BILLINGS - Recent dialogue between the pope and the president has captured not only Americans but the entire world, and that includes Catholic schools and churches in Billings, which are using that as an opportunity for conversation and teaching.
“God desires peace for every nation, a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict, but one that is an expression of justice and dignity,” Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, said from Algeria on Monday.
Watch Catholic response to pope and president here:
Justice, dignity, peace, those are the values leaders around the world, including Pope Leo, are pushing even as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies.
"We must form ourselves and get personally involved, each following our own calling,” said Father Leo McDowell, St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral, reading from Pope Leo’s homily from over the weekend.
McDowell is listening closely to both the pope and the president, even though they differ sharply on the war.
“You cannot have a nuclear Iran,” said President Trump. “Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result. You’d have hundreds of millions of people dead.”
And those contrasting viewpoints have many Catholics turning to their faith leaders for guidance.
“I try and go find the source material and encourage anybody who's asking, let's go find the source, look up what the pope actually said last Saturday,” McDowell said.
And it's not just in the pews with the conversation also spilling into some classrooms.
Father John Pankratz teaches religious classes at Billings Central.
“As Catholics, we're called to be faithful to Christ and to the church at the same time,” said Pankratz, who also serves as Central’s chaplain and preaches in Ballantine. “That’s not anti-patriotism.”
Pankratz says these tensions between faith and politics are natural and worth discussing.
“I would hope that our school is a place, I think it is, where we can openly talk about these things,” said Pankratz.
Central High Principal Nolan Trafton is also ready to engage in those conversations.
“I'm grateful for the setting that we're in,” Trafton said. “For most situations, any current event, it's comforting to be able to rely on our faith and to be able to view these things through that lens.”
And peace is more than between the U.S. and Iran.
The fathers say it's more global and much more than just this moment in time.
“The end goal in all of this needs to be the common good and lasting peace and justice,” Pankratz said.
“Pray for peace not only in Iran and between the United States, but also in our own communities and our own homes,” McDowell said.
