The Nov. 6 issue on faith and politics is a good corrective to “staying out of politics,” with perspective for engagement and public witness. My New Oxford Dictionary notes the word “politics” may be used positively in the context of a “political solution,” which is compromising and nonviolent. Thank you for expanding the commonplace “peace” and “justice” buzzwords.

The Nov. 27 article, “Shaped by Catholic social teaching,” in reference to Joe Biden, is helpful. Protestants draw heavily from Catholic social teaching, as illustrated in the article’s reference to the U.S. bishops’ 1919 “Program on Social Reconstruction.” Notable also is the 1963 Pacem in Terris encyclical of Pope John XXIII: “The attainment of the common good is the sole reason for the existence of civil authorities . . . [and] must take into account all those social conditions which favor the full development of human personality.

. . . Relations between States must be regulated by justice.”

Urbane Peachey, Lititz, Pa.