Daniel Philpott
Political Science
Professor of Political Science
- Religious freedom
- Religion and global politics
- Transitional justice
- Reconciliation
- Ethics and international relations
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Philpott’s Latest News
Philpott in the News
The Wall Street Journal
What Happened to Just War? Why Modern Popes Have Become Peace Activists
April 27, 2026
But with the rise of industrialized warfare in the early 20th century, a second strand in papal thinking emerged, said Daniel Philpott, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame: “A strong teaching that there’s something deeply tragic and lamentable about modern war.”
OSV News
Analysis: Will President Trump’s recent attacks on Pope Leo cost him Catholic voters?
April 22, 2026
Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, emphasized the departure from traditional diplomatic relations between heads of state.
America
How to justly conduct an unjust war? Catholic scholars weigh in on Iran
April 22, 2026
This piece includes commentary from both Daniel Philpott, professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, and Gerard F. Powers, director of Catholic Peacebuilding Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
National Catholic Register
Just-War Case for Removing Venezuela’s Maduro Falls Short, Catholic Scholars Say
January 15, 2026
Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in the intersection of religion and global politics, told the Register that Trump hadn’t provided a “just cause” to justify the operation.
Ave Maria in the Afternoon Podcast
Is the Maduro Arrest Legal?
Audio
January 07, 2026
Venezuelans at home and abroad are celebrating the removal of the dictator Nicolas Maduro. But what does international law say about the United States’ actions? Scholars are divided – Dan Philpott, Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, weighs in.
The Pillar
Survivor-led ‘National Healing Garden’ seeks to acknowledge wounds of abuse
February 03, 2025
While legal justice and preventative protections are of course essential, they “leave a great many wounds unhealed,” explained Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame whose expertise includes political reconciliation.
Crux
Exhibit marks Pope John Paul II’s relationship with President Reagan
August 28, 2024
Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University Notre Dame, told Crux in an email that the friendship between Pope John Paul II and Reagan “is the most consequential of any between a sitting U.S. president and a pope.”
OSV News
As Harris secures Democratic support, Catholic policy experts examine her record
July 29, 2024
Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, told OSV News that in navigating foreign policy, “we are fortunate as Catholics to have the wisdom and insights of Pope Francis on major issues of the day.” Daniel Philpott, professor of political science at Notre Dame, told OSV News Harris would likely “continue the foreign policy of the Biden administration and would prompt the same combination of convergence and contradiction with the social teachings of the Catholic Church that Biden’s policy created.”
Los Angeles Times
Newsom leaves the Vatican with pope’s praise for refusing to impose the death penalty
May 19, 2024
Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, said it’s smart for politicians in either party to talk about faith.
National Catholic Reporter
The war in Ukraine is a challenge for a Catholic ethic of nonviolence
May 24, 2023
At a March 28 conference cosponsored by the University of Notre Dame and the Ukrainian Catholic University, Notre Dame scholar Daniel Philpott said that peace activists were rightfully concerned about loss of life in the war but wrongly missed the political dimension to the conflict made evident especially in the emergence of a Ukrainian people and their common good after centuries-long struggle. "It is the common good rather than lives alone that is the basis for the most fundamental tenet of international law and the just war ethic," he said.
America
Catholics need a restorative justice approach to the church’s sexual abuse crisis
December 20, 2022
Daniel Philpott is a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.
The Wall Street Journal
Is Ukraine’s War Just? The Pope Hasn’t Said
May 05, 2022
Like his predecessors since Pope Benedict XV (1914-22), Pope Francis has stressed the importance of international law as the arbiter of legitimate military action, says Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.
America
Is Joe Biden repeating the mistakes of the past in Afghanistan? Catholic commentators weigh in.
August 30, 2021
But Daniel Philpott, a professor at Notre Dame University, while describing the speech as an “emotional and solemn tribute to the American soldiers who died in Kabul,” painted the challenge that nevertheless will persist after the United States withdraws its troops...Scott Appleby, a professor and dean at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame who has worked with military and intelligence agency officials for over 20 years, wrote, “One view that I have heard consistently across the years, whoever the president was at the time, is frustration with the lack of clarity about our mission in Afghanistan, beyond the immediate response to the attacks of 9/11—its concrete goals and its precise role within U.S. grand strategy globally.”
Inside Indiana Business
Notre Dame Professor Receives Scholar Award
April 26, 2021
University of Notre Dame professor Daniel Philpott has received the 2021 Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association's Religion and International Relations Section.