The unusual statement marked the second time in recent months that members of the Catholic hierarchy have asserted their voice against a Trump administration many believe isn’t upholding the basic tenets of human dignity.
On the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the two Christian leaders pledged to unify their churches while warning world leaders to halt the spread of war and care for the environment.
This issue of A Public Witness looks at the not-so-immaculate conception of Christ the King Sunday and the theological conflict today between different visions of Christ as King.
The Chicago-born pope was responding to a range of geopolitical questions, including what kind of spiritual rights migrants in U.S. custody should have, U.S. military attacks on suspected drug traffickers off Venezuela, and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East.
The first American pope weighed in on a controversy roiling the Chicago diocese, telling journalists the Catholic Church’s political positions include more than opposing abortion.
The audience marked the first by history’s first American pope with the Israeli head of state. Leo spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July after an Israeli shell slammed into the only Catholic church in Gaza.
Two children, 8 and 10, were killed in the latest horrific school shooting in the United States, this time inside a church emblazoned with the words ‘This is the house of God and the Gate of Heaven.’
On a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa asserted that Israeli authorities ‘facilitate and enable’ the presence of settlers who have intensified attacks.
The group Freedom From Religion condemned the ruling, saying that ‘treating religiously affiliated nonprofits the same as all other nonprofits is not a violation of the First Amendment.’
Christian leaders stress that the council and its anniversary still have relevance in the modern day, despite theological divides.