Who can tame Trump? An unlikely candidate is emerging: the Catholic church | Simon Tisdall

TThe Supreme Court can’t do it – it’s full of conservatives who owe it their jobs. Congress won’t do it – Republicans are slavishly following its orders, Democrats are misled and divided. For today’s White House, the concept of constitutional limits on executive power is an antiquated relic. The news media, or parts of it, are doing their best in the face of constant legal threats. But too often, they pay for it. Courageous journalists who insist on asking embarrassing questions are insulted or silenced: “Calm down, pig. »

So who will tame Donald Trump? Who will end his constitutional coup – his continued evisceration of American democracy, civil rights, living standards, global reputation and moral integrity? Voters could try to curb him indirectly in next November’s midterm elections (as they did recently in New York and elsewhere). But these elections are a year away. The emergency is today.

What the United States urgently needs, metaphorically speaking, is a national champion, a sort of modern-day Saint George to slay the dragon, save the people, and ensure the triumph of good over evil. Who, in reality, could fulfill this role of moral savior?

Step forward Leo The bishops issued the challenge in a “special message” this month. Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the battlegrounds on which the Church and some other Christian denominations have begun to fight.

“We oppose mass and indiscriminate expulsions of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence,” the statement said. Citing heavy-handed tactics by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the bishops lamented the “climate of fear” created by Trump’s policies, profiling of vulnerable citizens, shocking conditions in detention centers and lack of access to pastoral care.

Expressing a view, rooted in Scripture, that the British Labor government and other Western countries would do well to heed, they continued: “We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and to establish a just and orderly immigration system in the interests of the common good. » But creating safe and legal pathways for migrants was the ethically preferable solution. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict, they said.

Chicago-born Leo, who has increasingly openly opposed Trump’s “inhumane” policies since his election in May, is now at the head of this clerical revolt. Earlier this month, he called on ICE to rethink its demonization of migrants: more than 2 million “illegal aliens” have been involuntarily deported this year and a record number of arrests, according to official figures. He criticized deadly US strikes on suspected drug traffickers off the coast of Venezuela, warning that violence would fail. And he challenged Trump’s climate crisis denial, telling Cop30 that God’s creation is “crying out” for action.

Organized opposition to Trump among Catholics and other faith groups on the “Christian left” is spreading to the grassroots level. From New Jersey to California, priests and pastors have led local protests, boycotts, and initiatives to counter ICE’s depredations. “Catholics are uniquely positioned to lead such a movement,” wrote Maria J Stephan, an expert on nonviolent civil resistance.

About 22 percent of American adults identify as Catholic, and more than four in ten are immigrants or children of immigrants. “Many Catholics are likely among those today living in fear of being kidnapped by masked agents in unmarked cars to detention centers…Meanwhile, nearly three million black Catholics are experiencing attacks on the Voting Rights Act and a weakening of civil rights protections,” Stephan wrote.

The Church also launched attacks on Trump’s landmark tax legislation, accusing him of “unconscionable” cuts to health care and food assistance, and unjustifiable tax breaks for the wealthy. “Catholic teaching requires the faithful to defend human dignity. It is difficult to conceive that the law promotes the sanctity of every life when it cuts key programs for the needy and extends tax cuts to the wealthy,” wrote Esau McCaulley, professor of public theology at Wheaton College.

Catholics, like other American religious groups, are far from united in their opposition to Trump. He won 55% of the Catholic vote last year, although support has since fallen sharply. Conservative critics have derided Leon as a “woke pope,” recalling that on abortion and other issues, the Catholic hierarchy often takes an anti-progressive and reactionary stance.

More broadly, Christian nationalists and fundamentalists have allied with Trump and authoritarian right-wing populists in Britain and Europe to co-opt, politicize, and weaponize religious beliefs. As in the secular domain, the divide is marked. “Christian nationalism is particular rather than universal. It’s about protecting us from ‘them’ – natives from immigrants. It’s more about power than love. It’s more about threat than hope,” wrote commentator David Brooks. He could have been talking about Maga – or Reform UK.

Increasingly erratic dictatorial behavior, violent nihilism, exploitative religious hypocrisy, and blatant corruption: this is the challenge facing the United States and the world. Is the Lion, who defends human dignity, decency and faith, the leader whose time has come? He is 70 years old. He has this job for life. Trump has three more years in office. If he chooses to use it, Leo has the moral authority, political acumen, and international standing to confront Trump, with positive effect, on poverty, inequality, migrants, civil rights, Russia, Palestine, and other pressing issues.

The American pope could do what others clearly cannot: shame and tame the monster. To do so, he needs what Trump’s nemesis, the late Pope Francis, prayed for: support not just from Catholics, but from “all men and women of good will.” That, and maybe a little miracle too. After all, the courageous Saint George was martyred.