• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis greets then-U.S. President Joe Biden June 14, 2024, before the pontiff gave a speech to world leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Borgo Egnazia in Italy's southern Puglia region. Biden will attend the April 26 funeral of the pontiff, who died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/courtesy of G7 Italia 2024)

Washington Roundup: Trump, Biden to attend papal funeral; ‘Anti-Christian bias’ task force convened

April 25, 2025
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, a bipartisan congressional delegation, and former President Joe Biden are among the U.S. officials traveling to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.

The same week in Washington, Attorney General Pam Bondi convened a task force April 22 to combat “anti-Christian bias,” and polls showed a majority of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration.

Trump, Biden, members of Congress to attend Pope Francis’ funeral

The Trumps departed the White House en route to Rome the morning of April 25. Biden and former first lady Jill Biden are also expected to attend. Among the last acts of his presidency, Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Bipartisan groups from both the U.S. House and Senate will also represent their respective chambers at the funeral. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she would lead a Congressional Member Delegation, known as a CODEL, to the funeral that will also include Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. Each of those senators is Catholic.

Pope Francis talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican May 24, 2017. Pope Francis, formally Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“It is a tremendous honor to be selected to lead this bipartisan delegation of United States Senators to Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis and pay our respects to his life and legacy,” Collins said in a statement. “Pope Francis’s profound commitment to celebrate the Risen Lord, even on the day before his death, and share God’s grace with people from all walks of life inspired believers around the world. He truly embodied God’s boundless love for us all. It is an incredible blessing to have the opportunity to represent the Senate and honor the life of Pope Francis with my colleagues.”

For the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he asked Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to lead that chamber’s bipartisan congressional delegation, citing his position as the House’s highest-ranking Catholic.

“Our prayers are with the many Christians who mourn the passing of Pope Francis,” Johnson said in a statement.

Scalise said in a statement he was “honored” to do so, adding, “The Holy Father humbly devoted his life in service to the Church, and he was dedicated to spreading the Gospel of the Lord to the world.”

“As a lifelong Catholic, I am honored to represent the House in paying our respects and praying for the soul of Pope Francis, as Catholics all around the world grieve, and as Church leaders prepare to elect a new pope in the coming weeks,” he said.

A bipartisan coalition of Catholic lawmakers will also join Scalise, including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as well as Reps. French Hill, R-Ark.; Brendan Boyle, D-Pa.; Ann Wagner, R-Mo.; Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.; John Joyce, R-Pa.; Pete Stauber, R-Minn.; Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis.; and Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.

“His Holiness Pope Francis personified our sacred responsibility in the Gospel of Matthew to honor the spark of divinity in the least of our brethren championing the poor, the worker, the refugee and the immigrant,” Pelosi said in a statement about her participation in the delegation.

“Pope Francis was a beacon of charity, hope and love for all people of faith and he rekindled the faith of Catholics worldwide, with a triumphant message of peace that has inspired a generation,” she said. “It is my honor to be a part of the Congressional delegation attending the funeral of His Holiness to help convey the thoughts, prayers and deep sympathies of the American people on his passing.”

Bondi Targets ‘Anti-Christian bias’

Bondi hosted members of Trump’s Cabinet April 22 at the Department of Justice for the inaugural meeting of the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in the federal government.

Trump has long taken aim at some Biden administration policies he argued “weaponized” the Department of Justice, including Trump’s own prosecution on charges related to his alleged conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, among other alleged misconduct.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a meeting of the Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, at the Justice Department in Washington April 22, 2025. (OSV News photo/Ken Cedeno, Reuters)

Among his first actions in office, Trump issued pardons for 23 pro-life activists he said were improperly prosecuted by the Biden administration under the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The FACE Act prohibits actions including obstructing the entrance to an abortion clinic. When he announced the task force at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, Trump cited those convictions as examples of such bias.

In comments at the meeting, Bondi alleged the Biden administration “abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.”

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued in a statement that the task force “is not a response to Christian persecution; it’s an attempt to make America into an ultra-conservative Christian nationalist nation.”

Polls show public perception of Trump’s immigration policy souring

Multiple polls on April 25 found that public perception of Trump’s hardline immigration policy may be souring.

A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found a majority of Americans, 53 percent, said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 46% said they approve. That represents a drop in his approval rating on the issue from February when half of respondents said they approve of his approach to the issue.

Similarly, a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also found 53 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of his handling of the issue while 46% approve.

However, that survey found 48% said Trump has “gone too far” when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally; in contrast, 32% said his approach has been “about right” while 18% said he has not gone far enough.

Catholic social teaching on immigration seeks to balance three interrelated principles the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and immigration, and a nation’s duty to do so with justice and mercy.

Durbin declines re-election

Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, announced April 23 he would not seek another term in the U.S. Senate, creating a rare vacancy for an Illinois Senate seat and sparking what will be a competitive primary.

“The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator,” he said in a post on X. “But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch.”

A Catholic, Durbin, 80, at times took policy positions that alternately appeared consistent with or in contrast to church teaching. For instance, he supported efforts to expand legal abortion while seeking to end the use of the federal death penalty.

USCIRF offers condolences for death of Pope Francis

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission that monitors religious freedom around the globe, offered its “condolences to the Catholic community worldwide” in a statement mourning the death of Pope Francis.

“We join the world in remembering Pope Francis’s remarkable legacy of mercy and compassion,” USCIRF Chair Stephen Schneck said in a statement. “Amid his deep and abiding commitment to standing for the most vulnerable among us, he also made significant contributions to advancing the cause of international religious freedom. We are deeply grateful for his work advocating for greater inclusion and non-discrimination for vulnerable religious minorities, and for the rights of millions of people displaced by religious violence and genocide during his time as pontiff.

“As he declared in his final Easter message, just this week: ‘There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.'”

Read More World News

Trump, U.S political leaders congratulate Pope Leo XIV: ‘A great honor for our country’

Pope Leo XIV: Peacemaker and openness in an historic name

Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine?

Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV

White smoke emerges, indicating election of new pope

Amid prayers for the conclave, bishops call on faithful to embrace Jesus’ mission

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV

  • U.S. cardinal’s résumé, demeanor land him on ‘papabile’ lists

  • St. Carlo and timing

  • Kenyan cardinal claims he wasn’t invited for conclave; Vatican says invite is automatic

  • Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine?

| Latest Local News |

Baltimore-area Catholics pray for new pope, express excitement for his leadership

Archbishop Lori surprised, heartened by selection of American pope

Missionary discipleship sees growth after Seek the City initiative

Knights of Columbus honored for pro-life support

Cumberland Knott scholar Joseph Khachan a perfect fit for program’s mission in Western Maryland  

| Latest World News |

Trump, U.S political leaders congratulate Pope Leo XIV: ‘A great honor for our country’

Pope Leo XIV: Peacemaker and openness in an historic name

Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine?

Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV

White smoke emerges, indicating election of new pope

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Baltimore-area Catholics pray for new pope, express excitement for his leadership
  • Trump, U.S political leaders congratulate Pope Leo XIV: ‘A great honor for our country’
  • Pope Leo XIV: Peacemaker and openness in an historic name
  • ‘A missionary at heart’: Catholic groups welcome Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope
  • Who was Pope Leo XIII, the father of social doctrine?
  • Archbishop Lori surprised, heartened by selection of American pope
  • El cardenal Prevost, misionero de EEUU, es elegido Papa y toma el nombre de León XIV
  • Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV
  • White smoke emerges, indicating election of new pope

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED