Mois : juillet 2024

The bishop of a southern Italian diocese deliberately avoided protecting victims in his diocese and instead sought to protect a priest long accused of having abused several minors as a seminarian, a court in the southern Italian city of Enna ruled.

The court July 24 published its « Statement of Reasons, » an extensive 222-page document explaining the court’s guilty verdict against Father Giuseppe Rugolo, a diocesan priest, who was found guilty in March of sexually abusing two minors, including Antonio Messina, who was 16 at the time.

A copy of the court’s ruling was obtained by OSV News.

The three-judge tribunal — Francesco Paolo Pitarresi, Elisa D’Aveni and Maria Rosaria Santoni — stated that Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Armerina was « well aware for many years of the reports made concerning the abuse suffered by » Messina.

Gisana, the judges said, « not only deliberately delayed meeting with Messina and his family, but avoided implementing any form of control or measure to protect the faithful, especially adolescents who were part of the religious community he led, which his position required him to do. »

Rugolo was convicted March 5 on charges of aggravated sexual assault against Messina and another unnamed victim. The priest, who was a seminarian at the time of the abuse, was sentenced to more than four years in prison and barred from teaching and holding public office.

Gisana and the Diocese of Piazza Armerina were also found civilly liable for their attempts to cover up the abuse.

In its ruling, the tribunal said Rugolo « committed the sexual abuse of two young teenagers with impunity … fully aware that he could count on the support of the religious leadership, which helped to reinforce Father Rugolo’s image as a prominent member of the local clergy to the outside world. »

Gisana said July 26 in the Italian newspaper La Stampa that he had « not ‘facilitated the predatory activity’ of anyone, » and that once the crime was reported — committed when he was not yet the bishop of the place — he acted.

The trial against Rugolo was however notable for the public release of recordings made by the accused priest during private conversations with Gisana, which proved the opposite.

Rugolo provided the secret recordings during his trial, which offered an in-depth look at how church authorities in Italy often view and handle accusations of abuse.

In one conversation, recorded after Rugolo was transferred to another diocese after the allegations became public, Gisana expressed his sympathy for the priest, assuring him that due to the investigation, « all the prerequisites are there for you to become a saint. »

In another recording, also referring to the abuse investigation, the Italian bishop said he hoped that the Lord would help « stop this demonic impetus. »

« But what should I do? I can’t take it anymore! » Rugolo told the bishop after learning that prosecutors opened the investigation against him.

« I know ‘gioia mia’ (‘my joy’ in Italian), » Bishop Gisana responded, using an affectionate term to address the priest. « However, right now, I don’t know what to do either. The only thing we can do is to pray to the Lord because the problem is not only yours, but mine as well because I covered up this story. »

Those conversations, as well as conversations recorded by Messina’s parents in which Gisana offered to pay them 25,000 euros (US $27,361) in cash, were chronicled in a seven-episode podcast series titled « La Confessione » (« The Confession »).

The court said Messina’s testimony at the trial « showed particular lucidity, coherence and logic.

In a phone interview with OSV News July 25, Messina said he felt vindicated by the court’s ruling, which was « very clear » about the actions made by Bishop Gisana and members of the local clergy to protect Rugolo.

He also said the court’s statement raises questions about whether Gisana was honest with Pope Francis, who had publicly defended the bishop.

During an audience Nov. 6, 2023, with a group from the Little House of Mercy of Gela, an association serving the poor in the Diocese of Piazza Armerina, the pope praised the bishop as a « just man. »

« I greet Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Armerina: He is good, this bishop, good. He was persecuted, slandered, yet he stood firm, always, (he is) just, a just man. »

« In my opinion, (the ruling) refutes Pope Francis’ words in every way, » Messina told OSV News. « It seems to me that in light of what the panel of judges describes in its ‘Statement of Reasons,’ there is no slander, no persecution; only the facts. »

Messina said he sent a second letter to Francis regarding his case, as well as letters to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Dicastery for the Clergy and the Dicastery for Bishops.

Gisana continues to lead the Diocese of Piazza Armerina despite the fact he was caught admitting to covering up the abuse. Such an action by a bishop would be subject to investigation under « Vos Estis Lux Mundi, » (« You are the light of the world »), the pope’s 2019 document that sets out procedures that hold responsible bishops, religious superiors and others in the case of covering up abuse.

Furthermore, Messina told OSV News that he has also faced hostility by members of the diocesan curia and clergy members since revealing the abuse he suffered. Despite the guilty verdict, he said, « I have never received a word of apology, no one has ever contacted me from the diocese. »

« It’s clear to me that part of the clergy here tried in every way to give an absolutely distorted view of reality — both of what was happening inside the courtroom and what the actual story was — which I then complained because I was labeled as a homosexual seeking revenge, as a person who was in love and that I had to make this priest pay; this ‘poor priest’ who had a weak moment, » Messina said.

Despite this, as well as « a public aggression that escalated into physical and verbal assault » by a member of a religious community, Messina said he has « received a lot of solidarity from my city » and attends a parish community where « I felt welcomed and liked. »

Messina told OSV News that despite the difficulties, he hopes that other victims of clergy sexual abuse, especially in Italy, will have the strength to speak out.

« I understand very much the position they may be in today if someone is still afraid to speak out because I myself have suffered a series of attacks that still continue and will continue throughout this process. It is certainly not easy to deal with all of this, » he said.

« But it’s important they find the courage to denounce (their abuse); also because, in my point of view, I believe the way these cases are treated by the court system in Italy is changing. »

First, Miss Mescalero caught my eye. Then she invaded my heart. Finally, she became my friend. This is the story.

I was in a casino hotel on an Apache reservation, gulping down hundreds of pages of Charles Camosy‘s compelling book Resisting Throwaway Culture. Of course, some folks enter such environments to gamble. I gamble with my comfort zone — reading Camosy. Despite the title, his book is not about recycling. It’s about consumer values that dictate how we throw each other away in decisions small and paramount. Camosy bets on a culture of hospitality and encounter instead.

Yet here I was in a hotel room encountering no one in particular. Occasionally, I’d head downstairs to grab a bite in a coffee shop. This is the writerly thing: carving out your solitude in every crowd. It’s how I go through life, floating above or hiding beneath it all. Frankly, it’s how I like it.

One evening, heading back to my room, I saw Miss Mescalero. Her title was inscribed on a tall elaborate headdress so you couldn’t miss it. A young Apache woman of perhaps 18, she was costumed in electric blue from head to foot. She stood in the hotel lobby greeting everyone who passed by. She welcomed me also.

I brushed past with a distracted nod, absorbed in thought. Only incidentally did I wonder how a person might come to be Miss Whatever. She passed from my mind directly. You could say I threw her away.

Sitting in the coffee shop the next morning, I caught another glimpse of Miss Mescalero. This time she wore a sunflower yellow gown with yellow boots and gold headdress. I watched her pace back and forth across the lobby, greeting people. She was comprehensively ignored.

I felt a pang, recalling how I’d shrugged her off the night before. I hadn’t seen her as a person, just a hurdle to cross.

Throwaway culture was getting to me. As Miss Mescalero glided back and forth across the vast space of her territory, I imagined spending the day as a greeter in a decidedly commercial setting, among strangers, on your feet — and in those boots. 

As the crowd thinned out, Miss M leaned over a bannister and stared emptily into the atrium below, a princess without an audience. She seemed lonely and vacated. I got up and crossed the distance between us, determined to encounter her.

« I hope your boots are comfortable, » I remarked. « You have to stand in them for hours! »

Miss M offered a smile of surprise and pleasure. « Yes, they’re comfortable, » she assured me. « And, it’s an honor, you know. »

As I walked away, I wondered what the honor was: To be elected Miss Mescalero? To work in a swanky hotel? To have a job at all? I decided next time I saw her, I’d stop wondering about her and really talk with her.

That afternoon, I left my room gratuitously and spotted Miss Mescalero in the lobby throng. A high headdress is not inconspicuous. « Miss Mescalero! » I called, and she brightened at my approach.

« I’ve been looking for you all day, » she confessed, with a sincerity that made me blush.

« You’re easier to spot, » I admitted. « I was wondering: Do you get a roomful of these outfits when you get your title? »

« My grandmother sews them, » she revealed, a note of joy in her voice. « I could do it myself, but I don’t have the patience. »

Suddenly my image of this woman evolved. I had to make room for a devoted grandmother. And a young person who could sew — whereas I can barely keep buttons on my coats.

« Do you get a scholarship with your appointment? »

« I wish, » she replied ruefully.

« Will you try to go on to school anyway? »

At this, she became animated. « Oh, but I am in school already! I’m studying to be an occupational therapist. And a nurse. I want to be more than one thing. I have many dreams! »

When I left her this time, my mind was reeling. The cutout princess I’d first disregarded in the lobby had swelled into an engaging three-dimensional personality before my eyes. My experience of the hotel, and even my reason for being there, had become buoyant. It wasn’t just Miss Mescalero who was morphing into a new creature. So was I.

On Friday evening, I had a dinner engagement and had to dress more formally. The casino was unusually crowded, and progressing through the sea of people in a long dress and unfamiliar shoes felt perilous. Jostled, I stumbled and put out an arm to break the fall — and someone caught me and drew me up.

It was Miss Mescalero, pulling me into a warm embrace. Shaken from the near accident, it felt good to be wrapped in strong young arms.

« I was looking for you, » she said again. « You’re the only one I remember. »

Hundreds of people were streaming through the lobby. Her simple words broke against my heart and shattered it. « You’re the only one I remember. » She greeted a thousand people on a weekend like this, so many faces and purposes. She welcomed as many as possible, as fast as she could scamper from one spot to the next.

« Miss Mescalero, » I asked hesitantly, « You greet everyone who comes here. How many people greet you back? »

« Some, » she said quickly. Then more slowly: « Not many. » She took a deep breath and looked away. « No, not very many. »

The next morning was my last. I stayed in the coffee shop for an hour after checking out of the room. I couldn’t leave without seeing my friend. I scanned the crowds pouring through the lobby. Finally I saw her, leaning over the bannister staring disinterestedly into the atrium below.

« Miss Mescalero! » I shouted. She turned, smiling. She was wearing a confetti-colored gown with a confetti-spattered headdress and her yellow boots.

« This is the best dress of all, » I declared, and she nodded.

« It is, » she said.

« Could we take a picture together? » I asked, feeling shy about the request. She accepted the proposal. Then I gave her my card and told her I was leaving. « Please write to me and I’ll send the photo. Please write to me — so I can hear what comes next in your story. It’s such a great story. »

« It is, » she nodded solemnly. « Mine is a great story. »

And as I wheeled my luggage out to the car, I realized something that brought me a surge of joy. She is the only one I remembered.

In the latest legal defeat for a Republican-led investigation of Catholic migrant shelters, a Hidalgo County, Texas, judge on Wednesday (July 24) denied a request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to depose a Catholic Charities leader in the Rio Grande Valley.

District Judge Bobby Flores denied the petition after lawyers for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the largest migrant shelters on the U.S.-Mexico border, argued that the nonprofit had already cooperated with the investigation by providing more than 100 pages of documents. The lawyers for Catholic Charities also argued that the attorney general’s request imposed « a significant expenditure of resources » on the Catholic agency and its ability to exercise its faith.

« We hope that we can put this behind us and focus our efforts on protecting and upholding the sanctity and dignity of all human lives while following the law, » Sister Norma Pimentel, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s executive director, said in a statement. Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 for her three decades of work with migrants. Pope Francis has also praised Pimentel and the work of the nonprofit.

According to filings by both Paxton’s office and Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the attorney general’s office sent a notice to the nonprofit on March 25 demanding that a representative of Catholic Charities sit for a deposition. March 25 was the first weekday of Holy Week, when Catholic schedules are packed with events commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment. In explaining his request for the deposition, Paxton’s office cited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s December 2022 call for an investigation into the « role of NGOs in planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders. »

Abbott, a Catholic, launched the multibillion-dollar initiative Operation Lone Star in 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden’s election, arguing the federal government was failing to protect the state’s border. The operation deployed thousands of Texas soldiers at the border, where razor wire, pepper balls and patrols with guns and drones have been used to prevent migrants from crossing. Abbott’s office claims the operation is responsible for at least 516,300 migrant apprehensions and more than 45,300 criminal arrests.

Paxton’s office also cited a February 2022 letter by Texas Republican Congressman Lance Gooden to Catholic Charities USA, the national membership organization that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley belongs to, that accuses the national Catholic nonprofit of fueling « illegal immigration by encouraging, transporting, and harboring aliens to come to, enter, or reside in the United States. »

Gooden’s letter is part of a broader far-right campaign targeting Catholic Charities agencies that has resulted in several agencies receiving threats.

« The targeting of this faith-based agency and broader attacks on the Catholic Church should deeply concern Catholics, religious liberty advocates and all people of good will, » Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, told Religion News Service in a statement, referring to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Paxton often participates in legal action through the Republican Attorneys General Association, which has received millions in donations from the Concord Fund, a dark money fund linked to conservative Catholic legal activist Leonard Leo.

Catholics, like Americans more broadly, have split views on immigration. In a December 2023 poll by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, 43% of Catholics said immigration should be decreased, while 23% said it should be increased and 34% said it should be kept at its present level.

Nineteen percent of Catholics said that their Catholic faith « very much » informed their opinions about immigrants and refugees, and 35% answered that it informed their opinions « somewhat. »

Responding to Paxton’s request to the court, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s lawyers said, « The Attorney General’s investigation of CCRGV is based solely on CCRGV’S religiously motivated provision of charitable services to asylum seekers, which do not violate any law. » The nonprofit emphasized that it cooperates closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and that all migrants it serves have been processed by the federal government.

In a back-and-forth after Paxton’s initial request, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley provided sworn testimony in addition to documents to the office, but the attorney general’s office continued to press for a deposition, calling some of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s answers « non-responsive and evasive. »

Saying that Paxton’s office failed to provide any evidence or « even concrete factual allegations » that would show that the benefit of the deposition would outweigh its burden even after the Catholic nonprofit’s « extensive cooperation with his overreaching inquiry, » Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s lawyers said that Paxton’s request represented « a fishing expedition into a pond where no one has ever seen a fish. »

The attorney general’s filing says that its office is investigating the possibility that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley is assisting migrants who have not been processed by U.S. Border Patrol, a legal violation that the office said would have « a cause of action to strip CCRGV’s right to operate in the State of Texas. »

In February, about a month before Paxton’s office requested the deposition from Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the office sued to attempt to revoke the nonprofit registration of another Catholic migrant shelter organization, Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

Annunciation House had sued the state and sought a restraining order after Paxton’s office’s demanded that it quickly turn over documents about its operations, which would have included identifying information about the migrants it serves. Paxton’s office framed the attempt to shut down the network of migrant shelters as a « consequence » of that legal action.

El Paso District Court Judge Francisco Dominguez ruled that Paxton had violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Dominguez said the Paxton office’s request for documents was « a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge. »

Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, a Catholic organization that supports migrants across the El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, border, called Paxton’s legal strategy a « troubling attack on religious liberty » and part of a broader « escalation in the campaign of state leadership — not only to criminalize those who migrate but now to go after those who living out our faith seek to offer a compassionate response to those who migrate. »

Now that judges have ruled Paxton « out of bounds » in both El Paso and Hidalgo County, Corbett urged the state to « desist in its attack on what is actually working at the border and pivot to real, humane solutions that work for our state, our border communities and those who migrate. »

In Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s statement after Flores’ decision, the organization wrote: « A deposition would have been a waste of time, distracting CCRGV from its work serving all residents of the Rio Grande Valley. »

The nonprofit had previously written in its legal filing that Paxton’s inquiry was harming the individuals that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley serves by taking away resources to serve them. The Catholic organization houses about 1,000 migrants a week, sometimes soaring to 2,000 women and children at once, who usually stay only a few days before moving on. In addition to migrants, the charity aids homeless people, veterans, people impacted by natural disasters, children who do not have access to school lunch during the summer and more.

« CCRGV will always strive to fulfill its legal obligations while continuing to steadfastly pursue its mission, inspired by Sacred Scripture and the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,' » the organization wrote in a statement, citing Matthew 25:35.

One of Poland’s most influential prelates has been asked to stay on beyond retirement by Pope Francis, days after the Vatican suspended his orders dismissing a prominent pastor and naming an overseer of the finances of the prominent Wawel Cathedral chapter in a dispute with local Catholics.

« The Holy Father has accepted my resignation, while asking me to continue holding the office of diocesan bishop until he appoints my successor, » said Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Kraków in a message read July 21 in churches.

« Trusting Divine Providence to allow us to enjoy the gift of unity in working to promote faith and mutual love, I encourage you to pray for Pope Francis and the Church of Kraków, » the letter said.

The archbishop turned 75 on July 24, reaching the age when bishops must submit their resignation to the pope. In his July 21 letter, he recalled informing his « associates in pastoral mission » on June 19 that he submitted his resignation to Francis.

Meanwhile, a Kraków priest said postponement of Jedraszewski’s departure could be intended to allow time for disputes to ease between his supporters and opponents.

« The archbishop is known for controversial statements and actions, and for supporting Poland’s previous governing party — but he’s also faced accusations of losing contact with his archdiocese, » said Jesuit Father Jacek Prusak, director of the psychology institute at Kraków’s Jesuit Ignatianum University and faith editor of the Tygodnik Powszechny Catholic weekly.

« Perhaps it’s hoped current disputes can be resolved this way, so he won’t have to leave under cloud, passing a divided archdiocese on to his successor, » Prusak said.

Born in Poznan, Jedraszewski served from 2012 as archbishop of Lódz, before being appointed archbishop in Kraków in December 2016, as the third metropolitan since St. John Paul II (1920-2005), who was archbishop for 14 years prior to his 1978 papal election.

Until March, he served two five-year terms as vice president of the Polish bishops’ conference, and was a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Known for vigorously opposing abortion and contraception, the archbishop faced opposition for denouncing LGBTQ campaigners as a « rainbow plague » comparable to the « red plague » of communism in a televised August 2019 homily.

In a 2019 interview for Radio Maria, Jedraszewski explained that by his words he meant to criticize « gender ideology, » not the people associated with it. « The church does not condemn people. It condemns evil. Also that which takes the shape of a particular ideology, » he noted. He added that sin is the evil that man does, and the merciful Jesus leans over the sinner, showing him the way of conversion.

In the latest controversy, Jedraszewski told the archpriest of Krakow’s 14th-century St. Mary’s Church, Father Dariusz Ras, that a visitation of his Main Square prominent parish had revealed « numerous irregularities » and gave him 15 days to leave.

The November 2023 seven-page letter said Ras’ conduct had caused « serious harm and confusion in the church community, » demonstrating incompetence and a « poor management » of temporal goods to « the great detriment of the church. »

However, the order was disputed by parish council members from the 14th-century Gothic landmark, popularly known as the Mariacki Church, who told the archbishop in a February letter Ras had allowed them insight into church matters during his 13 years as archpriest.

They added that the visitation ordered by Jedraszewski’s envoy, totalling three hours, had been led by a former parish curate, Father Lukasz Michalczewski, with no technical expertise, and dubbed by the parish council as « biased. »

Teresa Malecka, a Mariacki Church council member and a member of the closest lay family, or « Srodowisko, » of St. John Paul II, said parishioners had been « completely shocked » by the « absolutely groundless » treatment of Ras.

She said that the archpriest’s « diligence and hard work » had helped save the parish during the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic, and said claims of financial and management irregularities contradicted his reputation for « total transparency. »

« Although we’ve sent other letters to the archbishop, we’ve received no response — though a simple conversation could have achieved something, there was total closure, » Malecka, who is also a professor at Kraków’s Music Academy, told OSV News.

Despite the complaints, Ras was removed from office on April 24, right before Jedraszewski named another priest, Father Stanislaw Czernik, to administer the parish in May.

However, Ras appealed to the Vatican in May, and resumed Masses as archpriest July 14, after the archbishop’s order was suspended by the Dicastery for Clergy.

« It would be appropriate if you could remain open to the possibility of a personal meeting with the Archbishop, » the dicastery said in a July 3 decree, which was relayed by the Vatican’s Warsaw nunciature and shown to OSV News, « with the aim of clarifying this delicate situation in a favorable climate and thus overcoming possible tensions. »

A second recent controversial order by Jedraszewski was also suspended by the dicastery pending further investigations. In this order, the archbishop appointed an external curator to take over extensive estate and property assets belonging to Kraków’s Wawel Cathedral chapter, after rejecting its financial reports.

Asked about the dicastery decrees, the former visitation leader, Michalczewski, who is now the Kraków Archdiocese’s chief spokesman, economist as well as police chaplain, among other duties, told OSV News Jedraszewski had not been contacted by the Vatican, adding his orders had been « suspended » rather than repealed.

However, a church source in Kraków said it was widely believed Jedraszewski had sought to « maneuver » loyal church staffers into prominent positions prior to his retirement, while removing clergy associated with his predecessor, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was personal secretary to St. John Paul II for 39 years.

The source added that Dziwisz, who previously employed Ras as his secretary, was believed to have argued the archpriest’s case in Rome.

Meanwhile, the author of a recent biography of the archbishop, journalist Tomasz Terlikowski, told OSV News he also believed Jedraszewski’s moves were aimed at ensuring « close collaborators » obtained « strong and influential positions » before a new archbishop was appointed, adding that the Vatican’s rare intervention suggested Archbishop Jedraszewski had « violated canonical rules. »

« The situation has been made worse by Jedraszewski’s refusal to talk with local Catholics. This is a rich and interesting parish, full of professors and other distinguished people, who haven’t even been given an opportunity to express their views, » Terlikowski said.

Besides facing criticism from liberal Catholics and secular media, Jedraszewski was not named a cardinal by Pope Francis, who conferred the honor instead in September 2023 on Archbishop Grzegorz Rys of Lódz, a former Kraków auxiliary.

Among expressions of support for the archbishop, Poland’s private TV channel Republika said July 18 that Jedraszewski had been subjected to an « unprecedented attack from leftist and liberal circles » for his « unwavering adherence to church teachings » and opposition to « forces preaching moral permissiveness, » who would be disappointed by his failure « to fall silent. »

However, Kraków priests who asked not to be named told OSV News the archbishop had « narrowed his trusted circle to very few people, » while declining contact with others, « despite multiple requests and pressing needs. »

In his OSV News interview, Terlikowski said that even conservative clergy who admired Jedraszewski’s « orthodox stance against Western liberal influences » had grown disillusioned with his lack of communication with clergy and laypeople across the Archdiocese of Kraków.

He added that the archbishop had been widely considered too close to Poland’s now-ousted Law and Justice party.

Prusak said he also believed Jedraszewski had tended to set himself too much apart from local Catholics, used to well-known regionally raised personalities such as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II) or Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, dubbed the « poorman of Kraków » for his humble attitude.

Poland is facing some more important bishops’ installations in the coming months, with Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw reaching retirement age from his metropolitan post in Warsaw Feb. 1, 2025, and Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan reaching retirement age on Oct. 19. Both prelates were considered longtime leaders of the church in Poland, with Gadecki leading the bishops’ conference for 10 years until March 2014.

Cardinal Nycz already submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in December 2023.

Catholics are becoming some of Christian nationalism’s most muscular champions.

Most prominently, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is a recent Catholic convert tied to Catholic integralism, an ideology that seeks Christian influence over society. As RNS’ Jack Jenkins has reported, although integralism differs from Christian nationalism on some points, it « shares many of the same policy goals as popular forms of Christian nationalism, » mainly for the government and its policies to be heavily influenced by Christian values. Vance’s recent elevation to the VP slot means this distinctively Catholic brand of Christian nationalism will have a larger platform than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Christian nationalist policy blueprint Project 2025 is making waves as Americans learn more about its contents. Less attention has been paid to the man behind Project 2025, Heritage Foundation President Kevin D. Roberts. Roberts is a proud « cowboy Catholic » who believes a « second American Revolution » is underway, which « will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. » He made this comment as a guest on « The War Room, » a show hosted by the far-right strategist and Catholic Stephen K. Bannon, who recently reported to prison for contempt of Congress. Bannon is a « proud Christian nationalist, » and “The War Room” is fashioned as a virtual “military headquarters” for Bannon’s « Army of the Awakened. » Though Bannon describes being raised in a relatively conventional « blue-collar, Irish Catholic » family, later in life he turned toward an apocalyptic and conservative strain of the faith.

Earlier this summer, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative Catholic who wrote the majority opinion in the 2022 case that overturned Roe v. Wade, came under fire when it was discovered that his wife had flown both an upside-down American flag and an « Appeal to Heaven » flag outside their homes in recent years. Both flags, and especially the latter, were immediately recognized as symbols of support for former President Donald Trump. Both flags were carried by Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. The Appeal to Heaven flag, originally used in the Revolution’s resistance to the British, resurfaced in recent years as a symbol of the movement to expand Christian influence in American government.

Shortly after, Alito was recorded by an activist posing as a fellow Catholic agreeing with the statement that « people in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of Godliness. » This confluence of revelations has led to increased scrutiny of the religious views of the six conservative justices on the court, all of whom are either practicing Catholics or were raised in the Catholic Church.

Outside of formal politics, a controversial late May commencement speech by professional football player Harrison Butker drew attention to the Trad Cath (Traditionalist Catholic) world in which misogynistic and homophobic views like his have found a rapt following. Trad Caths are not just politically conservative. As Lauren Horn Griffin, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies at Louisiana State University, wrote at Religion Dispatches, « Trad Caths use Latin, Crusader imagery, and Catholic material culture to manufacture ideas of a once-great White Western civilization currently under threat. » In other words, they have developed a distinctively Catholic version of the Christian nationalist narrative.  

The prominence of these Catholic Christian nationalists may come as a surprise to those who associate Christian nationalism with white evangelical Protestantism. And rightfully so. While two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants nationally support Christian nationalism, according to PRRI’s American Values Atlas, only 30% of white Catholics do. And of these, only 8% of white Catholics are considered Christian nationalism « adherents » (who express the greatest support for Christian nationalist ideas) compared to 30% of white evangelical Protestants.

To put these figures into perspective, white evangelical Protestants have the highest level of support for Christian nationalism among all religious groups, while white Catholics fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. But this should not suggest Catholics are necessarily moderate where Christian nationalism is concerned; rather, they are polarized, as they are on many other issues.

Though the Catholic Church has long been evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, the conservative wing of the Catholic Church has been expanding in the U.S. An April Pew report shows that « the GOP now has a modest advantage among Catholics, » and among white Catholics, 60% identify as Republicans. While young liberals are leaving organized religion in high numbers, the Trad Cath movement is attracting a new generation of young conservatives. And new Catholic priests are almost exclusively drawn from the Church’s conservative ranks, with more than 80% of those ordained since 2020 describing themselves as « theologically ‘conservative/orthodox’ or ‘very conservative/orthodox.' »

But the emergence of a Catholic brand of Christian Nationalism does not just reflect the church’s rightward turn. It is also the product of a much longer process through which Catholics were gradually folded into the « Christian » majority in America. This had not always been the case. Before Catholics were part of the Christian in-group, they had been prime villains in the Christian nationalist narrative, alongside Jewish and Black Americans, communists and the government elites who aided and abetted these enemies of the white Christian nation. When the Ku Klux Klan marched during the 1920s under banners declaring « America First: One God, One Country, One Flag, » they were referring exclusively to the God of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, the sole group they considered “One Hundred Percent American.” Catholics were not only considered ethnic outsiders (due to their Italian and Irish origins); their allegiance to a foreign pope was also considered suspicious and threatening. Think of the Islamophobia facing Muslims in America today: This was generally how American Catholics were treated during the early 20th century.

But long before most Americans were using the term « Christian nationalism » to describe those who sought Christian dominion in American politics, conservative Catholics had been organizing to exert influence on law and society, with a particular focus on issues like abortion. It was this issue, in part, that brought conservative Catholics into a strategic alignment with white evangelical Protestants, paving the way for the formation of an ecumenical Christian right in the 1970s.

It was through this partnership that lingering Protestant biases against Catholics also faded, and Catholics were finally folded fully into the category of American « Christians. » This process had been in motion since the Cold War, when the country’s so-called « Judeo-Christian » heritage was viewed as a ballast against atheist Communism. Once the external threat of Communism faded, that same « Judeo-Christian » heritage was invoked by conservative Protestants and Catholics alike to rebut domestic efforts to secularize the country. By the 1980s, the process was complete — American Catholics were now « Christians, » and thus stood to benefit from the idea that America was a Christian nation.

American Catholics are politically diverse and do not speak in one voice where Christian nationalism is concerned. But the conservative wing of the Catholic Church appears to be producing a powerful cohort of elite Catholic Christian nationalists who, if Donald Trump wins in November, will be at the very epicenter of American power. It is worth considering how their distinctive history, theology and institutions will shape their vision of how to exert Christian dominion over American society.