Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching

In this episode you’ll hear about the issue of birthright citizenship and whether Catholic Social Teaching has anything to say about it.Here are references and notes:Executive Order that would end birthright citizenship for certain immigrantsFAQ about the Executive Order from the Legal Defense Fund, an entity that is opposed to the Executive OrderArticle about Senate hearing on birthright citizenship held March 12, 2026Full transcript of Oral arguments before the Supreme Court on April 1, 2026Takeaways from Supreme Court arguments, CNN article April 1, 2026U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Brief Submitted to Supreme CourtSelected Catholic commentaries critical of USCCB brief by Kelsey Reinhardt, Philip Lawler, and Jacob NeuUS Bishops Brief Gets Mixed Reviews, article from National Catholic Register March 6, 2026, with links to both critical and supportive viewsProjection: Repealing Birthright Citizenship Would Significantly Increase the Size of the U.S. Unauthorized PopulationGerman research showing birthright citizenship impact on education and youth crimeCatholic Social Teaching: Call to family, community and participationPodcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

This episode is about the war in Iran and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about the war, focusing on news and reactions from February 28 to April 8, 2026.Here are references and notes:Here's what the Trump administration has said motivated the strikes.Persons killed and injured in Iran and US casualties through early April 2026Persons displaced by the war in IranEstimated US expenditure on war through early April 2026Cardinal Parolin: Preventive wars risk setting the world ablaze - March 4, 2026Cardinal Pizzaballa: Using God's name to justify war is 'gravest sin'Pope at Palm Sunday Mass: ‘Jesus does not listen to prayers of those who wage war’Catechism of the Catholic Church – Safeguarding Peace and Avoiding War – see section 2309 for just war criteriaCardinal McElroy says U.S. entry into war with Iran ‘not morally legitimate,’ citing Catholic just war teachingArticles from Catholic commentators supporting the war:  A Cautious Case for the Iran War by Philip Primeau and Contra Pope Leo, Catholic Just War Doctrine Supports Iran Strikes by Shannon Walsh & Sean Patrick CalabriaThe Just War Tradition and the Iran War: A Catholic Examination for American Conservatives by Will Wright - a Catholic conservative makes the case that the Iran war does not meet just war criteriaPope Leo: The threat against the entire Iranian people is unacceptable April 7, 2026Statement from Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the USCCBPodcast website with full transcriptsSend me a text or voicemail

 This episode is about the significant reduction in global humanitarian assistance that started in 2025 and continues into 2026.Here are notes and references:A Generational Collapse: Tracking the Toll of Trump’s Humanitarian Aid Cuts - February 5, 2026Documents reveal scope of Trump’s foreign aid cuts - March 26, 2025The Great Aid Recession: 2025’s Humanitarian Crash in Nine Charts - Dec 23, 2025The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts – Interactive map, country by country summaryUpdate on Lives Lost from USAID Cuts - December 16, 2025 Marco Rubio said no one has died due to U.S. aid cuts. This mom disagreesUS government will let lifesaving aid expire in seven African countries - Feb 22, 2026Catholic Vision for U.S. Humanitarian and Development Assistance 2025 - US Conference of Catholic Bishops5 Reasons Why International Humanitarian Aid Matters - August 8, 2025 - Catholic Relief ServicesForeign aid from the United States saved millions of lives each year - Sept 29, 2025 - chart showing $ totals and % of Gross National Income of 10 major donor countries in 2023KFF Health Tracking Poll February 2025: The Public’s Views on Global Health and USAID - 5th bullet point at top of article addresses US public misconception of percentage of budget going to aidPodcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

This episode is about the fairly remarkable amount of recent legislative activity related to transgenderism, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this topic.Here are references and additional resources.Supreme Court temporarily blocks California policy against parental notification of gender identityMap of US showing which states shield and which states ban gender-modifying medical procedures for young people,  Click on the “Shield Laws and Youth Care Bans” tab.  Note: posted by a pro-transgender group that takes positions are not in harmony with Catholic teachingList of 126 bills passed in 2025, in 29 states. Note: posted by a pro-transgender group that takes positions that are not in harmony with Catholic teachingHHS Announces Rule to Bar Hospitals from Performing “Sex-Rejecting Procedures” on Children — December 18, 2025Declaration “Dignitas Infinita,” on Human Dignity - August 4, 2024 - See #55-59 Gender Theory and #60 Sex ChangeCardinal provides further clarification of points made in “Dignitas Infinita.”US bishops overwhelmingly back ban on ‘gender interventions’ by Catholic health care - November 12, 2025Catholic Medical Association statement - 2023Two medical groups back limits on gender transition procedures for minors - February 6, 2026Four things Catholics need to know about transgender people - Article by a Catholic nun advocating for greater acceptance of transgenderism by the ChurchCatholic Tradition Has Always Included Trans People Like Me - Article by a transgender Catholic advocating for greater acceptance of transgenderism by the ChurchPastoral statement on accompanying those suffering gender dysphoria by Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma CityPodcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

This episode is about the recent withdrawal of the United States from a variety of  efforts aimed at responding to global climate change, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this related series of newsworthy actions. Here are references and additional resources.EPA reverses climate change endangerment findingThe United States exits Paris Climate AgreementWhat Trump’s US exit from UNFCCC and IPCC could mean for climate actionGreater than 99% consensus on human caused climate changePlanetary Health Check 2025 – Executive Summary1990 World Day of Peace Message from Pope St. John Paul IIRenewing the Earth - US Conference of Catholic Bishops 19912010 World Day of Peace Message from Pope Benedict XVI2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’2023 Apostolic Exhortation Laudate DeumWorld Must Come Together to Fight Climate Change, Pope Leo SaysWays to Get Involved:  Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si MovementPodcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

This episode is about the recent expiration of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, with no new agreement on the horizon, and how this situation looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. Here are references and additional resources.Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals could expand for the first time in three decades.  Feb 3, 2026The U.S. Needs to do Something about New START.  Posted on the American Security Project website Jan 26, 2026Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?  Nuclear arsenals by countryThe US and Russia’s nuclear weapons treaty is set to expire. Here’s what’s at stake Analysis January 26, 2026Catechism of the Catholic Church scroll down to sections 2314-2315Lapse of last US-Russia nuclear treaty ‘simply unacceptable,’ says Archbishop Coakley February 3, 2026What does the Catholic Church teach about nuclear weapons?  Aug 19, 2020  Good summary of papal and bishop conference statements from 1954-2020Pope Leo XIV, bishops commemorate 80th anniversary of atomic bombing of Japan  Aug 6, 2025Statements from US Conference of Catholic Bishops on nuclear deterrence:  1983 Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, scroll down to page 2 section I.B.;  1993 10th Anniversary Reflection, scroll down to section II.E.1.1.1998 Statement signed by 75 US Catholic Bishops (but not the entire USCCB) stating that the conditions for the moral acceptance of nuclear deterrence are not being metPodcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesHow to contact the the President   https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or call: 202-456-1111How to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson:  https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member Send me a text or voicemail

This episode is about growing support for the legalization of assisted suicide, both in the United States and worldwide, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this news story.  Here are references and additional resources.2025 Saw Expanded Access to Physician-Assisted Suicide.  National Catholic Register article 12/29/2025Catholic bishops speak out as New York governor pledges to sign into law assisted suicide  EWTN article 12/17/2025Most Americans Favor Legal Euthanasia  Gallup polling article 8/8/2024American support for euthanasia based on ‘false dichotomy,’ Catholic researcher says 8/13/2024 article in response to Gallup poll article referenced aboveMedical Aid In Dying Is Not Assisted Suicide, Suicide or Euthanasia  Online article from a proponent of “Medical Aid in Dying” that objects to the term “Assisted Suicide”Oregon Death With Dignity 2024 Annual ReportCatechism of the Catholic Church – scroll down to sections 2276-2283Samaritanus Bonus (Good Samaritan) letter issued in 2020 by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. It’s Not Your Life, It’s Not Your Death, It’s Not Your Choice - Bishop Robert Barron article January 4, 2024Is Canada ‘Killing Itself’ With Doctor-Assisted Suicide?  September 2025 summary article in Religion Unplugged (no subscription required) and full article in The Atlantic (subscription required)Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

 This episode is about the US military intervention in Venezuela that involved the capture of the now-former Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and how this news story looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. Here are references and additional resources.Maduro raid killed about 75 in Venezuela, U.S. officials assess  January 6, 2026Rubio briefs lawmakers on 'threefold process' for Venezuela  January 7, 2026Vatican news release on January 4, 2026, with Pope Leo’s comments at Angelus and (scroll down the page) appeal from Venezuelan BishopsThe Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) expresses solidarity with the Church in Venezuela January 6, 2026Venezuela strikes, takeover plans violate international law, says Notre Dame scholar  January 4, 2026Unjust War Theory: When Law Enforcement Becomes Moral Insanity – pointed assessment of US intervention in Venezuela by a Catholic commentator and professor of finance at Benedictine CollegeJust War Theory and the Venezuela Invasion – assessment by an Anglican who is a retired professor of systematic theology and ethicsPope Leo’s address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on January 9, 2026.  Here is the Vatican news release summarizing the Pope’s comments, and here is the full text of his remarks Quotations from pastoral letters and papal encyclicals from the past century regarding peace and non-violence Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodesSend me a text or voicemail

 This episode is about the death penalty and executions carried out in the United States in 2025, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this news story.  Here are references and additional resources.The Death Penalty in 2025 article from the Death Penalty Information CenterState By State Death Penalty Map from the Death Penalty Information CenterFlorida Catholic bishops urge Gov. DeSantis to stay two executions Our Sunday Visitor News articleDeath Penalty: Catholic Q & A from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops2018 Revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church section 2267 bulletin from the Holy See Press OfficeEVANGELIUM VITAE  Pope St. John Paul II 1995 Encyclical on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life – scroll down to section 56Pope St. John Paul II – Additional Statements on the Death PenaltyPope Benedict XVI: End the Death Penalty  November 30, 2011 general audiencePope Leo XIV Calls Support for the Death Penalty ​‘Not Really Pro-Life’EWTN News Poll: Majority of US Catholics Support Death Penalty Despite CatechismCatholic Mobilizing Network is a national organization that works with Catholics and all people of goodwill to end the death penaltySend me a text or voicemail

This episode is about U.S. military strikes on boats off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, and what Catholic Social Teaching has to say about this unfolding news story.  Here are references and additional resources.At least 104 people have been killed in a total of 28 strikes on alleged drug boats, according to the Trump administration. ABC News  December 19, 2025U.S. Strikes Three Boats in the Pacific, Raising Legal and Evidentiary Questions About a Militarized Drug War – Article on Military.com 12/17/2025PRESS RELEASE | The Bishops of the AEC express deep concern over the military build-up in the Southern Caribbean 10/25/2025Bishops in Puerto Rico warn of ‘possible escalations’ in a US-Venezuela war  Catholic News Agency 12/2/2025Venezuela’s Catholic Church Emerges as Last Moral Authority as Maduro Regime Tightens Grip  Gaudium Press 11/17/2025Pope Leo calls for dialogue as US builds up military presence on Venezuelan coast  Our Sunday Visitor News 11/5/2025Pope Leo urges against US incursion of Venezuela  CNN 12/2/2025Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D.  Statement on Caribbean Interceptions  December 3, 2025Catechism of the Catholic Church – Safeguarding Peace and Avoiding War – Paragraphs 2302 to 2317, with paragraph 2309 spelling out the criteria for a just warBishop Robert Barron and Just War Theory  January 29, 2021  Engaging summary of just war theory in a 12 minute videoHow to contact the White House with a message for the President or the Vice President:– online form with comment section  https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/– write a letter to:  The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500– call:  Comments: 202-456-1111How to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson:Go to  https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member , enter your home address, and it will pull up names and contact information for your senators and congresspersonSend me a text or voicemail

 This episode takes a look at the immigration enforcement story that has filled a lot of headlines in the United States in 2025.  Here are references and additional resources.U.S. Bishops Special Message on Immigration  Full text of the Bishops’ Special Message“Protecting The American People Against Invasion”  White House document that lists Executive Orders and other actions launching the immigration enforcement actions of the Trump AdministrationA New Era of Immigration Enforcement  Describes drop in migrant encounters at the border, increase in migrant detention activities in the interior.DHS Removes More than Half a Million Illegal Aliens From US  Release Date: October 27, 2025  Press release from US Department of Homeland Security“No Kings” Protests October 18, 2025   News coverage of the event5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convictions  Analysis of recent ICE dataPope Francis to U.S. bishops: Dignity of migrants comes first  “Rightly formed conscience” referenceBig Budget Act Creates Deportation Industrial Complex    Budget analysisYou Are Not Alone  Ways for Catholics to support immigrantsImmigration Reform and The Church  Thoughtful and thorough review of the involvement of the Catholic Church in immigration reform efforts over the past several decadesSend me a text or voicemail

 This episode is about the suspension of the Refugee Admissions Program in the United States.  I’m going to outline the news story as it has unfolded in 2025, and then see what Catholic Social Teaching has to say.Here are references and resources: Executive Order  Presidential Suspension of the Refugee Admissions Program - 01/20/2025News Item from Our Sunday Visitor News  Trump Administration Terminates U.S. Bishops Refugee Resettlement ContractWeb page with news timeline provided by the International Rescue Committee  Refugee Assistance Program Suspension Impact on RefugeesSolidarity   Information from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website, including references to Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching.Common Good and Community  Quotations from Church teaching provided by the Office for Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis MNExecutive Order  Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026 - 10/31/2025Online Interview with Criminologist Regarding Immigrants and Crime  Data is clear that immigrants don’t increase crime in the United States, expert saysOnline Article from the Wilson Center  Net Positive: New Government Study Finds Refugees and Asylees Contributed $123.8 Billion to the US Economy From 2005-2019How to contact the White House with a message for the President or the Vice President:– online form with comment section  https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/– write a letter to: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500– call:  Comments: 202-456-1111How to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson:Go to  https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member , enter your home address, and it will pull up names and contact information for your senators and congresspersonSend me a text or voicemail

The purpose of this episode is to introduce the podcast series.  I’ll provide an overview of what this podcast is all about and the approach that it will take, to give you an idea of what to expect from upcoming episodes.Helpful notes and references for this episode (links underlined):US Conference of Catholic Bishops Overview of Catholic Social Teaching  Great place to start if you’re new to the idea of Catholic Social Teaching.Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching  This is a very helpful online resource from the Office for Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis MN.  Scroll down the page for an extensive “Frequently Asked Questions” section about Catholic Social Teaching.Catholic Social Teaching 101 is a collaborative 7-part video and discussion guide series presented by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services on Catholic social teaching principles. The videos highlight the core Catholic Values and inspire us to put our faith into action.The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church  This is a comprehensive Vatican document published in 2004.  It is not light reading.  However, if you want a deeper dive into Catholic Social Teaching up to 2004, you’ll find it here.  The Church's social doctrine has continued to develop since 2004, and more recent teachings are found in later papal documents and revisions to other foundational documents like the Catechism of the Catholic Church.Tom Mulhern LinkedIn ProfileSend me a text or voicemail