Some Nigerian Catholic Church leaders welcomed U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group militants, but some church leaders questioned the religious framing for the strikes.
War and Peace
Posted inPodcasts
O Little Town of Bethlehem: written for children in the aftermath of war, then and now
After the U.S. Civil War, Philadelphia rector Phillips Brooks traveled to Bethlehem seeking solace. Three years later, that experience inspired him to write this carol for the children of his parish. Does it still speak to those who carry the weight of war?
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
After Bondi Beach, how safe is America from Islamic State terror?
The ISIS rampage at Bondi Beach in Australia highlights a phenomenon well known to counterterrorism experts: The holiday season also represents a period of heightened threat from extremist groups like the Islamic State.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
What might Pope Leo make of Trump’s ‘America First’ National Security Strategy?
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy is at odds with church teaching and Pope Leo’s priorities on the transatlantic alliance, climate change, immigration, arms production, nuclear weapons and more.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
UPDATED: Pope Leo meets Ukraine’s Zelensky as European leaders discuss controversial U.S. peace plan
Pope Leo and President Volodymyr Zelensky met at a particularly delicate moment in the international effort to arrive at a peace plan that can be accepted by both Ukraine and Russia.
Posted inNews
Archbishop Broglio urges end to Trump administration’s Venezuela strikes
“I call on our Nation’s leaders, legislators, and those specifically charged to direct our Armed Forces to respect the consciences of those who raise their right hands to defend and protect the Constitution by not asking them to engage in immoral actions,” Archbishop Broglio said.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo makes a strong pitch for peace in war-threatened Lebanon
When Pope Leo arrived in Beirut on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30, on the second stage of his first foreign trip, his main aim was to promote peace and do what he could to prevent a year-long, unstable cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon from collapsing into a new war.
Posted inNews
Pope Leo calls for end to violence in Sudan, Tanzania
“Indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians and serious obstacles to humanitarian aid are causing unbearable suffering for a population already exhausted by long months of conflict,” the pope said Nov. 2.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo at interfaith peace meeting: ‘War is never holy’
On Tuesday evening, Oct. 28, Pope Leo made a forceful appeal for peace at Rome’s Colosseum and in the presence of representatives of the world’s main religions.
Posted inNews
Pope Leo condemns antisemitism and vows to fight it as tensions rise over Israel’s war in Gaza
At a time of rising antisemitism stemming from Israel’s war, Leo adopted as his own the Vatican’s official position abhorring antisemitism as he marked the 60th anniversary of a landmark Vatican document that revolutionized the Catholic Church’s relations with Jews.