Recently, lots of bishops have been speaking out. Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin must be smiling, for 40 years after he argued that Catholic Social Teaching was a “seamless garment” that preached a “consistent ethic of life,” some of his brother bishops seem intent on reminding people that being pro-life is about more than just one issue.
From Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe to the U.S. bishops’ conference, bishops have been criticizing the immigration policies of the Trump administration, but also the 2026 budget bill for its slashing of services to the poor while guaranteeing tax breaks for the rich.
This Frankenstein monster of a bill was cynically devised to lure support with a grab bag of promises. Because the bill would cut Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, for example, its crafters might have assumed that they would lock in conservative religious support, or at least silence likely critics.
Care for the poor
But it became clear that for many bishops, the terrorizing of immigrant populations and the cutting of the social safety net were too much to swallow.
The budget bill “should be strongly opposed,” wrote Archbishop Wester in America June 3. “Unless the church opposes it in the clearest possible terms, we will squander the credibility of our witness to the Gospel and Christ’s command to care for the ‘least of these.'”
Writing for OSV News, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, cut to the chase: “In Catholic social teaching, economic decisions must be evaluated, first and foremost, by how they affect the poor,” he wrote. “The social safety net is not charity; it is a matter of justice.”
Both archbishops criticized the transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the wealthiest in the form of tax cuts, while at the same time slashing food assistance and health care for millions.
Concerns over deportation
Bishops from California, Arizona, Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere have raised objections also to the deportation policies of the administration, criticizing the deportation of those who have committed no crimes and are contributing to society as well as the breaking up of families and terrorizing the undocumented.
Archbishop William E. Lori, vice president of the bishops’ conference, on June 12 blasted the cuts in refugee and humanitarian aid abroad and the immigration raids at home, condemning the “erosion of trust” by “tactics that sow division and dread in our communities.”
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, former president of the bishops’ conference, has spoken out against the ICE raids in Los Angeles, saying: “This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes.”
Bishops making themselves heard
Yet despite a groundswell of individual bishops speaking out in bracingly forceful terms, the question remains: Are Catholics hearing them? Do they even know what their bishops are saying?
“We as a church unfortunately don’t have the kind of megaphone that the administration does,” Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso told The New York Times. “It’s a real challenge to reach even Catholics …”
And here is the irony: Over the last 20 years the bishops have been shutting down their print media or changing its frequency to the point of irrelevance. Rarely visited websites, e-newsletters of varying quality and pious X-accounts are not substitutes.
In general, our leaders have been muting their own voices. The result: When it is time to teach about the principles of Catholic social thought or to speak out on issues of the day, they have trouble reaching more than a fraction of their own people.
The 2026 budget will wreak its havoc regardless of what our bishops say this time. But perhaps this is an opportunity to reflect on what the bishops should do to become teachers again. Perhaps this moment will inspire them once again to find their megaphones.
Greg Erlandson is an award-winning Catholic publisher, editor and journalist whose column appears monthly at OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @GregErlandson.
