Online text: “Charlemagne & Kingship: The Responsibility of Absolute Power”, by Jane Swotchak Ourand

See this online text:

• Charlemagne and Kingship: The Responsibility of Absolute Power (M.A. Thesis), by Jane Swotchak Ourand, Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts (1988). Available in pdf format through ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst. [Note: Although it is not certain if this text was written by a Catholic Christian, it provides a useful introduction to the political ideas of Western Christendom’s foremost prince and, we believe, an appropriate model for other Christians in political life.]

See also the texts and ebooks listed on the pages History and Biography, Secular Law and Society and Social Teaching; under sub-list IX.B. Church and State on the page Church and Ecclesiology; and on the post “Free ebook: Church and State in the Formation of Christendom, by T.W. Allies“; as well as the following:

• Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period: Political Discourse in Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims, by Sophia Moesch, Ph.D. (London, New York: Routledge, 2020). Available in pdf format on this page at OAPEN. The text states: ““The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.” [Note: It is not certain if this text was written by a Catholic Christian. Nonetheless, the text is of value to researchers interested in the Christian civilisation of Latin Europe.]
• De l’Union Intime de la Foi Catholique et de la Foi Monarchique en France, par Ch. De Caqueray (Paris: Allouard et Kaeppelin, 1850). Disponible en Internet Archive et Open Library.

In belated remembrance of Charles the Great / Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Emperor of the Romans, Defender of Christendom. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project. From the text:

“[T]he most important factor that explains Charlemagne’s success and his enduring reputation lies in his conception of kingship… distinguished… by an awareness that power implies responsibility… The king’s power comes directly from God and elevates him to a status above all others, but, by its very nature, such power is limited by the king’s accountability to God for its proper exercise… [H]e saw himself as father to his people, with responsibility for their spiritual and physical well-being… [which] enjoined him to assume as his special concern the welfare of widows, orphans, the poor- all those least able to protect themselves.”

Online text: “Cultural Challenges to Faith: A Reflection on the Dynamics of Modernity”, by Dr. Paul O’Callaghan

See this online text:

• “Cultural Challenges to Faith: A Reflection on the Dynamics of Modernity”, by Rev. Paul O’Callaghan, Ph.D. [Professor of Theological Anthropology at Pontificia Università della Santa Croce], Church, Communication and Culture, Volume 2, Issue 1 (2017): pp. 25-40. May be read online and available in pdf format through this page of Church, Communication and Culture at Taylor & Francis Online.

See also these related texts on the relation of Christianity and culture:

Online text: “The Kremlin and the Pope”, by Alex Alexiev

See this online text:

• “The Kremlin and the Pope”, by Alex Alexiev, April 1983 (Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation, 1983). Part of the RAND paper series, the papers of which are not prepared in fulfillment of RAND’s contracts or grants. Available in pdf format at the RAND Corporation.

  • [Note: We do not know whether Professor Alexiev was a Catholic Christian. However, his essay, which appears to contain nothing contrary to the divine Faith, provides a fascinating contemporary analysis of the efforts of Saint John Paul the Great (Pope John Paul II) to defend Christian liberty and human rights, the response of the peoples of Eastern Europe, and the reaction of the Soviet Government.]

On the Feast of the Dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour (Lateran Basilica) in the Roman Rite; and in solidarity with the observance of World Freedom Day in the United States of America, marking the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

Online text: Encyclical on Saints Cyril and Methodius, by Pope Leo XIII

See this online text:

• Encyclical “Grande Munus” on Ss. Cyril and Methodius, by Pope Leo XIII (September 30, 1880). May be read online on this page of Catholic Culture, and at Papal Encyclicals.net.

See also this related text:

• Encyclical Epistle “Slavorum Apostoli” in Commemoration of the Eleventh Centenary of the Evangelizing Work of Saints Cyril and Methodius, by Pope John Paul II (2 June 1985). May be read online on this page of Catholic Culture, at the Catholic Information Network, and at IntraText.com.
• Encyklika “Slavorum Apostoli” w tysiąc setną rocznicę dzieła ewangelizacji świętych Cyryla i Metodego, przez Papiez Jan Paweł II (02 Czerwca 1985). W języku Polskim. Dostępne na Opoka.org.
• Epistola Enciclica “Slavorum Apostoli” nel Ricordo dell’Opera Evangelizzatrice dei Santi Cirillo e Metodio dopo Undici Secoli, da Papa Giovanni Paolo II (2 Giugnio 1985). Disponibile presso Maranatha.it.
  • [N.B., And please correct us if the translation is incorrect. Grazie.]

On the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs and Co-Patrons of Europe, in the Roman Rite. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast granted unto the Slavic peoples the knowledge of thy Name through the mean of thy blessed Confessors and Bishops Cyril and Methodius, grant that we, who here keep gladly the festival of the same thy Saints, may hereafter be gathered unto their company. (From the Office for the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite)

Online ebook & audio: “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, by Jiří Liška et al.

See this online ebook and audio record:

• 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 ebook is available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes; and the individual chapters are available in pdf format at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (requires registration).
  • 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 40^th 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.

For the observance of the National Day for the Victims of Communism in the United States of America. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), particularly our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution.

“[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.”

(President George W. Bush, Dedication of Victims of Communism Memorial)

Online ebook: “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, edited by Peter Jambrek

See this online ebook:

• 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.

See also these texts on communist oppression:

• 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 40^th 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).
• “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, indexed below.
• 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 ebook is available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes; and the individual chapters are available in pdf format at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (requires registration). 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.
• 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.

For the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, 2019. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), particularly our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution.

“Your nation now faces probably the hardest ordeal of its history. Do not lose heart. Injustice, wrong and crime will never be transformed into justice, right and blessings merely by the fact that a long interval has elapsed. Have confidence, pray and renew yourselves spiritually and your country and your nation will be restored to freedom and dignity. Do not hate; the more and better we pray for our persecutors, the sooner will their hearts be converted to what we pray for.” (Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, Letter to the Lithuanian People, 1975)

Online ebook: “Faith and Reason according to Benedict XVI”

See this online ebook:

• Faith and Reason according to Benedict XVI: Six Key Texts: Subiaco, Regensburg, Paris, London, Berlin (Opus Dei Information Office, 2017). Available in ePub format and Mobi format, and may be downloaded at iTunes iBooks and Google Play Books, through Opus Dei. Also available at Google Books.

This ebook collects the following addresses:

• “Europe in the Crisis of Cultures” (also titled “Cardinal Ratzinger on Europe’s Crisis of Culture” and, in the Opus Dei collection, “On the Crisis in Cultures”), lecture delivered by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in Subiaco, Italy on April 1, 2005.
  • The text of the lecture may be read online (on this page) at the Catholic Education Resource Center, and available in pdf format at The Way.
  • It may also be read online in 4 parts at Zenit News Service, linked by The Ratzinger Archives: Part I: “Excludes God From the Public Conscience”, Part II: “A Confused Ideology of Freedom Leads to Dogmatism”, Part III: “Meaning and Limits of the Present Rationalist Culture”, and Part IV: Christianity: “The Religion According to Reason”.
• “Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections” (also known as the Regensbur Lecture or the Regensburg Address), lecture delivered by Pope Benedict XVI at his meeting with the representatives of science at the University of Regensburg on 12 September 2006 (part of his Apostolic Journey to München, Altötting and Regensburg on 9-14 September 2006) (© 2006, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).
  • The text of the lecture may be read online at the Holy See and available in pdf format at The Catholic Church of England and Wales and at The Catholic Church of England and Wales (catholicnews.org.uk).
  • A collection of commentaries on and responses to the address may be read through this page of Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.
• “On the Rationality of Faith”, homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI at Islinger Feld, Regensburg, 12 September 2006 (during his Apostolic Journey to München, Altötting and Regensburg on 9-14 September 2006) (© 2006, Libreria Editrice Vaticana). May be read online at the Congregation for the Clergy and at the Holy See.
• Address of Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his Meeting with Representatives from the World of Culture, Friday, at the Collège des Bernardins, Paris, 12 September 2008 (during his Apostolic Journey to France on the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes on September 12-15, 2008) (© 2008, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).
  • The text of the address may be read online at the Holy See.
  • The video of the address, with the English text in the video and with the Italian translation in audio, is available in 3 parts at the channel Felix Nobilis: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

• Address of Benedict XVI at Westminster Hall on 17 September 2010 on the occasion of his Meeting with the Representatives of British Society, including the Diplomatic Corps, Politicians, Academics and Business Leaders (during his Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom, September 16-19, 2010) (© 2010, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).
  • The text of the address may be read online (here) through this page of the EWTN Library; on this page of Totus Tuus; on this page of The Papal Visit; at the Holy See; and at the Congregation for the Clergy.
  • The audio of the address is available in mp3 format (here) through this page of The Papal Visit; at the Holy See; and at the Congregation for the Clergy.
  • The video of the address may be viewed on this page of the Ascendit Deus Youtube channel.

• “The Listening Heart: Reflections on the Foundations of Law”, address of Benedict XVI at the Reichstag Building, Berlin on the occasion of his visit to the Bundestag on 22 September 2011 (during his Apostolic Journey to Germany, on 22-25 September 2011) (© 2011, Libreria Editrice Vaticana).
  • The text of the lecture may be read online at the Holy See. Synopses of the address are available in pdf format on this page of The Athenaeum of Ohio, and at Catholic News (Archdiocese of Singapore).
  • The video of the lecture (with the English translation in voiceover) may be viewed at Youtube, with a second copy (without English voiceover) on this page.

Posted for the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and in belated commemoration of the anniversary of the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) as Bishop of Rome (19 April). For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“[N]ot to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature…

“John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: “In the beginning was the λόγος”… Logos means both reason and word—a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God… From the very heart of Christian faith and, at the same time, the heart of Greek thought now joined to faith, Manuel II was able to say: Not to act ‘with logos’ is contrary to God’s nature.

“[T]he faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy… [T]he truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf… Consequently, Christian worship is, again to quote Paul—”λογικη λατρεία”, worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason”. (Pope Benedict XVI, 2006 Regensburg Address)

Online ebook: “St. Clement Maria Hofbauer: A Biography”, by Rev. John Hofer

See this online ebook:

• St. Clement Maria Hofbauer: A Biography, by Rev. John Hofer, C.Ss.R., translated from the 3rd German edition, by Rev. John B. Haas, C.Ss.R. (New York, Cincinnati: Frederick Pustet Co., 1926). With Imprimatur. The ebook is available in pdf format on this page of the Bellarmine Forums. The hardbound and paperback copy of the work (published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012) may be purchased at Amazon.
  • [N.B. 1, The site hosting the pdf ebook appears to be maintained by persons whose view of the 2nd Vatican Council runs contrary to the hermeneutic of reform and continuity propounded by Pope Benedict XVI. Readers are counselled to approach other pages on that site with prayerful caution.]
  • [N.B.2, We have provisionally assumed that the text is in the public domain since, according to the National Library of Australia website, the Rev. Hofer passed away on 1939. However, despite a diligent online search we failed to turn up evidence on the copyright status of the work in the US or the date of the passing of Rev. Haas. We would appreciate information on these matters; and we undertake to remove all links to the text if it is indeed still under copyright.

On the memorial of Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer (Clemens Maria Hofbauer) in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (national calendar of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland). For other online texts and more legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the patient; they shall inherit the land. Blessed are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers; they shall be counted the children of God.

“Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. Be glad and light-hearted, for a rich reward awaits you in heaven; so it was they persecuted the prophets who went before you.”  (St. Matthew v, 3-12)

Online text: “Conceptual Foundations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, by Dr. Thomas Finegan

See this online text:

• “Conceptual Foundations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Human Rights, Human Dignity and Personhood”, by Dr. Thomas Finegan, Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, Vol. 37 (2012), pp. 182-218. Available in pdf format at the Australasian Legal Information Institute.

See also these related texts:

• “The Catholic Neo-Scholastic Contribution to Human Rights: The Natural Law Foundation”, by Robert John Araujo, S.J., Ave Maria Law Review, Volume 1, No. 1 (2003): pp. 159-174. Available in PDF format at Loyola University.
• Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights (Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Acta 15: Proceedings of the 15th Plenary Session, 1-5 May 2009), edited by Roland Minnerath, Ombretta Fumagalli Carulli, and Vittorio Possenti (Vatican City: Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, 2010). 630 pages. Available in PDF format on this page of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
• “The Influence of Catholic Social Doctrine on Human Rights”, by Professor Mary Ann Glendon, in Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights (Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Acta 15: Proceedings of the 15th Plenary Session, 1-5 May 2009), edited by Roland Minnerath, Ombretta Fumagalli Carulli, and Vittorio Possenti (Vatican City: Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, 2010). The essay is available in PDF format (here) and the entire volume is available in PDF format on this page at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The essay was reprinted in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought, Vol. 10, No. 1 (2013), pp. 69-84, available in PDF format (on this page) at Villanova University.
• “Natural Human Rights: The Perspective of the Ius Commune,” by Richard. H. Helmholz, Catholic University Law Review, Vol. 52 (2003): 301-326. Available in pdf format at Chicago Unbound Collections.
• “The ‘New’ Evangelization in the Americas: On the Catholic Origins of Human Rights”, by David Lantigua, Ph.D., Church Life: A Journal for the New Evangelization (Fall 2012): pages 75-84. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy.
• “Our Debt to De Vitoria: A Catholic Foundation of Human Rights”, by Robert John Araujo, S.J., Ave Maria Law Review 10:2 (2012), pages 313-329. Available in PDF format on this page of the Ave Maria School of Law—Law Review.
• “Retrieving a Catholic Tradition of Subjective Natural Rights from the Late Scholastic Francisco Suárez, S.J.”, by Steven J. Brust, Ph.D., Ave Maria Law Review, Vol. 10, Issue 2 (Spring 2012). Available in pdf format through the index of issues at Ave Maria Law Review.
• Universal Rights in a World of Diversity: The Case of Religious Freedom (Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Acta 17: Proceedings of the 17th Plenary Session, 29 April-3 May 2011), edited by Mary Ann Glendon and Hans E. Zacher (Vatican City: Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, 2012). 700 pages. Available in PDF format on this page of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. N.B., This corpus includes various scholarly addresses and articles, including “How Christians and Other Native Minorities are Faring in the Unfolding Arab Turmoil of 2011” by Habib C. Malik, “What Is or Should Be the Role of Religiously Informed Moral Viewpoints in Public Discourse (Especially Where Hotly Contested Issues Are Concerned)?” by Vittorio Possenti, and “Fundamentalist and Other Obstacles to Religious Toleration” by Malise Ruthven.]

On Human Rights Day, 2018. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Online text: The Catholic Church in the International Political System, by Jesse Tarlton

See this online text:

• The Catholic Church as a Prominent Transnational Actor in the International Political System (Master’s Thesis), by Jesse Paul Petrush Tarlton. Submitted to the Central European Univerity (CEU), Budapest, Hungary, 2012. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the CEU Library.

In solidarity with the celebration of Pope John Paul II day in Poland.

“See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, But as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God.” (Ephesians v, 15-17 D-R)