It cost $75 million.īut it is a dramatic setting for a Catholic type campaign photo. It was built by the Archdiocese of Detroit at a time when archdiocese was closing many schools and parishes for lack of funds. Pope John Paul II Shrine is itself a scandal. He stood there for an awkwardly long time and appeared to have to instruct the first lady to smile. While he toured the building briefly, he did nothing except bring a wreath to the statue of John Paul II. Why? It is inexplicable unless they had decided at a crucial moment to endorse Trump.Īt the shrine, Trump made no speech, signed no document, met no dignitaries or delegation and attended no prayer service. And at a crucial moment, the Knights of Columbus top brass came to his aid with a photo opportunity. He does not seek to unite, but to divide. He has threatened to release vicious dogs and awesome weapons on demonstrators and to shoot looters. He used federal officers to take away the rights of American citizens, to incite police violence. These people frequently and viciously attack Pope Francis as well. He should consider their attacks a badge of honor. Now the archbishop is under attack from right-wing Catholic groups, like LifeSiteNews and Church Militant. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree. In a strongly worded statement released the morning of Trump's visit, Gregory said: He did this over the strenuous objections of Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory. He took both photos without the consent of either the Episcopal or Catholic bishops. On June 2, Trump took his campaign show across town to have his photo taken in front of a statue of Pope John Paul II. That was the "evangelical" campaign photo. On June 1, Trump, through attorney general William Barr used violence to clear away peaceful protestors along streets near Lafayette Square in Washington so he could walk across the square and hold a Bible aloft like some sort of alien object. The context of this Knights of Columbus photo op cannot be ignored. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., as a prop. They did it at a moment of national crisis, the day after he had used St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., as a prop for a photo for his political campaign. They invited President Donald Trump to use the St. They politicized the order and took the side of racial bigotry and the violation of the constitutional and human rights of American citizens. I am quitting.īecause the top brass of the Knights of Columbus (known as the Supreme Council) injected the Knights into a partisan campaign at a moment of crisis in our national life. I graduated from and taught at the Columbus School of Law, founded by the Knights of Columbus, at the Catholic University of America. I have paid premiums on my Knights of Columbus life insurance for three decades. I have been to scores of meetings and ceremonies. I have been chaplain to our local council and "faithful friar" to the local fourth degree assembly. I am a fourth degree Knight, which is as far up the ranks as I can go. I have been a member of the Knights of Columbus for 33 years.
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