[Fr.]Frank Pavone -- Defending President Trump? Perspectives On The Pope And The President

 Guest Post by Pro-life Leader [Fr.]Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

"Here’s something on which the Pope and the President clearly agree.

The Pope said to journalists that he is not a politician. And President Trump said on Truth Social that he doesn’t want the Pope to be a politician.

What’s the source of the problem, then?

Actually, it’s not hard to understand, and it’s a point that Catholic Church documents have made in the past: there’s a difference between asserting moral teaching and applying it.

The former requires doctrinal clarity and is a duty of church leaders.

The latter requires prudential judgments based on changing facts and circumstances, and is a duty of politicians.

So, for instance, on immigration, the Church’s teaching, articulated in the Catechism and elsewhere, is that nations should be generous to the extent that they can and under the limits they set.

So what is that “extent” and what are those limits? That’s for lawmakers and the President to decide, not the Pope, and we elect our President and legislators to evaluate the circumstances and craft public policy accordingly.

Said another way, there is no “church teaching” about how many deportations should occur, or when, or what the judicial process should be leading to an order of deportation.

Now if President Trump and his Administration were to say, “Immigration is wrong and America should no longer under any circumstance ever welcome anyone again, whether we can afford it or not,” that would violate Church teaching.

But he’s not saying that.

As we all know, he’s saying immigrants should come in legally and that our laws should be enforced. That is completely consistent with Church teaching

So if the Pope or the US bishops have an opinion about ICE, for instance (as the DNC-loyal Cardinals on 60 Minutes did), they can express that opinion, but they should make it clear that it’s an opinion, not “church teaching.”

This is where the Pope and bishops fail, and it’s a disservice to Catholics, to Americans, and to the Trump Administration. When the Pope or bishops express an opinion on a prudential judgment made by public officials elected precisely to make those decisions, anyone is free to disagree with that opinion, and such disagreement is fully consistent both with respect for the Church and with being a faithful Catholic.

Let’s consider war.

The first moral principle is that nobody can target innocent people for destruction.

But that’s not what President Trump and his Administration do. If they did, it would clearly be a moral violation. But they don’t, and it’s insulting to imply otherwise.

The other principle is that sometimes force is justified to defend the innocent.

Trending: These Six House Republicans Bucked Trump, Joined the Dems to Advance Measure to Restore ‘Protected Status’ For Thousands of Haitians

And here again is where prudential judgment enters in. We’ve elected the President to make these decisions and evaluations. We can agree or disagree, but disagreement with a prudential decision should not be characterized as some kind of moral or religious violation.

The Pope says we should not “wage war.”

Can we please get beyond the ambiguity? Tell us if you mean targeting the innocent or using force to defend the innocent!

Of course, the Catholic Democrat-sympathizing radical Left have used the distinction between Church teaching and prudential judgment when it suits them. On the matter of abortion, for instance, you’ll find some Catholic theologians opining that while abortion is wrong, crafting laws prohibiting it are not necessarily the right prudential judgment.

How convenient for them. “Oh yes, we’re prolife. We adhere to the teaching. But we vote for pro-abortion Democrats anyway.”

We have to get beyond magisterium by journalism and magisterium by soundbite. If the Pope wants to make a point, then teach thoroughly and clearly in a talk or document, making the necessary distinctions between Church teaching (which Church members are committed to believe) and prudential judgment (with which Church members – and, of course, everyone else – may disagree).

Moreover, reference the longstanding teaching of the Church expressed in countless documents throughout two millennia. Don’t give the impression that you are some kind of oracle from God, generating new teaching day by day.

And finally, we as believers and as loyal Americans have to keep our eyes on the prize. We are living in an unprecedented era of American leadership and progress.

President Trump has ended multiple wars all over the earth. Under the second Trump Administration the US murder rate has dropped to its lowest in America since 1900. The illegal border crossings are at zero. Real wages for families are significantly higher. Inflation has been tamed. Religious freedom is flourishing, as is freedom of speech. Woke bias in the traditional media, social media, universities and businesses is being reined in. Our nation is leaving harmful international alliances and organizations, and is decimating terrorism.

And that’s just scratching the surface of the long litany of the amazing results of a President who has an ability to solve so many problems that previous Presidents have wanted to solve if they only had the wisdom and courage.

And yet too often we are distracted by outrage at language, at a social media post, at a comment to reporter.

Every moment we spend caught up in rage about the “inappropriateness” of a social media post is a moment we could have gotten caught up instead in gratefulness for the lowest murder rate in over a century. Every statement warning people about foul language could instead have been a statement awakening them to the flourishing of religious freedom.

May all of us – citizens, voters, and religious leaders — keep our eyes on the prize, and let’s not miss the moment to both absorb, defend and build on the amazing progress of what is truly the dawn of America’s Golden Age.

Prolife Leader Frank Pavone (@frfrankpavone) is the National Director of Priests for Life, the President of the National Pro-life Religious Council, and the Pastoral Director of Rachel’s Vineyard and Silent No More. See www.ProLifeCentral.org.

For detailed information on the Bible’s teaching on abortion, see www.TheBibleAndAbortion.com, a website of the author and of Priests for Life."

End of article...

Pray for strength and honor!

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun, and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

St. Joseph, pray for us!!

Gene DeLalla

Wake Up Catholics, Don't Be Fooled By The "Smiles"! Trump’s Border Czar Says Leo, Cardinals Should ‘Stay Out Of Politics,’ ‘Fix The Church’

 Do you believe in coincidences? 

Do you believe that a recent Vatican meeting between Leo and David Axelrod, a former adviser to the demon, anti-life, wicked Barack Obama, presenting the encounter as evidence of alignment with leftist political figures opposed to President Trump's administration, was just a coincidence?

And then...

Do you believe that a 60 Minutes interview in which "Cardinal" Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, "Cardinal" Blase Cupich of Chicago, and "Cardinal" Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., delivered leftist talking points on immigration, was also a coincidence?

Do you believe that these "coincidences," were, in fact, coincidences, or a planned, concerted effort to attack President Trump and his domestic and foreign policies?

I find it truly bizarre that the "axis of evil" -- the three make believe cardinals -- were given "prime time" to spout their agenda, while, at the same time, remained completely silent on the massive attack on the pre-born, as well as the sexual/homosexual scandals -- that are still going on in the "synodal church".  

But, really, what else would you expect from a make-believe "church" build in the image and likeness of fallen men, who show complete disdain for Sacred Tradition and true teachings of the real Catholic Church?  

From lifesitenews.com, and written by Antonino Cambria Wed Apr 15, 2026 - 6:25 pm EDT: Trump's border czar says Pope Leo, cardinals should 'stay out of politics,' 'fix the Church' - LifeSite

"(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump’s Catholic border chief Tom Homan, asked by reporters Tuesday about Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV and the Church hierarchy over their positions on the administration’s immigration and foreign policies, said the pontiff and the hierarchy should “stay out of politics” and focus on the Church.

In response to a reporter’s question about Trump’s April 12 Truth Social post attacking what he sees as Pope Leo and the Church’s positions on crime, immigration, and foreign policy, and the American Pontiff’s response defending his statements, Homan emphasized that as a lifelong Catholic he’d prefer if the Pope and the bishops stayed out of politics and focus on “fixing the Church.”

Trump’s post came within hours of a 60 Minutes interview in which Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., delivered leftist talking points on immigration.

“I’m a lifelong Catholic … I love the Catholic Church. I just wish theyʼd stick to fixing the Church because there [are] issues … and stay out of politics,” the border czar said.

Homan, referring to the 60 Minutes interview, stressed that these cardinals who criticized the administration’s immigration policies as inhumane don’t understand how these policies have saved lives by reducing migration and thus saving women and children from sex trafficking and Americans from fentanyl overdose.

The border czar added that he’d be happy to sit down and discuss these issues with the cardinals and Pope Leo.

“(A) secure border saves lives. A secure border is the most humane thing we can do; with an open border, the most vulnerable people in the world are going to give their life savings to the cartels, making that dangerous journey,” he said.

“I wish (the cardinals would) sit down with me and hear my experiences (over) the last 40 years,” he added. “Maybe (then) they’d understand why a secure border saves lives.”

In February, Homan made similar remarks, saying he’d be happy to sit down with Pope Leo to discuss the dangers of mass illegal immigration and the Trump administration’s policies.

READ: Trump border czar says he’d be ‘happy’ to meet with Pope Leo and discuss immigration policy

“Look, what (Pope Leo) doesn’t understand is there’s a flip side to illegal immigration, 31% of women get raped making that journey,” the border czar said at the time. “Over 4,000 aliens died making that journey under Joe Biden, a quarter-million Americans died of fentanyl because of the open border. When you overwhelm the border patrol, all the bad things happen: Sex trafficking increases, fentanyl increases.”

While Catholic social teaching affirms that immigrants should be treated with dignity and respect, it also notes that a country has a right to secure its borders. In the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB’s) “Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration and the Movement of Peoples,” the conference outlines that countries are under no obligation to accept all who wish to enter.

In his strongly worded Sunday Truth Social post, Trump notably called Pope Leo “weak on crime,” which appeared to be a reference to the Pontiff’s repeated criticism of his immigration policies. The 47th president also referred explicitly to a recent Vatican meeting between the Holy Father and David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, presenting the encounter as evidence of alignment with leftist political figures opposed to his administration.

READ: Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV after Vatican meeting with Obama advisor

Trump also slammed Pope Leo’s condemnation of the war in Iran, writing that he did not want “a Pope who thinks it’s ok for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Similar to Homan, Trump further stated that Leo should “focus on being a great Pope, not a politician.”

The next day, on April 13, during a flight from Rome to Algiers, the Pontiff responded to Trump’s criticism by stating that he does not fear the Trump administration and does not intend to engage in a debate, as he is not a politician. He further explained that his role as the Holy Father is to proclaim the Gospel and to speak clearly against war.

“I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am called to do, what the Church is called to do,” Leo said. “We are not politicians. We are not dealing with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel: ‘blessed are the peacemakers,’ is a message the world needs to hear.”

The Holy Father further implied that the president is misusing the Gospel.

“I do not believe the message of the Gospel should be misused, as some are doing. I continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, fostering dialogue and multilateral cooperation among states in order to find solutions to problems,” the Pontiff said. “Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent lives have been lost, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way.”'

End of article...

Pray for strength and honor!

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun, and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

St. Joseph, pray for us!!

Gene DeLalla

Nicaragua Banned Holy Week Processions For Fourth Year As Anti-Catholic Persecution Intensifies!!

 "Nicaragua’s leftist dictatorship has arrested and exiled priests, banned thousands of religious events, and even prohibited priestly ordinations in some dioceses, among other abuses."

From lifesitenews.com, and written by Emily Mangiaracina Tue Apr 14, 2026 - 4:54 pm EDT: Nicaragua banned Holy Week processions for fourth year as anti-Catholic persecution intensifies - LifeSite

"(LifeSiteNews) — Nicaragua’s communist government has banned Holy Week processions for the fourth year in a row, part of religious freedom violations that have earned it a place in what is referred to as Latin America’s “authoritarian triad.”

“Nicaragua’s regime is cruelly restricting Holy Week processions for the 4th year, constraining celebrations to church grounds and deploying security forces to suppress Christians’ observation of one of their holiest seasons,” Maureen Ferguson of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said upon the release of a report on the repression of religious freedom in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

According to the report, Nicaraguan police today bar outdoor worship events by all except clergy allied with the state and have banned “an estimated 16,500 religious processions since 2018.” 

These prohibitions are part of an intensified crackdown on the Catholic Church in the country since 2018, when the participation of some priests in protests against Daniel Ortega’s regime is said to have prompted the dictator to make the Catholic Church his regime’s number one enemy. 

Nicaragua’s government has since then unjustly arrested priests, expelled religious congregations, shut down Catholic radio stations, and reportedly banned the ordination of deacons and ordered the shutdown of evangelization-focused social media pages.

The USCIRF report affirms that Nicaragua censors religious leaders by ordering pastors not to talk about certain subjects, “including the economic and political situation in Nicaragua.” 

“National police officers establish a visible and intimidating presence around religious buildings, often photographing and recording those present,” the report states. In one example of this intimidation, police entered a church in February 2025 and recorded the Sunday sermon; “they approached the pastor at his home the next day to threaten him to be careful about the content of his preaching, as they were displeased by his message.”

Nicaraguan forces have followed through with retaliation for religious leaders’ speech. Catholic bishops’ criticism of those aligned with the Ortega regime has led to the clerics’ expulsion from the country, such as in the case of Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, president of the bishops’ conference, who was exiled to Guatemala after chiding a pro-Ortega mayor for blasting music outside of his cathedral during Mass.

Surveillance and the placement of undercover informants for the Ortega regime reportedly takes place in religious associations and seminaries. 

The government intimidation can be intense. “Nicaraguan priests and bishops describe being followed 24 hours a day,” states the report.

The Ortega regime also publicly smears the Church and religious groups in an attempt to discredit them. For example, Ortega has called Nicaraguan Catholic prelates “bishops of Satan.” The regime perpetrates other concrete attacks on the Church, such as when it seized in August 2025 “an iconic Catholic school in Jinotepe under claims it was a location where ‘coup-plotters tortured and murdered.’”

While the number of recorded public attacks on the Catholic Church dropped in 2025, “Nicaraguan civil society groups attribute this to fear of reporting abuses,” according to the report.

The government also abuses its legal power by forcing groups receiving any foreign funding to register as “foreign agents” and then giving itself a pretext to seize these groups’ assets or even shut down the organizations entirely.

In January 2025, the Ortega announced it would be shutting down 15 religious organizations, including the Foundation of Contemplative Dominican Nuns. “Since 2018, the Nicaraguan government has canceled the legal status of over 5,400 organizations, many affiliated with the Catholic Church but also some belonging to Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Baptist traditions. Targeted groups lose all legal claims to their property, which historically has been transferred to the government,” the report shared.

Nicaragua has forced many of its perceived enemies into exile, including by withdrawing citizenship, in at least 450 cases since early 2023. In the case of Catholic clergy, it has most notably expelled the bishops of the Dioceses of Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa, and Estelí.

Recently, the Nicaraguan government banned the ordination of priests and deacons in these four dioceses.

Three priests in exile contacted by ACI Prensa recently agreed that “the Lord continues to raise up courageous young men” who discern the priesthood, despite the religious persecution in the country.

“Even though the government wants to prevent priestly ordinations, there have been ways in which the Church, the bishops, have managed and sought to make them happen without the government noticing. This demonstrates the Church’s resourcefulness in the face of adversity, how it reinvents itself, how it continues to evangelize,” one of the priests said.

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Pray for the defeat of these communist monsters and for their conversion!

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun, and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

St. Joseph, pray for us!!

Gene DeLalla