American Catholic Cardinals Rebuke Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy

The Catholic Cardinals who lead the dioceses of Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey issued an extraordinary joint statement last month rebuking Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Their statement was issued in light of American-born Pope Leo XIV’s recent criticism of the trend by the superpowers (the United States and the Russian Federation) to use force to assert dominion that is undermining peace and the international order, especially when it disrespects internationally recognized borders, instead of relying on dialogue that leads to consensus. The American Bishops lamented the destruction of international relations, the use of war as an instrument of narrow national interests, the violation of sovereign rights to self-determination, and foreign policy that is partisan and polarizing. They reiterated the Pontiff’s call for a moral foreign policy that respects the right to life and religious liberty, noting that abortion and euthanasia undermine the foundation of every other right, and respects freedom of religion versus liberty-crushing religious or ideological purity. The Bishops also echoed Pope Leo's criticism of the decrease by wealthier countries in foreign humanitarian aid. The Bishops’ remarks were clearly aimed at Trump for his threats to seize Greenland, the self-governing Danish territory, by force, his focus on Venezuela's oil industry, and his Administration's steep cuts in humanitarian aid. The letter by the three Cardinals was issued only a few months after the United States Catholic Bishops Conference issued an extraordinary rebuke against the Trump Administration's immoral anti-migrant policies, as I had posted in November. And in my last post, I noted the Holy See’s declination of the invitation by the Trump Administration to join Trump’s “Board of Peace.”