Great Tuesday column, JD, and great article by Brendan Hodge on the USCCB and refugee assistance programs. I found that a very helpful refutation of Vice President Vance’s comments.
Mr. Biden used his alleged Catholicism as a campaign gimmick. His actions were contrary to teachings of the Church, particularly regarding abortion and homosexuality. Therefore it is no surprise that he would join a Masonic lodge. If he was not excommunicated for his actions as President, he won’t be excommunicated for becoming a Mason.
“Every person served is vetted” by the federal government…according to the USCCB Post of 1/26/25. My understanding is that vetted is simply code for every refugee that claims “asylum” is therefore legal & vetted according to Federal law of 1980.
Therefore, Vance’s claim that these are “illegals” is technically incorrect because they’re admitted under “asylum.”
Which sounds like a sleight of hand but may not be because it’s almost impossible to know who is telling the truth anymore.
I just pray for the day when the USA Bishops can get half as exorcised about a “devout Catholic” POTUS who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of children marching himself up to Communion for 4 years as they get about persons who come into this country claiming asylum.
The vetting question came up elsewhere in Vance’s interview. His position was that in his experience, not every immigrant admitted has actually been properly vetted.
Ya a post on rescue.org states that asylum seekers wait is 7 yrs for a ruling in this country. Which begs the question: What is their status during those 7 yrs?
Right. And certainly continuing to have a policy of pretty much open borders will not make that situation *better*… continuing to deluge an overrun system. Is that actually benefitting anyone?
And yes I agree that it is a little annoying to see everyone getting up in arms about what seems to be a disagreement in prudential judgment (I.e. how best to handle immigration policy) when full throated-support of abortion by Catholic politicians has been ignored if not tacitly allowed for years.
Regarding Vance and immigration, I think a greater concern here is the VP's attempt to bully the bishops into condoning his boss's policies on immigration. I think the VP would do well to educate himself better on the rich social teaching of his own faith.
Additionally, I'm tired of any politician using the "I'm a devout Catholic" line to justify every deviation from Catholic teaching they advocate.
I agree with your take, Colleen. Yes, as JD points out, the bishops need to take into account all the ways that Catholic Social Teaching touches upon the immigration issue and the most complete set of facts on the ground. Nevertheless, the VP was unjust and callow in his accusation towards the bishops. It sounded more like an online debater's trick than a serious reply, and it was deeply disappointing. Will we get the same from him when any questions are raised about federal funding of IVF as promised in the campaign?
I was especially nauseated by the "not being a good partner" comment—it hews too close to the dictatorial regimes that accuse the Church of being seditious or unpatriotic as soon as they dare say something out of step with the official line.
I disagree. Vance's phrasing treats them with kid gloves IMO. Your reading of this frankly comes off as a bit hysterical - it's a long way from "not a good partner" to "seditious."
I take the other side. Vance is spot on. Let's not leave the covers on this. (Eg, see my other comment on abortion.) If the Church isn't considering its bottom line then LET'S TAKE A STAND ON ABORTION FROM THE PULPIT. Enough of the Church/Politics excuse. There are dozens of topics pastors preach about that cover the Church/Politics spectrum....but almost never abortion. Gee, I wonder why....gimme a break.
Let me add one other comment. I sense what lies beneath the immigration position is folks are preaching their book, ie., whomever voted for Trump, or whomever voted for pro-Abortion/illegal immigration Biden.
I don’t think your latter point is accurate. I think there are many here who could not stomach voting for either candidate, as neither is a friend of the Church.
This attitude is a fundamental problem that too many Catholics espouse. A good many of us are nauseated and deeply disturbed by the vote for somebody so flagrantly pro-abortion in policy, whilst also nauseated and deeply disturbed by the vote for somebody who dehumanizes a wide and complex swathe of the population for political expediency. Frankly I'm nauseated and deeply disturbed that any Catholic feels right at home in either camp, but perhaps that's just me.
One of the most likely reasons why priests seldom preach on abortion is probably that they have women in their congregations who deeply regret any abortions they had and are already heart broken enough without hearing about how horribly they acted. It is must harder to forgive oneself, in my experience, than to forgive others.
I don't know what Catholic realm you live in but I *constantly*, **constantly** hear about abortion from the pulpit, closely followed by transgender issues, and it's not just at my parish.
I'm 71 years old and can count on 1 hand the number of times I have heard a priest preach on abortion...and that is in my ENTIRE life. Lucky for you, we need more of it. Even though as you say you CONSTANTLY hear about it in your area, I would guess that to not be a dominant subject of a homily in most parts of the world. Just my guess.
That very well may be. At this point I think roughly a third of all homilies I've ever heard have mentioned or alluded to the abortion issue, across two states I've lived in. Maybe I've just happened to land in some politically active dioceses. 🤷♂️
But yeah, only 1-5 in your whole life? That blows my mind. I'd probably be concerned too if that were the case for me!
> There are dozens of topics pastors preach about that cover the Church/Politics spectrum....but almost never abortion.
Why not personally ask your pastor to speak during his homily about the upcoming 40 Days for Life and to encourage everyone at the parish to sign up for hours? I assume you already know whether your parish has an organized group and if it does, you should probably clear this plan with the organizers of the group first. But if it does not have a group, perhaps you could even ask him to have interested people look in the bulletin for your contact info (so that you can tell them to get organized), and of course, you would then also put something in the bulletin. The squeaky wheels get the grease, if they are polite and work the system a bit.
I agree. Thanks for this thoughtful comment. JD Vance has shown a tendency on a few occasions now of having a very loose relationship with the truth; he’s a very smart man and knows what he’s doing is wrong.
The Georgia Martyrs are indeed a great example for all of us and their witness to the sanctity of Christian Marriage is a timeless example. I was excited to read in the Starting Seven on Monday that their cause had been advanced.
As a Georgian, I was unsure reading this part of the post if these martyrs were in what is now the peach state or the country of Georgia. I will assume the former and ask for their intercession!
They are from what is now the state of Georgia indeed! The martyrs of La Florida and the Georgia territories are stories and witnesses of true devotion to the Catholic faith; I highly recommend learning more about them! Ex) https://martyrsoflafloridamissions.org/martyrs-1
Let's not be blind, nor naive, but I believe the major reason the vast majority of Catholic pastors in the US do not preach about abortion is that it would drive half their parish away. Since Catholics vote roughly 50-50 on the pro-Life/pro-Abortion question, this would certainly be the case. And that drys up the collection, thus the parishes are left floudering without this "normal" income.
There certainly is a bottom line when it comes to abortion at least, but I will leave it to your own assertions to determine whether this is a factor with illegal immigration. The operative word here being LEGAL or ILLEGAL. We are a nation of law and order. And at the border, we have complete chaos, and laws need to be followed and order restored. Why then have any laws at all re immigration if they are not to be followed? Sheesh, what is so hard about this to understand? And I understand people are suffering in other countries, so we can help them via other channels. This is not a new argument, it is as old as the hills, but some people just have difficulty with the words LAW and ORDER.
I think many Catholics who do not vote pro-life, vote as they do because they put party over principle. Many people who vote for pro-abortion candidates are not necessarily pro-abortion, they simply don't think the issue of abortion is sufficiently important to use as a screening tool for voting.
The 50% of Catholics who vote pro-abortion are predominantly the "twice a year" mass attendees who throw in a couple bucks to the collection. That's been my experience anyways after 35 years and several parishes. Of course there's always that one person with a pen ready to write to the bishop....
Okay, time for the serious hat. Sorry JD but there's no pom-pom on it.
I've been soul sick for days about Vance's remarks and the reaction to them. It's so very clear to me that Vance is a smart, skilled politician. He knew he was twisting the truth to make the Catholic Church look bad. Unless he has proof, his words were scandalous from a religious perspective. (I'll get back to that.)
Just as he knew would happen, our Catholic brethren who are not inclined to review a spreadsheet and already have an axe to grind against the Pope immediately ran with this to accuse the Church of profiting over illegal immigration.
So now we have a battle for the soul of what we as Catholics are called to do that has zero to do with actual immigration law and everything to do with how we treat the fellow human beings in front of us who deserve dignity and respect. Worse, a Catholic politician is not objecting to plans to raid churches(!) in the name of removing anyone here illegally.
I had to ask my pastor today how we plan to handle an ICE raid. (I'm also concerned about a private citizen raid in the name of "law and order" but less so.)
that's insane. But it's where we are because the Vice President has put a target on the back of what is supposed to be his own church.
Again, immigration is so complicated. And he could argue in good faith that the Church needs to better balance the words of Pope Francis, who has stated repeatedly that while he believes in dignity, he also believes in borders. This is yet another fact that Vance and his supporters out there are ignoring.
Instead, he chose to fan flames that are going to lead to grave harm, physically and sacramentally if Masses are impacted.
We can disagree on approach to political issues. But I'm not seeing this in good faith. Instead, just as Joe Biden opted to do, Vance appears to be going with the world, not God. And just as Biden let others astray and harmed the Church and the faithful, Vance is doing it, too. It was wrong in 2021. It's wrong in 2025.
I pray that Biden, Vance, and all those who are putting worldly gain first have their hearts opened. I pray the same for those blindly following them. I pray that I remain open to what God wants, not my political preferences and I pray for forgiveness of each and every time I pick the wrong path.
But I am gravely concerned right now that we've just replaced one idol for another. God help us all.
“We can disagree on approach to political issues. But I'm not seeing this in good faith. Instead, just as Joe Biden opted to do, Vance appears to be going with the world, not God. And just as Biden let others astray and harmed the Church and the faithful, Vance is doing it, too. It was wrong in 2021. It's wrong in 2025.
I pray that Biden, Vance, and all those who are putting worldly gain first have their hearts opened. I pray the same for those blindly following them. I pray that I remain open to what God wants, not my political preferences and I pray for forgiveness of each and every time I pick the wrong path.
But I am gravely concerned right now that we've just replaced one idol for another. God help us all.”
Precisely, we went from a left-wing cafeteria Catholic president to a right-wing cafeteria Catholic Vice President.
The bishops need to step up and start canonically disciplining these public figures for the sake of both the souls of the public figures themselves and those the public figures will lead astray.
Archbishop Rummel excommunicated 3 public figures who supported keeping Catholic schools racially segregated, and Bishop Bruskewitz excommunicated a whole slew of Catholics who refused to disaffiliate from groups across the ideological spectrum that are heretical.
Sometimes the bishops have to use their crosiers, and I think they need to be more willing to use the crosier when necessary and excommunicate members of their flocks, especially public figures, when necessary and when they have tried everything else first.
I agree but practically speaking I fear that horse left the barn years ago. Go after Vance now and he's a martyr. This is why they should have pushed harder when Rome asked them to back off.
And what do you do when your flock cares more about what the Democratic Party or the Republican Party or their favorite podcaster or political pundit says than what the Church teaches? I don’t envy the situation our priests and bishops and catechists have to deal with.
If you've read some of my old comments, I struggle with some of my pastor actions, but he first caught my attention by preaching about Living in God's World and not in Man's. He returns to the theme often and I really appreciate it. It's so easy to slip away from the true path. I just hope people are listening to him. and that starts with me!
I hear you, but don't forget that the vast majority of people entering our country illegally are young men. The Left likes to portray them as families with little children. Secondly, America has one of the most liberal immigration policies in the world, and is also likely the most charitable nation. Just try living in Japan for a comparison, where racism is rampant and foreigners are taboo for getting jobs and apartments. And lastly, as far as the Church, I read on this site recently that Vatican City has one of the strictest immigration policies in the world. They will turn you away at their gated city in a heartbeat, and I don't see encampments of foreigners squatting in the popes' gardens. It's rather hypocritical.
Admittedly, I like JD Vance so maybe I am predisposed to give him the benefit of the doubt.
It does seem like simplified statements of Catholic Social Teaching (like “welcome the stranger,”) that emphasize solidarity with the immigrant/refugee, overlook the importance of solidarity with other subsets of the poor (e.g poor Americans who are affected negatively by a lax immigration policy).
These broad pro-immigration/anti-enforcement statements also don’t always line up with the actual political situation - of course every person has dignity, including illegal or undocumented immigrants, but does that imply a necessity to allow violent criminals who are in the country illegally to remain on the streets? Because those have constituted a large number of this first wave of deportation. Every person having dignity does not mean I need to be okay with “sanctuary cities” releasing criminals onto the street and oppose those criminals being deported…
That said, Vance’s comments about the bishops lining their own pockets does not necessarily seem accurate nor do I think it would be his strongest argument to use here! It’s distracting and keeps us from discussing some other important points of debate.
JD Vance is totally correct in his criticism of the Catholic Church. Fact: The Catholic Church received over $100 million dollars to relocate illegal immigrants and dumped them in cities all over the US. In my opinion this is human trafficking. It contributed to homelessness, unemployment, and a rise drug trafficking and an increase in crime. Note the arrests of criminals and even cartel members being made this past week. I have been a member and president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for over 10 years and have seen the huge increase of illegals that are homeless and hungry coming to our pantry. Our parishioners support our efforts and the organized Church has done nothing. The Catholic Church is just another large corporation willing to be bought by the government.
Wayne, I may have couched my words on the "Catholic Church" a little differently but I overall agree Vance may have put a burr in the saddle of many who are reacting negatively to Vance's comments. You make some valid points and your view from the skybox takes on more credence from your stated role as a VDP member/president.
I want to put in a very strong word against the common narrative, repeated here, that the job of the bishops is merely to repeat the Church's teaching on "moral absolutes" or "intrinsic evils," and not to make definite moral judgments on so-called "prudential matters." In fact, it is precisely and emphatically the task and burden of bishops individually and severally (and the Pope) to make definite moral judgments applying the Church's teaching to particular matters in place and time. Those judgments are not infallible, but they are authoritative, and must be given due weight by lay Catholics in making their decisions.
It is a very common complaint among soi-disant lay experts in the Faith or politics or economics or morality that the bishops should step back from all matters of politics or economics or prudential morality and leave all such matters, conveniently enough, to lay experts; but to do so would be to abdicate the clergy's most basic duties. And I can't say my experience with lay experts leads me to look on such a prospect very positively.
In the case of immigration in particular, I think the bishops have been remarkably moderate and restrained in dealing with a matter that intrinsically and drastically affects innumerable members of their own flocks. While I can occasionally fault them in matters of broad *theory* on this issue (as on others), I can't say I feel that they have stepped over any line in their moral judgments and actions in practice; far from it. The right of the Church to care for immigrants and the poor, especially when said people are among their own faithful, is one of the most basic, bedrock rights and functions the Church possesses, and which no bishop has any right to give up to any ruler or government.
Even if I did disagree more emphatically with the bishops on their judgments or their actions to care for immigrants, though, I would hope that I would be able to express my with due respect, and not merely impiously attack my shepherds with hoary anti-Catholic and anti-clerical garbage like our Vice President.
VP Vance’s comments were not “hoary anti-Catholic and anti-clerical garbage” (a turn of phrase that gainsays your post’s call for expressing things with “due respect”.
Mr. Vance is a Catholic, whether you like him or not.
Regarding funding, it is generally overlooked that ‘Catholic Charities’ (which in essence is neither) is the recipient of our tax dollars - the funding for immigration ‘services’ doesn’t go into the church’s pot. It’s simply handed over to the CC.
But, the VP’s comments are spot on for those bishops who imprudently support ‘open borders’ vis-a-vis diocesan practices (cf, Communazifornia).
// I think this story [Cipriani] would be a relatively big one, if it weren’t an account of exactly what most people have come to expect. //
These clerical-abuse stories are tiresome. Yes, they signify a serious problem, but homosexual priests seem to be an elephant in the room that the institutional church consistently ignores, stupidly pretending that it's only a fiction concocted by evil-minded conservatives. Until that willed blindness is faced squarely, I'll just treat these stories as ugly background noise detracting from the spiritual dimension which is the core of the Church.
Always fun to see the “It can’t be cafeteria Catholicism when it’s *my* politics!” when the table turns.
For my own personal curiosity, for those wanting more preaching specifically on the topic of abortion, of the 57 Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation homilies per year, how many should be devoted specifically to abortion?
Great Tuesday column, JD, and great article by Brendan Hodge on the USCCB and refugee assistance programs. I found that a very helpful refutation of Vice President Vance’s comments.
Mr. Biden used his alleged Catholicism as a campaign gimmick. His actions were contrary to teachings of the Church, particularly regarding abortion and homosexuality. Therefore it is no surprise that he would join a Masonic lodge. If he was not excommunicated for his actions as President, he won’t be excommunicated for becoming a Mason.
“Every person served is vetted” by the federal government…according to the USCCB Post of 1/26/25. My understanding is that vetted is simply code for every refugee that claims “asylum” is therefore legal & vetted according to Federal law of 1980.
Therefore, Vance’s claim that these are “illegals” is technically incorrect because they’re admitted under “asylum.”
Which sounds like a sleight of hand but may not be because it’s almost impossible to know who is telling the truth anymore.
I just pray for the day when the USA Bishops can get half as exorcised about a “devout Catholic” POTUS who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of children marching himself up to Communion for 4 years as they get about persons who come into this country claiming asylum.
The vetting question came up elsewhere in Vance’s interview. His position was that in his experience, not every immigrant admitted has actually been properly vetted.
Ya a post on rescue.org states that asylum seekers wait is 7 yrs for a ruling in this country. Which begs the question: What is their status during those 7 yrs?
Right. And certainly continuing to have a policy of pretty much open borders will not make that situation *better*… continuing to deluge an overrun system. Is that actually benefitting anyone?
And yes I agree that it is a little annoying to see everyone getting up in arms about what seems to be a disagreement in prudential judgment (I.e. how best to handle immigration policy) when full throated-support of abortion by Catholic politicians has been ignored if not tacitly allowed for years.
Oh, this was a good commentary, Thereserita.
Regarding Vance and immigration, I think a greater concern here is the VP's attempt to bully the bishops into condoning his boss's policies on immigration. I think the VP would do well to educate himself better on the rich social teaching of his own faith.
Additionally, I'm tired of any politician using the "I'm a devout Catholic" line to justify every deviation from Catholic teaching they advocate.
I agree with your take, Colleen. Yes, as JD points out, the bishops need to take into account all the ways that Catholic Social Teaching touches upon the immigration issue and the most complete set of facts on the ground. Nevertheless, the VP was unjust and callow in his accusation towards the bishops. It sounded more like an online debater's trick than a serious reply, and it was deeply disappointing. Will we get the same from him when any questions are raised about federal funding of IVF as promised in the campaign?
I was especially nauseated by the "not being a good partner" comment—it hews too close to the dictatorial regimes that accuse the Church of being seditious or unpatriotic as soon as they dare say something out of step with the official line.
I disagree. Vance's phrasing treats them with kid gloves IMO. Your reading of this frankly comes off as a bit hysterical - it's a long way from "not a good partner" to "seditious."
I take the other side. Vance is spot on. Let's not leave the covers on this. (Eg, see my other comment on abortion.) If the Church isn't considering its bottom line then LET'S TAKE A STAND ON ABORTION FROM THE PULPIT. Enough of the Church/Politics excuse. There are dozens of topics pastors preach about that cover the Church/Politics spectrum....but almost never abortion. Gee, I wonder why....gimme a break.
Let me add one other comment. I sense what lies beneath the immigration position is folks are preaching their book, ie., whomever voted for Trump, or whomever voted for pro-Abortion/illegal immigration Biden.
I don’t think your latter point is accurate. I think there are many here who could not stomach voting for either candidate, as neither is a friend of the Church.
This attitude is a fundamental problem that too many Catholics espouse. A good many of us are nauseated and deeply disturbed by the vote for somebody so flagrantly pro-abortion in policy, whilst also nauseated and deeply disturbed by the vote for somebody who dehumanizes a wide and complex swathe of the population for political expediency. Frankly I'm nauseated and deeply disturbed that any Catholic feels right at home in either camp, but perhaps that's just me.
One of the most likely reasons why priests seldom preach on abortion is probably that they have women in their congregations who deeply regret any abortions they had and are already heart broken enough without hearing about how horribly they acted. It is must harder to forgive oneself, in my experience, than to forgive others.
I don't know what Catholic realm you live in but I *constantly*, **constantly** hear about abortion from the pulpit, closely followed by transgender issues, and it's not just at my parish.
I'm 71 years old and can count on 1 hand the number of times I have heard a priest preach on abortion...and that is in my ENTIRE life. Lucky for you, we need more of it. Even though as you say you CONSTANTLY hear about it in your area, I would guess that to not be a dominant subject of a homily in most parts of the world. Just my guess.
That very well may be. At this point I think roughly a third of all homilies I've ever heard have mentioned or alluded to the abortion issue, across two states I've lived in. Maybe I've just happened to land in some politically active dioceses. 🤷♂️
But yeah, only 1-5 in your whole life? That blows my mind. I'd probably be concerned too if that were the case for me!
Well said, my friend...
> There are dozens of topics pastors preach about that cover the Church/Politics spectrum....but almost never abortion.
Why not personally ask your pastor to speak during his homily about the upcoming 40 Days for Life and to encourage everyone at the parish to sign up for hours? I assume you already know whether your parish has an organized group and if it does, you should probably clear this plan with the organizers of the group first. But if it does not have a group, perhaps you could even ask him to have interested people look in the bulletin for your contact info (so that you can tell them to get organized), and of course, you would then also put something in the bulletin. The squeaky wheels get the grease, if they are polite and work the system a bit.
Food for my thoughts, B, thank you...
I agree. Thanks for this thoughtful comment. JD Vance has shown a tendency on a few occasions now of having a very loose relationship with the truth; he’s a very smart man and knows what he’s doing is wrong.
The Georgia Martyrs are indeed a great example for all of us and their witness to the sanctity of Christian Marriage is a timeless example. I was excited to read in the Starting Seven on Monday that their cause had been advanced.
As a Georgian, I was unsure reading this part of the post if these martyrs were in what is now the peach state or the country of Georgia. I will assume the former and ask for their intercession!
They are from what is now the state of Georgia indeed! The martyrs of La Florida and the Georgia territories are stories and witnesses of true devotion to the Catholic faith; I highly recommend learning more about them! Ex) https://martyrsoflafloridamissions.org/martyrs-1
I have a more serious comment coming but first, I must absolutely quote from one of the best ever Simpsons songs:
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
WE DO WE DO
I've always wondered what Steve did to the Simpsons writing room to get dissed that hard...
Let's not be blind, nor naive, but I believe the major reason the vast majority of Catholic pastors in the US do not preach about abortion is that it would drive half their parish away. Since Catholics vote roughly 50-50 on the pro-Life/pro-Abortion question, this would certainly be the case. And that drys up the collection, thus the parishes are left floudering without this "normal" income.
There certainly is a bottom line when it comes to abortion at least, but I will leave it to your own assertions to determine whether this is a factor with illegal immigration. The operative word here being LEGAL or ILLEGAL. We are a nation of law and order. And at the border, we have complete chaos, and laws need to be followed and order restored. Why then have any laws at all re immigration if they are not to be followed? Sheesh, what is so hard about this to understand? And I understand people are suffering in other countries, so we can help them via other channels. This is not a new argument, it is as old as the hills, but some people just have difficulty with the words LAW and ORDER.
I think many Catholics who do not vote pro-life, vote as they do because they put party over principle. Many people who vote for pro-abortion candidates are not necessarily pro-abortion, they simply don't think the issue of abortion is sufficiently important to use as a screening tool for voting.
The 50% of Catholics who vote pro-abortion are predominantly the "twice a year" mass attendees who throw in a couple bucks to the collection. That's been my experience anyways after 35 years and several parishes. Of course there's always that one person with a pen ready to write to the bishop....
Well said. Thank you!
Okay, time for the serious hat. Sorry JD but there's no pom-pom on it.
I've been soul sick for days about Vance's remarks and the reaction to them. It's so very clear to me that Vance is a smart, skilled politician. He knew he was twisting the truth to make the Catholic Church look bad. Unless he has proof, his words were scandalous from a religious perspective. (I'll get back to that.)
Just as he knew would happen, our Catholic brethren who are not inclined to review a spreadsheet and already have an axe to grind against the Pope immediately ran with this to accuse the Church of profiting over illegal immigration.
So now we have a battle for the soul of what we as Catholics are called to do that has zero to do with actual immigration law and everything to do with how we treat the fellow human beings in front of us who deserve dignity and respect. Worse, a Catholic politician is not objecting to plans to raid churches(!) in the name of removing anyone here illegally.
I had to ask my pastor today how we plan to handle an ICE raid. (I'm also concerned about a private citizen raid in the name of "law and order" but less so.)
that's insane. But it's where we are because the Vice President has put a target on the back of what is supposed to be his own church.
Again, immigration is so complicated. And he could argue in good faith that the Church needs to better balance the words of Pope Francis, who has stated repeatedly that while he believes in dignity, he also believes in borders. This is yet another fact that Vance and his supporters out there are ignoring.
Instead, he chose to fan flames that are going to lead to grave harm, physically and sacramentally if Masses are impacted.
We can disagree on approach to political issues. But I'm not seeing this in good faith. Instead, just as Joe Biden opted to do, Vance appears to be going with the world, not God. And just as Biden let others astray and harmed the Church and the faithful, Vance is doing it, too. It was wrong in 2021. It's wrong in 2025.
I pray that Biden, Vance, and all those who are putting worldly gain first have their hearts opened. I pray the same for those blindly following them. I pray that I remain open to what God wants, not my political preferences and I pray for forgiveness of each and every time I pick the wrong path.
But I am gravely concerned right now that we've just replaced one idol for another. God help us all.
“We can disagree on approach to political issues. But I'm not seeing this in good faith. Instead, just as Joe Biden opted to do, Vance appears to be going with the world, not God. And just as Biden let others astray and harmed the Church and the faithful, Vance is doing it, too. It was wrong in 2021. It's wrong in 2025.
I pray that Biden, Vance, and all those who are putting worldly gain first have their hearts opened. I pray the same for those blindly following them. I pray that I remain open to what God wants, not my political preferences and I pray for forgiveness of each and every time I pick the wrong path.
But I am gravely concerned right now that we've just replaced one idol for another. God help us all.”
Precisely, we went from a left-wing cafeteria Catholic president to a right-wing cafeteria Catholic Vice President.
The bishops need to step up and start canonically disciplining these public figures for the sake of both the souls of the public figures themselves and those the public figures will lead astray.
Archbishop Rummel excommunicated 3 public figures who supported keeping Catholic schools racially segregated, and Bishop Bruskewitz excommunicated a whole slew of Catholics who refused to disaffiliate from groups across the ideological spectrum that are heretical.
Sometimes the bishops have to use their crosiers, and I think they need to be more willing to use the crosier when necessary and excommunicate members of their flocks, especially public figures, when necessary and when they have tried everything else first.
I agree but practically speaking I fear that horse left the barn years ago. Go after Vance now and he's a martyr. This is why they should have pushed harder when Rome asked them to back off.
And what do you do when your flock cares more about what the Democratic Party or the Republican Party or their favorite podcaster or political pundit says than what the Church teaches? I don’t envy the situation our priests and bishops and catechists have to deal with.
If you've read some of my old comments, I struggle with some of my pastor actions, but he first caught my attention by preaching about Living in God's World and not in Man's. He returns to the theme often and I really appreciate it. It's so easy to slip away from the true path. I just hope people are listening to him. and that starts with me!
People like you give me hope, brother!
I hear you, but don't forget that the vast majority of people entering our country illegally are young men. The Left likes to portray them as families with little children. Secondly, America has one of the most liberal immigration policies in the world, and is also likely the most charitable nation. Just try living in Japan for a comparison, where racism is rampant and foreigners are taboo for getting jobs and apartments. And lastly, as far as the Church, I read on this site recently that Vatican City has one of the strictest immigration policies in the world. They will turn you away at their gated city in a heartbeat, and I don't see encampments of foreigners squatting in the popes' gardens. It's rather hypocritical.
Admittedly, I like JD Vance so maybe I am predisposed to give him the benefit of the doubt.
It does seem like simplified statements of Catholic Social Teaching (like “welcome the stranger,”) that emphasize solidarity with the immigrant/refugee, overlook the importance of solidarity with other subsets of the poor (e.g poor Americans who are affected negatively by a lax immigration policy).
These broad pro-immigration/anti-enforcement statements also don’t always line up with the actual political situation - of course every person has dignity, including illegal or undocumented immigrants, but does that imply a necessity to allow violent criminals who are in the country illegally to remain on the streets? Because those have constituted a large number of this first wave of deportation. Every person having dignity does not mean I need to be okay with “sanctuary cities” releasing criminals onto the street and oppose those criminals being deported…
That said, Vance’s comments about the bishops lining their own pockets does not necessarily seem accurate nor do I think it would be his strongest argument to use here! It’s distracting and keeps us from discussing some other important points of debate.
JD Vance is totally correct in his criticism of the Catholic Church. Fact: The Catholic Church received over $100 million dollars to relocate illegal immigrants and dumped them in cities all over the US. In my opinion this is human trafficking. It contributed to homelessness, unemployment, and a rise drug trafficking and an increase in crime. Note the arrests of criminals and even cartel members being made this past week. I have been a member and president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for over 10 years and have seen the huge increase of illegals that are homeless and hungry coming to our pantry. Our parishioners support our efforts and the organized Church has done nothing. The Catholic Church is just another large corporation willing to be bought by the government.
Wayne, I may have couched my words on the "Catholic Church" a little differently but I overall agree Vance may have put a burr in the saddle of many who are reacting negatively to Vance's comments. You make some valid points and your view from the skybox takes on more credence from your stated role as a VDP member/president.
I want to put in a very strong word against the common narrative, repeated here, that the job of the bishops is merely to repeat the Church's teaching on "moral absolutes" or "intrinsic evils," and not to make definite moral judgments on so-called "prudential matters." In fact, it is precisely and emphatically the task and burden of bishops individually and severally (and the Pope) to make definite moral judgments applying the Church's teaching to particular matters in place and time. Those judgments are not infallible, but they are authoritative, and must be given due weight by lay Catholics in making their decisions.
It is a very common complaint among soi-disant lay experts in the Faith or politics or economics or morality that the bishops should step back from all matters of politics or economics or prudential morality and leave all such matters, conveniently enough, to lay experts; but to do so would be to abdicate the clergy's most basic duties. And I can't say my experience with lay experts leads me to look on such a prospect very positively.
In the case of immigration in particular, I think the bishops have been remarkably moderate and restrained in dealing with a matter that intrinsically and drastically affects innumerable members of their own flocks. While I can occasionally fault them in matters of broad *theory* on this issue (as on others), I can't say I feel that they have stepped over any line in their moral judgments and actions in practice; far from it. The right of the Church to care for immigrants and the poor, especially when said people are among their own faithful, is one of the most basic, bedrock rights and functions the Church possesses, and which no bishop has any right to give up to any ruler or government.
Even if I did disagree more emphatically with the bishops on their judgments or their actions to care for immigrants, though, I would hope that I would be able to express my with due respect, and not merely impiously attack my shepherds with hoary anti-Catholic and anti-clerical garbage like our Vice President.
VP Vance’s comments were not “hoary anti-Catholic and anti-clerical garbage” (a turn of phrase that gainsays your post’s call for expressing things with “due respect”.
Mr. Vance is a Catholic, whether you like him or not.
Regarding funding, it is generally overlooked that ‘Catholic Charities’ (which in essence is neither) is the recipient of our tax dollars - the funding for immigration ‘services’ doesn’t go into the church’s pot. It’s simply handed over to the CC.
But, the VP’s comments are spot on for those bishops who imprudently support ‘open borders’ vis-a-vis diocesan practices (cf, Communazifornia).
JD, the Simpson’s song is one of the best Pillar Post end clips ever. Kudos.
// I think this story [Cipriani] would be a relatively big one, if it weren’t an account of exactly what most people have come to expect. //
These clerical-abuse stories are tiresome. Yes, they signify a serious problem, but homosexual priests seem to be an elephant in the room that the institutional church consistently ignores, stupidly pretending that it's only a fiction concocted by evil-minded conservatives. Until that willed blindness is faced squarely, I'll just treat these stories as ugly background noise detracting from the spiritual dimension which is the core of the Church.
Always fun to see the “It can’t be cafeteria Catholicism when it’s *my* politics!” when the table turns.
For my own personal curiosity, for those wanting more preaching specifically on the topic of abortion, of the 57 Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation homilies per year, how many should be devoted specifically to abortion?
Mr Flynn, perhaps you’ve seen this video making the online rounds? I have no idea if it’s true or not.
https://www.complicitclergy.com/2025/01/27/watch-catholic-charities-refugee-resettlement-scam/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2Oc7Bo29wDZ6IFIliv-NxUI-Z5ZqzNTRPWmT83vDcUt-Dr_2zx_sc0240_aem_IMGZwd177z8gdKwoM_v8dg