US church leaders condemn pro-Trump riots

Image: Vatican News

Source: USCCB/ICN

Church leaders across the United States have made statements condemning the violent riots which took place in Washington DC and other cities across the country yesterday. Four people died in the demonstrations. Many more were injured.

Archbishop José Gomez, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said: "This is not who we are as Americans. I am praying for members of Congress and Capitol staff and for the police and all those working to restore order and public safety.

"The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of this great nation. In this troubling moment, we must recommit ourselves to the values and principles of our democracy and come together as one nation under God. I entrust all of us to the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May she guide us in the ways of peace, and obtain for us wisdom and the grace of a true patriotism and love of country."

Cardinal Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington DC, said: "we should feel violated when the legacy of freedom enshrined in that building is disrespected and desecrated...Those who resort to inflammatory rhetoric must accept some responsibility for inciting the increasing violence in our nation." He did not name Donald Trump explicitly.

The Very Rev Randolph Marshall Hollerith, Dean of Washington National Cathedral, and the Rt Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, issued the following statement in text and video format:

Dean Hollerith: Friends, on this tragic day, we are witnessing an outrage, and from the sacred sanctuary of Washington National Cathedral we feel compelled to speak directly to President Trump, and those within his party who have aided and abetted his attempt to hold on to power, all evidence and facts to the contrary, as well as to the religious leaders who have encouraged this behaviour.

Bishop Budde: Mr President, there has been no fraudulent election. You called your supporters to our capitol, you fed their wild fantasies and conspiracy theories. You whipped them into a frenzy. This is not acceptable.

And let us be perfectly clear: To those who see this as a Christian endeavor, or something to be blessed in the name of Jesus, there is nothing Christian about what we are witnessing today. Nothing.

Dean Hollerith: Moreover, here in America, we have a constitutional framework for choosing our leaders. Though strained and rent asunder, that process has worked. And we must continue to allow it to work until it reaches its necessary conclusion.

That process is built around our social contact as a nation. Together. One person, one vote. All votes are counted. The outcomes are respected. There will always be winners and losers, regardless of whether we voted for them or not. The peaceful transition of power is a bedrock principle of our system of government, and what we have seen today is what happens when peaceful means are discarded in favour of violence and lawlessness.

Bishop Budde: Ours is a process is democratic, yes, but it is also built on some fundamental principles: we care for our neighbors as ourselves. We accept outcomes we may not like. We live to struggle another day. We are gracious in victory and magnanimous in defeat.

But that is not what we are seeing today. The demonstrations here in Washington want to take those foundational principles - principles that have undergirded this nation for nearly 250 years - and toss them out. They do not respect our laws. The protestors do not respect our social contract. They do not respect our safety. And they bring dishonour to themselves and on those they claim to support. This. Must. End.

Dean Hollerith: To the demonstrators, you have succeeded in that you have been seen and you have been heard. You have made your point. Now lay aside your violence, give rest to your anger and go home. Violence is not the answer, and it does not aid in your crusade. We realize you are angry, but that is no excuse for the violence or lawlessness you have shown today. I believe you are better than this because you are Americans and you carry within you the fingerprints of being a beloved child of God. You must do better. We must do better.

Bishop Budde: To our first responders and law enforcement, thank you for bravely standing in the face of danger and doing everything necessary to keep our nation, our leaders and our institutions safe. You have our prayers for your health and for your safety, and we are so grateful for your service. To the residents of the District who are anxious and fearful, please know that we are praying for you, we're praying for us all. We ask that you honour the Mayor's directive and please stay home tonight. Please stay safe. And please join us in prayer.

Dean Hollerith: And to our fellow citizens, today's chaos at the Capitol is as clear a signal as anyone needed that we are a deeply divided and fractured nation. Look at the rage, see the fear, look at this pain. We cannot and will not excuse it, nor must we sanction it. But we must see the brokenness of our body politic, and as President-elect Biden just called each of us to do, we must step up to do what we can to repair the breaches in our life together.

Bishop Budde: As Christian leaders, we speak to you in the name of Jesus and his way of love. He calls us to love one another. Love requires sacrifice. It demands kindness. It seeks understanding. Love believes all things. Hopes all things. Endures all things.

Dean Hollerith: My friends, we have endured much as a nation. And today shows you how much further we still have to go. But we have no other choice. We only have this life, only this nation, only this planet. We are in this together. God must be our guide, and love must direct our way.

Bishop Budde: Let us pray:

God of ages, in your sight nations rise and fall and pass through times of peril. Now when our land is troubled, be near to judge and to save. May leaders be led by your wisdom; may they search for your will and see it clearly. In any ways we have turned from your way, help us to reverse them.. Give us your light and your truth to guide us; through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of this world, and our Saviour. Amen.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said his statement was about "today's attack on democracy at the US Capitol." Calling it a "national disgrace," he said the attack "should shock the conscience of any patriotic American and faithful Catholic." He defended democracy and "one of democracy's greatest virtues, the peaceful and orderly transition of power."

Bishop John Stowe, the episcopal head of Pax Christi, called out President Trump specifically, saying: "We shouldn't be surprised that when the president of the nation, who has been consistently denying that he lost an election and has been calling for his people to be out there demonstrating and when he has not condemned the kind of groups that has supported him, as horrible and as unprecedented as it is in our times, it's not all that surprising. You reap what you sow."

Archbishop Salvadore Cordileone, of San Francisco said in a statement: "Doubts about free and fair elections cannot be redressed by violence against democratic institutions. To the deaths from a pandemic, and destruction wreaked on people's livelihoods, we do not need to add an attempted civil war," he said.

"I called for an end to violence in the streets when it happened this summer. I call on every American of good will to denounce this violence against our nation's Capitol now."

He prayed that "the Prince of Peace put an end to this strife, and bring healing and constructive criticism in the place of mob rule."

Bishop Thomas J Tobin of Rhode Island said he would be celebrating Mass "for our troubled nation" He wrote: "In this holy season, as we continue to observe the birth of the Christ Child, may peace, harmony, unity and fraternity be restored in our country. May God bless and guide America!"

Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane tweeted: "Given the breach of the Capitol by protestors, I'll be praying the Rosary for peace at 3 pm. Please join me."

Archbishop William E Lori of Baltimore released a statement saying that "our hearts are heavy as we witness the shocking and unlawful protests occurring in our nation's capital. We fervently pray for peace and for God's protection over our country, our lawmakers, and all those in harm's way this terrible day. May peace-loving Americans of good will throughout the United States come together to engender peace, reconciliation and healing in our wounded and broken nation, which remains and must always be one, under God."

Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles tweeted: "the appalling events in Washington DC today are a disturbing sign of a breakdown in our democratic system and compel us to a national examination of conscience regarding the civic life of this country."

Bishop Daniel E Flores of Brownsville tweeted: "The Gospel itself is a full-throated and stern warning against mob action. If institutions of order & lawful transitions of authority are systematically deconstructed & trampled upon by factional self-interests, it leads to just that, a mob."

See also: NCR editorial - Catholics need to confess their complicity in failed coup www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/editorial-catholics-need-confess-their-complicity-failed-coup?fbclid=IwAR2tO8zLgrGck4blemf7iQfe-SrJMZKtDTxp67NyGFc7kDB9t3lF_seZbDk