Catholic Social Science Review

In the 1980s and 1990s, the federal judiciary sanctioned efforts by pro-abortionists to thwart peaceful, prayerful pro-life protest. However, as of 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court has deprived pro-abortion forces of two of the three main weapons in their federal arsenal. These legal developments are substantial victories for the pro-life movement. Nevertheless, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entranceways Act (FACE) remains a significant impediment to savingpre-born lives. The defeat of this statute, which seems at least possible at the Supreme Court level, is a paramount goal for the pro-life community.

This article examines the increasing problem of health care employees other than physicians and nurses, especially pharmacists, facing discipline or termination for refusing to engage in immoral practices such as dispensing contraceptives. The article considers the limitations of current anti-discrimination statutes in protecting such employees, and believes that "conscience laws "—which so far only a minority of states have enacted, but many are considering—afford the best possibility for protection.

This article argues that the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum is particularly applicable in the present-day in its critique of the way ideology distorts human dignity and on the subject of poverty in developing countries in the context of—and somewhat stimulated by—a global economy.

Dr. Donald A. Doyle, who was a charter member of the SCSS, first President of the SCSS New York Metropolitan Chapter, and former school administrator and political science professor, wrote this personal assessment about current American education in light of the teaching of the Church before his death in 2005. The CSSR proudly presents it here as his last published writing.

As a professor in a secular university for forty years, my teaching responsibility has been to teach students of political science as well as I could. Mere worldly success depends on doing that, as well as on being a successful scholar, as the profession and ones colleagues define successful. As a Christian, one's salvation depends partly on how conscientiously one fulfills these worldly responsibilities to others. "Thou shah not steal" and "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself" It is obviously a challenge to try to sanctify one s daily professional work but it is not impossible. The following is a record of how one man has attempted to do that in the admittedly unpromising environment of a secular university. Perhaps these experiences and reflections on them may be useful for others who are considering an academic career.

Sister Margherita Marchione has been one of the leading academic defenders of Pope Pius XII against the untruthful, dishonest, and often scurrilous attacks against him in recent years by some writers who have claimed that he not only did not do enough to help the Jews during World War II, but actually somehow collaborated with the Nazis. Sister Margherita has published several books about Pius, showing that the original understanding of his efforts was indeed true: he worked intensively to do all in his power to protect the Jews and other groups. Indeed, his efforts surpassed that of most political leaders of the time. Currently, as the draft letter below indicates, she is on a campaign to solicit the testimony of Jews who were first-hand beneficiaries of his efforts, or those who know directly of such cases, in order to get Pius recognized at the Vad Vashem Memorial in Israel as "Just Among the Nations." Two testimonials are apparently required and history tells us that many, many more than two Jews were saved by Pius's efforts. For her efforts to restore the reputation of Pius XII and to once again set the historical record straight about him. Sister Margherita will be honored in 2007 with the Society of Catholic Social Scientists' Blessed Frederic Ozanam Award for Catholic Social Action, named after the Society's patron. Below are four recent short articles that Sister Margherita wrote about Pius s efforts and leadership during the War and a sample letter in which she requests anyone who knows Jews who can provide testimony to contact her. There is also some biographical information about Sister Margherita.