Your Eminence,
I’m certain you won’t remember me, but we met several times in Rome decades ago when you were Rector of the North American College. I have never forgotten your warmth, your humor, and the few pearls of wisdom you took time out of your day to share with me. While my own path eventually led me to the Old Catholic Church, I once hoped to return to Rome as a seminarian at The NAC, and I still hold those encounters in deep reverence. You are a man I respect tremendously, which is why I am taking the time to write.
I write not to rebuke you for the sake of controversy, but as a brother in Christ who is troubled by your recent words. Two Fridays ago, in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a violence I condemn without hesitation, you described him as a “modern-day St. Paul.” You went on to speak of him in terms of saintly witness. No matter your side of the political aisle, the loss is a cause for sadness, reflection, and prayer. But I fear your words were clumsy and went too far.
I can only hope this was an unguarded phrase spoken in a moment of national shock. Kirk was indeed a powerful public voice, but his rhetoric often demeaned migrants and refugees, shrugged off the epidemic of gun violence, excused or minimized misogyny, and promoted a style of debate that was combative rather than pastoral, one that treated opponents as enemies to be vanquished rather than souls to be cared for. More than that, his public life was rooted in Christian Nationalism, which is not the Gospel but a distortion of it. Christian Nationalism elevates a political identity and the interests of one nation above the universal call of Christ’s Kingdom. In doing so, it substitutes an earthly idol for the living God. To compare such a figure to the Apostle to the Gentiles is not merely an exaggeration. It risks emptying the title “saint” of its meaning and offering a kind of canonization to someone whose public life at times stood in tension with the heart of Christ. It risks people jumping to the conclusion that you endorse Christian Nationalism.
You have long shaped the formation of priests. You have urged us to be conformed to the heart of Jesus. That heart, revealed in the Gospels, beats especially for the poor, the stranger, the despised. It is not shaped by the polemics of a political commentator.
I ask two things of you. First, for the sake of the faithful, please clarify your words. I hope they came out differently than you intended. Second, I urge you to take a season away from the circles of wealth and political influence where so many demand your presence. You have served in those halls for decades, which I don’t think is good for anyone. For the good of your own soul and for the credibility of our witness, spend time again at the margins, with the poor, the migrant, those who feel unseen. That is where Christ promised to be found, and where bishops and priests are at their best. Look to the examples of Pope Francis and Pope Leo, both missionaries, both radiating the love of Christ to all.
I say this not as an adversary but as a brother on the path who still remembers your kindness to a young would-be priest and who believes you can once again be a voice pointing the Church toward the heart of Christ. The world needs you as a witness to the radical love of Jesus, not as an accomplice to the current political administration.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. Please be assured of my continued prayers for you and your ministry.
Your fellow follower of Christ,
Father Rich