Climate change and nuclear disarmament are two legacy issues for Pope Francis. Like the prophets of old, on each issue he has been characteristically outspoken in his blunt, provocative moral judgements.
Catholicism
Catholic Engagement on Mining: Leveraging Church Capacity for Integral Peace, Development, and Ecology
The word “integral” has become ubiquitous in the Catholic Church. It can be traced back to Pope Pius XII speaking of “integral peace” in his 1942 Christmas message, though it is more commonly associated with Pope Paul VI, who introduced “integral human development” in...
The Mining Industry, Conflict, and the Church’s Commitment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 2019, the links between the extractive industry and the escalation of conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were documented in a report to the UN Security Council. For over two decades, experts on the Great Lakes region, including diplomats,...
Extractive Industries: Ethics, Practice, and Religious Engagement
Policies toward mining are a keenly debated aspect of development strategies. Extractive industries play significant economic roles in some sixty-three countries and challenges facing many of them, especially the most fragile, loom large. Topics at issue include...
Resurrection Politics and Banning the Bomb
Maryann Cusimano Love The nuclear weapons ban is the latest example of resurrection politics. Peace advocates, scientists, and churches have been trying to ban the bomb for over 70 years, with few successes. Resurrection politics takes issues thought previously “dead...
The Holy See’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Gerard Powers The Vatican has long supported nuclear arms reduction and is seeking to build on the disarmament momentum generated by the United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons. The Holy See’s efforts, like those of other pro-ban states, might seem quixotic...
The Pope’s Appeal to Conscience
Patrick Gaffney, C.S.C. In terms of media reporting, public debate, and partisan polemics, the recent conflict in Gaza can be characterized like its predecessors as a military confrontation and diplomatic poker game between Israel and Hamas. But on a deeper level this...
Ethical Challenges of Global Zero
Gerard F. Powers Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious leaders have given much greater attention to the moral imperative of nuclear disarmament. But a gap exists in the ethical analysis needed to sustain this moral imperative....
Catholic Universities and the Nuclear Threat
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. Fifty-one years ago, Pope John XXIII issued his encyclical Pacem in Terris, which declared that “the arms race should cease” and urged that “all come to an agreement on a fitting program of disarmament.” In revitalizing the Catholic voice...
Moral and Spiritual Values for Nuclear Disarmament
Margaret Pfeil Over the last 30 years, the Catholic Church’s teaching on the morality of nuclear deterrence has developed in response to post-Cold War conditions, appealing to a vibrant, traditional value system. In their 1983 pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace,...
The Ethical Imperative of Disarmament
Cardinal Roger Mahony Few challenges are more urgent for Catholic teaching on war and peace than the awesome and unprecedented power of nuclear weapons. In evaluating nuclear deterrence, the U.S. bishops have proposed an “interim ethic” whereby nuclear deterrence...
What Next for Catholic Peacebuilding in South Sudan?
John Katunga Religious institutions, especially the Anglican and Catholic churches, have played a leading role in peacebuilding in Sudan for decades. Their role in the process leading to South Sudan’s independence is the most recent example. Through a process of...
Notre Dame Stands with Sudan
Kevin Dugan and Patrick McCormick Last fall a delegation representing the Sudan Conference of Catholic Bishops visited the University of Notre Dame to reach out to the Catholic community in the United States. They came to seek help in assuring a peaceful outcome for...