On Saturday, October 7, a band of Hamas terrorists breached an internationally recognized border and crossed into Israel. Over the next twelve hours, they committed unspeakable horrors against a defenseless civilian population. They beheaded babies and burned entire families alive. They raped women . . . . Continue Reading »
Matthew Dal Santo’s “Theopolitics of Ukraine” (August/September 2023) is a welcome counterweight to “What Ukraine Means” from the May 2023 issue. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the largest Orthodox church in Ukraine by number of parishes with more than 12,000. Before the start of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Judge Stephen P. Friot joins the podcast to discuss his new book Containing History: How Cold War History Explains US–Russia Relations. Continue Reading »
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow have claimed that Russia’s so-called Special Operation is needed to defend the wider russkiy mir, the “Russian world.” By this term they mean the Orthodoxy-based Russian-language civilization that Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus . . . . Continue Reading »
Amidst a war involving the world’s foremost nuclear powers, Pope Francis has been a lonely voice for peace. For his pains, he has been criticized by commenters on left and right and by leaders in both Russia and Ukraine. Yet he has continued to speak. There is a great deal at stake in whether the . . . . Continue Reading »
The drama unfolding in Ukraine is not just about a “special operation” fifteen months old. It spells the unraveling of a century-long alliance with force. Continue Reading »
My deep thanks to Brad East for his piece on doing theology in a divided church (“Theology in Division,” April 2023). The topic is centrally important and rarely taken seriously, as if its obviousness renders the challenge uninteresting. East’s larger points about aiming at a catholic theology . . . . Continue Reading »
Vatican diplomacy, absent a recognition of the basic moral and political asymmetries in this brutal war, might make matters worse, with a misconceived and ill-executed “peace mission.” Continue Reading »