“Many people today feel powerless in the face of violence, injustice, and social unrest,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said in a written statement Wednesday. “To those who feel this way, I wish to say clearly: your faithfulness matters. Your prayers matter. Your acts of love and works of justice matter.”
Coakley has been the Archbishop of Oklahoma City since 2010 and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops since late last year. His election was seen as the Conference doubling down on conservative stances, with the Associated Press calling Coakley a conservative culture warrior.
But the group has consistently pushed back against the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. The day after they elected Coakley president, the Conference issued a special message approved by 216 out of 224 bishops decrying the “vilification of immigrants.”…