Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob said the country has become “so polarized” ahead of the midterm elections, arguing the church cannot “get caught in camps.”
“That easily can happen,” Grob said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs. “Bishops, priests, deacons, church leaders that are not Catholic, other leaders, it’s easy to get drawn into one camp or another camp, whatever the case may be. We have to remain true to ourselves, and it’s not to a particular party, but it is to our Catholic faith.
“I don’t think I’m unique in saying that we’ve become so polarized to the point that we cannot dialogue,” Grob added. “The moment we stop dialoguing, it’s over.”
Grob said the conversations must include the hot-button political issues facing the nation, including immigration.
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“I think people want to put a spin on it right away,” Grob said. “Any time the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, for instance, makes a statement on immigration, policy issues, ICE, all these different topics, people try to put you in a camp to say, ‘OK, you’re this side, you’re this, you’re pro, you’re con, whatever.’
“It’s that middle course,” Grob added. “How do we bring everybody to the table? How do we bring about comprehensive reform?”
To that, Grob argued, the Catholic Church is a relevant part of the conversation.
“And if not, then we’ve got more work to do,” Grob said.
Meanwhile, Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke told “UpFront” social media influencers have intensified the outrage targeting a new data center in the city.
That includes a new recall effort targeting Neitzke.
“It charged the general community in southeastern Wisconsin,” Neitzke said. “And suddenly we began to deal with people from all over the state. The group is even organizing the recall here in Port Washington. Their nonprofit is not even centered in our city, and the political parties supporting them are not parties that have, that we’ve worked with in a bipartisan manner to support legislation to Port Washington and allow us to grow.”
The group has less than two months now to collect more than 1,600 valid signatures to trigger a recall election.
“I do want to acknowledge there are people in Port Washington who are frustrated,” Neitzke said. “Change is not something that comes easy to any Midwestern community. So the people of Port Washington will have the opportunity to decide what they would like to do with the position for mayor. And I’m going to continue my commitment, work hard for the city through the entire process.”
Neitzke said he has no regrets with how he’s handled the $15 billion project that is now underway.
“We listen to everyone. We worked with the developer to ensure that needs were met,” Neitzke said.
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