Author Archives: Ron Conte

Does God love everyone?

Posted on 19 May 2016 by Ron Conte

God loves Himself. The Three Persons of the Trinity love one another. God loves Jesus and Mary, who are both sinless and exceedingly holy. God even loves repentant sinners. Fine. But does God love everyone? Worst case scenario, worst persons … Continue reading →

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Examples of Secular Pharisaism

Posted on 17 May 2016 by Ron Conte

As I explained in a previous post, secular Pharisaism places blind adherence to rules above the common good and the rights of individuals. Here is one example of secular Pharisaism: Teen with brain tumor barred from prom. As I understand … Continue reading →

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My translation of the doctrines of Trent

Posted on 17 May 2016 by Ron Conte

I’m about one third of the way through my current project: translating the doctrines of the Council of Trent — just the doctrinal teachings, not also the decisions on discipline — from Latin into English. It’s going well. I think … Continue reading →

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Pope Francis on the children of God

Posted on 16 May 2016 by Ron Conte

In his sermon on Pentecost, Pope Francis taught on spiritual adoption as the children of God. Here is the news article: We were made to be God’s children and also the full text from the Vatican website. His teaching is … Continue reading →

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On Justification: dogma or heresy?

Posted on 14 May 2016 by Ron Conte

UPDATED with answers. Each of the following assertions is either a dogma (an infallible teaching of the Magisterium), or a heresy (an idea directly contrary to a dogma). Which is which? 1. All human persons lost their innocence by the … Continue reading →

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What if Pope Francis uses Papal Infallibility?

Posted on 14 May 2016 by Ron Conte

The usefulness of Papal Infallibility is found in the fact you can know that the teaching is true, without having to rely on your own reasoning and understanding to evaluate the assertion. If a teaching meets the conditions for Papal … Continue reading →

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The Voice of the Family versus Pope Francis

Posted on 14 May 2016 by Ron Conte

Here’s the news report: “Over 100 pro-life and pro-family leaders from all over the world leapt to their feet in applause at a meeting in Rome on Saturday after hearing a call for Pope Francis to withdraw his controversial exhortation … Continue reading →

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The Principle of Double Effect and Intrinsically Evil Acts

Posted on 13 May 2016 by Ron Conte

The Principle of Double Effect (PDE) has been badly misunderstood by most teachers of Catholic ethics, and it is often misrepresented. The main problem is that you cannot understand the principle of double effect, unless you first understand the three … Continue reading →

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Women Deacons: Objections and Replies

Posted on 13 May 2016 by Ron Conte

Does the Catholic Church have the authority and ability to ordain women as deacons? If so, should the Church ordain women to the diaconate? This post considers several common objections to the ordination of women deacons. Objection 1: Women are … Continue reading →

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My prediction: Pope Francis will ordain women deacons in 2016

Posted on 12 May 2016 by Ron Conte

Here is the news report: Did Pope Francis Just Pave the Way for Women Priests? First of all, the holy Pontiff was only talking about women deacons, not women priests. The news media, as usual, distorted the Pope’s comments. Second, … Continue reading →

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If you think there is a Translation Error in Humanae Vitae…

Posted on 11 May 2016 by Ron Conte

If you think there is a translation error in Humanae Vitae, where is your scholarly or theological argument? If you think that Church teaching, on the grave moral matter of contraception, has been badly misunderstood due to that translation error, … Continue reading →

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Janet Smith’s new translation of Humanae Vitae

Posted on 11 May 2016 by Ron Conte

Janet Smith has decided that Humanae Vitae contains a translation error, which, when corrected by her, results in a stunning change in Church doctrine, suddenly limiting the condemnation of contraception to the marital state. This claim is contradicted by many … Continue reading →

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