Washington Catholic bishop says Trump's visit to local shrine is 'baffling and reprehensible'

The Catholic archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., slammed President Trump's visit Tuesday to a local Catholic shrine, calling it "baffling and reprehensible" and declaring that the visit "violates our religious principles."

Trump visited the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, a Catholic site in northeast Washington, known as "a place of worship, religious formation, and cultural renewal to feed the minds and souls of its visitors."

"I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree," Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory said in a statement.

The visit followed Trump's brief outing Monday to St. John's Episcopal Church, an historic facility near the White House that was set on fire by protesters on Sunday.

Episcopal leaders criticize that visit.

Mariann Budde, diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, said Trump staged a photo-op and "used a Bible ... and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus."

Budde and Gregory each criticized federal federal law enforcement for alleged using teargas on protesters near the White House ahead of the president's walk to nearby St. John's. 

"Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings," Gregory said. "His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace."