Millions will die due to ruthless USAID cuts, Vatican charity warns – National [Video]

The Vatican’s charity voiced outrage Monday at what it called the “reckless” and “unhuman” U.S. plans to gut USAID, with Pope Francis’ point-man on development aid insisting that the Trump administration remember Christian principles about caring for others as it begins governing.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Czech-born Canadian Jesuit, is one of the cardinals most closely associated with Francis’ pontificate and heads the Vatican office responsible for migrants, the environment, the church’s Caritas Internationalis charity and development.

Caritas on Monday warned that millions of people will die as a result of the “ruthless” U.S. decision to “recklessly” stop USAID funding, and hundreds of millions more will be condemned to “dehumanizing poverty.”

USAID is the main international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government and in 2023 managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations, accounting for around 40% of the global aid budget. The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk have targeted …