Last week, following Pope Leo XIII in “Rerum Novarum” I affirmed that the authority of the father in the family is the fundamental principle of right social order. It is necessary now to clarify a bit what that does and does not mean. It is one thing to uphold the authority of the father, in principle, but another to discover the best way of proceeding when, in particular cases, a father becomes abusive or tyrannical. Likewise, upholding the authority of the father, in principle, does not exclude particular cases in which, for......

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