Catholic book publisher: “I need to forgive President Donald Trump. Not that he needs it. I need it.”

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… “Why stay Catholic” has been described by Publishers Weekly as “Catholicism at its best.”

Didn't Jesus warn us that when we condemn another, we are really damning them for a fault that we hate in ourselves, and that the judgment we measure will be measured equally on us? Didn't he then say, "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" Well, it seems to me that while I may have a beam, Trump has a sequoia tree, and I have to forgive him so I can get it out of my head.

Michael Leach, October 2020

Here in the Community of Matthew, in the Fellowship of Matthew, we have talked so much about forgiveness, about how Jesus told us to turn the other cheek and to forgive even the most despicable people. 

I said that forgiving people like Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden is one of the most difficult things that Christians have to do.

I presented the challenging words of Jesus as Matthew reported them,

1 Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

Matthew: Chapter 18

Lament of a life-long Catholic

One of the most successful Catholic book publishers laments the problem of forgiveness on a very gut-wrenching scale. He says that he and his wife are safe right now despite Trump’s incompetence and mendacity in handling the Covid 19 pandemic,

Trump hasn't hurt me personally. I have a good life. My wife, Vickie, and I are perfectly safe as long as we continue to hide in our house and wear hazmat suits and ask our children and grandchildren not to come anywhere near us. I don't like it but I'm not upset about it.

Michael Leach, “I need for forgive Donald Trump,” National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

So, he has not seen his children or grandchildren for months probably because of his age. He and his wife Vickie have been married for more than 50 years.

A publisher emeritus now of Orbis Books, Leach has written so many positive books about religion and spirituality. 

They include, among others, “I like being Catholic,” “The way of kindness,” and “The way of forgiveness.”

His book “Why stay Catholic” has been described by Publishers Weekly as “Catholicism at its best.”

In fact, I am going to order some of his books once I finish writing. The first one will probably be “The way of forgiveness.”

However, Michael Leach is a tormented man right now. He knows exactly what Jesus preached about forgiveness — he has even written a book about it. 

But, putting it into practice after seeing Donald Trump in action is not just difficult, it seems to be impossible. 

He wrote about his battle in a column “Soul Seeing” in the National Catholic Reporter.

His analysis

Leach realizes that there is probably little hope for Donald Trump’s redemption. His major concern is his own. So, he goes through this in meticulous detail, somewhat like an examination of conscience.

But, while he recognizes that Trump has not done anything to him personally, he still has difficulty forgiving him,

Thing is, the president has hurt thousands of people. Especially the dead ones he may have saved by telling the truth. And their families. And all those children sleeping on cement in cages near the border. And their mothers who still don't know where they are. At best, Trump has devastated families, deepened division, ignited violence, made a mockery of decency, damaged our democracy, and now threatens our coming election. O, how that bothers me!

Michael Leach, “I need to forgive Donald Trump,” National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

Jesus also condemned by the government and crucified by bad cops

Leach says that despite all of his transgressions, his un-Christian behavior and policies, the direction of Christians can be discerned only through forgiveness,

Forgiveness is the only answer.

Jesus said, after his friends abandoned him, the government condemned him, and bad cops crucified him, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Maybe Trump can't help doing what he does. After all, he was raised by a tyrannical father, had an emotionally absent mother, and learned survival of the fittest. Isn't he, like all of us, just doing what he thinks he has to do to protect his sense of self lest he completely disappear? Surely his mind contains a crypt of terror that fills him with such dread that he projects that terror into the world. I get it, but I don't buy it …

I know real men and women who as kids were abused physically, sexually and emotionally far worse than Trump, and who grew up with no money at all. They never got rich, but they made good moral choices and lived good, loving lives. They have made the world a kinder, gentler place.

Michael Leach, National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

Leach’s problem is this,

I know real men and women who as kids were abused physically, sexually and emotionally far worse than Trump, and who grew up with no money at all. They never got rich, but they made good moral choices and lived good, loving lives. They have made the world a kinder, gentler place.

Michael Leach, National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

Here is Jesus’ answer

Leach prayed about this, and here is what he believes that God said to him about forgiveness,

It is giving up all blaming, completely and without regard for person. Forgiveness is letting your enemies, perceived and actual, go. It neither condemns nor condones. It makes room in the mind for peace of mind. It is realizing that all of us, despite appearances and without exception, are made in the image and likeness of love. We are not what we pretend to be. We are made of the same stuff as our Creator — pure spirit, divine love and intelligence — and, despite our behaviors, can never leave the bosom of wisdom that is our Source. 

Forgiveness is loving our enemies as our self. Let your illusion of Donald Trump go. Set him free from the shackles in your mind. Only then will you be free to see with the eye of your soul. Forgive him — and realize that you are forgiven.

Michael Leach, National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

And he asked God how many times he must forgive Trump,

Hah! Have you never heard of 70 times seven? As many times as it takes to get it right.

Michael Leach, National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

Leach’s reaction

esus, I hear you. I'm on it. I can't do this alone. Strengthen me. Give me the grace to be in this world but not of it, to be hid with you in God, to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Only then can I see. Only then can I forgive. Forgive me for my unforgiving thoughts. They are a crown of thorns that hurt only me. Give me your thoughts.

Shh ... be still and know that I am God. I'm on it.

Michael Leach, National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2020

Going back to “Dead Man Walking”

I have mentioned that this year I gave up practicing in what I consider to be the hypocritical and despicable hierarchical Roman Catholic Church, though I love the current pope. But, I have not given up the Catholic faith. I still consider myself a Catholic who lives by Jesus’ words in the New Testament despite not setting foot in a Catholic Church. 

I learned by reading Michael Leach’s essay and then his bio that I am hardly alone. I learned that Mr. Leach is among one of those Catholics whom I now revere,

Most Catholics, conservative and progressive, feel profoundly betrayed by bishops, but still adhere to teachings and examples from Catholic voices such as Dorothy Day, Michael Leach, Thomas Merton and Garry Wills, and still believe in the Church and its meaningful sacraments about the Mystery of God.

Bill Knight, Canton Daily Ledger, October 22, 2018

What we have to do is learn from people like those who believe/believed and adhered to Jesus’ words and principles. 

Michael Leach has remained a Catholic, but people like Donald Trump whom he considers antithetical to Christianity have convinced people that he is a moral man,

Trump confided to CNN's Jake Tapper in January 2016 that he didn't like to have to ask for forgiveness. "I like to be good," he said "I don't like to have to ask for forgiveness. And I am good. I don't do a lot of things that are bad. I try to do nothing that is bad."

Six months earlier, he admitted to pollster Frank Luntz that he has never asked for forgiveness. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't." 

Six months into his presidency, Trump confessed to columnist Cal Thomas, "I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won't have to be asking for much forgiveness."

Michael Leach, “I need to forgive Donald Trump,” October 16, 2020

Please re-read my original piece on forgiveness in which I feature a man who forgave the brutal lunatic who had murdered his son — and what Jesus says about forgiveness:


Michael Leach piece,

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