Catholic bishops in the U.S. and other faith leaders are raising concerns about the harm low-income and vulnerable Americans would suffer under President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the main organizational voice for Catholic leaders in Washington, issued a letter Thursday outlining both cautious praise and clear criticisms of the bill, a Republican-backed budget measure that would boost immigration enforcement while cutting some social programs.

The Senate is set to vote on the bill as soon as Friday.

The letter noted appreciation for budget elements that “promote the dignity of human life,” such as proposed cuts to funding for Planned Parenthood, while urging lawmakers to “make drastic changes to the provisions that will harm the poor and vulnerable.”

The letter flagged potential impacts on Medicaid, food assistance and clean energy incentives.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the bishops’ conference, said the proposal “does not answer that call” to advance the common good, a Catholic theological demand of political leaders.

“It takes from the poor to give to the wealthy,” Archbishop Broglio’s statement reads. “It provides tax breaks for some while undermining the social safety net for others through major cuts to nutrition assistance and Medicaid.

“It fails to protect families and children by promoting an enforcement-only approach to immigration and eroding access to legal protections,” he added. “It harms God’s creation and future generations through cuts to clean energy incentives and environmental programs.”

On the same day, another group of Catholic bishops joined with leaders from other faiths in a separate, harsher letter, urging lawmakers to reject the bill outright.

“From our various faith perspectives, the moral test of a nation is how it treats those most in need of support,” the letter reads. “In our view, this legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable in our nation, to the detriment of the common good.”

Their letter criticized the bill’s immigration enforcement funding, calling it a “mass deportation campaign which will separate U.S. families, harm U.S.-citizen and immigrant children, and sow chaos in local communities.”

The signers included leaders from Episcopal, Lutheran and Baptist churches. Jewish, Muslim and other faith leaders signed as well.

Signatories expressed concerns that the bill’s funding “will be used to target faith communities,” saying some congregants have avoided services because of “the threat of enforcement.”

Lexington, Kentucky, Bishop John Stowe, one of the 42 signers, described the treatment of immigrants as “unconscionable” and urged faith leaders to “do everything we can to stop this cruelty,” in a message to the Religion News Service.

Among the Catholic signers of the letter were bishops closely aligned with the late Pope Francis, including Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy and Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne, whom Francis selected to join the Synod on Synodality.

Signatory Rev. Gabriel Salguero, head of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, has taken to radio ads as a means of criticizing the anti-faith nature of the bill, imploring listeners to contact their senators.

“This is not the pro-life, pro-family, pro-worker vision of our faith,” Mr. Salguero reportedly says in his ad.

• Emma Ayers can be reached at eayers@washingtontimes.com.