The president visits the JP2 shrine

I was very glad that Archbishop Wilton Gregory spoke out against the president's visit to the DC shrine of St. John Paul II, because I have a lot of concerns about that particular photo op. Trump stands in opposition to pretty much everything St. JP2 represents. Here's why:

• Because St. JP2 spent way too much time visiting "shithole countries," bringing them the good news. He preached the truths that we are one human family and racism is a sin. He would not be on board with the idea of bias as a brand.
• Because St. JP2 was very clear about the hazards of aligning with the folks in Moscow, whereas Trump has been far too cozy with them for far too long.
• Because throughout his pontificate he spoke courageously against authoritarian governments that would deny the intrinsic worth of the individual. A quote from a story worth reading: "During his visit at the Auschwitz concentration camp, the symbol of the evil of totalitarianism, he told the thousands of people gathered from the Eastern European countries to resist the falsehoods they had been told: 'You are not who they say you are, so let me remind you who you are.'"
• Because he was always courageous. If you had to distill his whole papacy into three words, they would be (of course!) BE NOT AFRAID. It might be nice if the president, who emerged from his bunker to preside over the tear-gassing of peaceful protesters so he could pose for a photo with a borrowed Bible, could learn from that example.
• Because when the goons in Moscow sent tanks to threaten the members of Solidarity in Poland, St. JP2 did not say "Oh, yes, what an excellent idea, deploying military force against civilians whose ideas you find dangerous." In the past four years we have seen an unrelenting succession of nadirs. There seems to be no bottom. This was the lowest point for me of the entire Trump presidency (so far!): the president of the United States of America just threatened to sic the US military -- the people sworn to serve and protect this nation -- on American civilians. I am very sure St. JP2 would have some Thoughts about that plan.
• Because St. JP2 believed so firmly in the sacredness of the body and of human sexuality that he was willing to be unpopular for the sake of truth. The contrast with the president is too depressing for me even to type it out.
• Because, as he showed in his writings and addresses, St. JP2 believed wholeheartedly in our obligation to steward our intellectual gifts wisely -- to think hard about hard things, to accept difficult truths as binding even if we might prefer to disregard them. The president's scorn for science, his unwillingness to make the difficult choices that could have limited the scope of the COVID-19 outbreak -- his anti-intellectualism has caused a staggering number of avoidable deaths.
• Because St. JP2's whole life was characterized by humility, while Trump, the least humble person in living memory or maybe even in human history, thinks humility is for losers.
• Because St. JP2 wanted us to remember that "materialistic concerns and one-sided values are never sufficient to fill the heart," which is not a view that a person with gold-plated bathroom fixtures seems to have taken to heart. (Do we need to pause a minute to watch that video? I might need to pause for a minute and watch that video, even though I'm not quite done here.)

• And last: because he is attempting to play us. He is saying to himself, "Hey, 60% of white Catholics voted for me in 2016." He wants us to say, "Oh, what a swell guy; in a time of crisis he thinks about St. JP2. I love St. JP2! Therefore I should vote Republican."

Oh, my friends, let's not get played.