Consistent Ethic of Life: Navigating Catholic Engagement with U.S. Politics

The consistent ethic of life is a fully Catholic engagement with the difficult challenges that conscience encounters in our time. This short book is a resource for parishes and general readers to rediscover the consistent ethic now in this challenging, divided moment of our history.

Tracing the historical development of the consistent ethic from the early 1970s up to recent days, A Consistent Ethic of Life encourages readers to adopt an attitude that calls them to be partisans for life above the partisanship of our politics.

Endorsements

"Is there an antidote for the increasing polarization rending both the Church and the US? In this short, accessible book, Steven P. Millies argues that since the 1970s, A Consistent Ethic of Life has been precisely the remedy for committed Catholics seeking to discern a faithful way forward amid escalating and divisive partisan politics. Drawing on rigorous scholarship, Millies deftly narrates--in prose eloquent yet clear--a new and thicker account of the historic, ecclesial, and theological development of the consistent ethic, from Vatican II through John Paul II to Pope Francis. As the US moves into yet another fraught election cycle, A Consistent Ethic of Life is a must read for thoughtful Catholics in parishes, classrooms, and the academy."
--M. Therese Lysaught, PhD, professor, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago

Steven P. Millies is the author of Joseph Bernardin: Seeking Common Ground (Liturgical Press, 2016) and Good Intentions: A History of Catholic Voters' Road from Roe to Trump (Liturgical Press, 2018). He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
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