Overview
- Cardinals Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy and Joseph Tobin issued a coordinated Jan. 19 statement pressing for an ethics-guided U.S. approach to the world.
- They warned against normalizing the use of force, citing the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, threats to acquire Greenland and the war in Ukraine.
- The statement criticizes sharp reductions to foreign assistance and USAID, arguing such cuts increase suffering and erode U.S. moral credibility.
- The prelates emphasized a nonpartisan posture and pledged to preach, teach and advocate in the months ahead to raise the moral standard of debate.
- They anchored their message in Pope Leon XIV’s Jan. 9 speech on international ethics; Trump has defended the cited actions as legal or security-driven, with no new policy response reported.