Father Pavone: President Trump Shows Inspiring Leadership for Believers
FR. FRANK PAVONE5 Jun 5, 2020
Countless American believers in the Bible, myself included, were inspired tremendously on Monday when President Trump stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, across the street from the White House, and held up the Word of God for all to see.
The president’s likely opponent in the November elections, Democrat Joe Biden, was not among those who were inspired. Instead, tone-deaf as he is to the American people and the things of the Spirit, he said the president’s appearance outside the church shows he “is more interested in power than in principle.”
Some religious leaders found it “baffling and reprehensible” that the St. John Paul II National Shrine would allow the president to visit with First Lady Melania Trump, who is Catholic.
Actually, the opposition to the President’s actions is baffling. Every religious leader should be cheering the president’s expression of faith and commitment to religious liberty.
Before the nation became engulfed in violence sparked in part by the death of George Floyd and in large measure by unrelated agendas of violent agitators, the president had planned to sign an executive order on international religious freedom at the John Paul II Center.
“This was fitting,” according to a statement on the Shrine’s Twitter page, “given John Paul II was a tireless advocate of religious liberty throughout his pontificate.”
President Trump, too, is committed to preserving religious liberty in our nation and in the world but that one unassailable fact is conveniently overlooked by his critics.
Trump has been a tireless advocate for religious freedom during his presidency, beginning with an executive order close to my heart that he signed during a Rose Garden ceremony in May 2017, just over three months into his term. My colleague Alveda King, who leads our Civil Rights for the Unborn outreach, was there to represent Priests for Life.
Father Pavone: President Trump Shows Inspiring Leadership for Believers