Peace

Since 1967, the Catholic Church has marked January 1 as the “World Day of Peace,” and popes from Pope Paul VI to Pope Francis have used the day to deliver messages of peace to the world. This year, Pope Francis has centered his comments around the timely message of the good of politics.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ ideas about just war still affect how Americans feel about wars, including World War II and the Persian Gulf War.

Most Christians, including most evangelicals, have been falling over themselves to denounce Jeff Sessions. But the way this immigration debate is carried out too often mirrors the political debate.

Just war theorizing has typically left the issue of national honor untouched, although warriors and statesmen routinely emphasize the importance of vindicating the sacrifice of the fallen. Does prolonging a war in order to assuage or vindicate national honor comport with the just war tradition?

The peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC is slightly over a year old, but there are a number of issues that will continue to be a concern from a practical and moral perspective.

St. Thomas Aquinas knew more than his modern emendators do about grounding his just war deliberations—and much else—in the cardinal moral virtue of prudence.

With Duterte, many felt heaven’s justice had come, wielding (symbolically and literally) the sword entrusted to government against evildoers. And despite international criticism, the Filipino people widely approve of the Duterte way. When offered the choice between vigilante justice and no justice at all, a downtrodden people will choose the former every time.

For young American Christians aspiring to a vocation intersecting faith and public life, a career in peacemaking and statecraft can afford the opportunity to positively influence US national attitudes in this area, if such aspirations are paired with proper training and certain cardinal virtues.

In the shadow cast by 9/11, it was difficult to believe something could be worse than al-Qaeda 1.0. But with American nightclubs and office buildings awash in blood, with Europe under siege, with Christians and Yazidis targeted for extermination, with the Pandora’s Box of chemical warfare reopened, with the female populations of entire cities enslaved, here we are.