Lenten campaign 2026
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In a marble-lined hall of the Palazzo della Cancelleria — home to the Church’s highest courts — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. spoke candidly about faith, mercy, and the law during the Vatican’s Jubilee of Justice.
As reported by Cindy Wooden for OSV News, Alito described religious liberty as “embattled,” while urging legal systems to make room for mercy that repairs harm and safeguards dignity.
The evening program took the form of a public conversation with Msgr. Laurence Spiteri of the Roman Rota. Introducing the exchange was Brian F. Burch, the newly arrived U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Angelus News noted Burch’s praise of Alito’s record on religious freedom.
On global threats to believers, Alito contrasted U.S. debates with the lethal violence faced by Christians in some regions, urging sober honesty about the difference in scale and stakes. Wooden’s report highlights his point that, while Western societies have their challenges, persecution elsewhere is far more severe.
Pressed on how mercy fits justice, Alito agreed with Pope Leo XIV’s earlier teaching that day: mercy belongs at every stage — legislation, enforcement, and especially sentencing, and laws should be crafted with pathways for clemency, echoing the Jubilee’s call to reconcile and repair.
Pope Leo XIV’s own address framed justice as protecting the weak and seeking reconciliation, not merely applying rules.
Alito also addressed the oft-floated idea of changing the Supreme Court’s size. The framers did not fix a number, he noted, but clearly envisioned a multimember court. With nine justices, he argued, the bench gains diversity of experience and the vigorous debate needed for better decisions — so long as colleagues dispute firmly but charitably. As Wooden reported, he added that disagreements on today’s Court can be sharp yet never personal.
On precedent, Alito drew a careful distinction: the Church’s authority is rooted in divine mandate and tradition, whereas the Court’s authority is constitutional. Still, both value a body of decisions developed over time. Precedent, he said, promotes stability and equal treatment — but is “not absolutely binding,” because societies must be able to correct mistakes. OSV News detailed his comments, which resonate with the Catechism’s teaching that justice is the “constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor” (CCC 1807).
If the day’s morning belonged to the Pope’s sweeping vision — justice as a virtue that dignifies persons and heals communities — the evening offered a lawyer’s toolkit for the same horizon. Wooden’s reporting captured Alito’s closing note: outcomes improve when “people of good faith talk to each other civilly and rationally.” In a polarized world, that sounds like both courtroom advice and civic medicine.
