Daniel Philpott, Ph.D. and Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, will present the Fall 2026 Killeen Chair Lecture, “Has the Catholic Church Rejected War? How to Answer Papal Calls for Peace”

Pope Leo XIV's and Pope Francis's statements against war are only the latest in a series of vociferous condemnations of war dating back to Pope Benedict XV at the time of World War One. Has the magisterium rejected the Church's traditional just war ethic? I argue that we can answer the popes' summonses by expanding the Church's traditional notion of justice and thus the meaning of a just peace. In practice this means taking up and developing new practices of non-violence, peacebuilding, and reconciliation that have arisen around the globe in recent years. Among others, U.S. policymakers can profit from these practices in light of its fraught efforts to end war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places.

A post reception of beverages and desserts will follow.

Daniel Philpott earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and specializes in religion and global politics, focusing on religious freedom, reconciliation, the political behavior of religious actors, and Christian political theology. His books include Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation (Oxford, 2012), Religious Freedom in Islam: The Fate of a Universal Human Right in the Muslim World (Oxford, 2019), and several others. He is currently writing a book that sets forth a political theology based on a Christian concept of justice. Dr. Philpott is a Lay Dominican.