Coincidence, or Deep Church countermove?
If you value articles like this, sign up for our daily email newsletter and support us with a donation.
Pope Francis' tapping of San Diego's Cardinal Robert McElroy to lead Washington DC's archbishopric continues to generate headlines – and speculation.
Coverage of the Southern Californian prelate's recent entrance onto the DC ecclesiastical stage has been flush with praise – "the man best suited to meet this moment," "a towering intellectual and a model pastor" and "competent, kind, empathetic, and willing to fight on the side of the vulnerable.”
It has also been ridden with the prelate's long list of scandals – including accusations of heresy by a brother bishop, allegations of covering up Satanic ritual clerical sex abuse, and condemnation of his role in the bankrupting of his archdiocese in the wake of hundreds of legal claims from alleged sex abuse victims.
Catholic author Kevin Wells' take on McElroy's appointment asks observers to forget the prelate's scandals for a moment and focus on the impact the succession of wicked DC bishops has had on their flock throughout the 21st century. After all, before McElroy there was Wilton Gregory; before Gregory, there was Donald Wuerl; and before Wuerl, there was the granddaddy of US ecclesiastical molesters – the now-disgraced and defrocked Theodore McCarrick.
There is a wide-sweeping demoralization in the Archdiocese of Washington. ... Forget about his bad theology. Forget about his LGBT [positions]. Forget about the fact that Nancy Pelosi can have communion every day. Forget about all that. Here's why they're demoralized – because for the 24th year in a row they are without a Father.
A VATICAN EX MACHINA?
But in addition to the praise and opprobrium of McElroy's appointment, reportage has also focused on its political significance.
"[P]olitics seems to be the sole motivation for the appointment," one Catholic reporter writes summarily.
The insertion of McElroy, a vocal – and influential – Trump critic, onto the DC stage is being seen by some as a strategic move by the Vatican to foil key elements of the incoming president and his MAGA reforms – and not on the spiritual or moral value the cardinal might bring.
In other words, instead of the prelate's new placement being seen simply as a necessary changing of the clerical guard – i.e., the 70-year-old McElroy replacing the 77-year-old Cardinal Wilton Gregory – some are seeing it as a chess move by the Deep Church in conjunction with – does it sound too conspiratorial? – the Deep State to protect the globalist agenda.
"If one were given to speculation, it might be thought that Pope Francis was persuaded to appoint [McElroy] as a counterweight to the return of Donald Trump. McElroy has been a vocal opponent of deportations. And as an intelligent man (degrees from Stanford and Harvard) he’s a more articulate spokesman for that and other progressive positions than any other American bishop." – Robert Royal
McElroy was, coincidently, introduced as the new spiritual leader of DC on Jan. 6 – the same day that (and just down the road from where) Congress certified Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election.
During a virtual press conference in a side chapel of St. Matthew's Cathedral, the seat of the archdiocese, DC’s new shepherd lost little time getting political – focusing on two big bugaboos that separate him from the returning president.
After a brief introduction by the outgoing archbishop, Wilton Gregory – who took the opportunity to praise now-deceased Saul Alinsky acolyte Cdl. Joseph Bernardin – a soft-spoken, slimmed down McElroy took the dais.
In a benign and politic address, the prelate outlined his plans to "undertake a series of meetings focusing on the priests of the archdiocese and the lay leadership of our parishes which will be an initial step in my process of coming to know the archdiocese of Washington."
In a Q&A with journalists, curated through an archdiocesan spokesperson, the cardinal was asked about his "thoughts" on "dealing with the incoming [Trump] administration."
McElroy veered immediately to what he said was a "large" issue – "immigration."
"The Catholic Church teaches that a country has the right to control its borders. And our nation’s desire to do that is a legitimate effort," conciliated the former leader of one of the nation's largest sanctuary cities.
“At the same time, we are called always to have a sense of the dignity of every human person. And thus, plans which have been talked about at some levels of having a wider indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine," he added.
Critics of the cardinal's comments noted that the incoming administration has not called for "indiscriminate" deportation of illegal immigrants, but is first focused on, as Tom Homan, Trump's so called border czar, has repeated, the deportation of members of violent gangs, such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13, guilty of committing murder, rape and other egregious crimes.
Careful readers of the cardinal's words are also asking which elements exactly of Catholic doctrine prohibit the deportation of illegal migrants, as he fails to cite them.
A prominent critic of both the pope and his appointees, Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò, posted a powerful affront to McElroy's claim. The former papal nuncio to the United States argued that "mass deportation" of illegal immigrants is a legitimate decision a nation can take, "dictated by Natural Law even before positive civil law or Canon Law."
The prelate, excommunicated for schism in 2024, also fanned out implications of and alleged motivations behind McElroy's anti-deportation stance:
"[T]he 'mass deportation' of illegal immigrants is certainly and indisputably incompatible with the network of pseudo-charitable organizations in the hands of the Bergoglian Hierarchy, the Democratic Party and the NGOs attributable to George Soros, and with the system of complicity between the deep state and the deep church, both of which are actively engaged in the dissolution of the social, economic, cultural, and religious fabric of the Nations in which they have taken control of the institutions. Stopping illegal immigration would make them lose an inexhaustible source of profit, paid for by citizens' taxes."
Mincing no words toward the powers that banished him, Viganò added:
"When we hear representatives of the deep church ... or the deep state speak, we ought to realize that these people are emissaries of the subversive globalist lobby, and that every word they say is false, because behind an apparently acceptable excuse they actually hide unmentionable criminal purposes."
McElroy was also asked about "environmental justice" and his "plans here in Washington" to promote it.
Known for elevating environmental issues to preeminence – to the detriment of pro-life issues and the lives of unborn babies – the cardinal replied, "I think one of the great challenges for the Church and the world at this moment is that of the care for our home on this Earth for the planet and all of the abuse which it is suffering."
His plan, he says, is to focus on young people "who are the future who are going to help save our planet which is God's created order."
The choice of press topics was no coincidence – they represent two fields of battle on which McElroy will clash with Trump.
McElroy's disagreements with Trump precede the president's reelection.
In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, McElroy delivered a speech on "voting with faith and conscience" in which he lambasted Trump, saying, "The United States, which was once a leader in this effort, has in the current Administration become the leader in resisting efforts to combat climate change and in denying its existence. As a consequence, the survival of the planet, which is the prerequisite for all human life, is at risk."
Earlier in Trump's first administration, McElroy urged attendees of the US Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements, to become "disrupters."
"President Trump said he was the candidate of disruption," McElroy said. "Now we must all become disrupters."
"We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our communities to deport the undocumented, to destroy our families," he pontificated. "We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies. We must disrupt those who train us to see Muslim men and women as a source of threat rather than children of God."
MCELROY IN DC; BURCH IN ROME
On Dec. 20, Trump announced his selection of Brian Burch to be the next US ambassador to the Vatican.
Burch, president of CatholicVote, a political advocacy group, has been a staunch supporter of Trump’s campaign, successfully rallying faithful Catholics to vote Red in record numbers.
Burch's CatholicVote, which acknowledges the authority of the Magisterium, has at times been critical of the Vatican and of the Catholic Church's relief work with illegal immigrants.
A recent article in The Pillar suggests that McElroy may not have been the pope's first pick to replace Cdl. Gregory in DC. But Burch's appointment may have changed all that.
The priority for the pope had been working for peace, both in Ukraine and the Holy Land, according to The Pillar, and someone less confrontational than McElroy was in order.
But the appointment of Burch as incoming ambassador "reopened the whole conversation."
Reportedly, Chicago's notoriously leftist archbishop, Cdl. Blase Cupich, convinced the Vatican that Burch's appointment was "antagonistic towards Pope Francis personally" and warranted the appointment of McElroy as a countermove.
And so, McElroy, a top Trump critic, is taking over the Archdiocese of Washington.
Catholics across America are wondering how the cross-country trek of McCarrick's heir will unfold in DC.
Catholics are also seeing the need for prayer – for McElroy and for Trump.
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
There can be no doubt we have witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States and the world. The election of Donald Trump to a second Presidential term is a great victory for Christian patriots, but it is not a complete or final victory. Rather, it is a reprieve from the ceaseless assaults on life, liberty and faith we have had to endure for four years.
Donald Trump will be president once again in a matter of days. Even now, his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.
We have a Heaven-sent opportunity to step up and ensure this victory is not merely a one-off, but the first of many and the foundation of a lasting legacy of patriotic, Christian, pro-family policies.
Souls and Liberty will be part of that effort, but we cannot do it without you. It will require reporting and activism that YOU can be a part of.
Can you step up and support us? Just once – a one-time donation is very valuable. Or, better yet, support us every month with a recurring donation. Thank you, and may God bless you.
Stephen Wynne
Editor-in-Chief, Souls and LIberty
Everything old is new again, but its from the same garbage can, with the same stench.
I wonder if the catholic charities will be investigated for funneling money to the illegals.
Milwaukee's new Archbishop is from Chicago... can't wait to see what this will bring.
Abp. McElroy's transfer from San Diego to DC seems to stem from Pope Francis' animus toward Trump. Since God is the Father of light, the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with it.