Three US cardinals say current US foreign policy risks 'incalculable suffering'

Three US Catholic cardinals have criticised the Trump administration’s foreign policy, saying its push to obtain or otherwise seize Greenland, recent military action in Venezuela and cuts to humanitarian aid risk “destroying international relations and plunging the world into incalculable suffering”.

The joint statement from Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy and Joseph Tobin — archbishops of Chicago, Washington DC and Newark, respectively — said the country’s moral role in confronting evil, sustaining the right to life and supporting religious liberty “are all under examination.” It added that building just and sustainable peace was being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.

The cardinals alluded to a pre-dawn 3 January attack in Caracas that captured Nicolás Maduro, to the administration’s decision to reduce foreign aid after the start of its second presidency early in January 2025, to threats to take Greenland forcefully if necessary, and to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Key Topics

Politics, Us Catholic Church, Donald Trump, Greenland, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela