At a Glance
- Three senior U.S. cardinals issued a rare joint statement on Monday urging the Trump administration to ground foreign policy in moral principles.
- They warned that military action in Venezuela, threats to acquire Greenland, and deep foreign-aid cuts risk causing mass suffering.
- The statement follows Pope Leo XIV’s Jan. 9 speech denouncing the use of force to assert national interests.
- Why it matters: The church’s most prominent American voices are challenging Washington’s current direction at a moment of global instability.
Three U.S. Catholic cardinals publicly urged the Trump administration on Monday to anchor its foreign policy in a moral compass, arguing that recent moves threaten human dignity and global stability.
In a joint statement, Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, and Joseph Tobin of Newark, N.J., said the debate inside Washington has become mired in “polarization, partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests.”
“Most of the United States and the world are adrift morally in terms of foreign policy,” McElroy told Olivia M. Hartwell. “I still believe the United States has a tremendous impact upon the world.”
The statement is the second time in two months that senior church leaders have confronted the administration. In November the entire U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned mass deportations and what it called the “vilification” of migrants.
Pope’s speech sparks move
The cardinals, known for their progressive stance inside the U.S. church, took their cue from Pope Leo XIV’s Jan. 9 address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See. The first U.S.-born pontiff delivered the speech almost entirely in English and offered his sharpest critique yet of how nations wield power.
Without naming countries, Leo condemned the use of military force to assert dominion, warning it “completely undermines” peace and the post-World War II legal order. His remarks landed days after the U.S. military entered Venezuela to remove Nicolás Maduro and as Washington renewed threats to acquire Greenland.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was consulted before the cardinals released their statement. Archbishop Paul Coakley, the conference president, “supports the emphasis placed by the cardinals on Pope Leo’s teaching in these times,” spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said.
The White House did not immediately reply to Olivia M. Hartwell‘s request for comment.
Renouncing force as policy
The cardinals’ statement highlights four flashpoints:
- The January U.S. military incursion into Venezuela
- Repeated threats to take control of Greenland
- Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine
- Across-the-board foreign-aid reductions initiated last year
“Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” they wrote.
They called military action a last resort, not a routine instrument of policy, and urged economic assistance that advances human dignity worldwide.
Tobin summed up the moral test he wants Washington to meet: “It can’t be that my prosperity is predicated on inhuman treatment of others. The real argument isn’t just my right or individual rights, but what is the common good.”
Inside the Vatican meeting
Cupich told Olivia M. Hartwell that a Jan. 7-8 gathering of cardinals at the Vatican amplified concern over U.S. actions. Fellow cardinals voiced alarm about Venezuela, aid cuts, and Greenland talk, prompting the Americans to craft a response.
The pope’s 45-minute speech the following day gave them “the language we needed,” allowing the U.S. prelates to “piggyback on” Leo’s words, Cupich said.
While conceding Maduro’s prosecution could be seen positively, Cupich criticized the method: a unilateral military strike inside a sovereign nation. “When we go ahead and do it in such a way that is portrayed as saying, ‘Because we can do it, we’re going to do it, that might makes right’ – that’s a troublesome development,” he said. “There’s the rule of law that should be followed.”
President Trump has defended the Venezuela operation as legal. On Greenland, he argues that controlling the resource-rich island, a semiautonomous Danish territory, is vital for U.S. national security.
Aid cuts draw fire
Last year the administration downsized the U.S. Agency for International Development, asserting its programs advanced a liberal agenda and wasted money.
Tobin, who served as a Redemptorist priest and the order’s superior general in more than 70 countries, said the retreat in USAID funding is keenly felt on the ground. U.S. philanthropy, he noted, affects everything from hunger relief to public health.
Despite the pointed critique, the cardinals insist their goal is not partisan. “We’re not endorsing a political party or a political movement,” Tobin said. Instead, they want citizens to press for policies rooted in basic human decency.
“They can make an argument of basic human decency,” he said.
Key Takeaways
- The cardinals frame military intervention, territorial threats, and aid reductions as moral, not just political, issues.
- Pope Leo’s speech provided the theological backing for their challenge.
- Church leaders aim to shift public debate from power politics to ethical responsibilities.
