Monday, January 06, 2025

Pope Francis Trolls Trump with D.C. Archbishop Appointment

The pontiff has appointed a sharp critic of Donald Trump to be the next archbishop of the nation's capital"just in time for the president-elect's return to office.

Posted by Corky at 09:33 PM | 15 COMMENTS | permalink

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BREAKING: Pope Francis is expected to tap Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new archbishop of Washington, D.C., appointing one of the American church's most forceful defenders of migrants and a sharp critic of Donald Trump days before Trump takes office a second time. www.ncronline.org/vatican/vati ...

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-- National Catholic Reporter (@ncronline.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 3:41 AM

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"We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families," he said.

"We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need."

Francis, an Argentine, made harsher comments against Trump in 2016. That's when he told reporters the then-presidential candidate was not a real Christian.

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," he said."

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-06 07:23 PM

You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:34

Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.' Then all the people shall say, Amen!'
Deuteronomy 27:19

#2 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2025-01-06 07:26 PM

Whatever ... Francis refused to come out against Trump before the election.

"What is the lesser evil? That woman, or that man?" he continued, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump. "I don't know. Each one, in his or her conscience, must think and do this."
www.catholicnewsagency.com
Just a papal version of Turtle McConnell.

#3 | Posted by censored at 2025-01-06 08:27 PM

Neither of them agreed with him on immigration... then again, neither does Italy.

His is a strict policy on immigration; all immigrants welcome.

#4 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-06 08:39 PM

... The pontiff has appointed a sharp critic of Donald Trump to be the next archbishop of the nation's capital -- just in time for the president-elect's return to office. ...

Mass Deportations 'Incompatible With Catholic Doctrine,' Cardinal McElroy Says at His DC Debut
www.ncregister.com

... The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis appointed Cardinal McElroy, 70, as archbishop of Washington, a high-profile see that includes about 667,000 Catholics in the District of Columbia and five counties in southern Maryland. ...



#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-06 10:39 PM

@#4 ... His is a strict policy on immigration; all immigrants welcome. ...

I do not agree with that.

What I would agree with is:

His is a strict policy on immigration; all legal immigrants welcome.

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-06 10:43 PM

LAMP is right. America is not the land of wide open spaces anymore. Times have changed. Without a system of legal immigration to control the population that the country has the means to integrate, the long range prediction would be disastrous.

America may be the breadbasket to the world but there are limits.

By the same token, Trump's inhumane solution is not the answer either.

My suggestion is to go back to the roots and solve the problem at its origin. Of course, that shouldn't be over-simplified either. It could take the CIA years and a lot of deposing of governments who are either helpless or themselves profiting from corruption.

#7 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-01-07 05:02 AM

TWINPAC
Good points and hard questions. I'd suggest, per your last sentence, that much of the movement (certainly from Latin America) can be traced to the actions of US political/business interests backed by US military/intelligence agencies. Usually in support of autocratic caudillo-types and their regimes, presumably because it's good for American business.

#8 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-01-07 05:28 AM

Still, one imagines most Catholics are in the cult, full stop, so there is that.
Most Catholics voted for Trump, and the incoming fascist party, so there is that. He wouldn't be President without their support, their love of taking away the human rights of women.
www.ncregister.com

#9 | Posted by Hughmass at 2025-01-07 06:14 AM

If this move by the Pope turns into a problem, Trump will just start a rumor on social media (X-formerly Twitter and Trump's own Truth Social) about Father McEloy molesting young boys.

No doubt with some fake testimony and a few photoshops.

Before Trump is through the Catholics in the D.C. area will want to burn Father McElroy at the stake.

That's how Trump rolls. He destroys everything that stands in his way.

#10 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-01-07 06:40 AM

TWINPAC
Aided and abetted by a mob of manipulated mouth breathers mobilized and directed by those who care about them fully as much as Putin "cares" about his Nork mercenaries: foolish fodder.

#11 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-01-07 07:08 AM

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," he said."

We should have heard more of this kind of talk from church leaders BEFORE the election.

#12 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-01-07 10:09 AM

Hugh: you're wrong about Catholics and their support for a man who operates so far from the teachings and actions of Jesus.

There were certainly many US Roman Catholics who voted for King Dotard II, but from my life in the Church I know that service to others, support of the poor, the homeless, the immigrant and so many others is on-going in the Catholic Church, and may well grow in the next four years. It's as plain as day that the MAGA Party stands in direct opposition to Biblical teachings, and their words and actions are contrary to God's will. It is well recorded that Jesus could put up with a lot, but he couldn't stand hypocrites.

As for Cardinal McElroy--he is safe. King Dotard II is not known to enter a house of worship willingly, sensing perhaps that lightning does strike indoors...

#13 | Posted by catdog at 2025-01-07 01:26 PM

- It's as plain as day that the MAGA Party stands in direct opposition to Biblical teachings

They do, and apparently this was predicted:

"#14) The Antichrist is revealed by the falling away " 2 Thessalonians 2:3

A remarkable and yet often overlooked meaning behind this verse is that the "falling away" " or those that leave the faith " will be tied in with the revealing of the man of sin. In other words, these two events are related, as those who fall away from the faith will fall TOWARDS the man of sin.

Thus, it is the falling away that reveals the Antichrist, as we simply need to look at those who have fallen away from the faith and see WHO they are gravitating towards. It's not simply a falling away for the sake of leaving the faith, but a falling away FROM Jesus Christ and TOWARDS the Antichrist.

This is exactly what we've seen over the past few years with many Christians and their love affair with Trump. While Trump's vileness would have been repulsive in any other politician, strangely Christians not only embraced him, but started talking about him as if he was a man of God.

Even worse, some Christians now consider Trump as the savior of America, putting him on the same level as Jesus.

But to those of us who are watching, their falling away from the faith helps us identify who the Antichrist is, as we simply need to observe WHO they are embracing instead of Jesus."

antichrist45.com

From the 15 Ways

#14 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-07 02:05 PM

I've been reading about McElroy for a few years. Francis is a world-class troll. And the doctrinaire Catholics in DC likely already hate both of them.

The Vatican won't even be curious about any threats or intimidation from Trump. Those few blocks in Rome are worth a lot more than Trump's fake fortune, even after paying off probably a few billion dollars in sex abuse settlements.

Match that, Donald, patron saint of grifters.

#15 | Posted by Dbt2 at 2025-01-07 11:13 PM

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