Alberto Rocca

St. Augustine: “What is wrong in war is an eagerness to cause harm, a cruel vengeance, a remorseless and uncontrollable spirit, a rebellious wildness, a desire to dominate, and other things of that sort” (Contra Faustum, Book XXII, Ch. 74)

RT @FrancisXRocca: Regarding @Pontifex’s statement yesterday that “God does not bless any conflict,” the Italian and Spanish versions of th…

Don’t call him the quiet pope anymore. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/…

Trump’s second term has transformed the priorities of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…

This seems to me correct. Two terrified people, neither of whom was looking to hurt the other, who in a moment acted impulsively under the influence of fear. It's awful. Those quick to try to mind-read and judge either one of them should in charity and humility shut the hell up.

President Donald J. Trump shares a powerful message in response to Hamas' statement regarding his peace plan: "Very importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home."

Reminder to wannabe Nietzschean meatballs who suppose that hatred of enemies and score-settling are “based”: “To be incapable of taking one's enemies, one’s accidents, even one’s misdeeds seriously for very long – that is the sign of strong, full natures in whom there is an excess of the power to form, to mold, to recuperate and to forget (a good example of this in modem times is Mirabeau, who had no memory for insults and vile actions done him and was unable to forgive simply because he – forgot). Such a man shakes off with a single shrug many vermin that eat deep into others; here alone genuine ‘love of one's enemies’ is possible – supposing it to be possible at all on earth. How much reverence has a noble man for his enemies! – and such reverence is a bridge to love. – For he desires his enemy for himself, as his mark of distinction; he can endure no other enemy than one in whom there is nothing to despise and very much to honor! In contrast to this, picture ‘the enemy’ as the man of ressentiment conceives him – and here precisely is his deed, his creation: he has conceived ‘the evil enemy,’ ‘the Evil One,’ and this in fact is his basic concept, from which he then evolves, as an afterthought and pendant, a ‘good one’ – himself!” (Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, First Essay, Section 10, Kaufmann and Hollingdale translation)

Exactly. The left-wing error here is “Loving our enemies is good; so punishing evildoers is suspect.” The right-wing error here is “Punishing evildoers is good; so loving our enemies is suspect.” These errors feed off of one another. Both must be resisted, without compromise.

This is a false dichotomy. The Christian citizen forgives so that the murderer is no longer a private enemy; the state punishes because the murderer is still a public enemy.

We must repudiate the idea that "speech can be violence" once and for all. @glukianoff and I wrote about the dangers of promoting this idea on college campuses back in 2017, in @TheAtlantic: theatlantic.com/education/arch…

A man commits murder while innumerable others cheer that murder, all supremely confident that in doing so they are opposing “hate.” From academia to pop culture to social media, our society is like a Plato’s Cave in which intellects and consciences have been submerged in darkness

Thucydides: “Civil war ran through the cities… And they reversed the usual way of using words to evaluate what they did. Ill-considered boldness was counted as loyal manliness; prudent hesitation was held to be cowardice in disguise, and moderation merely the cloak of an unmanly nature. A mind that could grasp the good of the whole was considered wholly lazy. Sudden fury was accepted as part of manly valor… A man who expressed anger was always to be trusted, while one who opposed him was under suspicion... In brief, a man was praised if he could commit some evil action before anyone else did, or if he could urge on another person who had never meant to do such a thing. Family ties were not so close as those of the political parties, because party members would readily dare to do anything on the slightest pretext… To take revenge was of higher value than never to have received injury... Those who led their parties in the cities promoted their policies under decent-sounding names: “equality for the mass of citizens” on one side, and “moderate aristocracy” on the other. And although they pretended to serve the public in their speeches, they actually treated it as the prize for their competition; and striving by whatever means to win, both sides ventured the most horrible outrages and exacted even greater revenge, without any regard for justice or the public good… The citizens who remained in the middle were destroyed by both parties, partly because they would not side with them, and partly for envy that they might escape in this way. Thus was every kind of wickedness afoot throughout all Greece by the occasion of civil wars... People were sharply divided into opposing camps, and, without trust, their minds were in strong opposition. No speech was so powerful, no oath so terrible, as to overcome this mutual hostility... For the most part, those of weaker intelligence had the greatest success, since a sense of their own inferiority and the subtlety of their opponents put them into great fear that they would be overcome in debate or by schemes due to their enemies’ intelligence… Those who attacked… primarily out of zeal for equality… were the most carried away by their undisciplined passion to commit savage and pitiless attacks…. Human nature, having become accustomed to violate justice and laws, now came to dominate law altogether, and showed itself with delight to be the slave of passion, the victor over justice, and the enemy of anyone superior. Without the destructive voice of envy, you see, people would not value revenge over reverence, or profits over justice. When they want revenge on others, people are determined first to destroy without a trace the laws that commonly govern such matters, though it is only because of these that anyone in trouble can hope to be saved” (The History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 3, Paul Woodruff translation)

Pope Leo meets Father James Martin at the Vatican catholicnewsagency.com/news/266287/po… @HannahBrockhaus

The (pope/president) would always do the right thing if it weren’t for those bad advisers.

The new head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro, told me in 2022 that contraception can be permissible, e.g., “in the case of a conflict between the need to avoid pregnancy for medical reasons and the preservation of a couple’s sex life.” (link in reply)

Gift article: wsj.com/articles/is-th…

Pope Leo XIV meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio @HannahBrockhaus catholicnewsagency.com/news/264193/po…

Dovrebbe esserci un modo semplice per segnalare i numerosi autisti degli autobus di Roma che guidano come pazzi spericolati. Un’anziana signora ha perso l’equilibrio e ha quasi riportato un infortunio, e questo succede continuamente. @romafaschifo

This matters because it is bound to inform the Pope’s understanding of political debates within the world’s most powerful nation, and likely to enhance his influence on both sides. nytimes.com/2025/05/13/us/… via @NYTimes

Discussing Pope Leo's debut with @SayChrisLive on @CBSMornings cbsnews.com/video/pope-leo…