In facing ‘populist’ tide, Pope risks exposing Church skeletons

After the election of Donald Trump, pundits speculated on how Pope Francis would react this time to a U.S. president who opposes his views on immigration and various conflicts happening in the world.

For many, this question was answered with the appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new Archbishop of Washington, DC. McElory, who has served as the Bishop of San Diego since 2015, is one of the leading members of the liberal wing of the Catholic Church in the United States, and often has opposed Trump’s policies on immigration and supported LGBTQ+ issues in the Church.

Trump has said he would deport unregistered immigrants and promised to ask Congress to establish that only two genders will be federally recognized, which is opposed by those supporting “transgender affirmation.”

The appointment of McElroy to Washington was a surprise to many, who suggested Francis would make a more conciliatory pick to the office, given Trump’s large win in November.

The cardinal wasn’t combative towards the soon-to-be President immediately, but nonetheless laid down markers of possible resistance.

“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,” McElroy said in response to a question from Crux.

“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 said.

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The leanings of the new head of Washington have not been unnoticed by Catholic commentators.

“Cardinal McElroy has a brilliant mind, a pastor’s heart, and a prophetic gut. A perfect appointment in the Trump era: the Gospel sine glossa to counteract the perversion of Christian nationalism,” papal biographer Austen Ivereigh wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter.)

Meanwhile, conservative Catholic commentator Philip Lawler said there were two “predictable consequences” of the McElroy appointment to Washington.

“1) He will be a prominent critic of the Trump administration. 2) He will be criticized himself in turn, because of his ties to ‘Uncle Ted’ McCarrick,” Lawler said on X, referring to accusations McElroy covered up abuse charges against the ex-Cardinal and ex-priest.

“His criticism of the White House may or may not damage Trump. But the criticism of McElroy will undoubtedly damage the credibility of the Catholic hierarchy. So his appointment tells you something about the current priorities of Vatican leadership,” he continued.

Lawler has a point, in that there are two major issues facing the Francis pontificate in the 88-year-old pope’s waning years.

First is Francis’s concerns over the rise of right-wing populists in the world’s democracies.

In 2023, he accused the U.S. Church of having a “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude.”

Speaking in Trieste last year, the pope said democracy “is not in good health in the world today,” adding people must “develop a critical sense regarding ideological and populist temptations.”

He said this as conservatives gained more power in the West, with the prime minister of Hungary being Viktor Orban and Giorgia Meloni leading Italy.

Even the Labour Party’s win in the UK doesn’t seem to represent a rise of British liberalism. The party’s win came as the Conservative party was accused of not being “conservative enough” and Labour’s popularity is quickly dropping in the polls.

Shortly before Francis appointed McElory to Washington, Canada’s long serving prime minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down, hoping to prevent the expected win of the Conservative Party in October’s federal elections.

Yet McElroy’s appointment also points to the other issue facing Francis’s final years: The never-ending abuse crisis in the Church.

The cardinal is accused of not properly addressing accusations given to him from clerical sex abuse expert Richard Sipe in 2016. (Sipe died in 2018.)

The pope himself has long been dogged by accusations he tends to believe the protests of innocence from clergy over the accusations made from the victims.

Francis took the word of Chilean Bishop Juan Barros, Argentinian Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta, and Theodore McCarrick over the objections of their victims, before reversing course after public outrage.

Since the 1950s, conservative politicians in the West have generally been respectful towards the Vatican, often fearful of losing Catholic votes. The new populist leaders – who often have strong support from Mass-going Catholics – are less likely to fear offending the Church leadership by bringing up the Vatican’s own skeletons when they feel attacked by the pope.

The next few years might be interesting.

Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome