It’s nice – a bit of a relief, actually – that Pope Francis has sent his “good wishes” to President Trump, despite the pope seemingly being less than enthusiastic about Trump’s candidacy during the campaign.

The pope’s message reads:

Upon your inauguration as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America, I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office.

At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding far-sighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation’s commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide.

Under your leadership, may America’s stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door. With these sentiments, I ask the Lord to grant you and your family, and all the beloved American people, his blessings of peace, concord and every material and spiritual prosperity.

The Catholic Church is in the midst of a crisis of its own, brought about by various factors, most notably the clergy abuse scandal.  Pope Francis apparently has high approval numbers among the American public, but his leadership of the Church still causes me deep concern.  (I touched on the reasons for this in a previous post.)

That said, at least the pope’s words were far more gracious than those of the de facto mayor and archbishop (ahem) of Chicago, Father Michael Pfleger, who continues to bash the president in his speeches and on Facebook, saying about everything short of calling for an assassination.

His latest insults: accusing President Trump of “bullying, prejudice, mocking, degrading and negativity,” emboldening “white nationalists” and “hate crimes,” and “raising his white fist in the air” during the inaugural address.

I, for one, am so glad to be able to say and write “President Trump” instead of “President Clinton.”  One of my favorite posts of the day was written by veteran pro-life leader Mark Crutcher.

Crutcher wrote:

For the past eight years, our nation has suffered under the hobnailed boot of the most godless, amoral and corrupt administration in our history. I think it can be easily stated that nothing demonstrates the sheer strength of America than the fact we survived during this time of abject darkness.

But now, a new day is dawning and our challenge becomes to repair the damage that’s been done to our country. As for the pro-life issue, none of us can know whether President Trump’s actions will match his campaign rhetoric. Only time will answer that. But what we do know is that if we humble ourselves before God and ask Him to guide President Trump through the coming years, and if the president will be still and accept God’s counsel, our land will be healed.

On this inauguration day, that is where we must place our hope for the future.