Published February 17, 2025
Pope Francis has made little secret of his dislike for Donald Trump. The appointment of the progressive Cardinal McElroy as archbishop of Washington was a clear signal earlier this year that the pontiff wanted an obvious contrast between the Catholic Church’s top man in Washington and America’s head of state. Now he has waded into the debate over Trump’s immigration policies with a letter to the American bishops, the burden of which is to imply that the policies are contrary to Christian love and dehumanizing of those illegal immigrants at whom the laws are targeted.
This letter has caused a storm among Catholics. At First Things, Rusty Reno characterized it as a “suicide note.” At The Pillar, Ed Condon’s criticism was more muted, calling it a “hot take” and pointing to its obvious superficial treatment of very deep and complicated issues. How the letter will be handled by the bishops remains to be seen.
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Carl R. Trueman is a fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping civic leaders and policy makers better understand the deep roots of our current cultural malaise. In addition to his scholarship on the intellectual foundations of expressive individualism and the sexual revolution, Trueman is also interested in the origins, rise, and current use of critical theory by progressives. He serves as a professor at Grove City College.
