Catholic bishop doubles down on attacks — targets Covington students and 'MAGA' hats

A Kentucky Catholic bishop is doubling down on attacks against students from Covington Catholic High School, who unfortunately became the center of controversy after the mainstream media falsely claimed the students mocked a Native American elder in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

What did the bishop say?

John Stowe, the bishop if Diocese of Lexington, said the students cannot claim to be "pro-life" while simultaneously wearing President Donald Trump's famous "Make America Great Again" red hats.

"It astonishes me that any students participating in a pro-life activity on behalf of their school and their Catholic faith could be wearing apparel sporting the slogans of a president who denigrates the lives of immigrants, refugees and people from countries that he describes with indecent words and haphazardly endangers with life-threatening policies," Stowe wrote in an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

He added: "I am ashamed that the actions of Kentucky Catholic high school students have become a contradiction of the very reverence for human life that the march is supposed to manifest."

Stowe went on to argue that Catholics cannot "uncritically ally" themselves with politicians like Trump because "respect for the sanctity of human life included the promotion of all that is necessary for all humanity to flourish."

What are other Catholic leaders saying?

While Stowe appears to partially blame the students for the viral incident, other Catholic leaders in Kentucky have issued apologies for admonishing the students before the facts surfaced.

"We are sorry that this situation has caused such disruption in the lives of so many. We apologize to anyone who has been offended in any way by either of our statements which were made with good will based on the information we had," the Bishop of Covington wrote in an apology letter.

"We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely, and we take full responsibility for it," he added.