New journal offers Catholic view of human experience

Washington D.C., Nov 19, 2011 / 15:58 pm

Experts from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C. have launched a free online journal called “Humanum” to address issues surrounding the family, marriage, love, health and human life. 

“Humanum is all about 'the human,'” said editor Stratford Caldecott, “what makes us human, what keeps us human, and how to rescue our humanity when this is endangered.”

“The journal has a particular concern with issues that directly affect the poor and the vulnerable in our society,” he said.

The Center for Cultural and Pastoral Research, a recently founded subgroup of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, launched its new quarterly online review on Nov. 15.

The Fall 2011 issue features prominent Catholic writers such as David L. Schindler, Father José Granados, and Ellen Roderick, and focuses on the theme of the child—“the first and purest expression of what it is to be human,” said center director Margaret H. McCarthy.

McCarthy said that “Humanum” aims to engage contemporary themes such as childhood, bioethics, education, work, ecology, medicine, health and also review “important and influential books.”

She explained that initiative is intended as a free service to researchers and students in the social sciences, medicine, and theology, as well as to pastoral and health care workers, catechists, parents and teachers.

The journal “is one of several expressions of the center’s effort to bring sustained anthropological and theological reflection to the pressing cultural issues of our time, particularly as these affect children and the most vulnerable members of society, including the aged and infirm,” McCarthy said.

After the fall journal, “Humanum” will launch a four-issue cycle on “Recovering Origins,” which will explore how children may be compromised by divorce, artificial reproduction, same-sex unions, and delinquent fatherhood.