At the Regina Caeli on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV warned the faithful against "thieves" who, "by pillaging the earth's resources, waging blood-thirsty wars, or fueling evil in any form, do nothing but rob each of us of the possibility of a future marked by peace and serenity." [1] He did not name Donald Trump. He did not name the firing-squad executive order Trump signed on April 24. He did not name any execution method. [2]

That is the news. The paper's Saturday account of the DePaul message and the DOJ expansion to electrocution and gas asphyxiation treated the prerecorded video as Day 2 of a four-act religion-power-wartime architecture. The Sunday Regina Caeli is Day 3 of the doctrine speech, and Day 0 of any formal Holy See response to the order itself. Reuters condensed the framing: "Pope Leo on Sunday described those who wage wars and appropriate the earth's resources as thieves who rob the world of a peaceful future." [2] Vatican News issued the headline the curia wanted: "Don't let 'thieves' rob your joy and peace." [1]

Homiletic indirection is a register, not an evasion. Pope Leo chose John 10 — the shepherd and the gate — and he chose to leave the executive order's text out of the address. [3] The diplomatic counterpart to a homily is a note verbale, and on the firing-squad order none has issued. JD Vance's silence has now passed seventy-two hours. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is on Day 11. The Vatican is on Day 0, and Day 0 is the position.

-- ANNA WEBER, Berlin