PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Donald Trump's rivals are joining forces to deny him the necessary delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination, the latest display of strife in a convulsive 2016 GOP race.
Ted Cruz and John Kasich issued near-simultaneous statements Sunday outlining an extraordinary compact that may be unprecedented in modern American politics. Under the arrangement, the Kasich campaign will give Cruz "a clear path in Indiana." In return, the Cruz campaign will "clear the path" for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.
This week, at a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City for Catholic high school seniors, I heard a student speak eloquently about faith being the greatest of all virtues. We then heard Cardinal Dolan in his homily talk about the persecution of innocent Christians in the Middle East by ISIS terrorists. I have been shocked by the near silence by world political leaders to the horrendous atrocities that have been taking place against Christians the past several years.
Later that day, while talking to a group of college professors, I told them what the Cardinal had said and also about what the high school senior had said earlier. One well known educator later said to me, "That didn't sound like a very upbeat message to give the students. The Cardinal could have encouraged them to achieve economic success." Several of the other academics in the gathering nodded in agreement.
