Yesterday, Rep. Riley Moore, a Republican congressman from West Virginia, posted four photos to his social media pages. They were taken inside the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a notorious Salvadoran supermax prison known for its extreme conditions and capacity of 40,000 inmates. At least 265 prisoners recently transferred there were deportees from the United States. In one image, Moore poses in front of a prison block, flashing “two thumbs up” as inmates crowd behind him.
Moore captioned the photos on X: “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland.”
CNN reported that deportees held in CECOT face the same brutal conditions as convicted gang members. According to prison officials, “there are no privileges.” The report explained, “That would mean the deportees’ heads have been shaved and they are kept in communal cells holding up to 100 men each for 23½ hours a day. Two sources told CNN the situation is less regimented for the deportees, but the facilities are the same. The cells have no privacy, and no furniture beyond rows of stacked metal bunks with no mattresses or pillows.”
Among the deportees is Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a man with no criminal record and a long-time resident of my own community in Maryland. The husband and and a father of three was deported to the El Salvador prison by mistake — a mistake that the Trump administration refuses to correct, despite a court order and a unanimous Supreme Court decision.
What makes Moore’s actions especially troubling to Catholic observers is his recent association with one of the most prominent figures in the US media landscape — Bishop Robert Barron. Just last month, Rep Moore invited Barron to be his personal guest for President Trump’s March 4 address to a joint session of Congress. Before the event, Barron celebrated Mass for members of Congress and their staff, also at Moore’s invitation.
The next day, Barron—bishop of Winona-Rochester and founder of the Word on Fire media brand—posted a nearly seven-minute video reflecting on his trip to Washington. He described the State of the Union as “a kind of high liturgy of our democracy” and criticized Democratic lawmakers for interrupting the proceedings and for refusing to applaud during the president’s speech.
In the video, Barron praised Moore warmly, saying, “I went out for dinner with Rep. Riley Moore, very grateful to him. He’s the congressman from northern West Virginia, and he invited me. Every member is allowed to invite one person to the State of the Union. So he invited me, and I was just delighted to accept that. We had a great conversation. He’s on the House Appropriations Committee. We talked about a lot of different things. He’s a very ardent Catholic. And I was, you know, honored to be asked.”
Journalist John Grosso, in his analysis of Barron’s video for National Catholic Reporter, pointed out some issues where Moore’s policy positions deviate from Catholic teaching and undermine Church initiatives. Grosso wrote, “Riley Moore is on record in favor of mass deportations, and has lauded the Department of Government Efficiency (which slashed USAID’s budget) for doing a ‘tremendous job identifying billions in American’s tax dollars that are being wasted each year.’ He also retweeted a ‘deportation valentine’ shared by the White House.” Bishop Barron opted not to discuss Moore’s heterodox positions during the video, instead reserving his criticism for the Democrats.
Many Catholics have noticed Bishop Barron’s relative silence in the face of the US immigration crisis set off by President Trump’s “mass deportations now” policies. Many Catholic leaders, multiple diocesan bishops and state conferences, and USCCB leaders have issued statements decrying the unjust policies being enacted by the administration. The pope himself personally intervened with a letter to the US bishops, in which he asserted, “The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable.”
Bishop Barron, meanwhile, has not yet used his vast media platform to take a strong stand in favor of justice for immigrants. In his response video, he seemed to minimize the issue, saying, “I’m a member of the Minnesota bishops, and we issued a statement that was supportive of certain elements of the president’s immigration policy, critical of others.” Additionally, an article defending Vice President JD Vance’s warped understanding of the ordo amoris was published by his Word on Fire apostolate. And on March 20, the Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute, Matthew Petrusek, took to the Catholic World Report to mock and ridicule those who have expressed concerns about Barron’s silence on these issues: “the dogma underpinning these attacks on Bishop Barron is a mutant amalgamation of two archetypes of religion-gone-wrong: the performative tut-tutting and professional indignation of the self-righteous Pharisees mixed with the shameless world-worshiping accommodation of the Herodians.”
Believe it or not, I have a soft spot for Bishop Barron. A decade ago, I was a huge fan. I have purchased his Catholicism DVD set as a gift for several new converts to the faith. But more and more frequently, he’s failed to rise to the occasion on an important matter. I fear that rather than being a positive influence on his new friends in the Daily Wire and far-right crowds, their views may have rubbed off on him. I strongly believe he is better than this. Or at least he was at one time.
Will Bishop Barron speak out now? Will he reach out in friendship to Rep. Moore and offer a correction?
Although some may be turned off by the idea of religious figures building connections with political leaders, I believe such relationships are defensible and are sometimes necessary — such as when policies that impact Catholic doctrinal principles are on the line. For example, former Ohio State Representative Jean Schmidt, a Catholic Republican, reversed her support for the death penalty after engaging with Sister Helen Prejean on the sanctity of life. Another example was in 2020, when the bishops of Colorado successfully urged the state legislature to repeal the death penalty in that state. Several members of the legislature cited Catholic teaching as a motivating factor in their vote. One of these was Republican State Senator Kevin Priola, who said he supported “protecting life from conception to natural death.” (Prior to leaving the Colorado state senate, Priola switched parties and is known for his advocacy for the environment and migrants, while also maintaining his “F” grade from NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado.)
Public interventions and appeals to lawmakers’ consciences are often ignored or waved away by politicians, but they send an important message to the faithful about the position of the Church. The Church needs her bishops to be clear, courageous voices for justice — especially when those in power seek to use Catholic credibility to justify cruelty.
Bishop Barron, this is your moment. Please speak out.
Image: From Rep. Riley Moore’s Facebook page.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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