The Vatican, China, and Evangelical Prudence
Recent remarks by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, have fueled speculation about a possible exchange of diplomatic representation between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of
Ukraine, 25 Years from Now
Ukraine marked the silver anniversary of its independence last month. It has been a rugged 25 years, and the last two and a half have been exceptionally tough. Russia, which
Ukraine’s Determined Will is Inspiration for Rest of World
During the EuroMaidan Revolution, if I remember correctly, one of the brave souls who stood fast in support of the promises of Ukraine’s independence said, “We came to the Maidan
God and Brexit
Ever since the United Kingdom decided in June to leave the European Union, contending (and sometimes overlapping) explanations have been offered for a vote that stunned the world’s opinion-makers: a
The Ostpolitik Failed. Get Over It.
In the 1960s, Popes John XXIII and Paul VI initiated a new Vatican approach to the countries behind the iron curtain, the Ostpolitik. According to its chief architect and agent, Archbishop
On not Settling for Mediocrity
CRACOW. With World Youth Day 2016 beginning here in less than three weeks, thoughts naturally turn to Pope St. John Paul II and his pilgrimages to his Polish homeland. The
A Cinematic Lesson in Hope
At a moment like this when there doesn’t seem to be a lot going right—ascendant authoritarianisms throughout the world; lethal violence by ideological fanatics; feckless responses to both from the
Only Francis Can Go to China?
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, recently told an Italian journal that relations between the Vatican and the People’s Republic of China “are living in a
A Sordid Anniversary, to be Remembered
On September 24, 1949, Georgii Karpov, chairman of the agency that provided “liaison” to the Russian Orthodox Church for the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, wrote Josef Stalin and his
Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Heroes
Ever since then Maidan revolution of dignity erupted in Kyiv in November 2013, Russian propaganda has been pumped into the world in a steady stream of bilge reminiscent of what
ISIS, Genocide, and Us
The Monuments Men was a disappointing movie, but one of its most chilling scenes sticks in my mind as an analogue to the appalling wickedness underway in the Middle East.
Pope Francis and the Russian Patriarch Will Meet, as Ukrainian Catholics Watch and Wait
The announcement that Pope Francis will meet with Kirill, Russian Orthodox patriarch of Moscow, in Cuba on February 12 is, paradoxically, both a Big Deal and something that ought to
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