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The Shepherd is Gone, and the Wolves are at the Door [1]
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Date: 2025-04-22
Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, Easter Monday morning. The world lost a defender of the poor and marginalized who was unafraid to call the powerful to account.
The fact that JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with Pope Francis for a few minutes on this Easter Sunday was quite odd. Some have said that the meeting for Vance was both a personal goal and a political maneuver.
Pope Francis has been a critic of Trump and Vance, especially on matters of migration. On January 30, 2025, Sean Hannity interviewed Vance on Fox News, where Vance invoked a Catholic concept, ordo amoris—the “order of love.” Vance said, “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.” (Source:
https://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-francis-vance-clash-over-ordo-amoris) His words echoed his selective view of due process: some deserve it, and others—like undocumented immigrants—apparently do not.
Francis took issue with Vance’s interpretation, responding in a February 10, 2025, letter to U.S. bishops. He wrote: “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37),that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception”—a universal brotherhood and sisterhood. (Source:
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/02/11/250211e.html) Sadly, it is doubtful that Vance, who is now vice president, understands that parable, though it may have resonated with the Vance who once wrote Hillbilly Elegy. As for Trump? Don’t bother. The Good Samaritan would be another sucker and loser in his eyes. Vance calls himself a “baby Catholic.” That’s generous. And Trump? Spawn of the devil?
In the same letter, Pope Francis also addressed Trump’s plan for mass deportations. While acknowledging the need to protect borders from violent individuals, he emphasized: “The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families… What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.” (Source: Ibid)
Trump and Francis clashed several times. However, in typical Trump fashion, his earliest comment about Francis was bizarrely self-referential. On December 25, 2013, just months after Francis became Pope, Trump tweeted, “The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!” (Source:
https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/415868924841189376?) One response, from Belinda Barnet, perfectly captured the absurdity: “I am so humble, the greatest humble. The absolute biggest. My humble is the best in the world.” (Source: Ibid)
On February 18, 2016, as “building a wall” became the mantra for Trump’s Presidential campaign, Francis commented, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. That is not the Gospel.” (Source:
https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/politics/pope-francis-trump-christian-wall/index.html) Trump responded by calling the Pope’s comment disgraceful, but it captured Trump perfectly.
Just one day earlier, Francis had celebrated Mass at the Ciudad Juarez fairgrounds near the Rio Grande, across from El Paso, Texas. Roughly 200,000 people attended the Mass in Juarez, with thousands more lining the streets, and another 28,000 watching from El Paso’s Sun Bowl Stadium. Trump—ever sensitive to crowd size—had nothing on the Pope.
On May 24, 2017, Trump and members of his family met Pope Francis. Despite Trump’s effusive words afterward, the iconic photo told a different story: Trump beaming; Francis, grim. During the meeting, Francis gave Trump a copy of his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Carefor Our Common Home,” which calls for environmental stewardship. In it, Francis reflects, “What need does the earth have of us?” and later, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity.” (Source:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html) The irony was stark. For Trump, cruelty isn’t a contradiction of his values—it is the point. The encyclical likely had no impact; Trump withdrew from the Paris climate accord soon after, and reading isn’t his strength.
On September 5, 2017, Trump announced the end of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the program that allows children brought to the U.S. to remain as adults. He said, “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” (Source:
https://www.npr.org/2017/09/05/546423550/trump-signals-end-to-daca-calls-on-congress-to-act) The irony of Trump invoking the rule of law should not be lost on anyone.
Five days later, Pope Francis responded: “The President of the United States presents himself as pro-life, and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected.” (Source:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/politics/pope-daca-trump/index.html) Francis was defending DACA, which was in line with the position of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Pope Francis and Trump had profoundly different worldviews. Where Trump exalted power, division, and self-interest, Francis championed humility, inclusion, and care for the vulnerable. Where Vance sees a hierarchy of love that excludes many, Francis saw a Gospel that embraces all. One man, the better man, has left the stage. But his legacy endures—not because of political alliances or crowd sizes, but because his message was rooted in enduring truths: the dignity of every person, the sanctity of creation, and the radical call to love without borders. That message will outlive the noise of politics.
Day 92: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,369 days
PS: Pope Francis found a way to have the last word. On January 6, 2025, he appointed Cardinal Robert W. McElroy as archbishop of Washington. McElroy, who was bishop of San Diego, is a vocal ally of the Pope on matters of immigration. McElroy said that “indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” (Source:
https://www.ncregister.com/news/cardinal-mcelroy-dc-debut-2025-presser) Perhaps McElroy can keep the wolves at bay.
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