At a news conference at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on Monday morning, Cardinal McElroy directly addressed Mr. Trump’s immigration proposals, stating that plans for a “wider, indiscriminate, massive deportation across the country” would be “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
While the Catholic church teaches that a country has the right to control its borders, it also centers the “dignity of every human person,” he said.
Cardinal McElroy also spoke briefly in Spanish, directly addressing the archdiocese’s Hispanic community, reminding them that the church was the mother of all — “todos, todos, todos,” he repeated — especially in difficult times.
His presence in Washington will stand in contrast to prominent Catholics in Mr. Trump’s administration. Mr. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, advanced a hard-line anti-immigrant agenda on the campaign trail last year. Alongside Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance called for mass deportations, promised to end legal immigration programs and spread baseless rumors that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating pets. He represents the traditionalist wing of the church, which has gained strength in Republican circles as it pushes against the rise of secularism.
Mr. Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, is the longtime president of Catholic Vote, a group that helped to mobilize conservative Catholics to support Mr. Trump for his opposition to immigration, abortion, and transgender rights.
