Pope Francis faced questions regarding Vatican finances arising from recent events that have provoked concern about the possibility of mismanagement of the Peter’s Pence charity and on nuclear weapons, power and war.
The obvious religious motivation of the Plowshares activists did not insulate them from criminal prosecution. The First Amendment prohibits the government from applying different rules to religious believers, but the Plowshares defendants were treated the same as any other intruder on government property.