Today in The Federalist, Acton director of research Samuel Gregg looks ahead to Pope Francis’ American visit. Gregg, of course, cannot predict the future, but he can respond to others’ speculation; in particular, he takes issue with Jeffrey Sachs. Sachs, in America magazine argued that another old-style Jesuit—Pope Francis—will ing to an America uninterested in virtue, mired in consumerism, and fast ing a hyper-individualistic society obsessed with rights. Turning on the television soon confirms there’s some truth in Sachs’ analysis....

Speaking to the New York Times, Rev. Robert A. Sirico, Acton Institute president and co-founder, addresses the potential political fallout from the Pope’s encyclical statements on climate change: From the moment he steps into that chamber and talks about climate change, it’s going to be taken as a political statement,” said the Rev. Robert Sirico, executive director of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a policy group that endorses free-market economics. “For the conservatives, it’s going...

Christina M. Weber says that Christian women have been trail-blazers in showing us how to balance family life, work and worship. In the 20th century, Weber says that political ideologies tried to break down family life. Marxists munists promoted disconnection between children and their parents with patible work schedules. They also destabilized marriages with the encouragement of promiscuity and lust. The agenda—dependence on the state above family and God — fueled the economic and political goals of their leaders. But...

Does having a college diploma mean you are ready for the workforce? It depends on who you ask. If you ask those involved with higher education, almost 75 percent say, “yes.” However, both students and employers are less sure: less than 60 percent of those groups feel college grads are well-prepared for a professional career. What are employers looking for, if not a diploma? They want proficiency in four key munication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. With colleges and universities...

Acton University 2015 got underway last night with an opening plenary address by Dr. Samuel Gregg on the topic of Truth, Reason and Equality. Gregg emphasized that the pursuit of authentic equality must be rooted in a deep respect for truth, not in “sentimental humanitarianism.” We’re pleased to share his address with you via the video player below. ...

At an auction in2007Andreas Gursky turned 99 cents into $3.34 million. Well, sort of. Perhaps it’d be more accurate to say he turned99 Cent II Diptychon, a photograph depicting an interior of a supermarket, into a few million. At the time this was the most expensive photograph in the world. Even more amazing is that this wasthe third print of the same image that had sold for millions. Two others sold in 2006, one for $2.25 million and another for...

Acton University 2015 is about to get underway at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and our friend Al Kresta has already taken up residence on the gallery overlook level for his week ofKresta in the Afternoonremote broadcasts. His first guest from Acton University was our own Kishore Jayabalan, director of Istituto Acton in Rome, who sat down for a twenty minute discussion of Pope Francis, Laudeto Si, and patibility of capitalism with Christianity. The full interview is available via...

Since Pope Francis will be addressing climate change later this week the Pew Research Center has released a survey showing what American Catholics think about boththe pontiff and global warming. Not surprisingly, the surveyfound that global warming is a “highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.” About seven-in-ten U.S. Catholics (71 percent) believe the planet is getting warmer, and nearly half (47 percent) attribute itto human causes....

Michael Matheson Miller, Research Fellow and Director of Acton Media at the Acton Institute: “Pope Francis has spoken consistently about the need to end exclusion for the world’s poor. Since the environmental movement often neglects the challenges of the poor, it will be interesting to see how the encyclical addresses the call to environmental stewardship in the context of poverty and economic development. “ ...

Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Istituto Acton in Rome: “The fact that this draft has been leaked well in advance of the encyclical’s official release shows the great interest in what Pope Francis has to say about the environment. To be sure, he will frame the issues in Christian terms, as the pope must always do. My concern is that he will blame the market economy for basically all our environmental degradation and neglect the very important role private property and...