By Daniel B. Gallagher, Crisis Magazine, Jan. 30, 2025
Daniel B. Gallagher is a Lecturer in Literature and Philosophy at Ralston College. He previously served as Latin Secretary to Popes Benedict XVI and Francis at the Vatican.
The Church’s perceived need to issue speedy, timely statements on every current event is distracting at best and risky at worst.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) lost little time in releasing an initial response to the slew of executive orders flying off the president’s desk. Having witnessed the knee-jerk modus operandi of the Roman Curia from the inside, my impression is that the Church’s perceived need to issue speedy, timely statements on every current event is distracting at best and risky at worst. If nothing else, it establishes the precedent that ecclesiastical authorities are obliged to say a little about everything rather than much about something of extreme importance.
In the case of the recent executive orders, that something of extreme importance is the human family—and, more directly, the “biological reality” upon which the family is founded. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio’s 250-word text treats this “positive provision” only secondarily and only after emphasizing “provisions” that “will have negative consequences.” The statement reads: “Some provisions contained in the Executive Orders, such as those focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences.” …..