Tensions Between the American Episcopate and the Trump Administration

The tension between the American bishops and the President were evident from the start, especially after Donald Trump announced his new slate of policies. 

Bishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholics (USCCB), issued a mixed statement, saying that some provisions in the decrees were “deeply troubling” and would have “negative consequences,” while others “can be viewed in a more positive light.”

What remains in the crosshairs are Donald Trump’s measures to fulfill his campaign promises on immigration control, the death penalty, and moving away from restrictive ecology policies. Bishop Broglio’s nuanced remarks did not please the American bishops who are most hostile to the government.

The Bishop of El Paso pointed out that: “Using an overgeneralization to denigrate a group, for example by describing all undocumented immigrants as criminals or invaders, in order to deprive them of the protection of the law, is an affront to God who created each of us in his image,” declared Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the USCCB’s Migration Commission.

He was promptly followed by the Bishop of Arlington (Virginia), and those fellow bishops located in Michigan, Maryland, and Colorado, to name a few. For his part, Bishop Jose Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, California, tried to make a less clear-cut position heard, joining that of the current president of the USCCB.

The response was not long in coming. On January 26, in a major interview with CBS’s Face The Nation, Vice President James D. Vance deplored the negative episcopal comments: “As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement.”

“And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce the immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, one of the most media-friendly figures of the USCCB, recalled that in terms of assistance to immigrants, the Church “spent with one hand what it earned with the other,” regretting the “offensive” words of JD Vance.

Bishop Strickland, Bishop Emeritus of Tyler, protested: “My heart is also broken by the attacks of the episcopate against the new administration, which has nevertheless made significant progress in protecting life,” and accused Catholic humanitarian organizations of “illegal” and “immoral” activities.