In earlier times, American military action in Venezuela and abduction of the country’s dictator might have been seen as just another takeover of a decrepit country that has something the U.S. wants – in many cases, oil. However, President Donald Trump has changed everything. The thin veil of bringing democracy and supposed prosperity to oppressed people is now nowhere to be found.

In his final catechesis, given on December 20, Pope Leo focused on the generative nature of hope. That is, hope offers life instead of death. “Without hope, we are dead; with hope, we come to the light.”

In the face of seemingly senseless tragedies, such as the death of a child or natural disasters, many have lost faith. The massive suffering caused by such disasters is not easily dismissed. We should and do strive to prevent such suffering. Why doesn’t God lend us more of a hand?

The root of the Church’s inability to adequately evangelize the Western world is that we are so full of truth and goodness that we have forgotten beauty. In that, we resemble the modern world we sometimes criticize. Beauty has been sacrificed to function and efficiency in architecture, ritual and thought.

The poor are our brothers and sisters. While we talk about seeing Christ in the poor, we can also see the poor as estranged family members.

The Catholic Church has always viewed patriotism as a virtue, and today we need to be clear in how it differs from nationalism. Patriotism has emotional roots in the love of one’s country. However, emotional attachment does not make one a patriot.

In his book, Spirituality: A Brief History, Philip Sheldrake describes the emergence of new spiritual emphases in different historical periods as a response to the changing circumstances of the Christian Church.

What does it mean to be created in God’s image? We know from Genesis 1.27 that people are created in God’s image. However, since God is unseen and unseeable, our response to this question must necessarily be the result of groping in the darkness.

Ten years after Pope Francis’ landmark statement Laudato Si’ and 10 years after the Paris Climate Agreement that followed in the encyclical’s wake, the quest for net zero carbon emissions appears to have ground to a halt.

What secularists never understand is that human dignity is not centred on our desire to be free from all external constraints. Instead, the great dignity of the human person is about our yearning for truth and our ability to seek and find that truth.