Washington Archbishop: US
President’s visit to St. JPII Shrine reprehensible
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| Activists protest President Trump's visit to Saint John Paul II National Shrine (2020 Getty Images) |
Archbishop Wilton Gregory condemns President Trump’s visit
to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington describing it as
“manipulative.”
By Vatican News
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington DC,
has criticised the US President's visit to a Catholic Shrine on Tuesday, amid
nationwide unrest sparked by the killing of an African-American man while in
police custody.
In a statement released ahead of the US President’s visit
to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, the city’s Catholic
Archbishop said, “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.”
Archbishop Wilton Gregory has led the Archdiocese of
Washington for just over a year. He released the statement following President
Trump’s announcement that he would visit the Shrine on Tuesday, 2 June. His
visit came amidst widespread demonstrations against the murder of George Floyd,
an African-American man who suffocated to death as he was pinned down by police
officers.
Trump’s visit also drew criticism from Catholics
demonstrating near the adjacent Catholic University of America. Many of them
prayed while holding signs reading “Our Church is Not a Photo Op” and “Black
Lives Matter.”
A statement released by the Saint John Paul II National
Shrine said the White House had scheduled the visit as an event for the
President to sign an executive order on international religious freedom.
In his statement, Archbishop Gregory notes that “Saint Pope
John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings.
His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. 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.”
Visit to Episcopal Church
The President’s visit to the Shrine came a day after a large
group of peaceful protesters gathered in front of the White House were
subjected to tear gas so that he could walk the short distance from the White
House to Saint John’s Episcopal Church, where he posed with a Bible for a
photograph.
That visit was condemned by the church’s clergy, who were
gathered with the protesters, and the Episcopal bishop of Washington, who
decried the use of the church as a prop.
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