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Over his first four years in the Vatican, Pope Francis released two important encyclicals dealing, in part, with economic issues. Dr. Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute talks about the nature of Catholic social encyclicals, and the historical context of Argentina that influenced how Francis views economic issues.

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With the 50th anniversary of Dignitatis Humanae just past us, we visit with independent scholar Keith Pavlischek to discuss the life and thought of John Courtney Murray, a Jesuit priest who had a profound impact on how Catholics think about religious pluralism and liberty. We review the major document on religious freedom released at the Second Vatican Council and then discuss how Murray became involved in this debate after being prompted to think about religious freedom following a series of US Supreme Court decisions. We also reflect upon what Murray would have thought about our current church-state landscape.

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Why do large institutions that begin as federated organizations tend to centralize authority in executive power? Prof. Ken Kollman (University of Michigan) explains his theory of executive centralization and applies it to the Roman Catholic Church. We discuss how the Church has centralized power in the Curia over the past 150 years and whether there are any counter-tendencies to such concentration of authority.

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In a “simul-podcast” with the Euvoluntary Exchange blog, Samuel Wilson interviews Tony about whether, and to what extent, religion connects with the new economic concept of “euvoluntary exchange” (EE). Samuel describes what EE is and then our conversation ranges over a wide array of topics including whether children have a real choice in choosing their faith and

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Just in time for every taxpayer’s favorite day — April 15 — David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation, joins us to discuss religious charity and how government spending & taxes can affect where private donations flow. We discuss some potential changes to the tax code, including the definition of what might count as a “charitable organization.” Anyone who runs a charitable organization or who makes even the smallest of financial donations to religious groups will want to listen to this episode.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released a document on religious liberty that criticized a new regulatory provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a., Obamacare) requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. Prof. Phillip Muñoz (Notre Dame) helps us wade through this controversy explaining the bishops’ argument, the politics surrounding this issue, and the various streams of Catholic social thought including the principle of subsidiarity. While primarily focused on health care (and specifically issues related to reproductive health), we take our discussion into other areas of religious freedom that the Catholic Church and others have considered important.

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Just in time for every taxpayer’s favorite day — April 15 — David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation, joins us to discuss religious charity and how government spending & taxes can affect where private donations flow. We discuss some potential changes to the tax code, including the definition of what might count as a “charitable organization.” Anyone who runs a charitable organization or who makes even the smallest of financial donations to religious groups will want to listen to this episode. If you know of others who may be interested, please spread the word.

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