 2000 issue of The Catholic Faith magazine.”
“The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici”, by Bishop Josef Clemens. Available in pdf format at the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
“[P]odemos ahora comprender correctamente el brindis de Newman antes por la conciencia y sólo después por el Papa. El Papa no puede imponer a los fieles católicos ningún mandamiento solo porque él lo quiere o porque lo considera útil… El significado auténtico de la autoridad doctrinal del Papa consiste en el hecho de que él es el garante de la memoria. El Papa no impone desde fuera sino que desarrolla la memoria cristiana y la defiende.
“Por ello, el brindis por la conciencia ha de preceder al Papa, porque sin conciencia no tiene ningún papado. Todo el poder que él tiene es poder de la conciencia: servicio al doble recuerdo, sobre el que se basa la fe y que tiene que ser continuamente purificada, ampliada y defendida contra las formas de destrucción de la memoria, que está amenazada tanto por una subjetividad que ha olvidado el propio fundamento, como por las dificultades de un conformismo social y cultural.”
[And if the grammar is wrong, pray correct me. Gracias!]
“Mercy, Justice, and Politics: John Paul II on Capital Punishment”, by Kevin E. Miller (2011). Dissertation submitted to Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 2011. Available in pdf format at Raynor Memorial Libraries, Marquette University.
See also these related texts:
“Catholicism & Capital Punishment”, by Avery Cardinal Dulles, First Things 112 (April 2001): pp. 30-35. May be read online (on this page) at First Things.
“As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways… For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them. And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments and justice, he shall live in them.” (Ezechiel xxx, 11)
“For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil… Do that which is good: and thou shalt have praise from the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God: and avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.” (Romans xiii, 3-4)
“Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion… There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty…” (Memorandum of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, made public in July 2004)
“Knowledge and Normality: Bl. John Henry Newman’s Grammar of Assent and Contemporary Skepticism”, by Anselm Ramelow, O.P., Nova et Vetera, English Edition, Vol. 11, No. 4 (2013): pp. 1081–114. Available at Academia.edu, uploaded by Anselm Ramelow.
“We believe that at the beginning of everything is the eternal Word, with Reason and not Unreason… We rejoice that we can know God! And we try to help others see the reasonableness of faith, as Saint Peter in his First Letter explicitly urged the Christians of his time to do, and with them, ourselves as well (cf. 3:15)!
“We believe in God… But… in what God? Certainly we believe in the God who is Creator Spirit, creative Reason, the source of everything that exists, including ourselves… This creative Reason is Goodness, it is Love… God has taken on a human face. He has loved us even to the point of letting himself be nailed to the Cross for our sake, in order to bring the sufferings of mankind to the very heart of God…
“[I]t is important to state clearly the God in whom we believe, and to proclaim confidently that this God has a human face… Only this God saves us from being afraid of the world and from anxiety before the emptiness of life. Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfilment and become redeemed joy.”
