John McKnight's The Careless Society tellingly exposes the ways the professionalized welfare state creates dependency. But McKnight is too quick to condemn this result as the product of professional self‐interest, and to posit as the alternative a selfless, republican model of community. He overlooks the more realistic possibility that the pursuit of their interests by social groups empowered to take care of themselves would better serve those interests, and would simultaneously create a feeling of interdependence and civic responsibility.

In May 2019, an international conference on perinatal palliative care entitled “Yes to Life! Taking Care of the Precious Gift of Life in Its Frailty” was held in Rome. It was organized by the Italian nonprofit foundation Il Cuore in Una Goccia and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Pope Francis greeted the participants personally and delivered an address describing the goals and practices of perinatal palliative care as being in keeping with the teachings of the Roman Catholic (...) Church and the pastoral care of families. His endorsement represents a new pastoral development, a renewed focus on supporting families and infants who are affected by genetic... (shrink)