Picture of Mario Alexis Portella

Mario Alexis Portella

Mario Alexis Portella is a Minor Canon of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Adjunct Professor of Canon Law at St. Phillip Neri Seminary in Gricigliano, Italy. He has a doctorate in canon law and civil law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome; he also holds an MA in Medieval History from Fordham University, as well as a BA in Government & Politics from St. John’s University. He is author of Islam: Religion of Peace?: The Violation of Natural Rights and Western Cover Up and Ethiopian and Eritrean Monasticism: The Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Two Nations.
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
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
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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
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
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
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.