The immorality of world leaders is contagious. Thank heavens for the pope | Simon Tisdall | The Guardian

International law upholds, in theory, a separate, impersonal moral code. Yet its constraints are routinely bypassed, its indictments flouted. Other categories of moral imperative, such as a binding sense of civic duty and societal responsibility, are also eroding in a polarised age. Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian idea that what is moral is determined by how much it enhances the general wellbeing has scant relevance today. In a contemporary political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals, mega-corporations, AI and arms salesmen, the greater happiness of ordinary folk barely computes.

Principles that modern progressives and liberals had thought immutable, such as tolerance and equal rights, are undermined by unprincipled far-right nationalist-populist reactionaries. Elected western politicians who appease autocrats, excuse the inexcusable and criminalise their opponents as terrorists fuel this invidious moral collapse. Yet the fault is shared. Potentially complicit, too, is every citizen, high or low, who fails to speak out.
— Read on www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/05/world-leaders-immorality-pope-leo-war-criminals-corporations-catholic-church