Drei nordamerikanische Kardinäle – Blaise J. Cupich, Robert W. McElroy und Joseph W. Tobin – reden US-Präsident Donald Trump mit einer gemeinsamen Erklärung ins Gewissen. Sechs weitere (konklaveberechtigte) US-Kardinäle (Raymond L. Burke, Daniel DiNardo, Timothy Dolan, Kevin Farrell, James Harvey, Gregory Wilton, Burke) von ingesamt 16 amerikanischen Purpurträgern sind nicht dabei.
Papst Leo XIV. hatte am 18. Dezember 2025 den altersbedingten Rücktritt von Trump-Freund Dolan angenommen und Ronald Hicks (59), Bischof von Joliet (Illinois), zuvor Weihbischof in Chicago, zu seinem Nachfolger ernannt. Seine Amtseinführung findet am 6. Februar statt.
Die drei Erzbischöfe von Chicago, Washington und Newark kritisieren in der am 19. Januar 2026 veröffentlichten Erklärung mit Verweis auf die Grundsatzrede Papst Leos XIV. beim Neujahrsempfang für das Diplomatische Korps (9. Januar 2026) die Außenpolitik ihres Landes: die Anwendung oder die Androhung von militärischer Gewalt.
Sie finden klare Worte: «Die Ereignisse in Venezuela, der Ukraine und Grönland haben grundlegende Fragen über den Einsatz militärischer Gewalt und die Bedeutung des Friedens aufgeworfen. Die souveränen Rechte der Nationen auf Selbstbestimmung erscheinen in einer Welt immer größerer Konflikte nur allzu fragil. Das Gleichgewicht zwischen nationalen Interessen und dem Gemeinwohl wird in stark polarisierten Begriffen formuliert. Die moralische Rolle unseres Landes bei der Bekämpfung des Bösen in der Welt, der Wahrung des Rechts auf Leben und Menschenwürde sowie der Unterstützung der Religionsfreiheit wird derzeit auf den Prüfstand gestellt. (. . .) Die Debatte in unserem Land über die moralischen Grundlagen der amerikanischen Politik ist geprägt von Polarisierung, Parteigeist und engstirnigen wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Interessen.«
Die Erklärung im Wortlaut:
Charting A Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy
In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War. The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace. The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination. And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.
For all of these reasons, the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral foundation for international relations to the Vatican diplomatic corps this month has provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway for American foreign policy in the coming years. He stated:
In our time, the weakness of multilateralism is a particular cause for concern at the international level. A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined. Peace is no longer sought as a gift and desirable good in itself, or in pursuit of “the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God with a more perfect form of justice among men and women.” Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.
Pope Leo also reiterates Catholic teaching that “the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation for every other human right” and that abortion and euthanasia are destructive of that right. He points to the need for international aid to safeguard the most central elements of human dignity, which are under assault because of the movement by wealthy nations to reduce or eliminate their contributions to humanitarian foreign assistance programs. Finally, the Holy Father points to the increasing violations of conscience and religious freedom in the name of an ideological or religious purity that crushes freedom itself.
As pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel. We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.
Our nation’s debate on the moral foundation for American policy is beset by polarization, partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests. Pope Leo has given us the prism through which to raise it to a much higher level. We will preach, teach, and advocate in the coming months to make that higher level possible.
Signed,
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, Archbishop of Washington
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark