U.S. President George H. W. Bush was a good, socially conservative leader, despite his reputation for being more liberal.
Pro-Life:
1. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/8
2. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/630
3. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/1051
4. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/1445
5. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/1823
6. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/2640 7. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/3866 Anti-Pornography: bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/3496 On Church and State: 1. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/1331 2. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/1484 3. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/3882 4. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/4642 In Rome: 1. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/457 2. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/458 3. bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/3601

"Pentkovsky notes that the divine grace was not the only power involved in the selection of the patriarch; the state also participated. According to Pentkovsky, in fourteenth-century Constantinople, the emperor was the one who handed the newly elected patriarch his staff. Thus, medieval Byzantium introduced the notion of the state's claim to primacy in the Church, through the person of the emperor. Gilbert Dagron suggests that the coronation ceremonies and the Byzantine interpretation of the emperor's quasi-episcopal office granted the emperor greater authority than the patriarch himself. By the fourteenth century, the emperor could veto the election of a metropolitan; clergy also had to offer the emperor an oath of loyalty. ... Zhivov states that the 1423 episcopal ordination rite included an intonation of 'Many years' for the Metropolitan of Kyiv only. By 1630, the 'Many years' formula expanded, and the order of officers in the formula denotes the evolving sense of primacy. The tsar …More

"[The 2002] Holy Fire ceremony was marred by a scandalous scuffle inside the shrine containing what remains of Christ's tomb. The Greek Patriarch, Irineos, who was performing the ritual for the first time, and an Armenian archimandrite who had three years' practice behind him, violently disagreed over the correct procedure. Ancient privilege and precedent were at stake. Unseen by the expectant faithful, behind the aedicule's closed doors, the furious patriarch blew out the Armenian's candle, lit with holy fire, forcing the Armenian to resort to a cigarette lighter to gain his point. The Greek lost a shoe in the scuffle and his rival sustained light injuries when two more Greek clergy and Israeli police burst into the shrine to join the fray. ... After Pope Gregory IX denounced the Holy Fire as a fraud and barred Franciscans from having anything to do with it, the Franciscans' Holy Land chronicles became peppered with scathing accounts of the ceremony. A fifteenth-century Franciscan, Fra …More

Hillary Clinton took an interest in events in Northern Ireland, declassified emails show.
5 snapshots:

"It would simply be an act of justice, and therefore a duty, to ask that all the properties which, in the space of 142 years since the first partition of Poland, were taken from the Greek-Uniate Church by the Russian Government and given to the schismatic church [Russian Orthodox], be returned to their rightful owner. It is clear that the violence and persecution of a despotic power with which, on more than one occasion under Catherine II, Nicholas I and Alexander II, the Greek-Uniate Church in Russia was destroyed, cannot be considered as a proper claim to the acquisition of these properties from the Uniate Church to the schismatic one. From the very beginning, the bad faith of the new possessor was so evident as not to permit a legal settlement. The schismatic church entered into possession of the properties of the Greek-Uniates without any juridical claim, but solely by violence and fraud."
-- Archbishop Raffaele Scapinelli di Leguigno (nuncio to Austria-Hungary; two months later, …More

“When civil war flared up in Mexico, a number of Mexican Bishops, priests, religious and many laymen were unjustly expelled from their native country and sought refuge in the United States. Benedict XV warmly commended them to the charity of American Catholics, writing first to the Bishop of San Antonio and then to the Archbishop of Baltimore, through whose generosity poor boys destined for the priesthood were received into the seminary. Such interest was, as the Pontiff said, ‘a great satisfaction to us.’ … In order that Mexicans who emigrated to foreign countries might not become the prey of the enemies of Christ nor lose the Christian ways of their fathers, [Pope Pius XI] urged the Mexican Bishops to confer with their brother bishops in the United States, and he appealed for the cooperation of Catholic Action groups. … If the two parties, those who agree to leave their native land and those who agree to admit the newcomers, remain anxious to eliminate as far as possible all obstacles …More

The following quotes are taken from the official English translation of the East Timorese Constitution.
Preamble: “In its cultural and humane perspective, the Catholic Church in East Timor has always been able to take on the suffering of all the People with dignity, placing itself on their side in the defence of their most fundamental rights.”
Article 11: “The State acknowledges and values the participation of the Catholic Church in the process of national liberation of East Timor.”
Article 20: “Every senior citizen has the right to special protection by the State. The old age policy entails measures of economic, social and cultural nature designed to provide the elderly with opportunities for personal achievement through active and dignified participation in the community.” (cf. Pope Francis, 19 November 2013, 28 September 2014)
Article 29: “Human life is inviolable. The State shall recognise and guarantee the right to life. There shall be no death penalty in the Democratic Republic …More

In 1513, Pope Leo X canonically erected the first diocese on the American continental mainland. This is part of the Church's "fundamental and constructive role in shaping Panama's identity, forming part of this Country's spiritual patrimony and cultural heritage". (Pope Benedict XVI, 30 October 2009)
In 1518, Pope Leo X consecrated the first native bishop of Black Africa. (Pope St. John Paul II, Ecclesia In Africa, § 32)
In 1520, Pope Leo X created the title of "Patriarch of the West Indies" for the senior bishop in Spain. (Charles Coulombe, Vicars of Christ [ISBN 0-8065-2370-0], p. 340)
Pope Leo X praised Croatia as a great ally of the Church, the "scutum saldissimum et antemurale Christianitatis". (Pope Benedict XVI, 11 April 2011)

“In outline (and again this is an extremely complex matter) the Sunni Arabs of Syria feel that the boundary with Turkey should be pushed back and all the others, being artificial, should be eliminated. Syria’s minorities accept the boundary with Iraq but otherwise share the Sunnis’ views. In Lebanon, the Maronites, Druze, and Shi'a want the boundaries where they are, while Sunnis most want to bring them down, and Greek Orthodox are most ambivalent. Some Jewish Israelis see Israel ultimately in its 1949 borders (with minor changes), while others would extend the borders to include the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some Palestinian Arabs see Palestine as expansionist Israelis see Israel; others go beyond this and see it including Jordan, too. Depending on era, Jordanians have seen Jordan within its present borders, with the addition of the West Bank, with the addition of all Israel, or with the addition of Syria and even Lebanon.”
– Daniel Pipes, “Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition” […More

“The ties between the Khazin sheiks and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany were established as a result of emir Fakhr al-Din’s efforts to attract European support for his policy of regional expansion, at a time when Tuscany was attempting to expand its share of the Levant trade. Abu Nadir al-Khazin and Abu Safi al-Khazin accompanied Fakhr al-Din on his exile to Italy in the years 1613-1618, and thus added a Christian element to the political image of the emir, which enabled the Tuscans to devise, at least theoretically, a religiously inspired policy concerning the Levant and the Holy Cities. This policy obviously involved the Vatican as well, whose interest in the Maronite community had been resuscitated at the close of the 15th century. At this stage, however, the Vatican was not interested in any attempt to forge a new Holy League to invade Palestine, which in any case seems to have been only a theoretical option. Nevertheless, in 1656 sheik Abu Nawfal al-Khazin received a papal decoration …More

It is forbidden to dance publicly in Germany on Good Friday, as well as on other holy days. For example, here’s the statute for the state of Baden-Württemberg:
"Öffentliche Tanzunterhaltungen sind an Allerheiligen, am Allgemeinen Buß- und Bettag, Volkstrauertag, Totengedenktag und am 24. Dezember von 3 Uhr bis 24 Uhr, am Gründonnerstag, Karfreitag, Karsamstag und am Ersten Weihnachtstag während des ganzen Tages verboten."
(Gesetz über die Sonntage und Feiertage, § 10 - Article 1)
(See also: Tanzverbot)

"Endeavour to divide the Christian world into patriarchates, as the schismatical Churches of the East would have it, each patriarch, in this supposition, would have the same privileges which we here attribute to the Pope; and in like manner none could appeal from his decisions, for there must always be a limit which cannot be overstepped. The sovereignty would be divided, but would always exist; it would only be necessary to make a change in the Creed, and say, I believe in divided and independent Churches.
To this monstrous idea we should find ourselves driven; but it would ere long be improved upon by temporal princes, who, making very little account of this vain patriarchal division, would establish the independence of their particular churches, and disencumber themselves of the patriarch, as has happened in Russia; so that, instead of one infallibility, rejected as too sublime a privilege, we should have as many as it would suit policy to create by the division of states. Religious …More

Some interesting comments in the document The Presence of the Maronite Church within the Patriarchal Domain, from the 2004 Maronite Synod:
1. “..Turkish oppression, along with a famine, contributed to the annihilation of roughly one third of the Maronites.”
2. “[In the Ottoman period, Maronite] students excelled..to the point where the expression, ‘learned like a Maronite’ became common..”
3. “[The 1736 Synod] called for..an educational system that included educating girls, which was a pioneer initiative..”
4. “..Maronites [translated] the important classical works in theology, philosophy, and religion from Latin into Arabic.”
5. “..there exists a..deep-rooted relationship between the Maronite patriarchate and the Hashemite dynasty in the Kingdom of Jordan.”
6. “..our Maronite Church is an indivisible part of the Antiochene apostolic patriarchate..”
7. “[Christians and Muslims collaborated] at the United Nations’ Conference on Population and Development..in Cairo in 1994.”

"In an address widely misinterpreted by the media, Pope Francis expressed complete support for the Catholic bishops of Ukraine, telling them that 'The Holy See has your back.' In remarks drafted in the special language of Vatican diplomacy, the pontiff addressed 4 issues: the ongoing war; the political situation; the effects of the crisis on ordinary people; mutual collaboration among the bishops."
Full Story: risu.org.ua/…/59370

"We cannot do more than mention the Jesuit Reducciones of Paraguay, where from 1607 to 1768 the padres ruled over a veritable Mission state. Even an enemy of the Church, Voltaire, could say of them: '…they had arrived at what is perhaps the highest degree of civilization to which it is possible to lead a young people… Laws were there respected, morals were pure, a happy brotherhood bound men together, the useful arts and even some of the more pleasing sciences flourished; there was abundance everywhere.'" (Charles A. Coulombe, Puritan's Empire, "Missionaries as Colonizers")
"This was the astonishing Utopian experiment of the Jesuits, who scattered their mission towns like islands of sanity through the heartland of a wild continent. To this day some historians refer to this as the Jesuit Republic of South America, a kind of paradise lost, whose monuments, which only hint of their former grandeur, you can find today if you are moved to seek them out. This strange evangelical crusade …More

We know that St. Phoebe and others were "deacons" (Romans 16:1, diakonon), but how was their ministry expressed?
Apostolic Constitutions, Book 8, Paragraph 28: "A deaconess does not bless, nor perform anything belonging to the office of presbyters or deacons, but only is to keep the doors, and to minister to the presbyters in the baptizing of women, on account of decency."
St. Paul did not give women teaching authority, especially at Mass (1 Corinthians 14:34, 1 Timothy 2:12). Deacons must be able to proclaim the Gospel in the liturgy (Summa Theologiae, TP, Q. 67, A. 1, R. to Ob. 1), and all priests are to first be made deacons (Canon 1050). Therefore, women cannot serve in either role, and so they cannot be ordained at all.

From The Catholic Encyclopedia ("Mexico"):
"In the history of the nations of ancient Mexico the coming of Quetzalcoatl marks a distinct era. He was said to have come from the Province of Pánuco, a white man, of great stature, broad brow, large eyes, long black hair, rounded beard, and dressed in a tunic covered with black and red crosses. Chaste, intelligent, and just, a lover of peace, versed in the sciences and arts, he preached by his example and doctrine a new religion which inculcated fasting and penance, love and reverence for the Divinity, practise of virtue, and hatred of vice. He predicted that in the course of time white men with beards, like himself, would come from the East, would take possession of their country, overthrow their idols, and establish a new religion. Expelled from Tollan, he sought refuge in Cholollan, but, being pursued even here by the Tollans, he passed on to Yucatán, where, under the name of Kukulcan, he repeated the predictions he had made in Anahuac, …More

The Holy See improved relations with Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III, securing rights and uniting France and Russia.
Amb. Francis Rooney, The Global Vatican, p. 65 [link]
Msgr. James MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century (1789-1908) (Volume 1, 2nd Edition), p. 402-403 [link]
Bernard O’Reilly, Life of Leo XIII, p. 384-386 [link]
The Catholic Encyclopedia [link]
Press Release, The Russian Imperial House and the Popes of Rome [link]
On 17 April 1905, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia granted religious freedom to Catholics. He also, earlier, recognized the “Uniates” as properly Catholic.
Patrick Lally Michelson, 'The First and Most Sacred Right': Religious Freedom and the Liberation of the Russian State, 1825-1905, p. 342 [link] Anatoly Krasikov, State, Church, and Religious Freedom Msgr. James MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century (1789-1908) (Volume 1, 2nd Edition), p. 404 [link]