“Acton’s ideal of the historian as judge, as the upholder of the moral standard, is the most noble ideal ever proposed for the historian,” says Josef L. Altholz in this week’s Acton Commentary, “and it is an ideal that has been rejected, perhaps with grudging respect, by all historians, including myself.” We workaday historians can have no higher ideal than Acton’s second choice, impartiality or objectivity. In this sense, as also in his relative lack of publications, Acton was somewhat...

Like all of Europe, Poland is suffering from a steep demographic crisis. Despite a relatively large (European) population andan expansive land mass that serves as a bridge between Europe and Asia, Poland has a fertility rate lower than that of China – a nation that only recently relaxed its One-Child Policy. (Beijing now enforces its two-child policy no less ruthlessly.) Several European (and non-European) nations have tried to incentivize their citizens to have more children through various means: taxpayer subsidies...

UPDATE:Andy Puzder withdrew his name from considerationyesterday, so we’re updating and reposting this article with the information for the new nominee, Alexander Acosta. Note: This is the fifth in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the President’s Cabinet. See the series introductionhere. Cabinet position:Secretary of Labor Department: United States Department of Labor Current Nominee:Andrew Puzder Succession:The Secretary of Labor is the eleventh in the presidential line of succession. Department Mission:“To foster, promote, and...

St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is one of the tens of thousands of churches seized, shuttered, or destroyedfollowing theBolshevik Revolution of 1917. Instead of leveling it – the fate of so many other houses of worship – muniststurned the architectural wonder into a Museum of Atheism, then a museum in its own right. It has e a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by 3.5 million people last year. In January,Governor Georgy Poltavchenko announced that he would transfer ownership of...

Michael Novak died last night at the age of 83. Novak was a theologian and thinkerwho cared deeply about liberty and wrote persuasively about what isnecessaryto preserve freedomfor future generations. In honor of his passing, here are six quotes by Novak on freedom and institutions: Michael Novak / Catholic University of America On truth and freedom: “The most critical threat to our freedom is a failure to appreciate the power of truth.” On the future of liberty: “During the past...

The theologian, scholar, and writer Michael Novak died yesterday at the age of 83. Novak was one of the most influential Catholic thinkers of his generation, and an indefatigable champion of free enterprise, democracy, and liberty. Here are five facts you should know about Novak: Michael Novak / Acton Institute 1. At age fourteen Novak entered Holy Cross Seminary of the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame with the intention of ing a Catholic priest. From there, he went...

Despite persistent caricature, corporate titans do not always view government regulators as enemies; they often see them as unwitting collaborators. Big business and the regulatory state go hand-in-hand, according to Michael Gove, a Conservative Party Member of the UK’s Parliament. Large corporations sometimes support – and occasionally help write – regulations that they can keep, but that petitors cannot. By setting the regulatory bar just out of reach, they use the lever of government to artificially petition in their favor....

To really serve God, a Christian should go into ministry, right? That’s what Greg McEvilly thought. But then he founded Kammok, an outdoor adventure pany. ...

Theologian, public intellectual, and close friend of the Acton Institute, Michael J. Novak Jr., passed away last night on February 17, 2017. Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico reflects on the passing of his friend and mentor Michael Novak, who through his writings influenced scores of scholars and theologians to recognize the potential of the market economy and the centrality of the dignity of the human person. His final speaking appearance at Acton was on June 17, 2016. You...

Upon the announcement of President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, originalists quickly came to a warm consensus, hailing Judge Neil Gorsuch as a strong defender of the Constitution and a fitting replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia. In addition to the wide-ranging, bipartisan testimonials testifying to his character, intellectual heft, and various credentials, Gorsuch has demonstrated mitment to the Constitution and the freedoms it seeks to protect, whether in weighing issues of executive power, regulatory overreach, or, quite literally,...