Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Human Rights and the Challenge of Evangelization

Earlier this year, I met Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, SJ at a conference at Notre Dame sponsored by the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. I knew from reliable sources that Fr. Samir is widely considered to be the Vatican's most trusted expert on Islam, and so it was a rare honor to be able to chat with him during dinner at the conference. He was as charming as he was immensely well-informed.

Yesterday, I noticed an article in the Asian Times by Fr. Samir which I think is a must read. It is here.

Also a must read, in my opinion, is an article by Roy W. Brown about the demise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is now well under way at the United Nations. It is an extremely important article. It is here.

World-historical shifts are usually impossible to notice except in hindsight, but today they are happening at a breathtaking pace. These two article are evidence of what is happening.