President Trump and the First Lady visit the Saint John Paul II National Shrine

This morning President Trump and the First Lady visited the National Shrine of St. John Paul II.

• This day in 1979 (June 2,  1979), the Pope's first ever visit to Poland, marked the first day of a non-violent transformation that freed hundreds of millions of people from oppressive communism.

We did appreciate the President and First Lady's gesture. 　

 

Today, on the 41st anniversary of Pope John Paul Il’s first pilgrimage to Poland,
President Trump signed an Executive Order supporting International Religious Freedom.

****

According to a spokesperson for the shrine, the visit was long planned to mark the signing of an Executive Order by the President on international religious freedom. The order includes several provisions, all of which will help protect religious minorities around the world, especially vulnerable Christians in the Middle East.

 Today's visit was after several days of mayhem and violence across the country.

****

 

Update Mon 6/8/20: 
The Catholic News Agency is reporting that they have obtained a copy of an email between the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. and the White House that shows Archbishop Wilton Gregory knew well in advance that President Trump was going to visit the St. John Paul II Shrine.

According to CNA, in an email dated May 30, Archbishop Gregory’s office politely declined “the kind invitation to attend the event celebrating International Religious Freedom on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at the Saint John Paul II Shrine.”
Recall Archbishop Gregory previously claimed that he was only told of the event on June 1, when he released a statement calling Trump’s visit “reprehensible.”

If he had a problem with President Trump’s planned visit, why didn’t he say something to the White House? Or to the organizers? Or the shrine? Or to owners of the shrine -- the Knights of Columbus?

It now appears that the Archbishop (or his staff?) may have misled the public about his knowledge of the event -- and even held back on expressing any concern until just before the President’s visit when his statement might have maximum political impact.