Peace
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Does the Bible give Israel divine rights over Palestinian land?
Genesis texts promising land to Abraham’s descendants are frequently cited to justify Israeli occupation. But modern biblical scholarship and Paul’s letter to the Romans challenge any claim that God permanently favours one people over another.
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The peace of the Resurrection and the call to end war
The argument that enemies hide among civilians does not grant unlimited permission to inflict mass casualties on noncombatants. Civilian infrastructure like power grids and food supply chains cannot be obliterated simply because soldiers also depend on electricity and sustenance to carry out their operations.
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Banksy captures our moment
A Banksy statue appeared overnight on a London street — a man in a suit, stepping into thin air. Banal at first glance, the figure crystallises something all the year’s op-eds have failed to: the breathtaking gap between political confidence and political vision in our time.
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How Iran broke Trump’s alliance with Catholic America
At an Easter vigil for peace, Cardinal McElroy preached that the United States entered the Iran war by choice, not necessity, and failed to exhaust negotiation. He called both its initiation and continuation morally illegitimate.
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A passive voice is how we hide from the wars we choose
We have constructed an entire vocabulary of evasion around war. Violence “erupts,” conflicts “spiral,” casualties get “reported” — all passive, all subjectless. Leo XIV punctures that fog by insisting someone chose this, restoring human agency and accountability to every act of destruction.
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Peace starts here
Genuine peace is not always comfortable. Some people try our patience repeatedly. Yet that is precisely where world peace must begin — not in diplomatic summits, but in the ordinary, difficult relationships of everyday life.
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When barbarians break through the city walls
At Davos, Mark Carney delivered an unusually candid assessment of global power dynamics. The Canadian prime minister argued that smaller nations can no longer rely on international institutions to protect their interests. Instead, they must band together or risk becoming pawns in a game controlled entirely by superpowers.
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The ideology of “the land” and its quiet power over politics and culture
Land is more than physical territory. It holds emotion, memory, and meaning. Across cultures and histories, land becomes a source of identity, pride, and grief. Its importance transcends soil—it shapes who we are, where we belong, and how we understand others and ourselves.
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Dehumanisation fuels violence
Once hatred is sanctified as duty, violence can masquerade as obedience to God rather than rebellion against compassion. Scholars have tried to suggest the text was hyperbolic. Yet, these verses reveal the deep mechanism by which fear and faith intertwine in acts of exclusion.
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When power writes the peace
The Gaza plan bears the handwriting of the powerful: America’s interests, Israel’s security, Gaza’s disarmament. Its language of goodwill hides the imbalance beneath. True peace will depend not on signatures, but on the justice that follows.
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