WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, published an op-ed in the National Catholic Reporter during Holy Week, discussing how the Trump Administration’s dismantling of U.S. foreign assistance directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching about loving our neighbors.

During Holy Week, Senator Coons is reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus, and how U.S. foreign policy measures up to His teachings. Key to this reflection is the Trump Administration’s continued effort to dismantle foreign aid programs, which for decades have prevented hunger, sickness, and suffering for millions around the world. He wrote that while Scripture doesn’t align with a political party, messages in both the Old and New Testament are rooted in service to the poor and marginalized.

Since Trump took office, his Administration has canceled billions of dollars to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the main U.S. humanitarian aid agency. Senator Coons highlighted that faith-based organizations like Catholic Relief Services, Samaritan’s Purse, and World Vision — all known for helping those in need in Jesus’ name — have been forced to lay off workers or shut down programs due to slashed funding, leaving millions without aid. 

Senator Coons said that Easter offers us, and America, a chance for redemption and revival — a chance to urge the Trump Administration to feed the hungry, respond to disasters and help those in need, and to live up to the true meaning of loving our neighbors.

National Catholic Reporter: Trump's USAID cuts contradict Jesus' call to love thy neighbor

Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself — and His parables worked to dramatically redefine who is our neighbor. From the good Samaritan to the woman at the well, Christ's parables over and over push believers to embrace the widest understanding of neighbor, to see all people as God's children, even those of different nations, races, languages and faiths.

This administration has missed that core message. Nowhere is this more glaring than its destruction of our nation's global network of partnerships that deliver foreign aid. For just 1% of our total federal spending, we have for years fought disease, fed the hungry and improved the lives of millions around the world.

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It's a stark departure from the golden rule of my faith, and nearly every other one: that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Until this year, we sought to demonstrate by our actions that we were capable of kindness. Through that aid, we showed hundreds of millions of people across scores of countries that we are a nation who cared about others. What are we showing them now? How should we expect them to treat us in return? 

We are days from Easter Sunday, and the Resurrection that brings redemption. It is never too late for redemption, whether for ourselves or our country. We can draw on our faith to restore America's compassion, to call on the Trump administration to use a small fraction of our federal budget to feed the hungry, to care for the widow and the orphan, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. After all, whose golden rule would we rather our nation aspire to?

The full op-ed is available here.