Published on
30 May 2006
I must say I gave this title partly to shock people. Famously, just before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger spoke out against moral relativism, and just this last week in Poland the Pope has again spoken out against relativism. What he means by this, I take it, is that we should reject ethical views that […]
Published on
7 December 2005
It is my great pleasure and honour to be invited, by the Thomas More Institute, to share with you our experience in rebuilding justice and reconciliation after the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. Rwanda’s history was characterized by a highly centralised and autocratic system of government that institutionalised ethnic differences. This culminated in the 1994 […]
Published on
9 November 2005
May I say that I am pleased to see here a number of our colleagues from China. I have been visiting China since the year 2000 when I went as a member of the Foreign Secretary’s Death Penalty Panel. I have noticed some remarkable changes in attitudes and in openness of discussion on the subject […]
Published on
24 November 2004
Introduction In contemporary Europe, perhaps no subject is as controversial as the idea of a European Constitution and the question of whether it should be ratified by the Union’s member states. In one sense, this is nothing new insofar as the precise form, nature, and origins of constitutions has been debated throughout Europe for centuries. […]
Published on
14 October 2004
Introduction Pilate said to Jesus, “So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.’ Pilate said to him, “What is truth? […]
Published on
8 September 2004
The end of British rule in Hong Kong could be discussed in terms of the final act in Asian colonial history: the conclusion of China’s experience of foreign invasions and the demise of the last significant possession of the former British Empire. Or the transfer of sovereignty to the Chinese Government might be analysed as […]
Published on
20 May 2004
I. During the American civil rights movement, a piece of African-American wisdom came into broad circulation in the United States: “You’ve got to walk the walk, not just talk the talk’. Which meant, simply, that public officials must act on their convictions, not just talk about them. It’s a useful reminder that courage in public […]
Published on
24 March 2004
My remit this evening is to talk about the Just War tradition of thinking, and whether or how we might apply it or adapt it to modern settings and problems. It is customary to trace the tradition back to Augustine and then Aquinas, and in both their epochs the world was a different place from […]