On the way into the parish today, I was listening to NPR as they were interviewing a theologian and taking calls as they discussed the public dispute between both the President and Vice President of the United States as they actively seem to be quarreling with Pope Leo XIV. The Pope has called for an end to war in the Middle East and the bombing of Iran and in doing so questioned the United States and our country's participation in this conflict. Perhaps you have seen the headlines and read a thing or two about their clashing points of view. 

I would like, if I may, not to enter into the dispute, but to offer some perspective on why this sort of thing happens from time to time. I should clarify that my frame of reference in saying "time to time" is all the way back to Jesus' time and very likely way before him. Conflicts between spiritual leaders and political leaders are not new. A ruler-vs-religious-leader argument colored the very crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The Emperor Constantine got involved in the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. King Henry IV of of the Holy Roman Empire in 1122, King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway in 1194, King Charles of Spain in 1527, King Henry VII of England in 1534, and Napoleon in 1809 are just a short list of political rulers who tussled with the Pope. Sometimes they even claim theological superiority to religious authority. In recent years, we've seen in our fellow countrymen and women who share the Catholic faith and have held high levels of political influence all suggest that the Pope is in error in comparison to their own personal claim on theological insight - Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and President Joe Biden, to name but a few.  

While the recent headlines are newsworthy, they are hardly news. 

Which is why I've always respected my professor in graduate school, Sr. Mary Elsbernd OSF, who helped frame the conversation quite succinctly. As Catholics, we hold the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility in which we claim that on matters of faith and morality the Pope does not err in his teaching. But what exactly is "morality?" 

Sr. Elsbernd would teach us that morality, specifically "social morality" which she taught, is a "normative science." She meant to instruct us that the social moral teaching of the Church (including the sacredness of life before birth, respect for immigrants, cessation of the death penalty, etc.) all dealt with "norms" and the way things "ought" to be. This science stands outside of and in contrast to the pragmaticism of politics and our daily actions. Politics, she would argue is a "practical science" that deals with things the way they are. The whole of social morality cannot fit and can never fit into the practical and we should not expect it to do so.  

Sr. Elsbernd did not present this distinction to be dismissive of moral thinking but to elevate its importance. We are constantly driven by the magnanimous vision of how things "ought" to be, even as we struggle to achieve the perfection that we seek. Should we ever achieve a great moral priority in politics, the transformative nature of our social teaching would still compel us to grow beyond that achievement to something "more." 

For example, the Church's social teaching presents us with the norm that "all people should be fed and enjoy the bounty of the earth that God has given." This is what "ought" to happen. But the Church doesn't dictate the practical reality of how to make that happen. That is up to us, the People of God to figure out. In doing so, there is a whole portion of the People of God that have suggested that Democratic Capitalism is the best political-economic system to enable the necessary growth and prosperity required to feed everyone. There is a good case to be made for this! At the same time, in the United States, Capitalism has failed miserably leaving 10% of our population in poverty and 13% living with food insecurity on a daily basis. Capitalism has turned people into products and labor into a commodity. By all accounts, it is a system subject to evaluation by the Church's social teaching and the call to "do better." 

Meanwhile there are those who have suggested that Communism is the way to ensure that everyone is fed. There may be an argument to be made for Communism's desire to treat everyone as equal and for all citizens to share equally in the goods of society. The problem is that Communism has a horrible track record, leaving millions dead in times of famine and conflict. It also burdens its citizens under the moral wound of authoritarian dominance and ideology. 

Yet, the Church has existed and continues to exist under both Capitalism and Communism. It has existed under Monarchy and Democracy and every other political structure you can imagine. Christ did not endorse a political system but instituted a society that stands outside the confines of fleeting social constructs with the explicit mission of transforming the men and women who live in those same societies. He established the Church both for our eternal salvation in Heaven and for God's justice revealed here and now. It is up to us apply the norms of social morality into the messiness of our practical realities. We do this because Saint Peter instructed us to "hasten the coming of the day of God" even as we await the glory of eternal life with God. (2 Peter 3:12)

Looking around, it seems we fall short of the justice God has called us to enact. We do so... bigly. But that should not tamper us or our desire to advance the moral "oughts" that belief in Jesus Christ compels us to seek. We should stand with the Pope and affirm "Enough of war!" We should aim, with every effort, to transform our politics we we can find the blessedness Jesus revealed in the Sermon on the Mount when he said "Blessed are the Peacemakers."

The challenge that neither the Church, nor the Pope, nor Jesus himself can answer for us is... "How?" 

Summer Camp 2026

We are thrilled to offer summer options for our families.

• We will hold our traditional summer camps for registered Saint Andrew students during the first two weeks of the summer break. Registration is open! 

• Saint Andrew Summer Adventure Camp will be offered for the majority of the remaining summer weeks. Adventure Camp Registration for SA students, their friends, and neighbors in the community is open. 

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