Conference examines 'seamless garment' approach to life issues

Published: 2005-03-16

MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- At a time when many Catholics have a hard time finding a home in either major political party, 275 people gathered at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis for a spring symposium on the theme "Can the Seamless Garment Be Sewn: The Future of Pro-Life Progressivism." A series of panels explored ways in which the progressive movement in American politics has distanced itself from the pro-life movement, and the pro-life movement has distanced itself from progressive ideals, such as care for the poor, standing against violence, war and the death penalty, and the unequal distribution of wealth across the globe. The title of the March 11 symposium, sponsored by the school's Law Journal, refers to the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin's 1983 lecture at Fordham University, in which he argued for a "consistent ethic of life" in American culture, known informally as the "seamless garment" approach.

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