Fitzpatrick Defends Pope, Blasts Trump

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick issued the following statement in response to President Trump's comments regarding Pope Leo:

"I condemn President Trump's remarks about Pope Leo in the strongest possible terms.

The Holy Father is the successor to Saint Peter, the shepherd of the Church, and a moral voice for more than 1.4 billion Catholics around the world. He is not a partisan figure, and the papacy is not an institution to be mocked, politicized, or diminished.

To suggest that a Pope somehow owes his place to a politician is absurd. As a lifelong Catholic, these comments as an insult to the Church, an affront to the faithful, and to many Catholics, plainly sacrilegious. Demeaning the Holy Father while elevating oneself is not strength. It is arrogance.

Pope Leo has every right-and indeed the solemn responsibility-to speak clearly on matters of faith, conscience, war and peace, and human dignity. That is his role. And no one-president, politician, or public figure-can intimidate, demean, or bully the Church for carrying out its mission.

President Trump's comments were disgraceful, beneath the dignity of the presidency, and offensive to Catholics in every corner of the world. He should withdraw them and apologize."