James V. Schall

"The fact is that, when he states, usually in some obscure venue, his adherence to orthodox positions, he is never reported in the world media. The media understand that they influence by image and repetition. Everything the Pope says that can be interpreted in terms of accepting these aberrations is broadcast around the world. Everything he says to deny this view goes largely unreported. Whether the Pope realizes that he is being manipulated here I would not venture to say."

"In the end, I suspect, the "subjective" Church is judged by the standards of the objective Church. Why else would the Lord have bothered to establish an institution whose principal purpose was to lead us to eternal life? It does this by telling us to keep the commandments, seek repentance when we violate them. We are given enough grace to see the difference between what is good and what is evil."

"Not all advice on helping the poor works, so there is a real question of morality, politics, and economics involved here. "Identifying" with the poor is not enough and may well be harmful if ineffective or bad advice is given. We will not help the poor or anyone else, unless we love them. But just because we love someone, it does not follow that how we show this love is a feasible way to help the poor."

"We must understand the religious nature of Islamic expansion and the methods used to achieve it. By trying to abstract these motivation from the soul of this particular religion, which is, on this score, unlike most others, only makes it impossible to describe what in fact is going on in the mind of the adversary that is Islam. Wars are first fought in minds—and this is a war."