The culture of death prefers to substitute meaningless abstractions for reality. An example too common to Catholics is the denial of Real Presence in the Eucharist and the portrayal of the Eucharist as only a meal shared in common. Other examples abound in this culture, where we often focus on making the world better through abstract commitments to love rather than making the neighborhood better through the real loving response to our neighbors every day.A culture that can deny Real Presence in the Eucharist will readily deny the existence of real humanity in the womb. So, too, the Church who defends His physical presence among us tirelessly defends the dignity of human life.Modern psychology contributes to the error by depicting cognitive development as progressing from literal understanding to abstract thought, as though the literal is the realm of the child. Imposing abstract meanings on real phenomena dissipates personal responsibility to live and support life.This paper considers the symbolization of reality, starting with the Real Presence of Our Lord, and the consequences of this symbolization in terms of loss of the sense of the physical and indifference to human life.

Was the Nazi era an aberration or the logical consequence of modern German history? Thomas Mann fears it was the latter, for he draws a line from Luther to German Romanticism, Wagner, Nietzsche, and Hitler. But buried beneath this predominant strand is the older, humane tradition of Erasmian Christian Humanism which Mann urges his compatriots to reclaim via the novel's Catholic narrator, an anti-Nazi classical scholar and teacher. And reclaim it they did, for in 1949, two years after the appearance of Dr. Faustus, the Federal Republic was founded on Christian principles and led for most of its 50-year life by the Catholic CDU party and its statesmen Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. Some serious reservations notwithstanding, Mann would have applauded the accomplishments of these two statesmen.

The hidden treasures or "signs of life" are human repentance heeding the voice of conscience, the silent majority of married couples dedicated to Christian fatherhood and motherhood, the countercultural mobilization possible through education and personal charity which can "redeem the time."

Democratic equality is not to be equated with the sameness of all human beings, a concept in modern socialistic thought. Natural differences among human beings and the corresponding diversity of functions find expression in competition - a concept that is consistent with the common good as long as it is informed by justice. Social harmony follows from the combination of unity and diversity. While all humans have the same origin, nature, and destiny, "each person is unique and unrepeatable."

Compares the theory of "political realism" in international politics, as enunciated most prominently by the late Hans J. Morgenthau, with Catholic teaching on international questions, showing points of compatibility and tension between the two. Aims to lay the groundwork for an approach to international politics which combines the best and compatible elements in the two.

Critiques the U. S. bishops' recent statement on Catholic social teaching. Analyzes the various sections of the statement. Expresses concern that many charged with implementing this teaching have allowed secular ideology to infiltrate and dominate their perspective.