’60 Minutes’ accused of using Catholic cardinals to push liberal agenda

In an episode that aired last week, “60 Minutes” brought together three progressive American cardinals to discuss Pope Leo XIV and how the church has emerged as a voice of opposition to the war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.

The CBS News segment left critics wondering why the program didn’t pepper the cardinals with questions about issues like abortion or other areas where Democrats and the Church disagree.

“Liberal TV networks see organized religion as useful only to the extent that it helps sell the liberal view. They want to add the moral authority of organized religion to their point of view,” Media Research Center executive editor Tim Graham told Fox News Digital.

’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF USING LEFT-SIDE CARDINALS TO INCLUDE TRUMP INTO WAR WITH THE VATICAN

“When the Catholic Church comes out strongly against abortion or transgenderism, they are either mocked or ignored, but mostly they are ignored,” Graham continued. “In the ’60 Minutes’ case, they could clearly see the trio of American cardinals publicly advocating against Trump’s immigration policies.”

Norah O’Donnell’s meeting with Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, on the CBS News program; Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, DC; and Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, who said he was inspired by Pope Leo to weigh in on political issues, the “60 Minutes” reporter said.

The trio did not hold back, and Cardinal Cupich objected to the videos released by the White House at the beginning of the war with Iran.

“Combining movie clips with actual bombings is sickening, and targeting people for entertainment is sickening. That’s not who we are. We’re better than that,” Cupich said.

During the episode, the cardinals criticized other priorities of the Trump administration. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Cardinal McElroy admitted that immigration is “out of control” during the Biden administration. He said he believes in strong borders but objects to Trump’s approach.

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All three cardinals criticized the Trump administration’s policies. (CBS/60 Minutes)

“This is a gathering of people from across the country. People who live good, strong lives, who have lived here a long time, who raised their children here, most of whose children were born here and are citizens. That’s what we object to,” McElroy said. said McElroy.

McElroy also said that according to the Catholic faith, the conflict in Iran “is not a just war.”

While discussing immigration, Cardinal Tobin said the agents acted in a way that “scared people.” O’Donnell noted that Trump ran on immigration and won Catholic votes against Kamala Harris, but the cardinals backed down.

“I want to know how Catholics feel about this indiscriminate mass deportation. I think … the American people are saying, ‘We didn’t really vote for this,'” Cupich said.

“What we see as pastors is tremendous, deeply human suffering, and that’s what motivates us,” McElroy added.

Protesters using whistles to warn neighborhoods of ICE activity confront Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Cupich was an outspoken critic of mass deportations, known for LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and called for at the 2024 Democratic National Convention; McElroy and Tobin, on the other hand, are known to criticize Trump and prioritize liberal policies and try to modernize the church.

Reverend Gerald Murray and author Robert Royal also joined Raymond Arroyo. “Praying Group” To discuss whether the situation will lead to a conflict between Trump and Pope Leo.

“Three are nominally influential, but none serve in the U.S. bishops conference and have never been elected,” Royal said.

compared his group “Set” He calls them “a very definitive and very left-wing group of just three” in US politics.

Arroyo suggested that the media set up the conflict to drag the White House into a dispute with the Vatican, calling it a “doping pope.”

“They were trying to get Trump to overreact, and that’s what he did,” Arroyo said.

POPE LEO MENTIONED TRUMP’S IRAN DISCOURSE BEFORE APPEARING WITHOUT FIRE AT THE BREAKING MINUTE

Following the airing of the “60 Minutes” episode, Trump and the pope They openly criticized each other.

“Pope Leo is weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy,” Trump said. Post on Truth Social. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”

Others had issues with the segment and former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer attacked x“Interesting that @60Minutes never asked Catholic leaders about this [Joe] Biden’s pro-abortion policies.”

Other conservatives had similar thoughts:

Graham, himself a devoted Catholic, noted that “60 Minutes” could easily have added Bishop Robert Barron into the conversation to balance things out.

“But since he is on Trump’s religious freedom commission, he is an unacceptable choice. Left-wing journalists call him the ‘MAGA Bishop.’ “That’s like calling the bishops interviewed by CBS the ‘Biden Bishops,'” Graham said. “It’s very unclear whether Catholic leaders are united on many issues of religion and morality.”

“60 Minutes” did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Trump then doubled down on Tuesday with another social media post about the pope, urging people to “tell Pope Leo” that the Iranian regime killed protesters earlier this year.

Speaking to reporters, Pope Leo said he is not afraid of the Trump administration or does not consider himself political. Despite the increasing tension, the pope said saturday He stated that it was “not in his interest” to argue with the President and emphasized that he would continue to give a message centered on peace, justice and brotherhood.

“Most of what has been written since then is merely commentaries trying to interpret what was said,” the pope said.

Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.