Tobias Winright

Tobias Winright is professor of moral theology at St. Patrick's Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland, and he is an associate member of Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University, England. Among his recent publications is Serve and Protect: Selected Essays on Just Policing (Cascade, 2020).

By this Author

A man's hands pointing a gun (Dreamstime/Seth Anderson)

What does Catholic teaching say about using guns for defense?

The No. 1 reason Americans give for owning a gun is defense. But Catholics should question the "stand your ground" justification for deadly force, says ethicist and former law enforcement officer Tobias Winright.

The outside of Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, on Oct. 24. (AP photo/Michael Phillis)

A parent's worst nightmare: An active shooter at my daughter's school

"There is a lockdown right now. It's not a drill, I don't think. I hear yelling. I love you all so much." My wife and I received this text message from our daughter at 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 24.

A local resident receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination event for adolescents and adults outside the Bronx Writing Academy school in New York City June 4. (CNS/Reuters/Mike Segar)

Catholics have no grounds to claim exemption from COVID vaccine mandates

Commentary: There may be a moral obligation to be vaccinated for COVID-19 unless one has a medical contraindication. Such an obligation is grounded in the Gospel's call to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Investigators work at the scene where Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, was fatally shot by a police officer April 20. (CNS/Reuters/Gaelen Morse)

A former cop reckons with unending police killings of Black Americans

Perspective: Policing as we know it today is but a mirror reflection of much of the wider U.S. culture. Few nations have police as armed as ours; few nations have citizens as armed as ours.

Your 'just peace' reading list

US Christians' end-time paradox

Where justice and peace, theology and worship kiss

Advertisement