Through the insightful and thought- provoking commentaries of ten distinguished Catholic writers, Building the Free Society critically examines a century of Catholic reflection and argument on human freedom, the just society, and the international order. Adopting the best from A Century of Catholic Social Thought, published in 1991 by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, this substantially revised, updated, and expanded volume focuses on the eleven key documents of modern Catholic social doctrine, beginning with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) and concluding with Pope John Paul II's revolutionary Centesimus Annus (1991). Renowned theologian Richard John Neuhaus opens the book with a challenging foreword on Christians as "resident aliens" of any earthly city, setting the tone for the compelling essays that follow.Contributors: William Murphy Thomas C. Kohler Robert A. Sirico George Weigel Mary Eberstadt Kenneth L. Grasso Robert Royal James Finn Robert A. Destro William McGurn

In this popular presentation, Royal guides us through The Divine Comedy, a literary classic that is enjoying a renaissance as a spiritual masterpiece. In the course of exploring the human pilgrimage on Earth, Dante charts a vivid path through the canticles of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in his legendary poem. Robert Royal presents a careful but reader-friendly approach to the poetry of the texts themselves and a biographical sketch of Dante, the man, the writer, and the spiritual lover extraordinaire.

From the Catholic martyrs at Auschwitz to Oscar Romero; from Ita Ford and her companions to the recent murders of Christians in India, it is estimated that more than one million Christians died for their faith in the “century of progress” we have just experienced. In The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century, Robert Royal presents a wide-ranging history of these martyrs.The book traces the specific situation of each incident and studies the political system and the reason for confrontation. Regions and topics include the Calvary of Romania, the death of Edith Stein, Miguel Pro and the Mexican tragedy, Soviet Russia, and China.

The Catholic “thing” – the concrete historical reality of Catholicism as a presence in human history – is the richest cultural tradition in the world. It values both faith and reason, and therefore has a great deal to say about politics and economics, war and peace, manners and morals, children and families, careers and vocations, and many other perennial and contemporary questions. In addition, it has inspired some of the greatest art, music, and architecture, while offering unparalleled human solidarity to tens of millions through hospitals, soup kitchens, schools, universities, and relief services. This volume brings together some of the very best commentary on a wide range of recent events and controversies by some of the very best Catholic writers in the English language: Ralph McInerny, Michael Novak, Fr. James V. Schall, Hadley Arkes, Robert Royal, Anthony Esolen, Brad Miner, George Marlin, David Warren, Austin Ruse, Francis Beckwith, and many others. Their contributions cover large Catholic subjects such as philosophy and theology, liturgy and Church dogma, postmodern culture, the Church and modern politics, literature, and music. But they also look into specific contemporary problems such as religious liberty, the role of Catholic officials in public life, growing moral hazards in bio-medical advances, and such like. The Catholic Thing is a virtual encyclopedia of Catholic thought about modern life.

Secular humanists and other “progressives” have been predicting the demise of religion for the past 250 years. But they keep running into a problem: those who were supposed to be liberated by the secular gospel that God is Dead aren’t buying it. Except for some parts of western Europe and in countries culturally destroyed by Communism, secularization in the radical sense has not occurred.While it has not obliterated the religious impulse, however, the drive towards “progressive irreligion” has, Robert Royal believes, encouraged ignorance of religion’s central role in the development of the West. In The God That Did Not Fail, Royal offers an original reading of religion in ancient Greece and Rome, of Christianity and Judaism, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the several modern Enlightenments, culminating with a profound assessment of our current postmodern moment. He concludes that since religion is a permanent part of human nature and of the particular character of the West, our efforts should be directed not into a quixotic effort to deny the undeniable, especially as we face challenges from Islamic fundamentalism, but into promoting a well thought out and dynamic interplay of faith, reason, and modern freedoms.

Through the insightful and thought- provoking commentaries of ten distinguished Catholic writers, Building the Free Society critically examines a century of Catholic reflection and argument on human freedom, the just society, and the international order. Adopting the best from A Century of Catholic Social Thought, published in 1991 by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, this substantially revised, updated, and expanded volume focuses on the eleven key documents of modern Catholic social doctrine, beginning with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) and concluding with Pope John Paul II's revolutionary Centesimus Annus (1991). Renowned theologian Richard John Neuhaus opens the book with a challenging foreword on Christians as "resident aliens" of any earthly city, setting the tone for the compelling essays that follow.Contributors: William Murphy Thomas C. Kohler Robert A. Sirico George Weigel Mary Eberstadt Kenneth L. Grasso Robert Royal James Finn Robert A. Destro William McGurn

In this popular presentation, Royal guides us through The Divine Comedy, a literary classic that is enjoying a renaissance as a spiritual masterpiece. In the course of exploring the human pilgrimage on Earth, Dante charts a vivid path through the canticles of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in his legendary poem. Robert Royal presents a careful but reader-friendly approach to the poetry of the texts themselves and a biographical sketch of Dante, the man, the writer, and the spiritual lover extraordinaire.

From the Catholic martyrs at Auschwitz to Oscar Romero; from Ita Ford and her companions to the recent murders of Christians in India, it is estimated that more than one million Christians died for their faith in the “century of progress” we have just experienced. In The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century, Robert Royal presents a wide-ranging history of these martyrs.The book traces the specific situation of each incident and studies the political system and the reason for confrontation. Regions and topics include the Calvary of Romania, the death of Edith Stein, Miguel Pro and the Mexican tragedy, Soviet Russia, and China.

The Catholic “thing” – the concrete historical reality of Catholicism as a presence in human history – is the richest cultural tradition in the world. It values both faith and reason, and therefore has a great deal to say about politics and economics, war and peace, manners and morals, children and families, careers and vocations, and many other perennial and contemporary questions. In addition, it has inspired some of the greatest art, music, and architecture, while offering unparalleled human solidarity to tens of millions through hospitals, soup kitchens, schools, universities, and relief services. This volume brings together some of the very best commentary on a wide range of recent events and controversies by some of the very best Catholic writers in the English language: Ralph McInerny, Michael Novak, Fr. James V. Schall, Hadley Arkes, Robert Royal, Anthony Esolen, Brad Miner, George Marlin, David Warren, Austin Ruse, Francis Beckwith, and many others. Their contributions cover large Catholic subjects such as philosophy and theology, liturgy and Church dogma, postmodern culture, the Church and modern politics, literature, and music. But they also look into specific contemporary problems such as religious liberty, the role of Catholic officials in public life, growing moral hazards in bio-medical advances, and such like. The Catholic Thing is a virtual encyclopedia of Catholic thought about modern life.

Secular humanists and other “progressives” have been predicting the demise of religion for the past 250 years. But they keep running into a problem: those who were supposed to be liberated by the secular gospel that God is Dead aren’t buying it. Except for some parts of western Europe and in countries culturally destroyed by Communism, secularization in the radical sense has not occurred.While it has not obliterated the religious impulse, however, the drive towards “progressive irreligion” has, Robert Royal believes, encouraged ignorance of religion’s central role in the development of the West. In The God That Did Not Fail, Royal offers an original reading of religion in ancient Greece and Rome, of Christianity and Judaism, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the several modern Enlightenments, culminating with a profound assessment of our current postmodern moment. He concludes that since religion is a permanent part of human nature and of the particular character of the West, our efforts should be directed not into a quixotic effort to deny the undeniable, especially as we face challenges from Islamic fundamentalism, but into promoting a well thought out and dynamic interplay of faith, reason, and modern freedoms.