MIAMI SHORES, FLA. (WSVN) – With President Trump increasingly at odds with the Pope over various administration decisions, the Trump administration is escalating the war of words with new action that slashes funding for Catholic charities in South Florida.<\/p>\n
The funds support the management of shelters and foster care for migrant children.<\/p>\n
The administration\u2019s decision has prompted backlash from Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who called it abrupt and baffling.<\/p>\n
The over six-decade partnership between the U.S. government and the Archdiocese of Miami started during Operation Pedro Pan, which helped care for children sent to the U.S. alone from Cuba after Cuban leader Fidel Castro took over the island nation.<\/p>\n
In an opinion piece for the Miami Herald written by Wenski, he said: \u201cThe Archdiocese of Miami\u2019s Catholic Charities Services for unaccompanied minors has been stripped of funding and will be forced to shut down within three months.\u201d<\/p>\n
This latest action comes as tensions between the Catholic Church and the White House have heightened. Pope Leo criticized the U.S. policy on Iran, and Trump hit back, calling Leo weak.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many innocent people are being killed and I think someone has to stand up and say, \u2018There\u2019s a better way to do this,’\u201d said Leo. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t like a pope that\u2019s going to say that it\u2019s OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don\u2019t want a pope who says crime is OK in our cities. I don\u2019t like it. I\u2019m not a big fan of Pope Leo,\u201d said Trump. <\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, Wenski said, Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children\u2019s Village can house 81 children and helps place them in foster care, provides psychological care, and reunites them with family members.<\/p>\n
While Wenski has acknowledged that the number of unaccompanied children entering the U.S. has decreased since the start of the Trump administration, he still said it will be a hard hit on the Church to remove the funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the history and reputation of the Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children\u2019s Village, it is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors reach our shores,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n
Wenski urged the administration to review its decision.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The Office of Refugee Resettlement] is pledged to act in the best interest of the child. This alone should call for a review of the decision to shut down this legacy and signature program,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear what the Church will do with its minor migrant housing once the program\u2019s funding lapses.<\/p>\n
Wenski, along with leadership from Catholic Charities and the Pedro Pan Board of Directors, will hold a news conference on this issue on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
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