Pope Francis’ decision to appoint a liberal cardinal to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. was reportedly done in response to the person President-elect Donald Trump selected as Vatican ambassador.
The Pope on Monday announced his appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration stance and who has also advocated for the “radical inclusion” of women and “LGBT” people in the Church. The decision was apparently made to counter to Trump’s selection of Brian Burch, the president of the advocacy organization CatholicVote and a supporter of the president-elect’s immigration and pro-life policies, The Pillar reported.
Several members of the Church leadership had reportedly signed off on Jefferson City’s Bishop Sean McKnight to replace the outgoing Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, who had reached the age of retirement in 2022, but the Pope reversed the decision upon hearing the news of Burch’s nomination, sources told The Pillar. McElroy had previously been ruled out as an option to fill the position due to fears he would be seen as a “provocative” choice due to his conflicting politics with Trump.
“It was considered settled [in favor of McKnight], ready to make the call, and then it suddenly wasn’t,” an unnamed source told the outlet.
The Vatican apparently perceived Trump’s decision as “aggressive” and “undiplomatic” and decided to respond in kind, The Pillar said.
Cardinal McElroy has advocated for a softened approach to immigration in the United States, writing in December that “calls for mass deportations and raids on undocumented individuals and migrant families have created genuine fear for so many we shepherd in our dioceses,” in response to Trump’s plan to enact mass deportations of illegal migrants.
The cardinal also rejected calls for politicians who publicly promote abortion, such as President Joe Biden and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to be denied Holy Communion.
Burch has been a public supporter of Trump leading up to the election, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation in September that Trump was the obvious choice for the presidency for Catholics, criticizing former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ support of abortion and “hostility” towards Christians. Burch also denied that Trump’s harsh stance on immigration was on par with Harris’ support of killing unborn babies, as the Pope had previously implied.
“I pray that President Trump’s administration, and all of those state and local legislators and governors across the whole of our country, will work together to make our nation truly better,” Cardinal McElroy said Monday in response to his appointment, according to The Pillar.
CatholicVote did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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