Responding effectively to President Donald Trump's decisions is proving challenging for the U.S. bishops. His daily tweets, executive orders, calls to foreign leaders, and the chaos of his own staff offer convulsion and change.
The past few weeks have seen an extraordinary series of statements from bishops heading committees in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as from its president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, and vice president, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles.
The bishops have expressed support for positions of the Trump Administration that align with Catholic teaching, and have criticized those they consider incompatible.
For example, the bishops applauded Trump's Jan. 23 decision that the U.S. government will not fund organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas. It thus returns to the path of President Ronald Reagan, known as the "Mexico City policy".
The bishops have also urged progress on peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the establishment of conscientious objections for health care providers. They have also launched a campaign calling on U.S. Catholics to pressure politicians to support religious freedom. Many Catholic organizations are still embroiled in a legal battle over Obama-era government regulations that would force them to pay for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.
Bishop Joe Vasquez has taken the lead in sharply criticizing Trump's decisions to build a longer wall between Mexico and the United States; his temporary refusal to admit more refugees; and the ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from traveling to the country.
On refugees and the travel ban, the U.S. bishops have expressed solidarity with refugees from the Middle East: "The Church will not waver in her defense of our sisters and brothers of all faiths who suffer at the hands of ruthless persecutors." In addition, "welcoming the stranger and those on the run is Christianity itself.".
The U.S. bishops have later applauded court decisions that have temporarily suspended the refugee decisions and the travel ban.
