Wisdom Wednesday | February 12

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, February 12, 2025. If you are looking for nuance, you won’t find it here. Like the Eagles over the Chiefs, the messages this week are blunt, powerful, direct. Pope decries “major crisis” of Trump deportation plans; pope rejects vice-president’s theology. National Catholic Reporter finds “unprecedented cruelty” in USAID cuts; Caritas calls it “catastrophic.” Turning Gaza into a seaside resort is “obscene.” National Catholic Register says the Gaza real estate plan is “gravely immoral.” All sources are identified. Dig in.

Mass deportation plans

Pope Francis has written a sweeping letter to the U.S. bishops decrying the “major crisis” triggered by President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans and explicitly rejecting Vice President J.D. Vance’s attempts to use Catholic theology to justify the administration’s immigration crackdown. From National Catholic Reporter.

Suspension of USAID

Caritas Internationalis warns that millions are at risk with USAID cuts. In a statement Caritas strongly condemns the decision to suspend USAID programs for humanitarian and development aid around the world. The Secretary General of the confederation of charities operating in over 200 countries says this “will cause immense suffering.” From Vatican News.

Methodist bishops write to president: “We would respectfully ask that you consider the moral imperative to assist those in need and the significant contributions programs supported by U.S. foreign aid make to humanitarian relief and peace.”

The Trump administration said on Friday it would keep 611 essential workers on board at the agency, out of a worldwide total of more than 10,000 employees, but a federal judge temporarily blocked some of the layoffs. From Reuters.

Baptist News Global reports on a “scathing editorial” by a Catholic publication. Said the Baptist source, “If President Donald Trump is going to ‘protect’ Christianity, the editorial staff of the National Catholic Reporter isn’t feeling the love.” Massive cuts at Catholic Relief Service are termed “unprecedented cruelty.”

Sisters active in ministry at the grassroots, as well as advocacy work at the United Nations, say they are alarmed by the Trump administration’s draconian gutting of U.S. foreign aid funding, calling the action shortsighted, unjust and an affront to ethical and moral values. From National Catholic Reporter.

Immigration enforcement

Latino evangelical churches gear up to face possible immigration enforcement in churches. Under the Trump administration’s new orders, which have thrown out policies that restricted immigration enforcement in sensitive locations such as schools and houses of worship, faith leaders worry about the sanctity of their sacred spaces, and the possibility of immigration raids and arrests. From Religion News Service.

Churches are educating congregants on how to respond if ICE shows up. From Baptist News Global.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has joined a coalition of Quakers as a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed last week demanding the Trump administration not allow ICE agents to conduct raids in houses of worship. From Baptist News Global.

A Migrant’s lament. A Haitian migrant advocate laments Trump orders. Guerline Jozef spoke with Briana Jansky on the White House actions targeting migrants—including Haitians—on both sides of the U.S. border. From Black Catholic Messenger.

From the trenches: “People can’t live in Haiti safely.” Sisters struggle to serve surrounded by gangs. Haiti’s problems are seemingly almost never-ending. Advocates — like congregational representatives at the U.N. — say the beleaguered country needs more attention and more support from the global community. From Global Sisters Report.

Gaza

OPINION from National Catholic Register: Gaza Proposal Is Gravely Immoral. Though some pretend that the president’s plan is merely ‘outside the box’ thinking that might at last resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in fact it is certain massively to exacerbate it.

A Hamas official said on Tuesday Israeli hostages can be brought home from Gaza only if a fragile ceasefire is respected, dismissing the “language of threats” after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would “let hell break out” if they were not freed. From Reuters.

White House theology

OPINION Pope Francis did not name the vice president. Michael Sean Winters at National Catholic Reporter was more direct. JD Vance is “in over his head.” When he spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit last week, “there was much in his speech with which any of us would agree. But, Lord, did he get his history upside down!”

OPINION In a previous column Michael Sean Winters, at National Catholic Reporter, said that “Vice President JD Vance’s comment to Sean Hannity about the hierarchy of love demonstrated why he and other prominent converts to Catholicism are so problematic.”

OPINION What does JD Vance—and Springfield, Ohio—owe Haitian immigrants? Jack Champagne writes at Black Catholic Messenger on the GOP vice presidential candidate’s fixation on the immigrant other—”and the malformed Catholic imagination that animates it.”

OPINION From Jesuit James Martin. Even if you love Aquinas and Augustine (which I do), and even if you interpret it that way (which I don’t), the Summa doesn’t take precedence over the Gospel. Jesus’s command to love the stranger is not just a theological reflection, and not just an important part of our tradition, it’s Divine Revelation.

OPINION By Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, published by Religion News Service. “Trump isn’t defending religious communities — he’s waging war on them.” The Trump administration “is already the most harmful to religious freedom in modern American history.”

OPINION on the “Theology of the Smirk” by Ric Folkerth, Baptist News Global. “Three weeks into Trump 2.0, and I’m still haunted by JD Vance’s condescending smirk at the National Prayer Service. He wasn’t he only one. The entire Trump team was smirking and squirming. But since, once upon a time . . . . That was my world, too.”

Political appointees

On Friday (Feb. 7), Wheaton College, the evangelical Christian school outside Chicago, publicly congratulated Russell Vought, a conservative activist and architect of Project 2025 who attended the school, for his confirmation by the U.S. Senate as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Within hours, hundreds of Vought’s fellow alumni had complained that Vought’s agenda contradicted the values they had been taught at Wheaton. By Saturday morning, the college had deleted the post, and a new social media barrage, this time from Vought’s supporters, had begun. From Religion News Service.

It’s February 2025 and Paula White is back at the White House. On Feb. 7 at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump announced the (re)creation of the White House Faith Office, to be led by White. She also led this office in his first term. From Baptist News Global.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed a Southern Baptist pastor to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump administration. Scott Turner, who was serving on staff at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, was confirmed Feb. 5 by a 55-44 vote. In a sea of highly controversial cabinet nominees, Turner’s nomination drew little attention. From Baptist News Global.

OPINION by Kristen Thomason, published by Baptist News Global. “Delivering the nation’s health care into the hands of anti-vaxxers is the wrong decision.”

COMMENTARY by Jesuit Thomas Reese, at Religion News Service. What happens when you ask AI about Donald Trump?

Catholic Hierarchy

Pope Francis on Feb. 11 tapped Arizona’s Bishop Edward Weisenburger as the new archbishop of Detroit, Michigan, appointing a staunch defender of migrants and an environmental advocate to lead one of the historic centers of American Catholicism. Weisenburger will succeed retiring Archbishop Allen Vigneron, 76, who has led the archdiocese since 2009. Vigneron, a theological conservative, was elected as vice president of the U.S. bishops’ conference from 2019-2022 and previously served as its secretary and chairman of the doctrine committee.

Dolan and Schönborn: A tale of two cardinals, written by Christopher White, published by National Catholic Reporter.

Five Catholic women who dream of ordination as deacons. Women cannot be ordained in the Catholic Church, but many feel God is calling them to do more. Claire Giangravé at Religion News Service interviews five women. The background for these interviews: In the first week of February, a Vatican department accepted written testimonies about women whose experience conforms with those called to be deacons — a ministry rooted in serving the poor, leading prayer and administering the sacraments of baptism and matrimony, from which women are currently banned.

Supreme Court and religious rights

The court has three cases that could advance what some view as a fight against religious discrimination, which opponents fear further erosion of the wall between church and state.

Can Oklahoma create the nation’s first religious charter school? Can parents opt out of LGBTQ+ curriculum at their children’s school? How easily are tax exemptions granted for any operation with a religious affiliation? From USA Today.

Pew Religion Research

On Religious Nationalism. By global standards, the U.S. has a relatively low level of religious nationalism, but it stands out from other high-income countries.

About Trump executive orders: Better or Worse? For nearly three-in-ten adults (28%), his actions so far have been better than expected. But for a larger share (35%), his actions have been worse than expected. And roughly half of Republicans (55%) say GOP congressional leaders do not have an obligation to support Trump’s policies and programs if they disagree with him.

Facts about foreign aid. Pew Research Center dug into federal data and previous survey work for relevant facts and figures about the U.S. government’s aid efforts, as well as public attitudes toward them.

Barna Research

Although religious affiliation and church attendance are on the decline, more than half of American teenagers say they’re “very motivated” to know more about Jesus, and just over 75% say they’re at least “somewhat motivated” to learn about the centerpiece of Christianity, according to Barna Research, reported in the Christian Post.

Sports betting

In Minnesota, where mobile sports betting is illegal, the state’s Catholic bishops wrote to Governor Tim Walz recently, urging him to oppose making such betting legal. Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice for Catholics in that state, said expanding gambling is not worth the cost. He spoke to Religion News Service in an interview.

Super Bowl ad: ‘He gets us’

This year’s ad, titled “What is Greatness?” invites the audience to explore “what Jesus showed and said greatness is and the contrast to how culture defines greatness today,” according to a press release from Come Near, the nonprofit startup that acquired the He Gets Us project in 2024. From Religion News Service.

A new feature for Wisdom Wednesday

We begin a new blog series with a “Justice Bulletin Board” commentary, looking ahead to the next Sunday’s readings. The justice commentaries are written by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director of the Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh, North Carolina. The feature suggestion comes from Father Bob Bonnot, a long time AUSCP member who has served in leadership roles for many years (and it is a reminder that comments and suggestions are always welcome at this site!)

La Croix International

Dear website visitor: Are you able to access this commentary? AUSCP membership includes a subscription to La Croix International. Access for some has been difficult. Can you read it now? Christianity and the Libertarian challenge, by columnist Sébastien Fath.

Other traditions

Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival. Ritual bathing at the confluence of large rivers has long held special significance in Hindu rituals. From Religion News Service.

Understanding the Aga Khan, leader of Ismaili Muslims.The Aga Khan IV was often referred to as a philanthropist, but the description ignores the spiritual impetus for his work. From Religion News Service.

God’s maternal love

PERSONAL REFLECTION by Debie Thomas in the Christian Century. “I wonder if what I felt, feared, and learned as a young mother mirrors what God experiences when she tries to feed us.”

Valentine’s Day

Catholic College Couples Offer Dating Dos for St. Valentine’s Day, from the National Catholic Register. What does it take to build a healthy dating culture? Benedictine College students weigh in.