Politics, Law & Religion in Times of COVID

Editors, Jane F. Adolphe, Fulvio Di Blasi, and Robert L. Fastiggi

After two years of anti-COVID-19 policies, an international group of Catholic scholars and lawyers gathered in Rome under the auspices of the International Catholic Jurists Forum to reflect on how society has handled the crisis in the fields of law, politics and religion. The purpose of the meeting was to highlight what needs to be done in the future to better safeguard subsidiarity, fundamental human rights, especially freedom of religion and conscience, expression, assembly and movement as well as democratic processes per se and the unity of family life. Scholars and jurists, authors of this book, discussed how the pandemic has affected the functioning of Western political systems, how it has changed our thinking about democracy, and how it has affected the life of the Church.

The publication of this book comes at a time when United Nations Member States are set to complete negotiations on the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Treaty, and on the WHO International Health Regulations. Both documents raise a number of concerns related to the global biosecurity governance regime that is envisioned and the correlative limits on fundamental human rights that it entails. This book offers an examination of a number of related issues and concerns that reflect upon and bravely engage the evidence to offer clear thinking for scientists, politicians, and clergymen in light of faith and right reason with respect for the natural moral law and for religious believers, with assistance from divine revelation.

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TESTIMONIALS

“This conference was superbly conceived and really useful. Involving scholars and practitioners from many countries […] What was learned […] was not only what happened around the world between 2020 and 2022 but what should not be allowed to happen again.” – Iain Benson, professor of law, University of Notre Dame, School of Law, Sydney, Australia

“The closure of churches by governments during the COVID pandemic has taught us that we can no longer take for granted the precious freedom to practice our faith.” – Charles LiMandri, Esq., LiMandri & Jonna, LLP

“Many churches in the West failed their spiritual covid-test. They carried a high viral load of fear – fear of disease, fear of man, fear of death – and showed low levels of spiritual antibodies. The gospel of freedom from fear was rarely preached in a way that challenges secular powers or popular sentiment.” – Douglas Farrow, professor of theology and ethics, School of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal

“The essence of totalitarianism is when a government assumes complete control not only over the outward behavior of citizens but also over their inner lives, the way they think and evaluate the world.” Rev. Piotr Mazurkiewicz, Professor of Political Science, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw, Poland

JANE F. ADOLPHE, EDITOR

JANE F. ADOLPHE is a canon lawyer and a civil attorney (New York, Alberta); a professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law (AMSL), in Naples, Florida; and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame, School of Law, in Sydney, Australia. She has served as an external and internal legal advisor to the Papal Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States.

FULVIO DI BLASI, EDITOR

FULVIO DI BLASI is an attorney (Italy), a legal mediator, and a Thomistic philosopher. He directs the Thomas International Center for Philosophical Studies (United States) and has taught at the University of Notre Dame (United States), the LUMSA Law School (Italy), the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome) and the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (Poland).

ROBERT L. FASTIGGI, EDITOR

ROBERT L. FASTIGGI is a professor of dogmatic theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, where he has taught since 1999. He previously taught at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas (1985-1999). He is a coeditor of the English translation of the 43rd edition of Denzinger-Hünerman (2012) and a member of the Pontifical Marian Academy International.

IAIN T. BENSON

IAIN T. BENSON is an attorney (Ontario, British Columbia), professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, and extraordinary professor of law at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontain, South Africa. He has also served as a visiting professor in law at the University of Western Ontario, Canada (2014) and as a fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto (2015).

JOHN CARPAY

JOHN CARPAY is an attorney (Alberta) and president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, (https://www.jccf.ca/), which he founded in 2010 with the mission of defending the rights and freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education. He formerly served the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as Alberta Director from (2001-2005).

DOUGLAS FARROW

DOUGLAS FARROW is a professor of theology and ethics at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. He previously taught in the United Kingdom at King’s College London, after completing his doctorate there under Colin Gunton.

CHRISTOPHER A. FERRARA

CHRISTOPHER A. FERRARA is an attorney (United States) and civil rights litigator in cases involving the civil and constitutional rights of Catholics and other Christians. He successfully obtained an injunction against the COVID-related church closures imposed by California Governor Gavin Newsom and the “vaccine mandate” imposed by the ex-Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. He has authored many books and articles on subjects ranging from Catholic issues to quantum mechanics.

REV. PIOTR MAZURKIEWICZ

REV. PIOTR MAZURKIEWICZ is a Catholic priest (Archdiocese of Warsaw, Poland), and professor at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University (Warsaw), where he directs the Institute of Political Science and holds the Chair of Social and Political Ethics in the Department of Historical and Social Studies. He serves the Polish Bishops’ Conference as an advisor and has served a three-year term (2008-2012) as the General Secretary of Bishop’s Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).

JANET E. SMITH

JANET E. SMITH is an author, speaker, and lecturer (find her online at https://janetsmith.org/), who retired from the Father McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. She has authored many books and articles on Humanae Vitae and has distributed more than two million copies of her talk, Contraception: Why Not, (now in its 3rd edition). She served three terms as a consultant to the Pontifical Council on the Family, and eight years on the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission III.

GRÉGOR PUPPINCK

GRÉGOR PUPPINCK is the director of the European Centre for Law and Justice. He has served as an expert representing the Holy See in committees of the Council of Europe, since 1999. He lectures on human rights, international law, and constitutional law at the law schools of the Universities of Mulhouse and Strasbourg (2003-2012). In 2016, he was an appointed member of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion and Belief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

MICHAEL ARTHUR VACCA

MICHAEL ARTHUR VACCA is an attorney (Michigan), and the director of ministry, bioethics, and membership experience for Christ Medicus Foundation (CMF) CURO. From 2010-2012, he served as a legal advisor for the Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Family in Rome, Italy, where he advocated for the defense of human life, religious freedom, and the natural family on the international, regional, and national levels.

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