Like Christians, Yazidis too underwent brutal torments by the ISIS jihadists, yet their stories hardly get any coverage in the West.

The debate here is not one of having a strong military, which, to borrow President Woodrow Wilson’s famous phrase, is necessary to make ‘the world safe for democracy’. Rather, it is how military expenditure, or militarism, becomes an end in itself.

According to Firestone, ‘only through women rising up—like the proletariat—and seizing control of their bodies (e.g. the means of sexual reproduction) can the oppression of women finally come to an end.’ Transgender activists, too, have used this feminist rhetoric for their own agenda.

The Taliban have been doing quite well economically through the fleecing of international humanitarian aid and making deals with draconian countries like China.

Today our society, the Roman Church, and other ecclesiastical communities are experiencing an epidemic of confusion and moral and doctrinal disorientation, which is threatening the common good.

It appears that the Biden administration’s policy to require Chinese nationals who wish to enter the US to provide a negative swab test, which does not guarantee they are Covid-free, is nothing else than a cover-up.

The Pontiff Emeritus, with his controversial Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, officially reintroduced the public celebration of the ‘Traditional Latin Mass’. He did not just restore the external beauty of the sacred liturgy, but he reminded us that contrary to so-called experts, the Tridentine Mass was never abrogated.

President Biden seems to personally gain if the war were to go on. It would continue to keep lawmakers and the mainstream media distracted from the corruption scandal that involves his son, Hunter Biden, with Burisma—an oil and natural gas company owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky.

Unfortunately, the light of the star that guided the wise men to the place where the Prince of Peace was born (Matthew 2, 1-12), which Charles spoke about, is being rejected by the warring parties. Like Herod who believed that Jesus was the newborn King and refused Him, they too are not displaying any intention to be ‘men of good will’. 

Muslims do have an incredible veneration for the Mother of Jesus, as expressed in Persian art. However, there are two ‘Marys’: the Blessed Mother of Christ, and Maryam (Miryam), the prophetess of the Old Testament.

While the European Union is castigating Hungary, specifically with the recommendation to freeze €7.5 billion in funds over rule of law concerns, it has been abetting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s crimes against humanity—and the same can be said for the United States.

A peaceful ‘cohabitation’ between the Christian West (whatever may be left of it) and Islam has been shown to be historically destructive. Unlike Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Western leaders and churchmen alike have continually turned a blind eye to this.

Institutional misogyny is one of the pillars of Iran’s Islamic theocracy—as is in the rest of the Islamic world where the sharia has precedence.

Marriage is the mutual commitment of a man and a woman with the intention to accept the unity and indissolubility of the spouses, with the end of procreating and properly raising offspring. It is not the desire to emotionally and physically share intimacy.

The claim by politicians that our outward actions do not have to reflect our conscience because they are afraid of ‘imposing’ beliefs on others—which they do not—is sanctimonious. In fact, it is their way of thinking and their legislation that are an imposition on us.

Iranians, however, must continue protesting, knowing that never before in its history has the Islamic regime been so vulnerable. As it happened in the Soviet Union, citizens’ dissidence in Iran can achieve victory, too.

Hobbes refuted traditional higher law tenets and motivated people to accept the established laws and customs of their nations, even if they appear oppressive, for it is the only way peace and security can be obtained in society. The state thus becomes successful at the expense of justice, as it is today in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation where power divorced from justice maintains order through oppression.

If the West and the Vatican came together and publicly condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for its crimes, it would not just be in the interest of Iranian citizens but the entire Middle East region. And the time to act is now.

As a result of the discrimination by the Israeli authorities and because of Islamic oppression, the socio-cultural and spiritual connections that are the backbone of Palestinian Christians’ collective identity have been dramatically weakened.

Evidence indicates that the UK has become more polarised when it comes to people’s positions on salient issues. Great Britain is also witnessing a fragmentation of political support and ‘affective polarisation’ related to people’s Brexit identities.

Islamic scholars and activists who insist that Islam is a religion of peace go so far as to compare the crusades to, if not equate with, the jihad carried out by ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other Islamic terrorist groups.

Xi has been ruthless in his ten-year rule of China, curbing personal freedoms such as free speech and freedom of religion, arresting anyone who raised their voice against his authoritarian regime.

While the world is caught up in the war in Ukraine, let us not forget what is happening in Iran. Let us hope that the sacrifices of those who have fought and continue to fight for their liberty from a draconian regime have not been in vain, for the people of Iran deserve better.

One should shed tears when the true essence of humanism, which parallels our Christian faith, is not only misplaced, but altogether exploited for non-humanist purposes.

Today marks the 77th infamous anniversary of the invasion of Ethiopia—also called Abyssinia—by Benito Mussolini’s Italy.

Individuals like Kung and Zen, and without a doubt those Christians who continue to suffer in their testimony to the Christian faith, are today’s unrecognised saints.

Humanism gave precedence to the development of human virtue, as depicted in the classical works of Cicero and Livy. This, however, was never a negation of divine or supernatural matters.

Freedom of speech is a not a privilege that is conceded by government, but a natural right that comes from God. The tutelage of this right is vital for any democratic political process and the development of the human person.

Being unsuccessful at overthrowing Orbán, the EU has shifted its strategy to attacking the prime minister’s immigration policy and the libel laws. 

If the ‘leader of the free world’ is pushing for an economic revolution that could potentially have dystopian consequences, and is not being clear about it, there is reason to raise an eyebrow.