Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and the archbishops of Washington D.C. and Newark, New Jersey, released a joint statement on American foreign policy Monday, a rare move for leaders of the Catholic Church.

In the statement, Cardinal Cupich, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark criticized the Trump administration's foreign policy as counter to the teachings of the church and the words of Pope Leo XIV, writing that the U.S. has "entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America's actions in the world since the end of the Cold War."

The bishops referenced actions taken in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland, which was at the center of a 10% tariff threat made by President Trump over the weekend.

Those actions, the cardinals wrote, "have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace."

"The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations," their statement continues. "And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity's well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies."

The statement was unusual and marked the second time in as many months that members of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy have asserted their voice against a Trump administration many believe isn't upholding the basic tenets of human dignity. In November, the entire U.S. conference of Catholic bishops condemned the administration's mass deportation of migrants and "vilification" of them in the public discourse.

Pope Leo addressed his foreign policy concerns earlier in January at a gathering of global ambassadors at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

"War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined," he said.

"Peace is no longer sought as a gift and desirable good in itself," Pope Leo added. "Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one's own dominion."

The speech, delivered almost entirely in English, amounted to Leo's most substantial critique of U.S. foreign policy. History's first U.S.-born pope denounced how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, "completely undermining" peace and the post-World War II international legal order.

"We cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence," Cardinal Cupich said about the joint statement. "Pope Leo has given us clear direction and we must apply his teachings to the conduct of our nation and its leaders." 

"Recent events, including participation in last week's consistory in Rome with Pope Leo and brother cardinals from across the world, convince me of the need to underscore the vision of Pope Leo for just and peaceful relations among nations. Otherwise, escalating threats and armed conflict risk destroying international relations and plunging the world into incalculable suffering," said Cardinal Tobin.