“Pope Francis, Just War Theory, the Ukraine, and Beyond: Can War Be Just?” by Charles Russo

Photo by Annett Klingner on Pixabay. This article is part of our “Russia/Ukraine: Law and Religion Perspectives” series. If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. “There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!” In a speech at the Vatican Apostolic Palace on March 18,

Church and State

“Lemon v. Kurtzman: Reflections on a Constitutional Catastrophe” by William E. Thro and Charles J. Russo

Photo by Brad Dodson on Unsplash. One of the most contentious issues in constitutional law is whether governmental action amounts to “an establishment of religion” in violation of the First Amendment. For the past fifty years, the Court has often, but not always, resolved Establishment Clause cases using the three-pronged test established by Lemon v. Kurtzman. Under the

“The Bishops, President Biden, and American Catholic Politicians: An Uneasy Relationship” by Charles J. Russo

Photo by Ramaz Bluashvili. Historical Context A timely, significant topic of discussion worth remembering, stretching back to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy’s battle against anti-Catholic prejudice, is the relationship between politicians and their faith leaders. This relationship, particularly involving politicians who are Roman Catholic, is the focus of this article. In his September 12, 1960,

““[E]ven in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten:” Banning Communal Worship Poses Continuing Threats to Religious Freedom” by Charles J. Russo

Image by Romy from Pixabay. This article is part of our “Law and Religion Under Pressure: A One-Year Pandemic Retrospective” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. “Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.” — Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 141 S. Ct.

“Religious Freedom in Education: A Fundamental, yet Elusive Right” by Charles J. Russo

Image by Sharon Mccutcheon on Unsplash This article is part of our “Children and Education Rights” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Since time immemorial, whether as evidenced by the cave paintings from prehistoric France, the polytheistic religions of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, or the animistic belief

“Reflections on Fratelli tutti: Something Old, Something New, Much Ado about Not too Much” by Charles J. Russo

Photo from Unsplash This article is part of our “Fratelli Tutti: Reflections on Pope Francis’s Call for Fraternity in Law and Religion” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. On October 3, 2020, Pope Francis took the unusual step of traveling to the birthplace, home, and tomb of his

“Does Religion Have a Place in the Diverse Marketplace of Ideas?” by Charles J. Russo

Photo of Ludwigsburg, Germany marketplace/ maxmann/ Pixabay/ CCO In his dissent in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, wherein the Supreme Court invalidated student-led prayer prior to the start of high school football games, a dismayed Chief Justice William Rehnquist expressed the sentiment of many Americans, that “[t]he Court … bristles with hostility to

“COVID-19, Childhood Vaccinations, and Religious Freedom: A Looming Issue” by Charles J. Russo & Paul T. Babie

Image by Tatiana from Pixabay This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Amid efforts to reduce, if not eliminate, the spread of COVID-19, researchers are working on a vaccine to prevent future infections. At the same time, given the fears of some

“Right Test, Wrong Outcome: Avoiding Misuse of the Ministerial Exception in Faith-Based Schools” by Charles J. Russo & Allan G. Osborne

Photo by George Becker on Pexels During the closing days of its 2019-20 term, the Supreme Court’s trilogy of rulings in the companion cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, and Espinoza v. Montana Department

“Born of Bigotry, Died in Religious Liberty: The Supreme Court Ends the Blaine Amendments in Empowering Parental Choice” by Charles J. Russo & William E. Thro

Image by Pexels from Pixabay “The Blaine Amendment was ‘born of bigotry.”’ Reasonable people can certainly disagree over whether Chief Justice John Roberts’ forceful words in the opinion of the five-to-four judgement in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Taxation, which produced seven different opinions, was the stake through the heart of the anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments