Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Francis’s comments urging Ukrainian surrender are morally wrong and inconsistent with Catholic teaching

For Hildegard, rulers who blatantly violate the virtuous example set by Christ lose their authority to rule. Following from that, an unvirtuous ruler would necessarily fail to be a right authority that can legitimately wage war.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) joined many Americans in expressing strong emotional responses to two Supreme Court decisions, one relating to Title VII protections against discrimination (Bostock v. Clayton County) and the other to the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” or DACA program (Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California).

The overall intent of Modern Papal Diplomacy and Social Teaching in World Affairs is to continue the rediscovery of theology’s influence on politics with respect to the recent papacy.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care at the ancestral Mead mansion; and as I settle down for a long winter’s rest, I am taking a break from politics and war, sort of, to yet another run of our good old-fashioned Yuletide blog.

Real intolerance against Muslims exists, no question. But the term “Islamophobia” is too often deployed to inhibit rather than encourage dialogue about honest questions, concerns, or grievances.

Since it seems reasonable to spend time at cafes, take public transportation, and go shopping without the constant threat of terrorist attacks, it also seems necessary to discern and articulate some principles of a “just wall theory.”

It is said that victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. In the case of NATO’s military intervention in Libya six years ago, both sides of the adage seem to apply.