Everyday Justice magazine

December 2025

Articles from Mercy:

• The Catholic Church responds to the threat of authoritarianism (Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team)
• Post—COP 30 report (Marianne Comfort; Institute Justice Team)
• Critical Considerations: The United States: global citizen or global pariah? (Karen Donahue, RSM)

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The Catholic Church responds to the threat of authoritarianism

Rose Marie Tresp, RSM

This article from America magazine challenges Catholics to examine the current, increasing authoritarianism in the United States. Authoritarianism comes with increasing threats to human dignity, to religious freedom, and to the republican constitutional order. What should be the response of the Catholic Church from the hierarchy, the religious organizations of men and women, and lay Catholics? Historically, the response to authoritarianism has been mixed in different times and places, including both resistance and accommodation. Dr. Maria J. Stephan, author of the book Why Civil Resistance Works: the Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, guides us in the article through examples of the Church’s response to authoritarianism. Then, Dr. Stephan outlines current resistance actions and movements in the United States today. Finally, she states that

U.S. Catholics have a crucial role to play in upholding fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms that are core to the Catholic faith. There are many ways to bear witness, disrupt injustices, and unite around an affirmative vision of what we demand for our democracy.

Dr. Stephan then recommends many possible ways that Catholics – the hierarchy, parishes, religious organizations and movements, and lay Catholics – can challenge and resist the current authoritarian movement.

“U.S. Catholics are facing an authoritarian threat. The church has been here before.” reprinted with permission from America magazine, published by America Press, Inc. ©2025. All rights reserved. For subscription information, call 1-800-267-6939 or visit America’s subscription webpage.

Dr. Maria J. Stephan co-leads the Horizons Project, an organizing platform dedicated to building an inclusive, multi-racial democracy in the United States. She is the author and editor of five books, including the award-winning book (with Erica Chenoweth) Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. She is a member of the Freedom Trainers and on the advisory council of the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence.

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Post—COP 30 report

Marianne Comfort; Institute Justice Team

COP 30, formally known as the 30^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was held at the edge of the Amazon rainforest last month. Participants in the international climate talks reported that the formal results were extremely disappointing. But they also expressed excitement at the energy generated by unprecedented numbers of Catholic and Indigenous observers.

Mercy Sister Rosita Sidasmed represented one of the Church’s territorial networks on a panel with cardinals from around the world. The speakers all highlighted some of the themes from A Call to Climate Justice and the Common Home, a document published by the bishops’ conferences of Latin America, Africa and Asia and promoted by the Vatican. She said it was exciting participating with Church and Indigenous leaders and meeting with the formal delegation from the Holy See.

The Laudato Si’ Movement delivered the People’s Determined Contributions (PDCs), commitments from over 2,000 individuals, institutions and communities to address the climate crisis. The PDCs emerged from the Raising Hope conference outside Rome in October to supplement the often-inadequate commitments from countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite pressure from all these leaders, the final text from COP 30 failed to address the core problem of transitioning away from fossil fuels, according to a report from Lisa Sullivan, a Justice Team partner with Maryknoll. Also, while there were many discussions about putting environmental and social protections around mining for minerals during the energy transition – both in the formal negotiations and in side events – that issue never made it into the final documents. The United States was missing from the delegations at COP 30, and Lisa named that no one else appeared to fill the role that the U.S. often took: to nudge the most resistant countries to accept modest climate measures. The most important development, she said, is that Colombia and The Netherlands announced a conference in April that will focus on a just transition away from fossil fuels.

The Mercy Justice Team signed onto a statement that denounces the dominant mentality that places mining and extractivism at the center of responses to the climate crisis. The statement came out of the People’s Summit, a parallel gathering outside COP 30. In part, the statement reads:

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Critical Considerations

The United States: global citizen or global pariah

Karen Donahue, RSM

Earlier this month, the White House released its most recent National Security Strategy (NSS). This is a document that outlines the nation’s security concerns, the administration’s plans to address them, and serves to communicate the administration’s vision to Congress and the public.

This NSS is noteworthy in that it reorients U.S. foreign policy relative to several areas of the world and seems to indicate a turning away from the kind of global engagement that has characterized U.S. foreign policy since the end of World War II. For example, there is much less focus on the Middle East now that the U.S. is not as dependent on Middle East petroleum as it once was.

However, there is an enhanced focus on the Western Hemisphere, particularly Latin America, with a call to “reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.” Like the original Monroe Doctrine (1823), the Trump Corollary “will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets.” However, the real goal is a “potent restoration of American power and priorities.”

United States intervention is already on the rise. Large numbers of U.S. troops are now deployed in the Caribbean, drone attacks on boats suspected of carrying drugs have killed almost ninety people, the president endorsed right-wing presidential candidates in recent elections held in Argentina and Honduras, and there are ongoing threats to invade Venezuela, a nation which holds the world’s largest petroleum reserves.

This NSS also undermines the long-standing alliance between the United States and Europe, claiming that Europe is on the verge of civilizational erasure because of its immigration policies, social safety net programs and strong regulatory measures. It affirms far-right parties and considers “the growing influence of patriotic European parties cause for great optimism.” The general tone of the document is “America First” with almost no regard for the dreams and aspirations of the other 95.8 percent of the world’s population. Climate change, the greatest threat to humanity, is dismissed as an ideology.

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