The Ethics of Assisted Suicide: A Catholic Moral Analysis
2026 Victor R. Claveau, MJ Among the most profound questions confronting modern society is whether a person may intentionally hasten his own death with the assistance of another. Advances in medicine have prolonged human life, alleviated many forms of suffering, and transformed the experience of dying. At the same time, these developments have generated new […]
BABE RUTH AND THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
On August 16, 1948, the magazine Guideposts, a non-denominational inspirational magazine, received an autobiographical article written and submitted by Major League Baseball icon and American legend George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr. In a twist of tragic irony, the same day Guideposts received the article at their office, Ruth died of cancer. The Babe— as he […]
Man’s Search for Meaning
Fr. Paul Pecchie The thought of death can be a powerful inspiration for living a fuller life. Victor Frankl survived the Nazi concentration camps by thinking about death. He had been one of Sigmund Freud’s most promising protégés. Then World War II broke out, and he found himself rounded up with his fellow Viennese Jews […]
ON THE THOUGHT OF ETERNITY.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. WE are terrified at the thought of eternity, and in a certain sense we have great reason to be so, for this thought is indeed very terrible. But if we knew how to be frightened at it usefully, if we could draw from it, as a guide for our lives, the […]
ON THE THOUGHT OF DEATH.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. THE thought of death is a most terrible object for those who are living in sin; they have no other resource than to put such a thought entirely away from them. What a sad resource! They are like a man who, on the edge of a frightful precipice, shuts his eyes […]
Canadian Doctors Kill Thousands of Patients, With 15,000 Euthanized Annually
Wesley Smith – August 2025 Opponents of euthanasia have been screaming about Canada’s god-awful euthanasia machine for years. And it keeps getting worse. Now, the mainstream media — usually in the tank for assisted suicide — has finally noticed, as demonstrated by a thoroughly researched and objectively presented story by Elaina Plott Calabro. It’s a long piece, […]
Death and Dying
© 2014 Victor R. Claveau, MJ Harry and his wife Alice entered my Catholic Bookstore a few years ago. As I had not met them previously, I introduced myself as the proprietor and asked if I could be of service. Harry told me that he needed a bit of help in deciding which prayer book […]
Suicide
Victor R. Claveau, MJ The practice of suicide seems to have gone through many phases in human history. First comes the purely natural instinct of self-preservation, the love of life no matter what troubles a person may experience. Then comes the idea, arising from a noble instinct, of sacrificing one’s own life for the sake […]
Cremation
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are often called the “Age of Enlightenment”. During this period some who denied the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, in order to emphasize their point, willed their bodies to be cremated. In doing so, they would be challenging God to resurrect a body from ashes. Cremation was […]
Cremation
The Catholic Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead be observed; it does not, however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching (Code of Canon Law No. 1176, 3). Although cremation is now permitted by the Church, it does not enjoy […]