Lenten campaign 2026
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More and more bishops, including the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are sounding an alarm about the state of affairs in the U.S.
They have released statements expressing deep concern over escalating tensions and tragedies. At the same time, they offered reasons to have hope.
Concerns raised
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles penned a statement in which he said:
The country cannot go on like this … America celebrates her 250th anniversary this year, and while it is hard to say this, what’s happening now seems to be moving us away from the values of our nation’s founding.
Recent statements have taken up both the situation at home and US dealings abroad. The home front is marked especially by the current government's stance on immigration and the conflict in Minnesota. On the global front, questions over Greenland, tariffs, and general foreign policy have led bishops to speak out.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., archbishop of Newark issued a joint statement called “Charting A Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy.”
In it, they reaffirmed what Pope Leo XIV told the international diplomatic corps in a January 9 address, in which he called for action against the “actual ‘short circuit’ of human rights” happening today and urged cultivating “seeds of peace.”
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, brought up lessons from the past, writing:
The moral decline of our country is real. And we are doomed to repeat failures of the past if we are not willing to remember them and learn from them. Polarization and partisanship are poisoning the social fabric of our country.
Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle wrote “A pastoral letter on a well-ordered society,” found here. He explained in an editorial in Northwest Catholic what compelled him to write it:
Once we lose basic respect for the dignity of each human person, the easier it is for individuals to justify violent and hateful language and actions. From there, it is not much of a leap to not only diminish the dignity of another person or groups of persons, but to justify taking a life. Sadly, this deplorable behavior is becoming regular news in the streets of our own country… It is time for us to abandon allegiance to agendas and political parties and rediscover basic human decency, truth, integrity and charity.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the USCCB, proclaimed with Pope Leo XIV that “Peace is built on respect for people!”
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, in the hotbed of the domestic situation as he is archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, wrote, “While we rightly thirst for God’s justice and hunger for his peace, this will be not be achieved until we are able to rid our hearts of the hatreds and prejudices that prevent us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God.”
Reasons for hope
The concerns they raise are serious, and their warnings are dire. Yet they list reasons to hold onto hope too.
One in particular is a piece of legislation noted by the archbishop of LA (see #3 below).
Looking through their statements, here are several reasons the bishops give for optimism.
1We already have the tools we need
Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle focused his pastoral letter on “basic principles” to guide us and offer a way forward.
These principles are the tools we need for “building a better society.” Now it's time to use them.
He writes:
The principles laid out in this instruction are the building blocks, the basic foundation for a well-ordered society. When these rights and responsibilities are lacking or ignored, the human family begins to live in discord, disharmony, chaos. Many people today are asking what we can do to recover a more tranquil experience of life. Paying attention to these principles is a good place to find the answers to that question.
The principles include the following:
- The dignity of every human person
- The common good and the rule of law
- Solidarity: love in social form
- Subsidiarity and the freedom to love
- Charity and love of neighbor: the heart of Christian society
2We are not powerless
Bishop Taylor urged us to remember that we are not powerless in the face of evil. He wrote:
If we think we are powerless to do anything to change the minds of our leaders, well, that’s exactly what many told themselves in Hitler’s time.
Something every person can do to build a better world is to pray, confident in the power of prayer to move hearts and minds. We can also call our elected officials, donate to organizations we support, volunteer for causes we believe in, reach out to offer help, and take other concrete actions to work for peace.
Bishop Taylor also called for an examination of our own attitudes and assumptions, writing:
But aside from our political situation, I pray that we will begin to look at the immigrants and refugees in our midst not as enemies or as “other.” Not as different in color or in accent. Not as dangers or risks. But as created in the image and likeness of the same true God — as the stranger in our midst — as Jesus (Matthew 25:35).
3We can hope and pray for effective legislation
There is only so much that ordinary citizens can do, but our lawmakers and leaders can do more. Archbishop Gomez positively described an immigration bill currently before Congress, called H.R.4393, the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025.
The bill has received support from factions of both parties, and Archbishop Gomez said it could be a real step toward peace in the U.S.
He wrote:
There is a bipartisan bill in Congress, it’s not perfect, it has flaws, but it is realistic about the political landscape and it should be the beginning of a conversation.
Called the Dignity Act (H.R. 4393), the bill would reform the visa and asylum processes, tighten border security and enforcement measures, and establish a mandatory, nationwide electronic verification system for employers; it would provide a path to a legal status for the millions of undocumented people who have been living and working in the country for five years or more, and also a path to citizenship for the 2.5 million “Dreamers.”
The bill holds undocumented immigrants accountable for breaking federal law, requiring them to undergo a criminal background check, pay back taxes they owe, and it imposes a stiff penalty fee.
The bill would also sharply limit enforcement actions at “sensitive locations” such as churches, hospitals, schools, and courthouses…
For me there is much to improve in this legislation, but it is a genuine, good-faith starting point. And we need to start somewhere. And we need to start now.
