Pope Benedict XVI in his third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (CIV), establishes the close relationship between truth and charity. “Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity… Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way” (CIV, 3). The Truth and Charity Forum is committed to highlighting this dynamic relationship as we uphold a Catholic understanding of the sacredness and gift of all human life, the mission and vocation of the family, and the right to live in accord with our Catholic faith. The mission of the Forum is to help all men and women to wholeheartedly embrace the great and beautiful gifts of life, family, and faith.
Human Life
The life of each and every human person has an inestimable value because he or she has been created in the image and likeness of God. The current culture values people, or refuses to value them, at all stages of life based on their utility. As the philosopher Gabriel Marcel put it, “having” has replaced “being.” A culture of death has overshadowed the civilization of life and love.
The United States aborts at a rate of approximately 1 million babies a year. According to the CDC, there are approximately 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infection annually. There are an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 embryos stored in clinic freezers around the country. While Oregon and Washington are the only states that currently permit physician-assisted suicide, so-called “death with dignity” advocates are promoting legislation in other states to follow suit. The number of individuals below the poverty level in the United States continues to increase each year, bringing the grand total of those suffering financially to almost 50 million people.
This overview is only the tip of the iceberg of a culture that is in need of divine assistance and not simply “bread and circuses” from the media, politicians, and the general public. The Forum will strive to publish articles that cast the light of truth on the lies that distort and attack the value, the dignity, and the beauty of each human life. The battle for a culture of life does not begin nor will it end in an online journal. Fundamentally, the family has been entrusted with the challenge of safeguarding and upholding the gift of human life.
Family
In Familiaris Consortio (FC), Blessed Pope John Paul II exhorts the family to “become what you are” (FC, 17). As a reflection of God’s self-giving love in the midst of the world, the family has the identity and mission to become a “community of life and love” (FC, 17). The specific mission of the family is “to guard, reveal, and communicate love” (FC, 17). Every human person has the “fundamental and innate vocation” to love (FC, 11). As the primary school of love and all virtues, the family is “the first and vital cell of society” (FC, 43). The foundation and vitality of a culture is first determined by the extent to which the family embraces its identity as a community of total life and love.
The family is “the place of origin and the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society” (FC 43). In opposition to the culture of autonomous utilitarianism, the family is capable of planting seeds to grow a culture of self-giving love. The family accomplishes this heroic work “by making possible a life that is properly speaking human, in particular by guarding and transmitting virtues and ‘values’” (43).
The virtues of the family are continually being undermined in the current culture by divorce, the use of contraception, sterilization, IVF, the plague of pornography, and the “new normal” of same-sex unions. The battle for the definition of the sacred covenant of marriage as a union between man and woman is only beginning as more states face efforts to redefine marriage. As the family faces various attacks from within and without, the Forum will work hard to make articles available that give the family support and guidance as they seek to embrace their vocation as the “domestic church.” Above all, the Forum will accomplish this by highlighting the beauty of the teaching and life within the Catholic faith.
The Catholic Faith
In “Our First, Most Cherished Freedom,” the Bishops of the United States highlighted the various ways that our liberty to freely practice our Catholic faith has been threatened, including the HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization and abortifacients; legislation that undermines the Church’s pastoral care of undocumented immigrants; and discrimination against Catholic humanitarian services. In our struggle to preserve our liberty, Christ has given a clear guidance with the exhortation that the “truth will make you free” (John 8:32).
While there are various means to secure religious liberty, the Forum will do so by publishing articles that clearly articulate the teachings and practices of the faith in both truth and charity. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance” (CIV 4). The Forum will join the other online publications on the forefront of the New Evangelization to present writings that are accessible, coherent, and relevant to the joys and struggles that we face as pilgrims who thirst for authentic Truth and Charity.
The Truth and Charity Forum seeks to restore all things in Christ as we begin this Year of Faith on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. We entrust this apostolate to the Mother of God and we humbly ask for your prayerful support as we share the Gospel with all that are willing to listen.
Roland Millare is a Fellow of Human Life International (HLI), and Editor of HLI’s online publication, the Truth and Charity Forum.
Roland is the chair of the Theology Department at Pope John XXIII High School in Katy, TX. He has also served as the Director of Middle School CCE at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, TX. He has a BA in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH and a MA in Theological Studies from the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College in Alexandria, VA. Roland is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and an advisory board member to the Pope John Paul II Forum (www.jp2forum.org). Currently, he lives with his wife in Mundelein, Illinois while he pursues his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) at the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake.
- Family Matters
- The Forgotten Eucharistic Vision of Virgil Michel
- Protecting Life and Love
- The Theological Wisdom of Benedict
- Forgiveness and the Gospel of Life
