locustheologicus

[locustheologicus]

The Truth about Iran and the nuclear deal:

Now that we are at the edge of war It is important to recall that the United States did have a deal with Iran. It was groundbreaking. Iran agreed to restrict its production of highly enriched uranium or the plutonium that could be used in a nuclear weapon. 10 years ago — under President Obama’s leadership — the United States and the four other permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, and the UK) as well as Germany and the European Union signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.

It worked:

The agreement got off to a fairly smooth start. The IAEA certified in early 2016 that Iran had met its preliminary pledges; and the United States, EU, and United Nations responded by repealing or suspending their sanctions.

Then, Trump came into office and pulled out of the treaty. He also failed to negotiate anything better.

President Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018 and reinstated devastating banking and oil sanctions. …Iran started exceeding agreed-upon limits to its stockpile of low-enriched uranium in 2019, and began enriching uranium to higher concentrations (though still far short of the purity required for weapons).

The deal was groundbreaking and it was ensuring peace in the middle-east. Trump famously claimed that war was a failure to negotiate and often had underlying political causes. He brilliantly distances himself from politicians who intervene in the quagmire of middle eastern affairs and positions himself as the great diplomatic negotiator and a candidate that would promote peace and leave the world alone. Many who voted for him did so based on that impression.

Instead Trump sowed international mistrust and demonstrated his inability to negotiate (which we have seen consistently in his administration). When Biden became president, he tried to negotiate a return to the Iran Deal — but was not able to clean up the mess left behind by Trump’s first administration. Now, we have the President of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been itching to square off with Iran and Trump has played right into this apocalyptic scenario.

Let’s take a look visually at what happened between 2015 to now.

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Pope Leo XIV tells us that “Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable chasm.” The US government was in fact proactive and we must keep in mind that the current situation was completely avoidable.

Trump will never take responsibility for his actions. He will inevitably lead us to war. It looks like China and Russia will step up to pause the aggression of the U.S. and Israel, we will have to see how this develops. In the meantime It’s up to us to take the moral high ground and utilize the democratic system to set in place the moral tradition that escapes the current administration. To pursue freedom, democracy, justice, and peace in our world.

As Catholics we must be aware of the reality that led us to this situation. Trump’s recklessness in breaking with international treaties have led to this tragic moment and we have to stop his own ambitious political ambition before he takes us into a tragic war. Let us stand with our Holy Father and bring back an administration that is committed to dialogue and diplomacy.

[locustheologicus]

Pope Leo’s Emerging Social Vision:

These three videos from Rome Reports broaden our understanding of Pope Leo XIV’s social vision. Here we may catch a glimpse of his social emphasis and what we can anticipate from his pontificate.

The Consistent Ethic of Life:

The first video is from a talk he gave in 2023 as Cardinal. He was given an honorary award and he used this platform to exhibit a teaching that was central to Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago, the Consistent ethic of life.

For example, a Catholic cannot claim to be pro-life just to take a stance against abortion, while at the same time saying they are in favor of the death penalty. That would not be consistent with the Church’s social doctrine. So we can say that our way of thinking and teaching must be coherent.

This moral vision is one that comes from a moral polarity within our Church. On the one hand the Church teaches about the consistent ethic of life and reminds Catholic that a pro-life stance must be met consistently with other social issues like the death penalty. On the other hand the Church, especially in America, tends to focus its energy on the abortion issue and can be quiet on many other issues like immigration and criminal justice. Pope Francis has made such a position almost untenable during his administration by elevating these social issues and dismissing what some called “non-negotiable” values. We are seing that a similar moral position may also exist with Pope Leo XIV. 

The dignity of life is a central tenant of Catholic social teaching and you will see it raised under this pontificate. But we should anticipate a balanced approach to social issues and perhaps a renewal of moral theology. 

Political Charity, Economic Justice and AI:

Those who live in extreme conditions cry out to make their voices heard, and often find no ears willing to hear their plea. This imbalance generates situations of persistent injustice, which readily lead to violence and, sooner or later, to the tragedy of war. Sound politics, on the other hand, by promoting the equitable distribution of resources, can offer an effective service to harmony and peace both domestically and internationally.

In his meeting with politicians Pope Leo XIV also outlined his own political vision and here what you see is a plea to promote economic justice and to be attentive to poor and marginalized communities. We may anticipate that he will continue promoting political advocacy and engagement, which Pope Francis called political charity. This has been part of our Catholic social tradition especially since the time of Pope John XXIII. 

No doubt the call to political charity will address all our Catholic social issues but from what we hear today we know that our Holy Father will be attentive to poverty and economic injustice. Following in the Catholic social tradition Pope Leo will be addressing poverty and economic justice through the lens of both charity and justice. We caught a glimpse of this in his World Day of the Poor message when he reminds us that “helping the poor is a matter of justice before a question of charity.”

Pope Leo will be looking at the technological question as well. Pope Francis raised the concern with technology and specifically around AI towards the end of his pontificate. We can see that Pope Leo is continuing to raise these same concerns.

AI, especially Generative AI, has opened new horizons on many different levels, including enhancing research in healthcare and scientific discovery, but also raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp and process reality.

We can be sure that the ethics of AI will be further addressed in the social teachings of his pontificate.    

Urging Peace and an End to War:

War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples, which take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, or stolen futures.

St. Augustine lived during the end of the Roman Empire and during the violence and horror of the germanic invasions. Pope Leo XIV raises the wisdom of this great Saint and we can expect that he will be attentive to the growing violence in our own society and world. With the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and the role that the U.S., Russia, and China will play in this emerging conflict, Pope Leo is setting the tone for the Church to prophetically respond to issue of war and to establish itself as a mediator of peace.  

In another recent speech to popular movements Pope Leo introduces a topic that I believe he will explore further, building institutions of peace. 

If you want peace, prepare institutions of peace. Increasingly we realize that this cannot simply involve political institutions, whether national or international, but requires all institutions – educational, economic and social. The Encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” frequently spoke of the need to pass from “I” to “we”, in a spirit of solidarity that needs to find institutional expression. For this reason, I encourage you to remain committed and present: present within history as a leaven of unity, communion and fraternity. 

The way our Holy Father explores this topic one gets the sense that it will flow from the theme of global solidarity that Pope Francis developed in his 2020 encyclical. 

Beyond his first World Day of the Poor message we have yet to see Pope Leo XIV’s social teaching but this will be coming along. I am sure that by the end of the year we will have a better sense of his priorities and social agenda. But in the meantime these recent utterences offer us a glimpse of what we can expect. 

[locustheologicus]

Catholic Charities advocates for Funding Food Security.

Pope Leo XIV recently released his first World Day of the Poor message where he reminds us that, "Poverty has structural causes that must be addressed and eliminated." Our Holy Father goes on to remind us that "each of us is called to offer new signs of hope that will bear witness to Christian charity."

On June 18, Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens (CCBQ) responded to the Pope's invitation by joining with other food pantry coalitions in the city to rally for a baseline funding of $100 million for the Community Food Connection (CFC) program. Right now, the Mayor's office is proposing a baseline of $36 million for CFC which would be a dramatic cut of resources. With what we are seeing at the federal level CCBQ is concerned with its ability to respond to an emerging food crisis.

CFC provides critical funding to over 500 community kitchens and food pantries across the city, helping deliver nutritious food to New Yorkers in need. CCBQ runs 60 of these pantries throughout Brooklyn and Queens. From April 2024 to April 2025, CCBQ served 234,000 individuals, 30% of the food-insecure population in Brooklyn and Queens through these 60 Parish-Based CCBQ Food Pantries.

Nonprofits like our own can’t keep doing more with less. We need bold action from our city officials to fully fund the emergency food system New Yorkers rely on. As food insecurity grows, the need for this program has never been greater.

We urged the City Council and the Mayor to fully fund CFC to the baseline funding of $100 million and to have a separate allocation within CFC to support coalitions working to transform the food assistance system. These coalitions are focused on creating long-term solutions that address the root causes of food insecurity in New York City.

Please click on the advocacy link below to add your voice on this issue.

[locustheologicus]

The Pope of Hope:

We saw Pope Leo’s emphasis on hope in his recent World Day of the Poor message but this weekend he again promoted this virtue in his video message to the people of Chicago. As he turns his attention to the youth he reminds them to always find hope in their quest for meaning and their restless search for truth. Our own truth emerges from our faith in a loving God and Pope Leo suggests that based on this Christian formula our hope instincively moves us to charity, “for finding the ways that we may be able to do something with our own lives to serve others.” He beautifully develops this further with the following reflection.

And in that service to others we may find that coming together in friendship, building up community, we too can find true meaning in our lives. Moments of anxiety, of loneliness. So many people who suffer from different experiences of depression or sadness - they can discover that the love of God is truly healing, that it brings hope, and that actually, coming together as friends, as brothers and sisters, in community, in a parish, in an experience of living our faith together, we can find that the Lord’s grace, that the love of God can truly heal us, can give us the strength that we need, can be the source of that hope that we all need in our lives.

To share that message of hope with one another - in outreach, in service, in looking for ways to make our world a better place - gives true life to all of us, and is a sign of hope for the whole world.

Pope Leo’s message was considered further by Bishop Broglio of the USCCB in light of the current situation regarding ICE, the administration, and the immigrant community.

Considering Pope Leo’s message, no one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement actions.

Bishop Broglio’s message offers the following succinct analysis regarding the recent detentions:

In the context of a gravely deficient immigration system, the mass arrest and removal of our neighbors, friends and family members on the basis of immigration status alone, particularly in ways that are arbitrary or without due process, represent a profound social crisis before which no person of good will can remain silent.

Recognizing this social reality, and inspired by our Holy Father's message of hope and charity, the USCCB goes on to make the following commitment:

On behalf of my brother bishops, I want to assure all of those affected by actions which tear at the fabric of our communities of the solidarity of your pastors. As your shepherds, your fear echoes in our hearts and we make your pain our own. Count on the commitment of all of us to stand with you in this challenging hour. 

This commitment goes on to offer a concrete expression of solidarity from our Church leaders to the work of Catholic social ministries:

I acknowledge those in our Catholic service and community organizations working to promote the common good by binding up the wounds of the afflicted. Let those motivated by the urgency of the current moment to work for just and humane solutions to these immigration challenges know of the cooperation and goodwill of the Catholic Bishops of our country.

These are inspiring words for the work of Catholic Charities and social ministries. We are looking to integrate our marginalized communities within our communities through employment training and basic services (since they do not have access to social services). Part of what we offer is a message of hope in the midst of tremendous social challenges and this message of solidarity from the U.S. Bishops will help us convey this to them.

[locustheologicus]

Pope Leo XIV and Science:

This one of my oldest and favorite posts that I like to refer to every once in awhile. Today I am reblogging it in light of the recent presentation that Pope Leo XIV had with the astrophysicist community at the Vatican observatory. He reminds them, and the broader Catholic community, that our sacred texts has always looked to the heavens to see and celebrate the beauty of God's self-revelation.

The authors of sacred Scripture, writing so many centuries ago, did not have the benefit of this privilege. Yet their poetic and religious imagination pondered what the moment of creation must have been like, when “the stars shone in their watches and rejoiced; and their Creator called them and they said, ‘Here we are!’, shining with gladness for him who made them” (Baruch 3:34).

While being consistent with the Catholic tradition of celebrating the work of God in our scientific achievement (which the secular community sometimes forgets) Pope Leo also suggest that scientific achievement can also lead to the development of a peaceful and just society.

Never forget, then, that what you are doing is meant to benefit all of us. Be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, as best you can and however you can. Do not hesitate to share the joy and the amazement born of your contemplation of the “seeds” that, in the words of Saint Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe (cf. De Genesis ad Litteram, V, 23, 44-45). The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world.

Interpreting Scripture, Especially in Light of Science

For we learned the plan of our salvation from no others than from those through whom the gospel came to us. They first preached it abroad, and then later by the will of God handed it down to us in Writings, to be the foundation and pillar of our faith. - Irenaeus, “Against Heresies”

Back in the early third century St. Irenaeus of Lyons offers one of the earliest account for the development of scripture to refute fundamentalist interpretations of scripture that were being offered by the Gnostic Christians. One group in particular, Marcionism, developed one of the earliest formats of the New Testament that was designed and interpreted by Marcion of Rome. In this quote St. Irenaeus reminded the Christian community that the revered letters that had been written and which are observed in particular communities were transmitted from an initial oral tradition. At the time of St. Irenaeus the Christian Scripture (also known as the New Testament) had not yet come into existence in the way we known it today. This project was only emerging at that time in response to misinterpretations like Marcion’s which made the attempt to narrowly define scripture in order to fit the teachings of a particular perspective (Marcion gnosticism).

For the early Christian community Sacred Scripture is a living document which allowed them to engage in the revealed truth as presented to the prophets and the apostolic founders. It was seen within the lens of the broader Christian tradition which came to be called Catholic (meaning: “according to the whole”). Thus these early Christian leaders recognized the allegorical, moral and spiritual interpretation of Scripture as the way for present and future communities to grapple with revealed truths that St. Irenaeus suggested existed as “the treasure hidden in a field.” 

So it is that one of the earliest theologians, Origen of Alexandria (writing also in the third century), scoffed at those who applied a literal interpretation of every detail of Scripture such as the six days account of creation in the book of Genesis.

To be specific: What intelligent person can believe that there was a first day, then a second and a third, evening, and morning, without sun, the moon, and the stars; and the first day – if this is the right term – even without a heaven [Gen. 1:5-6]? … When God is depicted walking in the garden in the evening and Adam hiding behind a tree, I think no one will doubt that these details point figuratively to some mysteries by means of a historical narrative which seems to have happened but did not happen in a bodily sense. By the same token, when Cain “went out from the face of the Lord” [Gen. 4:16], it is quite clear to the insightful that this expression stimulates the careful reader to inquire what the face of God is and what it means for someone to go out from it. What more needs to be said? Those who are not totally dull can collect innumerable examples of this kind, where something is presented as having happened but did not happen in terms of the literal meaning of the text. - Origen, “On First Principles”

Nevertheless people would find problems with the interpretation of scripture as new ways of thinking and scientific discoveries would challenge a previously accepted cosmology which had been reconciled with Scripture. It would be St. Augustine who would address these scientific/scriptural conflicts. St. Augustine was horrified at Christians who attempted to refute rationally sound ideas through the use of Scripture. In a fifth century commentary he offered on “The Literal Meaning of Genesis” St. Augustine refutes this. 

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.

…Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion. 

In a letter to Marcellinus St. Augustine would suggest that any perceived conflict between clearly rational ideas and Scripture is not an actual conflict with “what is in the Bible, but what he has found in himself and imagines to be there.”

For Catholics the basis for this understanding lies in the belief that God is the author not only of Scripture but also of creation. If there is only one God and we believe God to be the author of both works then there must be a consistent relationship between clearly manifest rational truths found in nature and the revealed truths of our religious tradition that is found in scripture. St. Thomas Aquinas would eloquently offer this point in a commentary on Ecclesiastes that he offered on the thirteenth century.

Sacred writings are bound in two volumes – that of creation and that of the Holy Scriptures… Visible creatures are like a book in which we read the knowledge of God. One has every right to call God’s creatures God’s ‘works,’ for they express the divine mind just as effects manifest their cause. ‘The works of the Lord are the words of the Lord.’ 

As the modern scientific era was taking hold Pope Leo XIII wrote a document in 1893 called “Providentissimus Deus" which again discussed the interpretation of Scripture and tradition in light of the emerging scientific discoveries. In it he made the following appeal to both scientific and scripture scholars regarding the consistency of rational and revealed truths.     

Let them loyally hold that God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures - and that therefore nothing can be proved either by physical science or archaeology which can really contradict the Scriptures. If, then, apparent contradiction be met with, every effort should be made to remove it. Judicious theologians and commentators should be consulted as to what is the true or most probable meaning of the passage in discussion, and the hostile arguments should be carefully weighed. Even if the difficulty is after all not cleared up and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned; truth cannot contradict truth, and we may be sure that some mistake has been made either in the interpretation of the sacred words, or in the polemical discussion itself; and if no such mistake can be detected, we must then suspend judgment for the time being. #23

[locustheologicus]

‘You Are My Hope’: Pope Leo XIV’s Message for 9th World Day of the Poor

The First World Day of the Poor Message under Pope Leo XIV has been officially released.

There are three points of this first official social teaching of our new Pope I would like to highlight:

“The gravest form of poverty is not to know God.” Pope Leo XIV emphasizes the theological grounding of our social mission. He is going to celebrate the pastoral mission of the Church to engage in social ministry which I will get to in the third point but he starts by inviting us to recognize the importance of providing those in need with spiritual care. Pope Leo suggests that we suffer from an isolation from the source of our human dignity, from a relationship with God that grounds our very being and inspires us to live as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another.

Pope Leo XIV also teaches us about the link between the three theological virtues and how our ability to have faith (point number 1) lead us to hope which is demonstrated in charity. These three virtues interact interact intimately with each other as he says here: “Hope is born of faith, which nourishes and sustains it on the foundation of charity, the mother of all virtues. All of us need charity, here and now. Charity is not just a promise; it is a present reality to be embraced with joy and responsibility. Charity engages us and guides our decisions towards the common good.”

This leads to the emphasis of charity and justice, “the mother of all virtues” as Pope Leo calls it. Pope Leo tells us that “Poverty has structural causes that must be addressed and eliminated.” This statement recognizes the relationship between charity and justice which are seen as two architectonic virtues: Charity is a foundational theological virtue while justice is the foundational connatural virtue. Here Pope Leo quotes St. Augustine who we should recognize will be a central theologian for this pontificate.

In this promotion of the common good, our social responsibility is grounded in God’s creative act, which gives everyone a share in the goods of the earth. Like those goods, the fruits of human labor should be equally accessible to all. Helping the poor is a matter of justice before a question of charity. As Saint Augustine observed: “You give bread to a hungry person; but it would be better if none were hungry, so that you would have no need to give it away. You clothe the naked, but would that all were clothed and that there be no need for supply this lack” (In I Ioan., 8:5).

In this teaching Pope Leo XIV instructs the church to integrate social ministry with spiritual care. Liturgy must lead to charity and charity should lead to liturgy. Like his predecessor our Holy Father invites us to encounter the poor. Not to see them as passive subjects of service but as creative agents of justice in our society.

The poor are not recipients of our pastoral care, but creative subjects who challenge us to find novel ways of living out the Gospel today.

We are now getting a sample of the social teaching we will be seeing under our new Pope. He is one who, like Pope Francis, walked humbly with the poor. He invites the church to once again encounter the poor as it looks to evangelize in our secular society.

Pope Leo’s emphasis on hope is very meaningful for me to hear and reflect on. He reminds us that “Christian hope is like an anchor that grounds our hearts in the promise of the Lord Jesus.” Hope may be one of the most allusive virtues for many of us. I know that charity is central and faith is necessary but without hope faith dissolves and charity becomes an empty gesture. I have not appreciated how vital hope is for all seven virtues.

Hope must be nourished and I guess that is where prayer, liturgy, and the sacraments can perform their greatest contributions. Through faith we are given the tools to receive grace through prayer, liturgy, and the sacraments, but whatever grace we receive nourishes our ability to sustain hope which keeps us going. This is probably why Pope Leo chose “you are my hope” as the title for this social message.

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A post shared by NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams (@nycpublicadvocate)

“Whatever you did for one of these least,”

The NYC Public Advocate, Jumaane D. Williams, came to the NYC immigration protest yesterday and offered these insights. In his sharing he raised the biblical passage of the last judgment (Matt. 25) where Jesus reminds his audience that “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

The LA protests and Trump’s response is now capturing full national attention as the battle lines emerge in this nation’s struggle with immigration and nationalism.

President Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan has mobilized 4000 National Guards and 700 Marines to quell the protest against the wishes of the local Governor Gavin Newsom. As of yesterday protests have flared in 9 other US cities as a result of the LA protest.

By many accounts President Trump is acting in an authoritarian manner in this fight he has personally escalated. He is not only using the military against the people but calling for the arrest of the state governor. At the same time he has also declared his intention to intensify his raids against undocumented immigrants signally his resolve. Rhode Island Senator, Jack Reed, said this about the President’s actions:

The president is forcibly overriding the authority of the governor and mayor and using the military as a political weapon. This unprecedented move threatens to turn a tense situation into a national crisis, Since our nation’s founding, the American people have been perfectly clear: we do not want the military conducting law enforcement on US soil.

The situation has indeed become a national crisis but in fairness it has been a brewing crises for decades. It’s not just about the fact that waves of migrants have been coming for opportunities, that in and of itself has been going on since the beginning. It is an issue of the global economic and social situation that has forced people to leave their homes in search of personal security and social stability. This is a situation that we have helped construct since the Second World War and we need to respond to this.

Williams took to the streets with many others and offered these words reminding us that, as a Christian, his faith impels him to address the plight of the migrant and foreigner. Mayor Adam’s, who Williams addresses here, has come out to say that the city and the NYPD will “have no tolerance for violence, none. We have no tolerance for property damage,” alluding to the LA protests. At the same time the NYPD Commissioner said that the “NYPD would do just fine without federal intervention — including the dispatch of National Guard members.”

Going back to LA we now have a statement from Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Los Angeles Diocese who released the following statement regarding the protests and the attack on immigrants:

We all agree that we don’t want undocumented immigrants who are known terrorists or violent criminals in our communities. But there is no need for the government to carry out enforcement actions in a way that provokes fear and anxiety among ordinary, hard-working immigrants and their families. Again, I urge Congress to get serious about fixing our broken immigration system that leads so many to seek to cross our borders illegally.

The LA situation present both a constitutional crisis and a Catholic moral crisis. The President and MAGA are oppressing our immigrant communities as Archbishop Gomez recognizes but they are also violating the same freedom of speech that they demand for themselves.

This constitutional hypocrisy demands that many of us not only respond to issues that concerns us but look to protect and promote our constitutional rights and freedoms as well. That is partly why I feel that we Americans should have a more developed federalist position. Our constitutional rights and freedoms are not applicable to one group or to a segment of our citizenry. The constitution cannot be used arbitrarily to simply defend only one group’s perspective.

This situation calls to mind a powerful statement presented by former US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis towards the end of Trump's first administration.

We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Sadly this message meant nothing to Trump then, doesn't seem to mean much to him now. Our local leaders however will need to be aware of this moral and constitutional crisis and be prepared to make a stand on both issues.

[locustheologicus]

Budget Cuts and Natural Disasters:

Hurricane season is just around the corner. We are again seeing wildfires have been breaking out in Canada, the western states and other parts of the country. In the Midwest, tornadoes, severe weather, and flooding have come with the onset of spring. We can anticipate many more disasters that are driven by our rapidly warming climate. Severe weather impacted four states this week and as the above article suggests prayers are forthcoming.

But prayers, while always welcomed, are never enough. We need to make sure that the proposed budget cuts, currently in the Senate, do not put our nation at risk from natural disasters. According to the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC):

America’s disaster safety net is unraveling. The Trump administration has made major cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is one of the leading climate resilience agencies and is critically important for preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters like hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other man-made and climate-influenced disasters.

The NRDC report shows that the administration has so far cut more than 2,000 full-time employees (out of a full-time workforce of approximately 6,100 staffers) and an unknown number of the greater disaster workforce cadre. The cadre workforce is comprised of about 12,000 part-time, temporary, or contractual employees who receive specialized training to do everything from assessing tornado damage to coordinating wildfire responses.

Meteorologist John Morales went on air recently to give the following warning.

Let’s consider further what Morales says here:

“With less reconnaissance missions, we may be flying blind, and we may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before reaching the coastline,” he said. Later, in a written article Morales added, “am I worried, you bet I am.”

Because of climate change we at Catholic Charities recognize that natural disasters are becoming a more frequent occurrence. Working alongside the NYC Organization for Emergency Management (OEM) Catholic Charities of Brooklyn/Queens (CCBQ) is ready to offer our local community preparation and assistance in times of crisis. Our disaster relief page offers resources for preparing yourself and your family from a natural disaster.

On Pentecost Sunday Pope Leo XIV reminded us Catholics that “In a divided and troubled world, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk together in unity.” We are not helpless victims of our own environment but co-creators with God and His Holy Spirit to help protect the earth.

But we need our supportive communities to help us advocate for a responsible budget that can allow us to respond to natural disasters and emergency crisis.

The Senate is preparing to vote on the Budget Reconciliation Bill. This is considered one of the worst legislative assault on the environment and public health, a potentially ruinous bucket of unconscionable proposals that put polluter profits first—and put the rest of us at risk.

Please support CCBQ in advocating against the Budget Reconciliation Bill and in your message body add your concern with the environment.

[locustheologicus]

In Need of Good Samaritans for the Immigrants:

The administration is moving ahead with its plan to deport the many migrants that came under the Biden administration from 2022 till 2025. The process was problematic from the start. On the one hand there were a vast numbers of immigrants that came over and while many came from the four TPS countries of Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba many other also came from other problemetic countries and regions including Colombia, Ecuador, Central America, China, North Africa and Eastern Europe. We encountered these communities and assessed their needs, their stories are varied but they seek the same hope that all immigrants to America sought, work, opportunities, stability, security, and freedom. Another issue is that the process, as we saw it, was very disorganized and our immigrant communities lacked clarity on how it worked. Many of them came through a system of smuggling that knew how to abuse our process and take advantage of their desperate situations. This was the unfortunate situation that developed into the migrant crisis we have been addressing for the past three years. The Biden administration should have done a better job at regulating this crisis before it got out of hand, I have to agree with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania when he declared that the Democratic Party mishandled the critical issue of border security. Biden’s gambit of waiting till election year to start securing the border did not pay off. It did not pay off for him, his party, or our nation. And now we are facing a dehumanizing crisis.

Our country has had a mixed reputation with immigration and immigrants, it always has. That fact is one historical lesson I offer immigrants today. It isn't that one group "did it right" and the current community does not. That has always been the arguement so the process has never really been the issue. New nativist, who are usually the children or grandchildren of immigrants themselves, simply feel that the benefits they now have should not be shared with new communities. This almost always has been the case. We saw this with the ways the English Protestants (remember the "Know Nothings") fighting off the Irish Catholics in the 1840's to the Irish community fighting off the Italians and Eastern Europeans in the 1900's to these communities attacking the African-American migration from the south and Carribean (Puerto Rican & Dominican) communities in the 1940's to the present day wave. Once each migrant community is established they do not want to share whatever benefits they themselves have struggled to achieve. I do not know if this is simply human nature at its worst or a form of perverse nationalism that is part of our cultural pshyche.

Either way, here we are again facing the same demons and promoting the same social sin. These migrants are very much part of the same tradition and looking for the same situation that all of our families sought as in the case of Harold Renard below.

The situation in NYC is becoming difficult for these communities where ICE agents have detained several people at the federal immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. These were people who have entered the coutry through an existing legal status and are now being targetted for detention and deportation by the current administration. According to the NY Post this was ramped up dramatically in recent weeks.

Immigration agents have dramatically ramped up arrests, cuffing 2,200 illegal migrants on Tuesday alone — just days after the Trump administration demanded that they step up deportation raids, sources told The Post. The new arrest numbers mark a 37% jump from the 1,600 daily arrests last week, sources said.

We have heard of clients in shelters as well that have been detained by ICE this past week. The total of ICE detention, according to a statistic tracker, by June 6 is 51,026 immigrants taken and less than 30% have a criminal record. More than half have absolutely no criminal record or conviction.

The situation is a complicated one for sure and that has been the case throughout our nation's history. Like many Americans if a migrant has committed a crime or is violating the process than I accept the policy of this administration to detain and deport those that have transgressed our laws. As a nation we need to have a social order and our newcomers must understand the need to respect our communities.

But we have seen migrants today who like my own parents, respect their new nation and look for opportunities and security for themselves and their families. This again is similar to the plight of the migrants throughout our history. In the end my family and I have contributed to the national welfare in our own capacity, in my case as a social worker and educator. We are aware of many families who have a status and who are doing everything they can to take their first steps in contributing to the workforce of our nation. But at present they, without any criminal record, are being caught in the dragnet of the current administration. These are the communities that we are encountering and responding to.

In a recent homily on the Good Samaritan Pope Leo XIV offered this message.

However, life is made up of encounters, and in these encounters, we emerge for what we are. We find ourselves in front of others, faced with their fragility and weakness, and we can decide what to do: to take care of them or pretend nothing is wrong... If you want to help someone, you cannot think of keeping your distance, you have to get involved, get dirty, perhaps be contaminated; he binds the wounds after cleaning them with oil and wine; he loads him onto his horse, taking on the burden, because one who truly helps if one is willing to feel the weight of the other’s pain; he takes him to an inn where he spends money, “two silver coins”, more or less two days of work; and he undertakes to return and eventually pay more, because the other is not a package to deliver, but someone to care for.

This is what our immigrant communities need, good samaritans who can accompany them in this time when the state, our nation, is actively violating their basic humanity. We are looking for good Catholics who are willing to enter into this parable's lesson on willing to encounter and care for the migrant in need. In this same message Pope Leo tells us that "Compassion is expressed through practical gestures." This month our Holy Father offers compassion as the prayer intention for the month of June.

One way that we can show our compassion is by advocating for this community. The U.S. Bishops share a deep concern about several provisions in the House-passed reconciliation bill that would inflict unacceptable harms on immigrants and mixed-status families and penalize those trying to follow legal processes. the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” would allocate $25 billion for immigration enforcement efforts and $45 billion for detention, including family detention. It would provide $100 million to facilitate the expedited removal of unaccompanied children without any access to legal counsel.

Be a Good Samaritan and advocate for the immigrants who are being beaten by our own political system.

[locustheologicus]

“The Big Beautiful Bill” is a Sin and an Abomination!

Trump’s budget Bill is under great scrutiny as it should be. Far from calling it a “Big Beautiful Bill” Elon Musk left the Trump administration this past week and in doing so he called the Bill a “disgusting abomination.” He went on to tell House voters.

“Shame on those who voted for it, You know you did wrong. You know it.”

Elon Musk is more concerned about this Bill from the perspective of his business model rather than a moral position. The Bill has raised great controversy and concern with NPR informing us of the consternation of those who analyze the economic impact of this Bill.

Since the House passed the bill, tech-billionaire Elon Musk has spoken out about its projected impact to the deficit, as has JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Speaking at an economic forum on Friday, Dimon warned continued government spending will create a "crisis" in the bond market by undermining public confidence in the ability of the U.S. government to pay back its debts. Sen. Johnson agreed.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) highlights the major economic concerns for Musk, Dimon, and Johnson. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion. This is what is raising the alarms in Congress especially with Republicans who thought that they were going to lower the deficit under this administration (a position they never seem to accomplish).

So while the overall economic concern is indeed concerning this bill troubles us further by going against the basic tenets of Catholic social teaching. The way it will affect the poor and the immigrants is of greater moral concern for our Catholic Church. America magazine offers this analysis on both those issues.

It is estimated that the legislation would cut $700 billion over 10 years in Medicaid spending, leaving 7.6 million American families without health-care coverage. It also reduces spending for food assistance to the nation’s poorest by an estimated $300 billion over 10 years, adversely impacting 40 million low-income persons, including 16 million children. As many as 5.4 million per year could lose food assistance from the cuts. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill transfers wealth from citizens with the lowest tenth of income to those with the highest tenth of income, the largest transfer in U.S. history.

On immigration, it appropriates $175 billion for a mass deportation campaign, which includes funding for a border wall, detention centers and a substantial increase in border and interior enforcement personnel. It allows these agents to remove people based on the suspicionof illegal activity, without judicial review. And it increases fees for such benefits as temporary protected status (T.P.S.), humanitarian parole and work permits for asylum applicants, leaving these important protection mechanisms out of the reach of qualifying families.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities does a thorough analysis on how this Bill will gut SNAP provisions and devastate these programs that will exacerbate poverty at the local level.

The CBPP’s analysis goes into greater detail including how local congressional districts will be impacted. Here we see, for example, their estimated monthly SNAP cuts based on this bill.

These provisions would cut 3.2 million adults off SNAP in a typical month, including 1 million older adults aged 55 through 64, 800,000 parents of school-aged children, and 1.4 million adults in areas with insufficient jobs, reducing federal spending by more than $92 billion through 2034.

The CBPP offers detailed analysis on the state impact of these proposed cuts and it is worth going over for anyone interested.

Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, tells us in the above article from America magazine that the Church must respond to this devastating issue which flies in the face of our social teachings. As the Archbishop puts it:

There is another factor for the church to consider in this debate, as well—its moral authority. Unless the church stands up for the poor and marginalized of the nation, consistent with Catholic teaching, its moral voice will be diminished in the future. There are times when the church needs to forsake political considerations and take a stand, even if that effort is unsuccessful. This is one of those times.

The USCCB has been attentive to this Bill as it passed through the House and along the way the US Bishops offered the following principles for Congress to apply.

Protect human life and dignity.

Care for the poor.

Family formation and strengthening.

Adequate revenue for the sake of the common good and avoiding future cuts to poverty programs.

Progressivity of the tax code.

Incentivize charitable giving and development.

Support parental choice in education.

Inclusion of immigrant and mixed-status families.

Energy and environment.

The USCCB has attempted to offer a balanced response to the budget looking at some positive concessions like ending taxpayers subsidization of abortion and gender treatment or assisting with private schooling support. But these small concessions are nothing compared to the way this bill will harm those in poverty and attack the immigrant community. It will also gut clean energy program and walk back on our few environmental regulations.

We who assist with basic human needs, access to food, security, housing, and employment, are deeply concerned that this Bill will exacerbate an already difficult reality. This situation forces us to consider how we can respond to the growing needs we will face if this Bill passes.

I believe Archbishop Wester is telling the Catholic community that this is one of those times to raise our prophetic sense of Gospel justice and call out this bill. Here is an action alert link you can use to add your voice to the issue and to urge your Senators to protect SNAP and Medicaid.

Perhaps in your advocacy you can remind your Senator of Jesus’ lesson of the Last Judgement.

[locustheologicus]

“As you do charity, you become a better man,”

I am a Knight of Columbus (KofC) and Proud of it. Now I should recognize that most people who find out that I am a KofC are often puzzled by my own membership in this association. The KofC tends to be recognized as politically conservative whereas I, on the other hand, am not. The KofC are sometimes seen as religiously traditional, here again I am theologically progressive (although I do enjoy some traditional religiosity). The KofC are sometimes identified with gatherings that include cigars and sometimes a alcoholic drink; I do not know why people are surprised that I too enjoy a nice cigar and whiskey. Progressives and liberals are not bound to wheat grass juice, sunflower seeds, and matcha tea.

And finally there is also the very name itself. So beyond being a progressive Catholic I am an Hispanic man and so the name Columbus carries some negative as well as positive connotations for me. To address this I opted to research the origins not only of the individual whose name we have taken but for the reasons the original movement adopted his identity (spoiler alert: it has something to do with the plight of the Italian immigrants during the turn of the last century). It is worth looking into and I plan to offer a reflection on this later in the year. Suffice to say that I believe the name has both merit and a worthy tradition that defines it beyond the controversy surrounding the exploits of Columbus himself. But I do think that we can add to this legacy by bringing to it a reformed element that Columbus and his son encountered during his second voyage, a fellow traveler from Seville known as Bartolomeo de Las Casas who would impact America through his Lascasian spirituality. More on that in a future post.

But yes, culturally I am different from some of my KofC brothers and I am fine with that. The draw that I have for this community is not its culture, which has changed and I am sure will change as it evolves, but its values. Its belief in promoting charity, fraternity, unity, and patriotism are the core values that define this community. This is also organized as a community of men that support one another in promoting these values. These two reasons are what draws me to this community.

The history is another draw for me. During a time when Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Italy where treated as second class citizens and had no way of organizing themselves from the social abuses of the unregulated business class Fr. Michael McGivney created this Catholic movement to support working men and to provide financial security for their own families. This was the brilliance of the community that he founded in that it served an important spiritual and social need.

And that same community is what we need today. A fraternal community of Catholic men who gather to promote solidarity and charity with one another. A community that celebrates a male Catholic spirituality and that is committed to the these timeless values as they impact our own social reality. As the quote and article above suggest, charity moves us to become better men. We can certainly do this on our own but having the context of a community of faith is empowering. In February I became a fourth degree knight and the event was both inspiring and deeply meaningful as it allowed us to see this community within its 125 year context.

Like any movement, this community culturally evolves as the situation changes and the KofC has also evolved with the times. But what is needed today is not a simple network, a male social club that may have sufficed for the late 1900’s. Today we once again need the mission that Fr. McGivney offered those many years ago. A fraternal community that embraces and promotes the Catholic virtues of charity and solidarity in our own lives and in our communities.

It may be that that some councils no longer reflect this same sense of mission. I suggest that the solution is not to throw out the baby with the bathwater but to purify the waters of our community with the mission that is as relevant today as it was in the late 1800’s. That is my own personal contribution to a community whose mission and core values I deeply admire. The need is as great now as it was in the 1890’s. We may not have great saints like McGivney, Cabrini, or Las Casas who can guide Americans with their spirit of mission and evangelization but we have communities and parishes dedicated to their sense of Christian mission and identity. Through communities like the KofC we can develop our own sanctity by living the values and examples of these great saints.

I hope that Catholic men consider this and reflect on the KofC mission so they may discern how they can be a part of this important tradition.

[locustheologicus]

10th Anniversary of Laudato Si'

Ten years ago, Pope Francis signed the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, devoted to care for our common home. It has had an extraordinary impact, inspiring countless initiatives and teaching everyone to listen to the twofold cry of the Earth and of the poor. I greet and encourage the Laudato Si’ movement and all those who carry on this commitment. - Pope Leo XIV Regina Caeli

This year, on what is traditionally known as Laudato Si' week, Pope Leo XIV addressed a network of Universities to highlight the tenth anniversary of famous environmental encyclical Laudato Si'. In this brief message Pope Leo emphasized his predecessor's last World Day of Peace Message.

You will reflect together on a possible remission of the public debt and of the ecological debt, a proposal that Pope Francis had suggested in his message for the World Day of Peace. And in this jubilee year, a year of hope, this message is so important.

This year's World Day of Peace meesage offers three proposals to help offset debt, financial debt and ecological debt. Pope Francis saw this as "two sides of the same coin, namely the mindset of exploitation that has culminated in the debt crisis." In one such proposal Pope Francis suggests that we forgive the debts of the poorer nation to eliminate the austere hardships that affect their ability to provide any social benefits. He also offered the following pragmatic suggestion to combat the "ecological debt."

Let us use at least a fixed percentage of the money earmarked for armaments to establish a global Fund to eradicate hunger and facilitate in the poorer countries educational activities aimed at promoting sustainable development and combating climate change.

At the local level, we at Catholic Charities can do our part to provide educational opportunities and promote sustainable development in our communities. Our Office of Mission Volunteer services collaborated with the Next Generation Committee at the Bishop Boardman Senior Houses to assist seniors with their own community garden. Our partnership with groups like the Metro New York Catholic Climate Movement allows us to also support initiatives like their Care for Creation Parishes that look to promote study groups and local parish-based ecological practices. We also are attentive to the growing reality of natural disasters in our world and local communities and to that end we have trained members of our staff to be part of the CCUSA Cadre. As a member of CCUSA Cadre trained members of our staff will be sent to respond with other Catholic Charities staff to natural disasters throughout the nation.

One of the projects I would like to highlight is the Bridgebuilding Gardening Experience that we have at our Catholic Charities Msgr. Pfeiffer Resource Center in Howard Beach. This is a new initiative, partly funded by Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), that brings together seniors and youth to experience a series of gatherings centered around the creation of a communal garden cultivating vegetables, herbs, and spices.

Participants engage in hands-on gardening activities, interactive workshops, and meaningful discussions that explore the importance of healthy eating and physical wellness. Through this experience, we aim to promote intergenerational understanding, build respectful relationships, and encourage community cooperation.

The 2015 environmental encyclical reminds us that "a change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power." Catholic Charities in Brooklyn and Queens are commited to this goal which we highlight in our own tag lines "Changing Lives… Building Communities." Through these programs and collaborations we are able to support the environmental goals of Laudato Si'. Pope Francis' ground-breaking encyclical inspired us as it inspired the universal Catholic community by recognizing that "If we can overcome individualism, we will truly be able to develop a different lifestyle and bring about significant changes in society."

[locustheologicus]

Cusanus’ Cosmological Contributions

Some time ago I explored the notion of Creatio Ex Vetere in relation to M theory and the idea that creation, or the Big Bang, may not simply start from nothing but from a pre-existing matrix that has been redesigned. Our emerging cosmology seems to indicate that there is an amazing dynamism, a relational ongoing process to creation and to us creatures by design that many of our theological notions based on a simply ex nihilo cosmology does not hold up.

At the same time, many other theological constructs appeared overly mystical because it did not connect with our antiquated cosmology. Now we can find that some theological concepts does coincide with the cosmology where creation continues through a process of reinventing itself. Obviously process theology communicates well with this cosmology but other ideas like deification (theosis), participationist soteriology (synergy) and divine encounter (theophany) connects quite well to our emerging cosmological reality.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition is steeped in these theological traditions but we also find some early western theologians who also considered these notions. I have looked over some of these traditions in another post. I discovered however that some in the west did formulate these notions later in our western tradition, one such person was Nicholas of Cusa. An early 15th century bishop, mathematician, and mystic Nicholas had diplomatic relations with members of the Orthodox Church during the conciliar movement that healed the Great Western Schism.

I am reading Nancy Hudson’s book “Becoming God: the Doctrine of Theosis in Nicholas of Cusa” which is deeply interesting and eye opening. Part of Cusanus’ (as he is called in the book) notion is that God can be best comprehended through paradoxical statements. Appreciating both an apophatic and cataphatic (although the initial approach for Nicholas is apophatic, the negative way) approach Cusanus is drawn to the world of paradox of opposites to enter into the transcendent wisdom that is the source of all being. He articulates this paradox in his own cosmological comprehension whereby all opposites are reconciled including possibilities and actuality. This then defines his cosmological process.

The following quote from Cusanus describes this. It is a complicated statement but pour over it a bit. Not only can you appreciate what it says to describe the creative process but also consider how it embraces the language of quantum mechanics so well.

Absolute possibility is not able to exist prior to actuality - unlike the case where we say that some particular possibility precedes its actualization. For how would absolute possibility have become actual except through actuality? For if the possibility-of-being-made made itself actually exist, it would actually exist before it actually existed. Therefore, absolute possibility, about which we are speaking and through which those things that actually exist are able to actually exist, does not precede actuality. Nor does it succeed actuality; for how would actuality be able to exist if possibility did not exist? Therefore, absolute possibility, actuality, and the union of the two are coeternal. They are not more than one eternal thing; rather, they are eternal in such a way that they are Eternity itself. (Hudson, pg. 63)

Evidently Cusanus developed a term to describe the process of enfolding in “actualized-possibility” which he calls possest. God both transcends and exist within creation so that creation can participate with God in the ongoing process of being reconciled with God.

Nicholas de Cusa believes in deification, the divine redemption of our humanity as it enters a mystical union with God. There are many implications on Cusanus’ cosmology based on this process of creation. One amazing insight that again relates with our current knowledge of the deeply interconnected universe is how we are all indeed interconnected through the divine principle that resides in creation. Hudson grabs on the phrase “each thing is in each thing” to highlight this notion and cites the following (admittedly convuluted) passage from Cusanus.

The universe, as most perfect, has preceded all things in the order of nature, as it were, so that it could be in each thing. In each creature, the universe is the creature, and each receives all things in such a way that in each thing all are contractedly this thing. …if therefore, all things are in all things, all things are seen to precede each thing. All things, therefore, are not many things, since plurality does not precede each thing. (Hudson, pg. 75)

Cusanus’ theological cosmology has much to offer us as the physicists community unravel a universe that relates well to some of these concepts. A case in point is the notion in physics euphemistically called the God particle. So far physicists are exploring a particle that unites and informs the matter in our universe and the Higgs-Boson particle has emerged as a contender for this role. The idea from deification theology is that we are all interconnected with God and that there is a God particle in all of us which Jesus awakens through his own divine contribution. Cusanus identities Jesus as the contracted maximum, a contracted state where the divine Word resides perfectly and can disclose and awaken the divinity within us all. The use of the word contracted is interesting and Hudson goes on to describe it as such.

Contraction is the delimitation of a universal to a particular in order for it to be a thing. …Because contraction entails restriction in space and time, it is utterly ruled out in the case of the infinite God. …In the hypostatic union, the Word that is equality of being all things is contracted. In flesh and blood, time and space, the Form of forms, the Exemplar of all things is made concrete. (Hudson, pg. 148-150)

This is a curious Christology based on the notion the God resides within creation (immanence) and exists beyond it (transcendence). In true Chalcedon formula Jesus becomes the bridge that connects these two approaches. Cusanus believes that reason, our intellect, is the divine gift that allows us to participate with God. Hudson quotes Cusanus description below.

Further, if in this life every rational nature turns to Christ …it is United, while the personal truth of each nature remains. …Consequently, each of the blessed, while the truth of each’s being is preserved, exists in Christ Jesus as Christ and through him in God as God, and God, remaining the absolute maximum, exists in Christ Jesus as Jesus and through him in all things as all things. (Hudson, pg. 153)

Cusanus has the higher seeking intellect functioning on the human side in the deification process. It should be noted that the search for God does not pretend to reach the heights of divine knowledge, one should never contemplate such hubris. However to attempt to seek divine wisdom should be rewarded because it exercises our limited human intellect to actualize the divine will within creation. This is the realm of participationist soteriology which is found both in eastern and western Christianity. That we participate with God, as co-workers to assist in the plan of redeeming creation. The Orthodox community uses the word synergy to denote this participationist activity. One curious qualifier is that we should not assume a 50/50 participation. Synergy participation is more like 99.9% divine grace and .1% our meager activity, our good works that are consistent with the virtues of grace. That .1% may not seem like much, but for God that .1% is very meaningful.

Where I part with Cusanus is his emphasis on the intellect as the source of our participation with deification and soteriology. I entertain the idea that such connection resides in our conscious state and that it interplays with our moral conscience through the particle that the medieval scholastics called synderesis. A divine spark within us all that informs us of what is universally right and wrong. A God particle that allows us to recognize the actual good rather than our own subjective good. A resource within the conscience that is oriented towards charity and justice as architectonic virtues. If our consciousness has the ability to transcend our mortality then I would like to suggest that such a spark of divine formation may instruct our moral conscience and inform our eternal consciousness.

I am drawn to this by the basic biblical definition that presents God as love. God is intensely relational and through God we are drawn to express that love to one another through caritas et justicia. I side with the scholastics over the nominalists in believing that our God-given conscience is the source of our divinity and I am inclined to accept the synderesis as the unifying principle for deification. This would offer a better connection Christologically as it would look at Christ as the perfect moral exemplar for us in his role as contracted maximum.

But the intellect, our ability to reason and understand, is actively involved with this moral principle in a similar way that Cusanus suggests. Our Conscience exists within our ability to reason and they form our conscious self throughout our lived experience. Our intellect however is bound within our own physiology, it functions through the operation of our brain whereas the synderesis transcends our physiological structures. But our intellect is grounded in the basic truths of our limited existence so for us to grasp the “natural law” (what Cusanus calls the truth of the contracted world) it requires the synderesis to help grasp these truths as Hudson explains below.

The contracted world has its own truth, a truth that is not comprehended in itself by the limited and imperfect intellect. The problem is that the intellect and knowable things are both contracted, and one contracted thing cannot encompass another. The intellect power to see the truth itself, apart from all figuration, symbolism, and contraction, is the perfection and deification of the intellect, something that will occur in the next life. (Hudson, pg. 172)

She goes on to say,

The intellect’s natural desire to master the truth, to have universal knowledge, drives it to look beyond the world of particulars. Divine sonship is the possession of universal knowledge, “when the intellect finds itself to be in the realm where the Master of all workable works is, namely the Son of God, that Word through which the heavens and every creature were formed. (Hudson, pg. 177).

The truths of the contracted world are indeed what we call the “natural law” which are our truths as they reflect the eternal law that is beyond our comprehension. Because we are limited in our particular existence the natural law is difficult to grasp outside of the synderesis, difficult, but not impossible. Through the use of this moral lens we can discovered our truths although we are often limited to figurations and symbolism. That is why Jesus taught in parables, to allow us to grasp these truths in the only way we could. In a similar way theoretical physics often uses metaphors and images to help convey concepts that are beyond our understanding.

All this to say that theological concepts have a role to play with theoretical physics where both disciplines can complement one another. Nicholas de Cusa offers some interesting language that allows the theological community to re-emphasize certain concepts that coincide with our cosmological relationships. The emerging cosmology demonstrates an amazing interconnected dynamism governed by probable determinism. There is little evidence of a cosmology that can emerge from nothingness. All evidence suggests that some type of preexisting matrix existed before our own known universe. Nicholas de Cusa presents us with a tradition of creatio ex vetere that coincides with our own emerging cosmology and which connects with the traditional Christian concepts of deification and participationist soteriology.

[locustheologicus]

Bill Burr: American Prophet

I have just subscribed to Bill Burr’s podcast, the famed comedian who I absolutely love. In the above podcast, Bill reflects on the immigration policy of our nation and critiques the way mass deportations are being handled. His analysis and approach is brilliant and he speaks to me (possibly connecting to my upstate NY upbringing) as he witnesses to this issue in what he reads and observes.

It blows my mind that there’s a certain ugly segment of the American population that’s enjoying watching these families get ripped out of their homes and you somehow think that America is going to be better if this is done.

As he analyzes this further he reminds his audience that the wealthy segment of the population has always been able to play us off each other in order to benefit their own financial interests. This is an old American story that we keep falling for when we are driven by our own self-interest versus the common good. Bill has the ability to offer this analysis with such amazing popular clarity.

The same billionaires that did not want to pay you in the 1800’s, way back to the feudal system, they’ve never wanted to pay you. They don’t want to fucking pay you. And they just keep blaming people that don’t look like you. They don’t have any money or any sort of control over your life. And my people keep believing it. It’s un-fucking believable.

Bill demonstrates a prophetic clarity in this analysis and he is able to reach out to a non-religious segment of our nation who struggles with our national identity in the midst of this abhorrent administration.

I discovered Bill Burr when he did a cameo on Star Wars “the Mandalorian” and then saw his comedic movie “Old Dads” which I thought was hilarious. That’s when I saw some of his comedic stand up and SNL bit, I instantly loved his style and message.

Recently, I discovered his podcast and thoroughly enjoyed listening to his analysis. He is not religious, it seems that he was raised a Catholic but has left the church for many of the same reasons that people do today. I still sense that he has some core agnostic belief and spirituality, perhaps based on how he was raised. I am speculating here but he is a cultural Catholic and he certainly seems to suggest that he is not a practicing Catholic.

But his gift of seeing our society for what it is and using his comedic style to prophetically preach on our social injustices has me excited to hear him preach through his podcast. Bill has the gift of prophecy, he may not be a religious person but nevertheless he has a well formed value system that can grasp at social truths. He is a value-based American. In other words, he recognizes the values and traditions that have formed our country with enough clarity to recognize how un-American the Trump administration really is.

Bill demonstrates what I would call liberal prophetic rage. The right has turned the word liberal to a caricature of some fringe hippy ideal. Yes, there are always those bizarre folks who are on the fringe but we actual liberals are not like that at all. As I expressed in another post, liberals are Americans who not only live here but who believes in what our nation stands for. When liberals get angry they promote the values of our constitutional preamble. They defend the common welfare and support the ideals of our union. When MAGA (anti-federalist) gets angry they attack others and look to empower themselves over others.

Below Bill shares another observation regarding how Trump is actively undermining our democracy and constitutional laws. Like Bill I find it unbelievable that people, especially the arrogance of “whitey,” can allow this to happen without seeing it for the what it is. Bill sees the overt racism and discrimination that undergirds the Trump and MAGA message. As I had mentioned in another post, Trump voters will have much to answer to and we liberals will need to keep them in check.

But God bless Bill Burr for being able to offer an amazing (if irreverent) social critique the way he does. His theology is certainly not developed as you will see below but that does not negate his gift of foresight and social clarity.

But Trump is a genius, like no one is saying he should do this [referring to a third term run], he is just going to say that people are and then they are going to start saying it because there’s enough mouth breathing morons that God makes, you know he makes the mouth breathing morons to listen to the sociopaths so the normal people suffer, and God can be entertained. I am convinced that’s how the math works.

[locustheologicus]

Defining Woke: “A Perjorative Dogwhistle Meant to Mock and Dismiss Progressive Ideas”   

Fr. Casey has given us a public service, defined the history of “Woke” and calls for the end of the way it is being used today. Here Fr. Casey reminds us the African-American origins of that term and how it has become manipulated by MAGA antifederalist culture. This clarification is one that we not only should know but fight again the perjorative missuse and correct our conservative bretheren who, either out of ignorance or malintent, missues this term. 

But beyond his clarification of the term and his defense of our new Pope Fr. Casey also recalls another encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, Longinqua: the wide expanse of ocean, in this video. In this document Pope Leo XIII in 1895 reflected on the state of America and the American Church. It was around this time that he had sent Mother Frances Cabrini and We certainly get a sense that she reported back what she saw and the struggles she faced with the Catholic Church in America. 

Pope Leo XIII’s response is two-fold, to first support the development of our young nation.  

All intelligent men are agreed, and we ourselves have with pleasure intimated it above, that America seems destined for greater things. Now, it is our wish that the Catholic Church should not only share in, but help to bring about, this prospective greatness. We deem it right and proper that she should, by availing herself of the opportunities daily presented to her, keep equal step with the Republic in the march of improvement, at the same time striving to the utmost, by her virtue and her institutions, to aid in the rapid growth of the States. #13

In adding to the American experiment Pope Leo XIII certainly extols Catholics to be “upright and virtuous.” He cautions against the dissolution of the family bond which is considered a central aspect of our social order. But he also then goes on to address the concerns of collaborating with other national interest that degrade our own values and social positions, “keeping in view the rules laid down by us in our Encyclical, Rerum Novarum.”

Now, with regard to entering societies, extreme care should be taken not to be ensnared by error. And we wish to be understood as referring in a special manner to the working classes, who assuredly have the right to unite in associations for the promotion of their interests; a right acknowledged by the Church and unopposed by nature. But it is very important to take heed with whom they are to associate, lest whilst seeking aid for the improvement of their condition they may be imperilling far weightier interests. The most effectual precaution against this peril is to determine with themselves at no time or in any matter to be parties to the violation of justice. #16

The position of the Church was (and is) cultural caution, our Church brings a culture of values and principles that does not always coincide with Americanism. The Church stands against extreme political ideologies, libertarianism and nationalism, extreme liberalism and socialism. The Church faithfully believes and defends the Dignity of the Human Person, the Common Good, Subsidiarity/Solidarity, the Universal Destination of Goods, the Preferential Option of thr Poor, and the Integrity of Creation. These principles are not to be undermined by any American ideology. 

Those who attack what they see as “Papal Wokeness” are compromising our Catholic social teachings with some type of libertarian and anti-federalist ideology. If Catholics are doing this they are going against what Longinqua was warning us not to do. Because of this Fr. Casey is asking us to stop calling our new Pope innappropriate names and rather, “take a moment to question your own beliefs. Are you guided more by your politics... or by the faith in Jesus Christ?”

On the 16th of May Pope Leo XIV went ahead and offered some political points to the diplomatic corps. Here we were given our first glimpse at some of the social principles that are part of our tradition. Consistent with this tradition Pope Leo XIV present “three essential words that represent the pillars of the Church’s missionary activity.”

Peace: “To eliminate the root causes of all conflicts and every destructive urge for conquest. It demands a genuine willingness to engage in dialogue, inspired by the desire to communicate rather than clash. As a result, there is a need to give new life to multilateral diplomacy and to those international institutions conceived and designed primarily to remedy eventual disputes within the international community. Naturally, there must also be a resolve to halt the production of instruments of destruction and death.”

Justice: “Every effort should be made to overcome the global inequalities – between opulence and destitution – that are carving deep divides between continents, countries and even within individual societies.It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. ... No one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” 

Truth: “From the Christian perspective, truth is not the affirmation of abstract and disembodied principles, but an encounter with the person of Christ himself, alive in the midst of the community of believers. Truth, then, does not create division, but rather enables us to confront all the more resolutely the challenges of our time, such as migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the protection of our beloved planet Earth. These are challenges that require commitment and cooperation on the part of all, since no one can think of facing them alone.”

Peace, Justice, and Truth, these might be seen as some kind of woke ideology but the fact of the matter is that they are moral social values that have been part of our tradition since the beginning. 

It may be worth recalling the that these social principles originated well before Pope Leo XIII put forward the first social encyclical. It was Pope Leo the Great, in the middle of the fifth century who taught us about human dignity.

Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescuede from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.

[locustheologicus]

Bartolomeo De Las Casas: The Catholic Church and Human Dignity

On my pantheon of saints I am surrounded by Dominicans. Certainly Aquinas and Vitoria are two of my favorite, the great theologian and legal moralist. But in my profession of social ministry one other Dominican stands out, Bartolomeo de Las Casas. Bishop Barron dedicates the last of his Pivotal Players documentary to Las Casas and says this about him.

Las Casas shows as vividly as any figure in the great tradition that a commitment to justice is an essential dimension of Christian discipleship. His shout against injustice still echoes in our consciences to this day. - Bishop Barron

In the actual documentary Bishop Barron was asked why Las Casas is not as popularly depicted in Churches as St. Francis or St. Joseph, to this Bishop Barron offers this response.

Las Casas, by all accounts, was a pretty prickly, difficult guy, reminds us a bit of St. Jerome who was famously hard to get along with. …having said all that, if you look at people who seriously study the Church’s tradition around human rights and all that, the social teaching of the Church, Las Casas is taken very seriously indeed, as a prophetic figure. But I don’t think he is a typically warm and fuzzy type.

I completely agree with the good Bishop in this assessment. With these reasons I believe Las Casas needs to be known by all of us who either promote the social teachings or engage in the social ministry of the Church.

Fr. David Orique O.P is a professor at Providence College where he teaches Latin American history. Fr. Orique presents some cultural clarifications on the life and times of Las Casas. What he also presents in this video is an insight from Las Casas that is meaningful for us in our own time.

Fr. Orique tells us that, like Las Casas, we need to experience the formation of our conscience and the need for ongoing conversion. Within this insight he shares a challenge that he gathered was a challenge that Las Casas and the Spanish community struggled with as they encountered the native communities.

Deep within our Catholic moral traditon, this would fit within our Catholic social teaching, is that we are called to follow our consience, that is the most sacred part of our human person, but we are also called to form our conscience, and I am deeply committed with what I have to say because it is rooted in the tradition. I have no right to force your conscience or another person's conscience... whether its through microaggression or belittling other people's ideas. I have an obligation to respect another person's views. Now we may disagree and if we can have a thoughtful and honest exchange where we listen to each other that is mature and that, I think, is the Christian approach. Just because somebody disagree we should not debase our own humanity by debasing theirs. Otherwise we disfigure or we besmirch the dignity we have because we are fearful of somebody else's different opinion. I think in our time right now there is so much acrimony and their is not really listening.

There are two lessons here. One is that Las Casas, especially when he published his work titled “The Only Way,” repudiated and, in no uncertain terms, denounced attempts at forced conversion. Christianity has a commitment to form one’s conscience freely, to share the message of spiritual redemption and social liberation is part of our evangelical mission. But highlighting the examples of Christ and the early Church he found the colonial motive completely unjust and unchristian.

The second lesson is that Las Casas demonstrates the need to be self-reflective and to allow the deeper truths of our faith to penetrate our own moral judgment and social values. He may have been a person of his times but he also allowed himself to transcend his social reality based on these greater truths. No doubt he found Antonio de Montesinos' condemnation upsetting as did most of the colonist. But in time he did allow this truth to filter into his own conscience and allowed himself to be transformed by it. Eventually he took unpopular stances in defense of the prophetic message of the Gospel and he did this with the confidence of his uncompromising faith in the teachings of Christ. Here is how he defended what he saw to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V according to Bishop Barron:

I have seen with my own eyes, not read things in histories which may be untrue. I have touched with my own hands. I have witnessed those gentle and peaceful people suffer monstrous cruelties. And I ask why, your Majesty, why without cause or reason was hell brought alive to these people? Greed, your Majesty, unvarnished Greed. The thirst and hunger for gold.

The prophetic message and his uncompromising faith are based on two premises that originate from Las Casas own theological anthropology which is found in the first part of “The Only Way.”

The major premise is clear: Divine Wisdom cares for all its creatures, not just by leading them to fulfill their natural purposes, but also by endowing them with inner powers, with potentialities which are at the source of performance, so they would be able to act on their own initiatives as well. This actions invited by God are actions native to creatures, consonant with them; they flow easily. Creatures possess the sources of response within themselves. (Las Casas, pg. 69)

This theological anthropology should be easily recognized by any American who is versed in the values of our nation, especially by those who are committed to the words of our famed Declaration. His prologue shares another anthropological insight that also should be recognizable to the average American.

It was due to the will and work of Christ, the head of the Church, that God’s chosen should be called from every race, every tribe, every language, every corner of the world. Thus, no race, no nation on this entire globe would be left totally untouched by the free gift of divine grace. …The reason is, they are all human beings. (Las Casas, pg. 63)

This is the theological premise that guided Las Casas in his prophetic attack against discrimination and enslavement. It is amazing to think that these words, written in 1537, are over 200 years older than the words that were penned by Jefferson in July of 1776. These ideas emerged from the Gospel message as it reflected on the social experience of the 16th century. It was the work of Vitoria and Suarez, the contribution known as the second scholasticism, that gave Las Casas the insights to reflect on his experiences in this way. But as with any initial concept it evolved and developed as it further reflected on how the moral framework of the natural law informed these experiences. The premise evolved further as Church leaders like him, or religious communities like the Dominicans and Jesuits, struggled against the social injustice that they saw as deeply contradictory to the Gospel message and its scholastic perspective of the natural law.

The history of Las Casas is significant for any of us who want to appreciate the complexity of the Church's involvement with social injustice. Las Casas does emerge as a complicated figure that addresses the issues of human rights and this position evolves along the way. What we can see is that his own position develops based on how he understands the gospel values through his own lived experiences. He wrestles with socially relevant moral questions that people actually face.

It is important to know that in Catholic Spain this debate actually took place with Las Casas defending the idea of universal human rights for the indigenous communities while Sepulveda suggested that not all people merited the same dignity and rights and some (the uncivilized) were meant to be enslaved and domesticated.

Many of these documentaries tell us about the complexity of Las Casas' position with regards to the situation of the time. He took part of the system in the beginning and in his initial defense he did not recognize the same consideration for the African slaves compared to the indigenous slaves. This would ultimately change but the point is that his own position evolved based on his own lived experience.

And this social complexity raises questions not only about him but about us, questions that we should all ask ourselves. Like Las Casas we should consider ethical and moral positions with the issues we face today in the same way that Las Casas did. Las Casas teaches us to be open to the gospel. He invites us be open to transcendence, not only spirituality but socially as well. This invitation calls us to recognize how God views a just society and to embrace the terms of social justice as Christ presents them. And in doing so we should also recognize that our own sense of justice also evolves and we are fortunate to have pioneers like Las Casas who prepared the way. As Fr. Casey reminds us below:

We inherited a sense of justice, he didn't. He (Las Casas) had to swim upstream, he had to figure it out himself fighting off people on all sides telling him that he was wrong. Any moral high ground that we can claim today above him can only come because they were people like him who were willing to take a stand before us.

When Fr. Casey offers this insight he seems to quote, (although he doesn’t attribute), Las Casas who, according to Gustavo Gutierrez, tells the Dominican friars:

‘I believe, if I am not deceived, that I have plumbed the depths of these things and managed to reach the headwaters’. Upstream to the source. Las Casas always sought the waters that would write finis to the sterility and suffering of the Indies he knew. (Gutierrez, pg. 2)

Dominican charism is focused on the pursuit of truth. For Aquinas this truth (veritas) was in the natural law whereas for Vitoria it was based on how he envisioned the concept of international law. Las Casas’ contribution to truth was on a social analysis of the suffering and injustice he witnessed. He took the contributions of both Aquinas and Vitoria and applied their insight to his social reality. This is the pursuit of truth that continues to be meaningful for those of us who are committed to the social ministry of the Church.

Gutierrez goes on to suggest that Las Casas’ story has something to say to us regarding our own social application of the Gospel message and the Church today, marked by a renewed sense of mission and evangelization.

Today once more, in these same lands of the Indies, the process of reflection upon faith has been leading rapidly to an effective commitment in an awareness of the situation of poverty and injustice in which the majority of the population of Latin America live and under the inspiration that should animate the quest for liberation that takes account of the complexity of the human person. It is for these reasons that we find the testimony of Bartolomé de Las Casas so meaningful today. Here was someone driven to proclaim the Reign of God in a fitting manner, through a defense of the life and freedom of persons in whom his faith enabled him to Christ himself. (Gutierrez, pg. 4)

Gutierrez’s book on Las Casas offers a new word that I have not heard before, Lascasian spirituality, a spirituality based on the works and contributions of Las Casas. Lascasian spirituality is a philosophy of evangelization and social justice centered on the inherent dignity of all people, particularly the marginalized. It promotes evangelization and conversion to Christianity but only as it emphasizes love of God and love of neighbor as inseparable principles. It is a spirituality that is actively engaged in advocating for the protection of the vulnerable and the promotion of human rights. Lascasian spirituality is characterized by a prophetic voice against injustice, a commitment to inculturation, and a focus on the spiritual needs of the poor and marginalized. This spirituality should be central for Catholic social ministers.

Las Casas figures prominently in my office because of his fight against social injustice and his early recognition and application of universal human dignity and rights. His insights, spirituality, and sense of mission inform how I look at mariginalized communities and how we ought to treat others who share different cultural experiences and traditions. These are the values that continue to guide those of us who believe in the social teachings of our faith.

[locustheologicus]

St. Augustine and the Fall of Civilization

With Pope Leo XIV being a member of the Augustinian order and a citizen of the United States of America it may be important for us Americans to get to know who St. Augustine was. Becoming aware of the life and times of this great Saint may not only shed light on the policies and vision of our present pontiff, it may also tell us something about ourselves and the state of our nation.

In his first speech after becoming Pope, his first Urbi et Orbi message, Leo XIV identified as “a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian.” By telling us this he highlighted an ecclesial and theological orientation based on the famous Bishop of Hippo. St. Augustine is often considered the second greatest theologian (after St. Thomas Aquinas) and a Doctor of our Church. St. Augustine combined his academic and philosophical wisdom on topics like the Trinity with pastoral directives on charity and social obligations. St. Augustine is known for having given us a powerful admonition that helps clarify the relationship between charity and justice. This can be found in his text on “Faith, Hope, and Charity.” It is one of my favorite social teachings which speaks against those who do charity in order to cover social injustices.

Let them, therefore, not deceive themselves who think that by giving alms - and be they ever generous, whether in money or in kind - they can purchase for themselves impunity to persist in the enormity of their crimes and in their moral rottenness. It is not that they simply commit these crimes: they are so attached to them that they would like to go on and on with them - if they could but do so with impunity! (St. Augustine, pg. 77)

At the end of this same work St. Augustine presents charity as an architectonic virtue. A virtue that is foundational for all other virtues and for every ethical rules including the commandments. The love of God and love of neighbor are at the center of our Christian ethic. 

Accordingly, all the divine commandments hark back to charity, concerning which the Apostle says: “Now the end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.” Every commandment therefore has for its end charity, that is, it is charity that determines every commandment... - all these things are carried out in the right manner when they are motivated by love for God, and because of God, for our neighbor. (St. Augustine, pg. 111)

St. Augustine’s emphasis on charity was certainly based on the Christian faith which defined God as love and centered its teaching based on that premise. But it may also be that St. Augustine recognized the importance of developing a social program for an Empire in decline. In the video above Bishop Barron allows us to get a glimpse of this famous saint. This one hour video is a part of Bishop Barron’s second “Pivotal Players” series. It is very well done and I invite all Catholics to watch this documentary and learn about this great Saint and his theological, spiritual, and social contributions. 

St. Augustine was an unlikely saint. He was a deep philosopher who searched for the truth and who resisted the Christian message because he saw it as superstitious and simple. Through his interaction with St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan who was a neo-platonist Christian, Augustine discovered the figurative and allegorical truths of the Bible and this led him to recognize the theological wisdom of  Christianity. His restless heart found its home with the God of Jesus the Christ. This was the God who loves creation and invites humanity to share in his divine nature. So it is that in a famous sermon that is captured in the Office of Readings for the Christmas season we are offered the following passage from St. Augustine where he reminds us:

God became man so that man might become God. The Lord of the angels became man today so that man could eat the bread of angels.

The movie “Restless Heart” is a decent telling of the story of St. Augustine which you might find in amazon prime. It is a good movie but I still maintain that the free video above by Bishop Barron is more historically authentic and worth watching (although the trailer below is pretty neat). 

St. Augustine led the Church in North Africa during the fall of the Roman Empire. He wrote his famous theological apology “City of God” around 410AD when Rome, the eternal city, was sacked by Alaric and the Visigoths. Bishop Barron tells us in his documentary that while Roman pagans attributed the destruction of the Empire to Christianity St. Augustine would instead suggest that it was the policies of Rome itself that set it on a course of self-destruction. As Bishop Barron says in the documentary.

The basic problem he said was that Rome, like all other corrupt forms of human institution, was grounded in self-love. Any society produced by this inward-looking egotism Augustine characterized as the “Civitas Terrena”, or the earthly city. And if you pressed the matter, he thought, you will always find some form of false worship as the basic problem.

This is a powerful insight, and I hope that Bishop Barron shares this with the executive branch of our government now that he sits on the new White House Commission on Religious Liberty. It seems to me that this analysis characterizes well some of the same self-destructive tendency we are experiencing with the current administration.

St. Augustine died in 430AD after Gaiseric and the Vandals entered North Africa and prepared to sack his own city of Hippo. The great Saint recognized that the age of Rome had come to an end and that Christians needed to prepare for a new social reality that would be led by a community of faith.    

Perhaps it is this historical context that is guiding our new Holy Father in adopting the style of St. Augustine of Hippo. Perhaps he sees another transition of civilization taking place and like Sts. Ambrose and Augustine he is preparing Church leaders who will be able to respond to the ensuing calamities through a deepening of faith, an evangelical mission, and charitable social programs. It may be worth noting that twenty years after St. Augustine confronted the Vandals in North Africa Pope Leo the Great, the first Pope by that name, would also confront Attila and the Huns thus becoming both an ecclesial and political leader who would stabilize what remained of the Roman Empire. 

All this would be mere and fanciful speculation, if it were not for something Bishop Barron himself said in an interview with CBS News before Conclave began.

Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church.

It may be that the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago was indeed being prophetic here. Could it be that Pope Leo XIV recognizes that the United States is in a state of decline and he is being attentive to the shifting global power dynamics? If this is the case it might help explain what Pope Leo XIV said today to a room of journalist when he expressed the Church’s solidarity with “those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed.” The Holy Father goes on to say:

We are living in times that are both difficult to navigate and to recount. They present a challenge for all of us but it is one that we should not run away from. On the contrary, they demand that each one of us, in our different roles and services, never give in to mediocrity. The Church must face the challenges posed by the times. In the same way, communication and journalism do not exist outside of time and history. Saint Augustine reminds of this when he said, “Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times” (Discourse 80.8).

We are certainly living in interesting times, and I personally believe that Pope Leo XIV is aware of this as he takes up the mantle of Church leadership at this historical moment.