Denver Newsroom, Jun 8, 2020 / 01:50 pm (CNA).- The White House said Sunday that Washington’s archbishop was invited to attend an event with President Donald Trump several days before it took place, amid media reports that the archbishop did not learn of the event until it was announced publicly the night before it took place.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNA June 7 that “Archbishop Gregory received an invitation to the President’s event at the St. John Paul II Shrine the week prior to the President’s visit. He declined due to other commitments.”
Correspondence between Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s office and the White House indicates the same.
In correspondence dated May 30th and obtained by CNA, Gregory’s office declined “the kind invitation to attend the event celebrating International Religious Freedom on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at the Saint John Paul II Shrine.“
The correspondence further stated that the archbishop had “a prior commitment on his schedule at Catholic University and unfortunately must decline,” and added that Gregory had personally conveyed his regrets at being unable to attend when he spoke to a member of the White House staff directly on the evening of Friday, May 29.
Crux reported June 7 that Gregory had not been told of the visit until June 1, when it was publicly announced by the White House.
Trump’s June 2 visit to the shrine has been the subject of considerable controversy.
On the day of Trump’s visit, the shrine said that the White House had “originally scheduled this as an event for the president to sign an executive order on international religious freedom.”
The visit was cut into a shorter event following Trump’s controversial visit the night before to St. John’s Episcopal Church, adjacent to the White House.
Trump stood outside that church in front of cameras holding a Bible in one hand in an apparent photo-op. The church had suffered fire damage during protests on Sunday night.
Before the president arrived at the episcopal church, crowds had stood across from Lafayette Square behind the White House, protesting the death of George Floyd and police brutality. Those demonstrators were cleared from the square by police shooting pepper balls and other non-lethal weapons, before Trump walked across the square to visit the church.
On June 2, before Trump arrived at the John Paul II Shrine, Gregory issued a statement denouncing the visit.
@WashArchbishop Gregory has released a statement on the president’s visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.https://t.co/46g9Ac8Wy5 pic.twitter.com/d1wERIoLVp
— DC Archdiocese (@WashArchdiocese) June 2, 2020
“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” the archbishop wrote.
“Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace,” Gregory added.
The White House soon responded to the archbishop; Deere told the Washington Post that “It’s shameful for anyone to call themselves a person of faith yet question the President’s own deeply-held faith or motives for going to mark an important milestone for Catholics.”
“President Trump’s visit gave comfort and hope to Catholics in this country and all over the world that this President is a man of God who will always protect the sanctity of life and promote religious freedom.”
On June 5, Gregory addressed the controversy during an online panel sponsored by Georgetown University.
“That shrine is a holy place because of the man that it honors,” Gregory said, and it never should have been used as a “political statement.”
After some Catholics criticized Gregory’s outspoken response, he said Friday that he found the reactions “reminiscent, in my mind, to the criticism that people gave to Catholic priests and nuns that they saw marching during the civil rights period.”
The Archdiocese of Washington has not responded to requests for comment from CNA.
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The Archbishop declined a Presidential invite!! Horrendous! Violent protesters, YES VIOLENT, needed to be cleared for the President of the United States to make his way to the Church that was vandalized and set bonfire. Photo-op or not! The President needed to show his face, what better place than at a Church with a Bible in hand? Whether that was a prop or not too! Showing he stands for Faith and the attack on a sacred place. The Catholic Church is making it very difficult for God-loving Christian Catholics to remain Catholic!
So true!
Johnny Carson would ask “how faithful is he”? What a disgrace when Trump uses his bully pulpit before an Episcopal Church to advance his agenda. The statement, “It’s shameful for anyone to call themselves a person of faith yet question the President’s own DEEPLY-HELD FAITH”. When did Trump ever have “deeply held faith” when he hardly attends a place of worship? Now I would ask who is using his bully pulpit? Bishop Gregory and Catholics know the torrid and the amoral history of Trump… in broad daylight. Many in the Catholic Church hierarchy view Trump through their compartmentalized lens when they know full well that he is he antitheses of Catholic doctrine.
Morgan,
How are you doing this evening? I hope you’ve been well.
You know, if frequent church attendance was a prerequisite of deeply held faith many non Catholic Christians would fail the test. Some folks of faith see things differently than we do. Not every Protestant is convicted that weekly church attendance is a non negotiable.
I don’t know that we can judge others faith that way. We might do better by examining the depth of our involvement and support of our own churches. Especially right now, they’re having a struggle.
Yes, Trump is the antithesis of Catholic doctrine, as are most of the thoughts and attitudes you post on this site. I’ll keep quoting the passage until you get it: “remove the log from your own eye first, then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”
“Unless You repent, you will likewise perish.”
Let me help you with that log. Abortion is a taking of innocent life according to the faith. Trump is the first openly pro-life president we had since Reagan.
Get that log out, Athanasius, and after you recover, look at the reasons why you hate this guy so much. Is it because you like the politicians who think abortion should be safe, legal, and free?
It is a struggle to remain Catholic. I pray fervently for help to keep my mind free of hate and anger at the hypocrisy holding sway.
Respectfully Archbishop, I wish you would have handled this differently. Jesus ate with sinners because they are the ones that needed him the most. You could have delivered to our President a statement of your hope for peace and unity. We are made for the times that we are living in, for God’s work to be manifested and executed by our willingness. I am guilty myself of missing some of my opportunities. How many opportunities do each of us get to meet with the President of USA and extend God’s loving hand to him?
May God bless you, I’m praying for you.
You’re too nice.
Cate,
Being charitable is at the heart of being a Christian & it’s the only thing that changes hearts in the end.
I am disheartened by the events described above. These are frightful times and know that God is in charge. I encourage all of us to remain prayerful and trusting in God‘s sovereign purpose.
To that end, I have produced a post-card to be sent to the White House affirming the Catholic teaching that all are welcome in our Holy Catholic Church. I believe the reported timeline supports the best motives of the President were intended. That is charity. It’s sad that the Archbishop chose to assume the worst possible.
“President Trump’s visit gave comfort and hope to Catholics in this country and all over the world that this President is a man of God who will always protect the sanctity of life and promote religious freedom.”
I was not comforted by president’s visit to the John Paul II (JPII) Shrine. If there is a matter of opinion, mine is that President Trump is an opportunistic that seeks to aggrandize his ego in any way possible. If you and I are true Christians/”Catholics”, our main task is to seek “The Kingdom of God and its Justice”. If I see Mr. Trump’s actions with common sense, more of them are opportunities to be reelected. Most of his actions in my opinion are not Christian and do no reflect the true character of a man/woman of God.
JPII wrote an encyclical “Splendor Veritatis”, in which he warns us about living and acting according to the truth.
If you are a”Catholic,” I wish you were more informed about the tenants of your faith.
CWR just announced a new publication WoF. I wish you to read it and learn more about the Gospels.
I suggest you read Archbishop Vigano’s letter to President Trump, dated June 6, as well as Vigano’s response to the DC archbishop, dated June 3.
President Trump is protecting religious freedom both within and without the United States. He is doing his best to stop abortion. You are presuming to read his heart and say that it is only because he wants to be re-elected. It seems that you prefer people who, in order to be elected, either support or do nothing to stop abortion and the mockery that is “same sex-marriage,” and do nothing to protect freedom of religion.
“Most of his actions in my opinion are not Christian and do no reflect the true character of a man/woman of God.”
In my opinion, your opinion is worthless.
“If you are a ”Catholic,” I wish you were more informed about the tenants of your faith. CWR just announced a new publication WoF. I wish you to read it and learn more about the Gospels.”
The word is “tenets.” And felicitations on your boundless arrogance. Anybody who disagrees with you, according to you, is ignorant about the Faith and the Gospels.
If you were one of the Jews in the Babylonian exile, when Cyrus ordered the Temple to be rebuilt and allowed the Jews to return home, you’d probably have pinched up your lips and said “Most of his actions in my opinion are not Jewish and do no reflect the true character of a man/woman of God.”
And, no, I’m not saying that President Trump is Cyrus the Great, if that’s going to be your next criticism.
The primary thing you should learn is to not judge another.You have no right to judge the President and no right to judge others who disagree with you as uninformed. That is what the left appears to specialize in—shutting down debate by calling people racists or rednecks or whatever. Sadly, too many people cave when attacked. But not all of us. As President, EVERYTHING Trump does could be colored as political, whether that is the intent or not. I am Catholic and I applaud his going to the shrine. Its too bad the Cardinal seems to have chosen his OWN political affiliations over a pathway to peace at a time when the nation was burning,and could have used a religious figure offering hope and leadership. And then he had the colossal gall to return a cordial invitation from the president with a venomous response. That sort of Unchristian response does neither himself nor the church proud. Trump has been a supporter of Christian values from the start. Against abortion, pushing for the right of the middle class and poor to get work by forcing companies to return manufacturing to the US, donating his Presidential salary to a charity each month, and hanging unfair prison laws,declaring churches ESSENTIAL against the Dem governors who refused to let them open, among many other things. An improved economy helps EVERYONE, black or white rich or poor and he is an expert at that. He has nothing to apologize for.Some think he is too brusque, but I will take brusque and truthful over a smooth liar any day. He has my vote for certain.
THANK YOU!! I couldn’t agree with you more. He is a habitual liar and has treated those most at risk in our society like worthless trash. This president is ANYTHING BUT Prolife. At best he is Pro-birth, but once those precious babies are born he has ZERO interest in assisting with basic human necessities such as food, medical needs, education, housing but he’s right there separating children from their mothers & locking BABIES IN CAGES.
Patty, are you kidding me? He has done a lot to helping these babies once they are born. And your “locking babies in cages” argument is a joke. That was a law put into place long before him, and something that you were probably very quiet about when it was Obama locking babies in cages. You should do some actual research to find out what our President has been doing to benefit our country and the people in it, rather than just repeating sound bites. You clearly believe what you are told to believe, rather than figuring out what to believe on your own.
Monica, you are so right! The Archbishop says “fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” EXEPT the rights of President TRUMP to enter a Catholic Church, or even stand before an Episcopal one, it seems. What is the matter with our PRELATES, These days? YES WE DO NEED TO PRAY FOR THEM, and that is what I do constantly.
Hmmmm. Archbishop “Fibber”?
So the archbishop is a liar, a deceiver, a panderer, a politician, a conniver, a schemer, a louse, petty, vengeful and egomaniacal.
another profound “leader” of the wash swamp archdiocese: mr mccarrick, his ‘buddy’ wuerl-bird & now gregory the blabberery…
another case of mitre cutting off blood flow to the brain.
The Archbishop of Washington Wilton Gregory is one of our bishops who is primarily a “political animal,” and not a good shepherd. In this he shows that he doesn’t manifest “the mind of Christ,” but instead manifests “the mind of McCarrick.”
McCarrick has established the AD of Washington as HQ of the McCarrick Establishment, which exists for one purpose: to promote and propagate the “Occult Church of McCarrick,” including pederasty and financial fraud and crypto-Marxist political subversion, for perpetuity.
What a repulsive fraud and mere political animal this Bishop has proved himself to be.
I learned in the last 2 years from reports (that are not contradicted by the AD of Atlanta) that Archbishop Gregory used his former AD of Atlanta to host and promote LGBT ideology inside the AD of Atlanta. He also tried to build himself a multi-million dollar retirement mansion, but got stopped by financial watchdogs in the AD of Atlanta, and then made the excuse that “I wouldn’t have approved the mansion for myself if I realized then what I realize now about appearances.”
Still needing to learn about common decency when you’re 65-70 yrs old “Your Excellency?”
The above behavior would put him squarely in the camp of the McCarrick Establishment.
The McCarrick Establishment – spreading its pollution in the US Church and the world, since 1967 (that being the inaugural year of McCarrick, marked by the publishing of “The Land of Lakes Statement,” the declaration of a sociopath sex abuser and his fellow cultists breaking Catholic Universitties away from the holy apostolic faith).
Archbishop Gregory: viceroy of The McCarrick Establishment.
https://georgiabulletin.org/news/2014/04/archbishop-apologizes-will-seek-more-counsel-on-his-new-residence/ – better details about the events regarding the house incident … the gift aspect from the family of the ‘Gone with The Wind ‘ fame
colors the whole decision too .
Similar details could help us to look with more compassion on many events and persons too ..
May the prayers of St.Jose of Brazil as well as that of St.Ephrem bless us all ,
that we hear the music of the true holiness in many lives .
The world might often shout through the mouths of the roaring lions or the smoke of Satan to distort the history , such as in the case of Columbus and
The Church , as in Brazil , where even in the 16th century , reports of cannibalism being among the natives .
These natives could even have been far descendants of Jewish blood that strongly set rules to lead persons away from such evils …
as we near The Feast of Corpus Christi , the gratitude to The Lord , through and for our Father figures , for sending forth the strong ocean currents of the cleansing healing waters, into the depths of all hearts that also often carry the turbulences of fallen human natures as well be what rise from many .
https://www.universalis.com/-600/today.htm
Blessings !
It’s so funny how these modernist bishops/clergy always sing about accompanying the sinner, welcoming them into the fold, blah, blah, blah. Yet here is the perfect opportunity for the DC prelate to witness Christ to the President and instead throws a temper tantrum. So much for accompanyment. I guess that only applies to your group of homosexuals in the clergy. Let’s not forget that this man (Gregory) allowed pro abort, pro-homo, pro-socialist Nancy Pelosi (not in good standing with the Church) to offer a eulogy at Cokie Roberts funeral Mass. That’s not liturgically permitted. Not too mention the Archbishop allowed a victory Mass twice when the Democrats retook the House. And he has the gaul to criticize Trump!
“It’s so funny how these modernist bishops/clergy always sing about accompanying the sinner, welcoming them into the fold, blah, blah, blah. Yet here is the perfect opportunity for the DC prelate to witness Christ to the President and instead throws a temper tantrum. So much for accompaniment”.
What I have read about (Modernism, Modernity and Modernistic) does not mach your definition. I am trying to understand and accompany you. I want to know what do you mean by your criticism of the Catholic Clergy and how their actions are modernistic?
The Archbishop of the Capital of the United States refuses to meet with the President, it is shocking, it is lack of charity, what a missed opportunity at the Shrine of JPII who always met with every leader of the over hundred countries that he visited. By the way, the First Lady Melania is a Catholic.
Catholic World Report: Thank you for reporting the truth. May God have mercy on the poor souls of our Bishops, and repair their damage. When I hear things like this I find it helpful to recall (I believe a saint said it), that if we saw a soul in hell for even a few seconds we would spend the rest of our lives in terrible penance pleading with God to let them out – even though we know they will be there for eternity. Sheen: “It’s not that we don’t know what sin is, it’s that we don’t realize how terrible it is.” Rick from Oregon
Yes, yes, yes, archbishop. We get it. You speak in half-truths, we understand that.
But we do not fear you or your reprehensible rhetoric. Crawl back to your secular masters at the DNC, crumbs await you.
Also, where is the McCarrick report, by the way.
I have never ever before posted a reply or any other comment to an issue posted on the internet – but in this instance I cannot remain silent. Archbishop Gregory, no matter what you may think of President Trump – what about his wife. Isn’t she Catholic. Is she at fault. Is she to blame. Imagine the pain and hurt and embarrassment your comments must have caused her. I find your comments to be “baffling and reprehensible”, especially coming from an archbishop of the Catholic Church. I was baptized at birth and raised as a Catholic, and admittedly I am a sinner who has drifted away over the years, but with the examples that senior Catholics such as your comments have displayed to the laity over the past few years I fear for my soul as to whether I will someday return; and frankly yours. You owe Mrs. Trump an apology.
Absolutely not!. She can talk to the Archbishop herself and be listened and comforted. “Mammon and God” do not get along. Do not make a mountain out of a molehill.
This archbishop should apologise to the President for passing a judgment on his visit to the Church
As a shepherd he should be welcoming his flock and not deriding them
He should make a good confession and ask to be forgiven
Humility is a sign of Godliness
I do not approve of the Archbishops behaviour
With the discordance between behavior and word the archbishop once again appears to indict himself. It is quite astonishing that a seventy-two year old individual who has inhabited a position of senior responsibility for multiple decades could exercise the extent of erroneous judgement to the degree of Wilton Gregory.
Our Church is plagued with a grievously scandalous personnel problem. One need ask from whence it emerged, why it persists from the parish level to the Vatican and who will exhibit the courage to call it by name. Amongst a spectrum of accuracies, none of them pleasant, hubris and infidelity appear the most accurate. The only accoutrement not abandoned by the mid-century council was the imperial egoism wielded by the episcopal class. Of course if there was any intention of jettisoning that the “reforming” enterprise would never have transpired. It was there merely weaponized to get the predetermined result of a contrarian current bent on deconstruction of everything but their personal notions and power.
The pretense of moral and intellectual superiority accompanying position are no substitute for sound theology, fidelity to the perennial Magisterium and plain simple common sense.
For a president to walk the street for whatever reason there needs to be security set up way before hand, the desecration of the Episcopal church the day before stood as a reminder of the violence and evil done the night before.. The archbishop has done more harm to Christianity then he realizes, and for starters there were still protesters chucking objects in the streets before the photo opp. Trump did not make the decision, his security team did. Has there ever been a president in modern history that has fought harder for religious rights and for the unborn then Trump? As hard as he is to look at or listen to he has more courage then any of the last 3 .presidents combined.
I concur, but my esteem for President Trump is even greater. I am unaware of any president in our history who has endured three and a half years of unrelenting culumny and unhinged contempt from “the opposition.” Were President Trump to have none of the success his policies have effected for the American citizenry he would still rank among the greats simply for his display of raw courage in the face of evil from every quarter — it seems even from the American episcopate and the Vatican machine, much to their shame.
James, thank you for this GREAT and TRUTHFUL TESTIMONY. Mr. Trump is being FLOGGED and CRUCIFIED, by the opposition, FROM THE MOMENT HE GOT ELECTED. He TRULY is A courageous, patriotic man. MAY the GOOD LORD bless him!
Freedom of religion is a choice not an obligation. If we choose one we have to be faithful to our choice and follow its direction.
James, I would give you a standing ovation if I could. Finally, someone has spoken the truth that I have tried getting people to listen to, only to run into a wall at every turn. I can’t name a single president who has been so disrespected and from day one. Or any other time in history where it would be acceptable to do so, to state (even four years later) that the sitting president is not their president at all. Lies, deceit, misinformation, incomplete information… and people believe every single word of it because it fits their story, because they are angry at who is in office. He has done so much for the people of the United States, and none of it is reported on. He is blamed for everything, no matter how much opposition he has had to face to get what he has done completed. Every single day. What a strong man. And Mrs. Trump as well. The negative and nasty things they say about her – even so much as claiming she only married him for his money, and that she is disgusted by him. I pray for them daily. And after all of that – and THIS – he still wants another four years to work on bettering our country even more. People – but Catholics, Christians specifically – have forgotten that it was Jesus who said that only those without sin can throw a stone. I don’t know of a single person on this planet who can say they are without sin, so they should all drop their stones, and maybe then we can all try to live in peace.
The wonderful and brave Abp. Carlo Maria Viganó has written a letter to President Trump.
My sympathies lie with many of the expressions written in this column. However, the Archbishop will not read them or learn of them UNLESS each one of us expresses this to him personally. My suggestion is that each person who is as heartsick and outraged by the lack of charity and the missed opportunity that the Archbishop displayed, each of us must take the time to express this to Archbishop Gregory by phone, email or snail mail. Let us send a deluge of letters and phone calls, etc., to the Chancery. Let him know that his behavior is galling and saddening to us who love Christ and His Church. In this way, we at least show him that we recognize the reprehensible and egregious behavior he exhibited in this instance and we may make him a little more careful in the future, lest he is tempted to think that 1. no one noticed and 2. that we agreed with him. Let your voices be heard WHERE IT WILL MATTER.
Just in case you need a little help in writing to the Archbishop, as a followup to my previous post on letting him and his office know personally what you think of his response to the Shrine’s invitation, I offer the following as a possible way to get started:
Dear Archbishop Gregory,
Your Excellency, I write to tell you of my great pain at hearing of your words on the occasion of the President’s visit to the John Paul II Shrine recently. In light of the news that you had been extended a cordial invitation in advance, I fail to understand how you could have responded with such lack of charity.
It is easy to understand that you might not see eye to eye with President Trump. It is harder to understand how you could have failed to see the opportunity that was presented to you to speak as a Shepherd to him and to his wife, particularly in the time of such conflict and strife. What were you thinking?
You, who are a direct descendent of the Apostles, failed to seize the God-given providential opportunity to speak with the leader of the free world, to show him the face of God and to offer a word of advice? consolation? an invitation to pray with them?
God will judge you for this lack of charity; I won’t. But, I cannot fail, as you did, to point out the missed opportunity that you had. Sadly, it won’t be repeated. But, God willing, you may yet be given a chance to repair your hurtful, hateful words and to show your people and our country what a true Pastor does and says.
Respectfully,
Bishop John Fisher and St Thomas More, pray for us, pray for the Bishops
Can we have this as a petition?
I feel a lot of “care love and compassion” in all the postings in this article. I don’t understand what all this has to do with the Archbishop’s decision not to give in to dirty unsensitive politics. My prayers for the offenders and offended. “Jesus loves you all”. May all you go to heaven.
The Church’s main problem today is that the bulk of her bishops are not qualified for their office. Despite this glaring truth, the Gregory affair shows that the Vatican keeps churning out sub-standard quality.
It’s as if the Church is a ship moving toward a waterfall, and the Pope keeps the rudder aimed straight at the drop.
For the bored conspiracy theories are exciting. For the level headed priest anathema because he’s forever consigned to Kookdom. What if someone with outstanding credentials Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, and a likewise highly credentialed prelate noted for trying patience and discretion Cardinal Gerhard Muller the latter signatory to the letter authored by the former warning of a global conspiracy? Well Archbishop Gregory’s seeming incongruous response to Pres Trump may be explained by Gregory’s record, his appointment on the heels of McCarrick. Both Boys in the Band. An analogy to the 1970 movie about gay band members and gay networking in the Church. The immense tragedy is our Vatican once the home of the Greats Leo, Gregory, Pius X has now become a haven for the morally adrift. Archbishop Vigano authored another letter sent to Pres Trump supporting his presidency, calling him a literal bulwark against a global movement toward radical socialism. Vigano alleged the media, Archbishop Gregory, politicians, and the Vatican are embedded in an anti Christian conspiracy to dominate. If anyone knows Washington the Church Am politics and the people it’s Archbishop Vigano, who served for years as Apostolic Nuncio in DC. A new cultural currency is systemic. Systemic racism as if all are knowingly or unknowingly racists. Archbishop Vigano, like the hero of the Matrix, seems to have pierced the anomaly of systemic anti Catholicism within Catholicism.
A correction to implying Archbishop Wilton Gregory is gay, rather he advocates for homosexuals as does Fr James Martin SJ and Cardinal Kevin Farrell prefect for the Dicastery for the Laity Family and Life.
Actually, Fr. James Martin advocates NOT simply for homosexuals, but for the leveling of binary human sexuality under the notion that the homosexual lifestyle is categorically no different from adultery (which at least is a violation of the natural). Self-evident distinctions regarding the oxymoron gay “marriage” are redefined as hypocritical job discrimination.
Much more clever and sinister and even viral than simply advocating for homosexuals as human persons sharing a universal human dignity–within a clear moral universe universally accepted for millennia.
As for Cardinal Farrell who lived under the same roof with McCarrick for six years–he now performs a Sergeant Schultz imitation: “I know nothing, nothing!” Plausible deniability! Or a silent enabler? Who are we to judge? But where is the McCarrick Report?
Both homosexual acts and adultery are very severe sins. If my understanding is correct, Fr. Martin approves of homosexual acts but does not approve of adultery. Or, is it that he approves of homosexual acts and adultery. Either way, there’s a problem.
Also, I might add, there’s not a problem advocating for homosexual persons. Fr. Martin’s problem is that he appears to advocate for homosexual acts and for the special treatment of homosexuals. Again, either way, there’s a problem here.
The deciet shown in the explanation by the Cardinal just exposes the notion that to many of the Princes of the Church are not Godly people. It leads to the impression that they rise in the ranks not through holiness and applying spiritual gifts given to them, but by guile, deceit and coddling the right people. This is compounded by the fact that way to many Catholic Politians are in effect pro abortion, under the guise of just wanting to allow choices; and very few Cardinals do anything about it. So we are left with Cardinals who lack courage and willingness to do God’s work. Those of us in the pew need solid, humble and courageous Catholic bishops to provides models to support our faith. I never can understand why God allows this to happen. I guess we need to pray harder; maybe those of us in the pew need to be models to the bishops.
Mary, this is an excellent IDEA THANK YOU for your suggestion. God bless you.
So Archbishop Wilton Gregory is a liar. Who is surprised?
“’That shrine is a holy place because of the man that it honors,’ Gregory said, ‘and it never should have been used as a “political statement.’”
And yet his words, and the words of others, have made it even more of a political statement than what they condemn Trump for supposedly doing.
The fact that even THIS reporter has shared his obviously biased opinion, calling it a “photo op,” is disgusting and makes me wonder if I still want to continue reading articles from this website. Trump’s supposed “photo op” has grown great umbrage, but Pelosi, dressed in African garb, kneeling in front of the cameras she called in, was what? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Nothing Trump does will ever be good enough, and everything that the Democrats will do is perfect. And people will believe the lies because it continues the story they want to believe.
On a side note: I’m sorry, but you can’t be Catholic and be Democrat. It’s impossible, no matter how much you want to believe it is not. They want to systematically kill children before they are even born, an act that was, and still is, centered at the black community. You can’t be Catholic and believe that murder is okay. It goes against what we believe in, it goes against one of the ten commandments. You can’t say that murdering someone is bad, and then say that murdering a baby before it even has a chance to live is okay, no matter how much you want to claim it is the right of the mother to decide what happens to her body.