USCCB clings to 'work of mercy' narrative, but Catholic faithful aren't buying it
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US Catholic laity – fed up with Democrats' flouting of US immigration law – are pushing back against American prelates who are fighting to maintain the status quo.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has suffered widespread backlash in recent days, as they've characterized their facilitation of illegal migrants' entry into the United States as a "work of mercy" motivated by Christian charity, and not – as many critics allege – by government cash.
Tensions ignited last week, as the USCCB issued a public condemnation of President Donald Trump's executive orders (EOs) on illegal immigration designed to protect the American public. In the following days, these tensions grew, until erupting into an outright firestorm over the weekend.
VP TAKES BISHOPS TO TASK
During an appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday, Vice President JD Vance was asked about the USCCB's response to the administration's deportation program. Vance voiced dismay, and proceeded to deliver the bishops a knock-out rebuke.
Vance told host Margaret Brennan, "[A]s a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken" by the criticism.
"I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?" Vance queried, adding:
"I think the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has, frankly, not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement that the American people voted for, and I hope, again, as a devout Catholic, that they'll do better."
Drawing attention to the big hole in the bishops' scope of concern, Vance noted: "If they're worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden. ... "
The Vice President also emphasized the primacy of the mandate given to the Trump administration by the American electorate, declaring, "We're going to enforce immigration law. We're going to protect the American people."
A VAIN ATTEMPT AT DAMAGE CONTROL
Vance's punch landed. Stung by the Vice President's criticism, the bishops cobbled together a response – which many described as "canned" – later that day.
The USCCB took swiftly to the Internet, posting a statement defending its motives in resettling illegal migrants, in an attempt to justify its receipt of millions of dollars from the Feds:
"In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs. Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the Church." – from USCCB Jan. 26, 2025 statement
The bishops also touted their decades-long partnership with the government in service to those they refer to as "refugees."
“Faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church has a long history of serving refugees," the statement read. "In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)."
REACTIONS TO THE VP-USCCB CLASH
Social media reactions to Vance's comments and the USCCB's defense of itself were swift and pointed. Representative comments include:
"I’ve been Catholic a hell of a lot longer than J.D. Vance, and I feel the same way. Individual bishops need to do some soul searching on this one. ... Helping the foreigners doesn’t mean helping them break the law. And taking money from the feds doesn’t mean you’re doing 'God’s work'."
"The @USCCB is not 'the Church' – it's an administrative body and eminently fallible."
"Vance's question is valid: Why do the bishops gather together to defend their role assisting the government with illegals and ignore the serious crimes committed?"
"Catholic bishops defend their service of criminal migrants who enter the USA illegally. Is it being faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ to help bring murderers, rapists and child traffickers into the USA? Where is the US bishops' mercy towards Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray, Kayla Hamilton? Or do they only show their faux mercy towards those who provide a source of revenue in the billions? Strange sort of mercy."
"Refugees and illegal immigrants are not the same thing. We don’t have bilateral trade agreements with countries that produce refugees. Either those countries are our friends or we designate them as tyrannical states producing refugees. Can’t have it both ways."
"What Vice President Vance said aligns with the teachings of the Catholic Church. It’s deeply disappointing that the USCCB, along with the Vatican, has failed to provide clear guidance and has instead misled the faithful on this issue. Intellectual honesty requires properly framing issues without deception, yet USCCB and Vatican statements disregards the fullness of truth and lacks fidelity to Church teaching."
"The USCCB's mercy is expensive, that is why taxpayers have to foot the bill!"
"Works of mercy are not invoiced!"
MOBILIZING AGAINST TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO CLOSE THE BORDER
In addition to condemning Trump's EOs and reframing Vance's comments to fit their narrative of mercy, many bishops and lay leaders are actively working to assist illegal immigrants to outmaneuver deportation efforts.
The diocese of El Paso, led by Bp. Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the USCCB's migration committee, is preparing to push back on Trump's immigration EOs.
Community activists gathered on the steps of St. Patrick Cathedral in the border town last Thursday to protest and develop ways to challenge the government's directives.
"I am here with these leaders today on the steps of the cathedral to make clear that we will never be robbed of who we are. We are here today to say that El Paso is and will remain a welcoming community," Seitz declared.
Leftist and LGBTQ activist Bp. John Stowe of the diocese of Lexington says he is working with others in the event churches are targeted by ICE in his jurisdiction. His plans include developing procedures, including requiring a warrant, in the case of a raid at a church.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, which includes the archdiocese of Baltimore, archdiocese of Washington, and the diocese of Wilmington, has been arming illegal immigrants with the legal tools to resist ICE agents or police.
At a recent gathering a local advocacy attorney provided a lesson on the rights of illegal immigrants when they are stopped by authorities.
"Immigrants have rights regardless of immigration status," the attorney said.
The lesson, designed by CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc), the largest nonprofit immigration law organization in the country, provided a "Know Your Rights" packet in 10 languages. The packet teaches illegal immigrants what to say or do if an ICE agent comes to their home.
A video distributed by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Refugee & Immigration Services Program instructs illegal immigrants on how to evade immigration authorities.
The 3-minute lesson provides a step-by-step plan for how to get around lawful immigration enforcement actions – from not answering the door to how to get in touch with the nearest immigration lawyer.
Catholic Charities operates under the guidance and support of the USCCB.
RESISTANCE GOES UP TO THE TOP
The Catholic Church's opposition to Trump's plans for the deportation of illegal immigrants goes up to the Church's highest office.
Pope Francis publicly slammed Trump's deportation plans, describing them as a "disgrace."
"If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing to pay the unpaid bill. It won't do. This is not the way to solve things," Francis said during an interview on a popular Italian talk show on the eve of Trump's inauguration.
This is not the first time the pope slammed attempts by the US to gain control of its border.
Two years ago, Francis denounced efforts to limit migration at the US-Mexico border.
In an interview with left-leaning 60 Minutes, the pontiff called out a plan to shut down a Catholic charity in Texas, suspected of alien harboring and human smuggling, as “madness.”
"That is madness. Sheer madness," Francis said. "To close the border and leave them there, that is madness."
Tom Homan, Trump's Border Czar, takes issue with what he sees as the pope's double standard on controlled borders.
"I'm a lifelong Catholic – I was born a Catholic and been through Catholic doctrine," Homan said in a recent interview. "First of all, [the pope's] got big problems there [in the Vatican]. He ought to stick to the Catholic Church and fix that."
"Second," he said, "they have a wall around the Vatican. If you illegally enter the Vatican … you'll be charged with a serious crime being jailed."
"So [the pope] can protect the Vatican where he lives? Are American people not allowed that?" – Tom Homan
"Securing the border saves lives. When less people come, less women get raped by the cartels, less children die in the river, less Americans die of fentanyl overdoses," Homan argued.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught high school in Poland and Oman and at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
Editor's note:
HOW SOULS AND LIBERTY WILL MOVE FORWARD THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
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Donald Trump is president once again, and his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.
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Stephen Wynne
Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty
Every polished word of the USCCB would hold weight IF expressed for the plight of the Unborn who seek their own asylum into a life that each bishop has been allowed.
Until then, they are mere unsufferable noise to me.
When I visited the Vatican I was not offered asylum, nor did I ask for it. On return to the United States I was promptly put in a mental hospital. I began flying a Swiss flag, and a helicopter with rocket launchers flew over my home, I was soon arrested, put in jail, sent to the jail's mental ward after I meowed like a cat, and was asked by a judge where or how I had learned to speak German, never charged with any crime to my knowledge. In jail, I met a man in the mental ward whose eyes formed the shape of a cat's momentarily. A priest has told me this was a sign of demon possessio…