Catholic group calls for Marjorie Taylor Greene's censure over Pope Francis comments

A prominent Catholic organization is asking national lawmakers to censure Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for a post on X that she made hours after the death of Pope Francis.

In a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights asked that Republicans and Democrats come together to condemn Greene for her "bigoted remarks."

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The backstory:

Francis died on Monday morning at the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived at the Vatican. His death came almost a month after he returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for double pneumonia. The Vatican said that Francis suffered a stroke that led to a coma and heart failure.

Hours after his death was announced, Greene took to X (formerly Twitter), writing: "Today, there were major shifts in global leaderships. Evil is being defeated by the hand of God."

Many observers interpreted it as a reference to the pope's death due to the timing.

Dig deeper:

While it’s unclear if the post was directly referencing Pope Francis, Greene has previously spoken out against the Catholic Church. According to People Magazine, Greene left Catholicism years ago and has since been critical of church leadership.

In an April 2022 post on X, Greene explained she left the Church to become an evangelical Protestant when she became a mother, citing concerns about child abuse scandals.

"I realized that I could not trust the Church leadership to protect my children from pedophiles, and that they harbored monsters even in their own ranks," she wrote.

She has also criticized U.S. bishops for providing aid to undocumented immigrants.

What they're saying:

In his letter, Catholic League President William Donohue said Greene had "a history of slandering Catholics," and that he had previously asked the committee to sanction Greene for comments she made in 2022.

Donohue said that Greene's recent post about defeating "evil" was "aimed at the Holy Father."

"I am writing to you in my capacity as president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. I have one request: Do what you can to have Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene censured," Donohue said.

"If Greene, who is an ex-Catholic, wants to make reasoned criticisms of Pope Francis, she has every right to do so. But no sitting member of Congress has the right to denigrate the leader of a world religion," he continued. "To allow her to continue to smear Catholicism reflects badly on the Congress. Therefore, I am asking that Republicans and Democrats come together to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene for her bigoted remarks."

What's next:

Greene has not commented on her statement or clarified what she meant in the post.

Committee chairman Rep. Michael Guest and ranking member Rep. Mark DeSaulnier have not responded to Donohue's request at this time.