Three senior Catholic cardinals from the United States have issued a joint appeal urging a renewed moral vision in the country’s foreign policy, warning that recent international actions risk deepening suffering rather than advancing peace. In a public statement, Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy, and Joseph Tobin emphasized that global engagement lacking ethical grounding can become shaped by narrow interests and polarization. They expressed concern that debates over foreign policy are increasingly detached from principles of human dignity and the common good. While acknowledging the significant influence of the United States on world affairs, the cardinals argued that moral leadership cannot be reduced to power or strategic advantage. Their intervention follows earlier statements by the US Catholic hierarchy on migration and human rights, reflecting a broader effort to articulate the Church’s social teaching amid heightened global tensions.
The cardinals grounded their appeal in the recent diplomatic address of Pope Leo XIV to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, in which he warned against the use of force as a routine instrument of national policy. Without naming specific countries, the Pope cautioned that military actions undertaken without respect for international law undermine peace and erode the moral foundations of the global order. Drawing on this framework, the US cardinals raised concerns about recent military actions, territorial threats, and reductions in foreign aid, arguing that such measures raise serious ethical questions. They reiterated the Church’s teaching that war must always remain a last resort and that economic assistance plays a vital role in protecting life and supporting vulnerable populations. For the cardinals, the credibility of foreign policy depends not on dominance but on consistency with principles of justice, restraint, and respect for sovereignty.
In expanding on their statement, the cardinals stressed that their goal was not partisan critique but moral encouragement. They argued that national prosperity cannot be built on the suffering or exclusion of others and that foreign policy must be measured against its impact on the poorest and most vulnerable. Cuts to humanitarian assistance, they warned, risk weakening long-standing commitments to global health, food security, and social stability. By invoking the concept of the common good, the cardinals called on political leaders and citizens alike to engage in ethical reasoning rather than ideological loyalty. They also emphasized the role of ordinary believers and people of goodwill in advocating for basic human decency in public life. Through this appeal, the cardinals sought to reaffirm the Church’s longstanding conviction that peace, human dignity, and moral responsibility must remain central to international relations.
