Spirit & Life Blog

Alabama’s Court Decision Sparks Debate Over Ethics of IVF

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / February 26, 2024 /
embryologist at a liquid nitrogen bank containing sperm and egg samples

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell A few days ago, the Alabama Supreme Court surprised the country by doing something that is all too rare in today’s culture, i.e. it spoke the truth. In a blockbuster 8-1 decision, the Court ruled that human embryos preserved cryogenically…

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Why Our World Needs the Good News of Marriage

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / February 19, 2024 /
cross with wedding rings

A few days ago, Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Permanent Observer to the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, expressed his concern that “the family is increasingly downplayed or even denigrated in international fora.” Archbishop Caccia was addressing the 62nd Session of the Commission for Social Development at the United Nations in New…

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Transgender Madness Threatens Children and Parents

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / February 12, 2024 /
Boy with gender dysphoria looking in mirror

Transgender activists are angry at the New York Times… again. A few days ago, the Times published a lengthy investigative article looking into the number of youths who have been medically or surgically “transitioned,” but who subsequently regretted their decision. Among the stories it recounts is that of Grace Powell, who began to question whether…

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Polyamory: An Attack on the Sanctity of Marriage

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / February 5, 2024 /

Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries, famously told Cardinal Carlo Caffarra that the “final battle” between the kingdom of God and Satan would be over marriage and the family. We should not be surprised, then, that marriage has come under so many assaults in recent decades. This includes the explosion of no-fault divorce,…

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Pope Francis Troubled by Current Culture of Depopulation

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / January 29, 2024 /

Here’s the headline from a recent article in America Magazine: “Why Pope Francis is worried about declining birth rates.” The article was penned in response to recent remarks by Pope Francis to the Association for Subsidiarity and the Modernization of Local Authorities (ASMEL), in which the Holy Father expressed his concerns about the decreasing birth…

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March for Life: A Potent Expression of the Pro-Life Movement

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / January 22, 2024 /

When a group of activist U.S. Supreme Court Justices unilaterally legalized the killing of preborn children nationwide in 1973, they didn’t choose to release their decision in late January, during winter, as a challenge to test the resolve of pro-life activists. Presumably, the Justices thought that their decision (7-2), while likely to be greeted with…

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Pope Francis Calls for Surrogacy Ban, Affirms Human Dignity

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / January 15, 2024 /
surrogacy arrangement surrogate mother

Have you heard about the 62-year-old Australian woman who recently petitioned a court to be able to retrieve sperm from the body of her recently-deceased husband, in order to conceive a child, which will then be carried to birth by a surrogate? No, this is not from some dystopian sci-fi novel. An Australian court recently…

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Pro-life Pregnancy Centers Reach Life-Saving Milestone

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / January 8, 2024 /

January 1973 is a month of infamy—the month when a small group of activist judges on the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the killing of preborn children in the United States. In the decades that followed, however, pro-life activists successfully turned January into something else—a month celebrating life. Thanks to the foresight, ingenuity, determination, and sheer…

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The Power of Prayer: A New Years Resolution

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / January 1, 2024 /
Woman bible scriptures on knee, praying to God, hope and trust, bible verses about infertility

“[A] great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every…

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The Nativity of the Lord and the Value of Human Life

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet / December 25, 2023 /

“For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, thy all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne.” Wisdom 18:14 “In the beginning was the Word,” begins the Gospel of John. The “Word,” of course, was the Son, Jesus Christ. Unsurprisingly, the passage above from the…

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