The archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Wilton Gregory, said Friday that he condemned President Trump’s visit to the John Paul II Shrine because it offended the former pope’s concern for “human dignity.”
Speaking during a Georgetown University panel on racial injustice, Gregory said that the shrine was holy, and like Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, the president’s presence there was “awful” and a “political ploy.”
“I didn’t think that use was appropriate, especially at the John Paul II Shrine, because the pope was a man with incredible concern for the dignity of human beings,” Gregory said. “His whole life, long before his position as the supreme pontiff, was about battling systems that intended to destroy, weaken, or certainly deny human dignity.”
Gregory added that because the shrine is “holy,” it should “never have been used as a place for a political statement.”
Gregory on Tuesday lashed out against Trump after the White House announced that the president would visit the John Paul II Shrine that morning. Gregory decried the John Paul II Shrine for allowing the president to visit a day after he cleared a crowd of protesters near the White House to visit St. John’s.
Gregory called the visit “baffling and reprehensible,” adding that it dishonored the legacy of the pope.
The shrine, which is run by the Knights of Columbus, responded in a statement, explaining that the visit had been planned weeks in advance to coincide with Trump’s executive order promoting international religious freedom.
“This was fitting given St. John Paul II was a tireless advocate of religious liberty throughout his pontificate,” read the shrine’s statement, adding that it was pleased that Trump had taken the time to “come and pray and learn about the legacy of St. John Paul II.”
