When Catholic Bishops Criticize Presidents, Pay Attention| National Catholic Register

It has been an unusually intense few days for American bishops regarding the policies of the Trump administration. There was a similar moment five years ago, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021, and there are lessons still relevant today.

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, deplored the “violence, retribution, threats, protests, deep suspicion of one another, political unrest [and] fear” in his state, calling upon immigration authorities to “limit themselves, at least for the time being, to rounding up undocumented people who have committed serious crimes.”

At the same time, he wrote that, “political leaders should stop stirring up resentment against officers who are endeavoring to enforce the laws of the country, and protesters should cease interfering with the work of ICE.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services gave an extraordinarily strong interview to the BBC’s Sunday radio program, expressing concern that President Donald Trump’s claim to be restrained only by “my morality” is a matter of “concern” as it disregards “international law” and “the moral principles that should guide all of us.”

He further said that any American military action, specifically in Greenland, would not be “reasonable.” It would not be “acceptable to invade a friendly nation,” and such a military operation would not fulfill the “criteria for a just war.” Furthermore, the rhetoric of President Trump “tarnishes the image of the United States in the world.”

President Trump has said different things about using force to acquire Greenland; on Wednesday, he was against it. Archbishop Broglio stated that, concerning an invasion of Greenland, it would be “morally acceptable to disobey that order.”

Three American cardinals — Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington and Joseph Tobin of Newark — released a joint statement on Monday, “Charting a Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy.” They expressed concern that “our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination.”

Stressing that “abortion and euthanasia are destructive” of “the right to life [which] constitutes the indispensable foundation for every other human right,” the three cardinals also expressed concerns about “the movement by wealthy nations to reduce or eliminate their contributions to humanitarian foreign assistance programs,” as well as “increasing violations of conscience and religious freedom in the name of an ideological or religious purity that crushes freedom itself.”

Cardinals Cupich, McElroy and Tobin are the only three American cardinals who currently head dioceses in the United States. All the rest are retired from archdioceses (Daniel DiNardo, Seán O’Malley, Wilton Gregory and Timothy Dolan) or have posts in Rome.

“We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy,” the three wrote.

It is a signal moment — America’s most prominent media bishop (Barron), the recent president of the USCCB (Broglio) and the three residential cardinals expressing disquiet with the Trump administration on a range of issues.

The critiques came five years to the week after Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, then president of the USCCB, issued a statement on the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021.

The statement was the fruit of consultations with a special USCCB “working group,” which had discussed how to engage with the first Catholic president since JFK, especially in light of Biden’s longstanding embrace of positions at odds with settled Catholic teaching on matters of life, marriage and family. That statement generated some controversy because Cardinal Cupich publicly criticized it as “ill-considered.” He was alone in that, with several other prelates supporting Archbishop Gómez, but the public division among bishops did generate news.

Archbishop Gómez’s 2021 statement is worth revisiting, for it addressed many of the points stressed this week by the cardinals’ joint statement. There are three areas in particular where Archbishop Gómez’s statement remains relevant.

First, the witness of Catholics in prominent positions of public life.

“Working with President Biden will be unique, however, as he is our first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith,” Archbishop Gómez wrote. “In a time of growing and aggressive secularism in American culture, when religious believers face many challenges, it will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions. Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith has brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.”

Archbishop Gómez struck the right balance regarding practicing Catholics in public office. Given that the vast majority of American Catholics do not observe the Sunday Mass obligation (Third Commandment) it was right to begin by praising Biden’s admirable witness first, before moving to other matters like abortion (Fifth Commandment).

That balance was often lost in the subsequent debates over whether Mass-attending Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should receive Holy Communion. It’s the Mass attendance that made Biden’s case different from most Catholic politicians who do not attend Mass, so the Holy Communion question does not arise.

Many Catholics who frequent Sunday Mass have areas of their lives that should prompt them to refrain from receiving Holy Communion. For them, it is right to recognize their piety and worship first. Many others — pastors and commentators alike — did not follow Archbishop Gómez’s lead in the years that followed. With a sitting vice president who also practices his Catholic faith, those issues have returned.

A second issue raised by Archbishop Gómez was the relationship of the Catholic faith to partisanship.

“We work with every President and every Congress,” wrote the archbishop. “On some issues, we find ourselves more on the side of Democrats, while on others we find ourselves standing with Republicans. Our priorities are never partisan. We are Catholics first, seeking only to follow Jesus Christ faithfully and to advance his vision for human fraternity and community.”

The Church is a communion of disciples, not a political party. The mission of a communion is to grow, to include others in the same bonds of life, love and grace. A political party, by definition, seeks to defeat its rivals — with civility and concord, ideally, but nonetheless to prevail over others. The partisan spirit does not sit well with authentic communion.

In the five years since Archbishop Gómez’s statement, the partisan spirit has only increased in the wider culture, and factionalism has found more ample room in the Catholic Church. There have arisen loud voices insisting that Catholics must only support, or can never support, a particular political party.

The three cardinals lament that very partisanship in this week’s statement.

“The building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies,” they wrote.

A third aspect Archbishop Gómez raised five years ago is the need for “national healing and unity.”

“It is urgently needed as we confront the trauma in our country caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the social isolation that has only worsened the intense and long-simmering divisions among our fellow citizens,” he wrote.

The pandemic is in the past, but social isolation and divisions remain — often not long-simmering but already boiling over.

“As believers, we understand that healing is a gift that we can only receive from the hand of God,” the archbishop wrote. “We know, too, that real reconciliation requires patient listening to those who disagree with us and a willingness to forgive and move beyond desires for reprisal. Christian love calls us to love our enemies and bless those who oppose us, and to treat others with the same compassion that we want for ourselves.”

Are Catholic bishops well-placed to be instruments of healing? Perhaps better than other leaders.

Catholic bishops are less likely to be isolated in digital bubbles than many others; each day they encounter members of their flock in different situations, facing their particular challenges.

Archbishop Broglio cares for military personnel who might be asked to fight in an unjust war — or to enforce just laws in the face of protest. Bishop Barron sees conflict and rancor on the streets of his own state. The bishops as a whole issued a special message last November, noting they personally encountered “among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”

There are differing opinions in every parish, and every pastor must seek unity among them. Catholic leaders have practical experience in advancing healing and preserving unity.

The statements of the past week are an echo, in different ways, of what Archbishop Gómez wrote five years ago. Will the message find a more receptive audience now?