Each year at this time, near the Fourth of July, we contemplate freedom. But maybe we are also being called to do an extended examination of our own fears.
Ukraine
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Leo XIV and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have first phone call
Pope Leo and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke together by phone today, June 4, for the first time, the Kremlin said.
Posted inFaith, News
Cardinal Parolin: Pope Leo wants peace between Russia and Ukraine, not a role in negotiations
Pope Leo XIV’s offer to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine was motivated by a conviction that the two sides must start negotiating and stop the killing, the Vatican secretary of state said.
Posted inFaith, News
Ukrainian president speaks with Pope Leo and invites him to Ukraine
“I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Trump and Zelenskyy meet inside St. Peter’s before Pope Francis’ funeral
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis on the morning of April 26.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Your Take
‘America deserves a moral leader, not a bully’: Our readers on Trump’s second term
America’s readers weigh in on the president’s temperament and conduct.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The Military Chaplains of Ukraine
To Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J., “Victory is creating a society where a person feels their freedom and dignity, and where a human being remains a human being.”
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
JD Vance, Ukraine and the nihilism of MAGA
There is a cynical strain of MAGA, a mirror of the deconstructivism of the left, which jeers at woke hypocrisy but is not for much of anything—certainly not anything requiring faith or sacrifice.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
As Ukraine ceasefire talk continues, Zelenskyy says he spoke with Vatican secretary of state
In a long post on X, the Ukrainian leader said that during the conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, “I wished Pope Francis a speedy recovery and thanked him for his prayers and moral support for our people.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
No one wants peace more than Ukrainians. But we cannot ignore evil and injustice.
Some voices advocate for immediate peace in Ukraine at any cost, but the world—and both political and religious leaders—must reject the illusion of a pacifism that ignores the harsh realities of evil and injustice.