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A Washington Political Appointment You Might Have Missed
The Archdiocese of Washington (DC and environs) has always been one of this nation’s most prominent — for obvious reasons. It is smack dab in the middle of the center of political power in the USA. Unfortunately, one doesn’t look to the Archdiocese of Washington as a see that leads the nation in vocations or one that leads the nation in conversions.
The archdiocese has had a woeful run of archbishops, going back to the sexual predator Theodore McCarrick, to his replacement Donald Wuerl, to his replacement Wilton Gregory, and now to Robert Cardinal McElroy, formerly archbishop of San Diego. Gregory and McElroy are both appointments made by Pope Francis.
Stories are told that the papal nuncio for the USA, Christophe Cardinal Pierre, recommended to Francis that McElroy not be made archbishop, that it would be too political. Yet, with the election of Donald Trump as POTUS 47, Pope Francis appointed McElroy. McElroy is the perfect Francis sycophant: all-in on the evil of global warming, the fight for “rights” for the LGBTQ movement, disdain for traditional Catholics, and the rights of “migrants”. Like Francis, one wonders if McElroy is concerned at all with vocations or conversions. The photo in this tweet paints a picture:
I’m strangely fascinated by this pic of Cardinal McElroy. It’s like a retrofuturist rendering of what 21st century space Catholicism might have looked like to an Italian filmmaker in 1976. pic.twitter.com/3VK6X7CjFw
— T Casey (@up_kinch) January 6, 2025
And Francis doesn’t seem at all worried about the knowledge that McElroy had about McCarrick and the sexual abuse scandals surrounding him. Francis may shrug this off because he himself is surrounded by these scandals.
BREAKING: Pope Francis names Cardinal Robert McElroy to lead Archdiocese of Washington, as 77yr old Cdl Gregory resigns.
Clergy abuse victim previously said his promotion “fills me with fear.”
McElroy favors numerous liberalising views, incl female deacons & LGBT inclusivity pic.twitter.com/mzSXix6ldS
— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) January 6, 2025
I think the main reason Francis appointed McElroy is because of Trump’s plan to deport the violent criminal illegals that have entered the USA. Pope Francis has denounced this as morally unjust and madness. And he has his liberal bishops all fired up as well. From the liberal National Catholic Reporter:
Catholic advocacy groups, southern border dioceses and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are expressing deep concern after President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders targeting immigration on his first week in the Oval Office. https://t.co/kQWmFJ5tsx
— NCR (@NCRonline) January 23, 2025
And of course, all the usual suspects fall in line on Trump’s dastardly plan to deport violent criminal illegals:
The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on migration sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration that he signed earlier this week, expressing particular concern for vulnerable families and children. https://t.co/zhrwXOEPH0
— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) January 23, 2025
Thank you, Cardinal Cupich. pic.twitter.com/oxfAO3QbjX
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) January 23, 2025
There is a lot of money involved with “migration”. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops received nearly 3 billion dollars from the federal government during the Biden administration for their support of “migration”:
“The Biden administration granted Catholic NGOs nearly $2.9 billion in immigration-related funding over the past four years.”https://t.co/B2fHDg4EM2
— Lepanto Institute (@LepantoInst) January 24, 2025
Pope Francis seems to have a great dislike for the Church in the USA and he certainly has no admiration or positive view of Donald Trump. So he put his bagman in DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, not to help revive the archdiocese or draw people to Catholicism but to be a thorn in the side of Trump. Another shameful act from this Pope.
Does anyone remember the pearl-clutching exhibited by these bishops over Biden’s support for abortion, so-called SSM, or his gushing over everything LGBTQ? The USCCB has proved itself once again to be useless.
This is a good article on deportation from a Catholic point of view.
Published in Religion and Philosophy
Pope Francis is anti American.
Is it fair for me to describe him as anti-Western civilization?
I would love to know why Benedict stepped down.
Doc, he was old, sick, and tired. I would have stepped down too, had I been him.
He was forced out by the Lavender Mafia. He should have never resigned. It was like a father abandoning his family. He had an entire case of documents outlining the filth in the Vatican that he handed over to Francis. Those seem to have been memory-holed
Once Francis is bought, he stays bought.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Tragic.
Benedict was a great man.
Mostly I say he’s not actually Christian. He’s primarily Marxist. I think.
Lots of monkeys and big influential circus. A circus that can import millions of illegal aliens and smile about. Everyone is better off with a JPII like anti-communist at the head of the Church.
This is a good article contrasting McElroy and Trump on immigration.
Hmm… If they’re violating immigration law, can Homan get them locked up?
JD is quite good at dealing with the disingenuous legacy media.
Samuel Gregg has a good X thread on this issue of immigration and the USCCB (what are the odds that it embeds correctly and is viewable?):
https://twitter.com/drsamuelgregg/status/1883600599541055742?
I’ll copy and paste #’s 4-7:
4/ Some bishops focus almost exclusively on what Catholicism sees as the (highly-qualified) right to migrate, and said little about what the Church ALSO teaches re. the state’s right to maintain secure borders. Recent efforts to correct this imbalance sound very pro-forma.
5/ Few bishops have said much about the effects of illegal immigration on US citizens or the serious rule of law problems associated with the Biden Administration’s enabling of illegal immigration. This is scandalous.
6/ Most bishops are careful in commenting on immigration. But a few – who are as politically left-wing as they are theologically liberal (and were associated with the defrocked ex-cardinal Theodore #McCarrick) – see this as a wedge against the @realDonaldTrump Administration. (Me here – hence the appointment of McElroy)
7/ So: what is the solution to this mess? The solution is for the bishops 1) to start articulating clearly the Church’s FULL teaching on immigration and 2) not allow themselves be steamrolled into political confrontations by a minority of activist bishops and their lay enablers.
Doesn’t Vatican City exercise strict control over its own borders to keep out illegal aliens?
I’ve seen a few priests and others posting this video. After defunding Planned Parenthood Trump needs to defund the USCCB.
https://twitter.com/amymek/status/1883761767618379788?
Yes, and horror of horrors, they have a wall.
And of course all the usual suspects must come out and gaslight and give their worthless 2 cents. Jesuit Fr. James Martin is one of the worst – he’s another Francis sycophant who is all gay all the time.
The bishops of Texas issue a letter decrying the policies of President Trump. They are so disingenuous on how the frame and present this issue (see comment #13).
Do better, bishops.
https://twitter.com/txcatholic/status/1883003660126584993?
Here is how one parishioner responded:
https://twitter.com/kyleseraphin/status/1883525149414015020?
Unfortunately, Francis has appointed Vasquez to replace DiNardo as archbishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, one of the largest in the USA.
The Left are trying hard to make McElroy a “moral counter example” to the Trump administration. It will be fun to watch this play out. I wonder how McElroy will serve as a moral counter example to all the Catholic pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, and pro-SSM politicians. (Hint – he won’t say a thing to them)
More on McElroy, McCarrick, and the appointment in Washington.
McElroy’s appointment to Washington is a seriously misguided political move.
So, do laws matter or not?
Why do we have laws if we pick and choose whether to follow or to enforce those laws?
If we’re going to ignore the law, then repeal the law.
If you favor ignoring the immigration laws, then be prepared to accept that you are facilitating the importation of slaves, of crime, of harmful drugs.
This from the same people that say we should have more laws governing other aspects of daily life, such as the acquisition, possession, and storage of firearms. Do we get to choose which of those laws we follow or ignore?
Amen.
This sort of thing is terrifying to me.
Because if someone can simply decide which laws should be enforced in certain cases, then that person becomes a king.
At least one editorial I read noted that there are walls around Vatican City, and that the Vatican strictly controls who gets in to which parts of Vatican City.
And “migrants” are jailed and severely fined.
Maybe President Trump should put out an encyclical condemning the Vatican for its heartless immigration policy and its intolerant views on religion, homosexuality, abortion, and women in the clergy.
Phil Lawler, in my opinion, is one of the best journalists in the Catholic world. This is a good article on the clash between JD Vance and the bishops. JD didn’t get things exactly right re the money involved in all of this, but he did expose the bishops for their hypocrisy.
Opening paragraphs:
Closing paragraphs:
It is all very good and worth a read for anyone interested in this post and issue.
Oh my goodness.
Money appears to have caused them to lose focus on their original mission.
Understandable. Not the first time. But this must change, for the health of the church.
Amen.
It is the US version of the German scandal where government collected and managed tithing has rendered the German bishops stooges of their decadent government. The disgusting record of the modern magisterium world-wide on matters of sexual depravity makes their role in disappearing millions of children in the United States no less concerning.
James Martin, misinterpreting scripture, since the birth of Christ.
This is an excellent article on this whole mess of money and the USCCB.
And JD on the “order of charity”.