At the same time, he says he'll also respectfully point out situations where President-elect Joe Biden's policies diverge from Catholic teaching.

"I have always seen myself as someone who is charged with being in dialogue and in conversation, so I hope that my conversation with the new administration reflects that ...," he says.

Gregory says said he wants to work with the incoming U.S. administration to look for "where we can find things that we can do together for the betterment of the American community, for the people of the archdiocese in general.

I want to be one who engages people in conversation."

One of the areas both Americans and the American Church are divided over is abortion.

In this respect, Joe Biden has drawn conservative Catholics' ire.

Conservative Catholics are criticising his support of abortion rights.

But Biden says while he is personally opposed to abortion, he cannot impose his view on others.

This has led some U.S. conservative bishops to say Biden should be denied the sacrament of communion.

Biden's position on abortion rights created a "difficult and complex situation," says U.S. bishops' conference head, José Horacio Gómez.

He has arranged for a working group to study its ramifications.

Gregory, however, says he would not prevent the new president, who goes to Mass every Sunday, from receiving communion in the archdiocese.

"The kind of relationship that I hope we will have is a conversational relationship where we can discover areas where we can cooperate that reflect the social teachings of the church, knowing full well that there are some areas where we won't agree," he says.

"They are areas where the church's position is very clear," particularly its opposition to the president-elect's support for legal abortion.

Gregory said he planned to approach the President on areas of agreement and disagreement in a respectful way.

"He's not going to be on speed dial, and I hope I'm not on his speed dial," Gregory told Al Roker of the Today Show in February.

"But there will be moments when I will be able to speak to him about faith, about the works that he is trying to accomplish that we can be supportive of, but also areas where we're not going to agree. But I'm going to always try to do it in a respectful way."

America's first African-American cardinal is no stranger to political controversy.

He clashed with President Donald Trump earlier this year, criticising the former president's visit to a Washington shrine after protesters were cleared away with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The reason for the clearance? So Trump could be photographed in front of a historic Washington church holding a Bible.

In response, Gregory said he found it "baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated."

In Gregory's view, Catholic institutions - parishes, schools, hospitals, social justice and service activities, should be models reflecting gospel teachings.

Gregory hopes to use his new title to be a bridge builder between the African-American Catholic community and the worldwide Church. He says he will be "inviting all of us to engage in a more fruitful dialogue on racial and social justice issues."

Source

• America Magazine
• Image: Los Angeles Times

"When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them there are additional problems," Gomez, the president of the United States Conference of Catholics Bishops. said. "One of the things it creates is confusion with the faithful about what the church actually teaches."

The remarks were part of an unscheduled five-minute address Gomez gave to close out the first-ever virtual U.S. Bishops conference that took place Monday and Tuesday. He also announced Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit will chair a new working group to help navigate the situation between the American Catholic church and president-elect.

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This is a stark change from President Donald Trump's steep cuts to the U.S. refugee program during his presidency.

Biden made the announcement on Nov. 12 to a Catholic group that works with refugees.

"The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader of resettling refugees in our humanitarian response," Biden said. He made the statement during the virtual event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service.

"I promise, as president, I will reclaim that proud legacy for our country. The Biden-Harris administration will restore America's historic role in protecting the vulnerable and defending the rights of refugees everywhere and raising our annual refugee admission target to 125,000."

Biden praised Jesuit Refugee Service as a "great organization" and framed the country's historic commitment to refugee resettlement in theological terms.

"This organization was founded to serve the needs of some of the most vulnerable among us: refugees and displaced people. JRS believes that, in the stranger, we actually meet our neighbor. And that every society is ultimately judged by how we treat those most in need," he said.

Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic organization committed to serving refugees and other forcibly displaced people.

That work includes advocating for refugees, serving as chaplains to those in detention and supporting other projects and programming around the globe.

Faith-based organizations, like Jesuit Refugee Service, have long played an essential role in refugee resettlement work in the U.S.

Six of the nine agencies tasked with resettlement by the federal government are faith-based.

They include Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, HIAS (founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and World Relief.

Trump has set the refugee ceiling, to a new historic low every year he has been in office.

Former President Barack Obama increased the quota to 110,000 his last year in office. Trump recently put it at 15,000 for the current fiscal year, which started in October.

The agencies' budgets are based on the number of refugees admitted. Due to the reduction in refugee numbers, government funding has been decimated. This has led to agencies having to shutter or scale back offices and lay off workers.

If Biden does raise the refugee quota, those budgets would increase.

There are now more than 120,000 refugees in the pipeline. They need to pass rigorous security and medical checks, a process taking months and sometimes years.

Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute is concerned Congress may not have the appetite to take on immigration policy amid the coronavirus pandemic and an economic recession.

"For the first 100 days, there will be very little bandwidth for a Biden administration to deal with anything other than COVID. We have never faced a crisis like this before," Chishti says. "We can't expect a huge leap on immigration policy. If people expect that this is going to happen tomorrow, they will be in for a big disappointment."

Sources

Religion News Service

NPR

Biden, of Irish heritage, will be the second Catholic president of the United States. John F. Kennedy, who was elected in 1960 and also of Irish descent, was the country's first Catholic president.

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office has confirmed that the phone conversation took place.

A press release from the President-elect transition team read:

President-elect Joe Biden spoke this morning with His Holiness Pope Francis. The President-elect thanked His Holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness' leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world.

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