3 cardinals issue statement on US foreign policy
January 19, 2026
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CWN Editor's Note: Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, and Joseph Tobin of Newark today issued a joint statement, “Charting A Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy.”
“In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War,” said the prelates. “The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.”
They continued:
The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination. And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.
Citing the Pope’s recent address to the diplomatic corps, the prelates said that “the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral foundation” has “provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway for American foreign policy in the coming years.”
They added:
As pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel.The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.
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