ST. LOUIS — The Archdiocese of ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ Peace and Justice Commission has been reorganized, following outcry over an affiliated interfaith webinar in which panelists appeared critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Auxiliary Bishop Mark Rivituso has been assigned to oversee the commission, and “all current processes and procedures†were to be evaluated, according to a recent announcement from the archdiocese, which governs the Roman Catholic experience in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and 10 eastern Missouri counties.
The commission’s director, Marie Kenyon, who had been put on administrative leave over the controversial webinar, will report directly to Rivituso. The work of the commission, and its immigration task force, will also “work closely with the Office of Communications and Planning on all external-facing efforts.â€
The reorganization was one of the first public moves made by the Most Rev. Mitchell Rozanski after he was installed in August as the archbishop of ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
People are also reading…
Rozanski said the changes were made to “support the mission†of the commission, which is to “advise, educate and promote interfaith and secular partnerships in the work of social justice,†according to the announcement.
Under his leadership in mid-September, the archdiocese cracked down following an interfaith webinar hosted by the immigration task force in which panelists appeared critical of the Trump administration’s handling of refugees and undocumented immigrants.
Church officials said then that they knew nothing of the webinar before the archdiocese hosted the program on Facebook, the first in a series titled “Immigration and the 2020 Election: Education and Action for People of Faith.†They said the content pushed the limits of a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and that the message didn’t fully represent Roman Catholic teaching.
A Post-Dispatch review of the saw participants pray for justice and study immigration trends that were supported by data. While political parties and candidates weren’t explicitly endorsed, analysis came off as critical of the Trump administration.
Church Militant, a conservative Catholic website, lambasted the webinar and issued an action alert calling on Catholics to immediately contact Rozanski to “stop this diabolical campaign to elect pro-abortion†candidates such as Joe Biden, who is Catholic.
The recent announcement said Rozanski was confident that the reorganization will help the Peace and Justice Commission “enhance its work with government and community leaders to promote the important work of social justice reform in accordance with Church teaching.â€
Asked Friday about his view of undocumented immigration on the U.S. southern border and the current trend of resettling much fewer refugees, Rozanski said through a spokesperson that the "Catholic Church has always stood by the side of immigrants."