Catholics vs. Trump

U.S. Catholic Charities Halt Aid Due to Funding Cuts

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced early April that it is ending a half-century of partnerships with the federal government to serve refugees and children, saying the “heartbreaking” decision follows the Trump administration’s abrupt halt of funding for refugee resettlement. The announcement did not say how long current agreements were scheduled to last.

The Catholic bishops oversaw one of 10 national agencies, most of them faith-based, which contracted with the federal government to resettle refugees who come to the US legally after being vetted and approved by the federal government. The bishops have overseen Catholic agencies resettling displaced people for a century. In recent decades they had done so in a partnership with the US government, receiving grants that covered much, though not all, of the expenses.

“As a national effort, we simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form,” said US military services archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB. “We will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programs. We ask your prayers for the many staff and refugees impacted.”

Trump's AI Pope Photograph

Asked by Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich for his response to Catholics who were “not happy” about the image, Trump replied, “You mean they can’t take a joke.”
“You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media,” Trump said. “The Catholics loved it.” Did they, Trump? Did you serious think that Catholics, one of the most staunch Christian groups of whom your Vice President is a supposed member of, you really think they were okay with it? 

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., both recently named to a White House religious liberty commission by Trump, were among the U.S. bishops who made critical comments about the image. Some of the strongest remarks came from Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who said Trump should apologize for the image, which he called “deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new Pope.”

Some Catholics, including Vice President JD Vance and CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization that endorsed Trump’s presidential bid, defended the image. Other prominent Catholics were hesitant on calling Trump out. In an interview with EWTN’s Colm Flynn, Bishop Barron argued the image was “a bad joke.” 

“I think it was kind of a sophomoric attempt at humor,” Bishop Barron said. “I think it was a, it was a bad joke that obviously landed very poorly and was seen as offensive by a lot of Catholics,” Bishop Barron said. “And I wish he hadn’t done it.”