Catholic Church emerges as a bulwark of resistance

""Leo is the pope for this moment," said Vincent Miller, a theology professor at the University of Dayton, adding that he's been "utterly unambiguous" in his criticism of Trump's policies. State of play: In the latest example, Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the killings by federal agents in Minnesota and of a recent ICE detainee as "examples of the violence that represent failures in our society to respect the dignity of every human life.""

"The three highest-ranking heads of U.S. archdioceses alsorecentlyissued a plea for "moral foreign policy" - a not-so-subtle dig at the recent string of U.S. military operations and threats around the world. (A White House spokesperson told Axios in a statement that Trump's foreign policy is "unequivocally moral.") Separately, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the Catholic archbishop for the military's archdiocese, told BBC News that it would be "morally acceptable" for troops to disobey orders that violate their conscience."

"What they're saying: Miller says the "specificity" with which the Vatican and bishops are critiquing Trump is a departure from a past tendency to speak in "generalities" on defending the vulnerable. "Democratic administrations did not get the benefit of the doubt on matters of abortion," he says. And now Republicans have "lost the benefit of the doubt on policies regarding immigration, regarding military force, regarding international relations." Today's threats warrant specificity, says the Rev. David Hollenbach, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. "The specificity of the response of the popes and of the American bishops is due to the fact that the policies ... are, from a Catholic view, so objectionable.""

Pope Leo has issued sharp critiques of Trump-era policies, prompting U.S. Catholic leaders to move from general moral statements to specific condemnation. Archbishop Paul Coakley characterized recent killings by federal agents and an ICE detainee's death as failures to respect human dignity. The three highest-ranking U.S. archdioceses urged a moral foreign policy in response to recent military operations and threats. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said troops could morally disobey orders that violate conscience. Commentators note that specificity reflects concern that current policies are unusually objectionable from a Catholic perspective and that political actors no longer receive the benefit of the doubt.

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