The 161st consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took the unusual step of starting an hour later than usual, so that participants could view the live video address of Pope Leo XIV as he accepted the 38th Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, reported that “he represents in his person and his teaching… the values of the American Revolution and the founding fathers.” She recommended that everyone read his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, because the present state of American policy has deviated so far from those values.
Other IPC participants had varying reactions to the pope’s address. Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, and cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), prefaced his remarks by saying, “I’m a cradle Catholic.” He went on to acknowledge that Pope Leo is speaking out, but “in abstractions and generalities,” and he chose not to speak freely about “the blood-stained face of history.” He drew a comparison to the role of Pius XII, who also spoke in abstractions during World War II.
Later in the meeting, Zepp-LaRouche conceded that “maybe the Pope could have spoken more clearly against the war.” But she pointed out that leading warmongers in the United States have reacted sharply to comments by the Pope, and she said that there is a German proverb: “hit dogs bark,” meaning that their hysterical reactions were proof that the pope’s words had reached their intended targets.
McGovern said later that upon reflection, he still feels that he was not “too harsh on Pope Leo.” The United States is participating in a war of aggression and a genocide, and the Pope failed to “stick his neck out” and address these things directly, unlike Jesus who “didn’t speak in platitudes.”
Father Harry Bury, a renowned Catholic priest for 70 years, lifelong peace activist, member of the U.S. Catholic Priest Association, and the founder of Twin Cities Nonviolent, said that while this is a dangerous time that is escalating toward a third world war, he is still hopeful because of two factors: the Schiller Institute’s Oasis Plan, and the Pope’s recent encyclical.
During the discussion period, co-moderator Dennis Small called attention to the fact that the government of Spain has announced an amnesty for 1.3 million migrants. Two weeks earlier the Pope was in Spain, where he said that we need to have development so that people can remain in their home nations and not be forced to leave in order to survive. Mexican farm activist Alberto Vizcarra added that the Pope applies the doctrine of the “common good” to agriculture, which must prioritize the needs of humanity over the profits of speculators.
In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche said that the recent encyclical is “a very powerful intervention”; what he said about the American Revolution is more perceptive than the comments of anyone outside of Lyndon LaRouche and his collaborators. “We have to get Americans back to their soul,” she said.
Another participant noted that Peter Thiel of Palantir accuses the Pope of being an agent of communism because he calls for regulation of Artificial Intelligence.
The Current Strategic Picture
