Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] "Peace, peace, when there is no peace"Having deserted the just-war tradition, the Vatican has nothing practical to add to conversations about war and peaceWhen Pope Francis announced that war is never justifiable, he deprived the Vatican of a valuable means of assessing international conflicts. Faced with any world crisis, the Holy See now issues calls for dialogue and negotiation.Good, good. We’re all for dialogue and negotiation— which, if successful, are infinitely preferable to bloodshed and destruction. But what if the dialogue is fruitless, the negotiations stall, the situation is intractable, and grave injustice remains? The Vatican is left...

[Catholic Caucus] The Saga of a Cristero FamilyFreedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation. – Ronald Wilson Reagan, July 6, 1987.In the hushed, early morning hours, a small group of guerrilla fighters quietly set ablaze several small bridges north and south of the Colima railroad station, razing major access points in and out of the town strangled by criminal caudillos.Celebrating the destruction, Colonel Marcos “Marquitos” Torres Virgen (1899-1928) led his Cristero soldiers, filled with bravado, as they galloped on horseback, tearing – uncontested – through the...

The Air Force has suspended a course that was taught by chaplains for more than 20 years because the material included Bible passages. The course, called “Christian Just War Theory” was taught by chaplains at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and used Scripture from both the Old and New Testaments to show missile launch officers that it can be moral to go to war.