WHEN Donald Trump set out his key proposals in the course of the US presidential election campaign, many of his own supporters suggested that he was largely engaging in rhetoric and was unlikely to implement his more extreme ideas.
The hours after his return to the White House demonstrated immediately that if anything he had understated his intentions, and is fully determined to embark on the most radical transformation of American domestic and foreign policies in living memory.
Mr Trump has a clear mandate for change, but the scale of the measures he has already announced is extreme by any standards and can only cause widespread alarm on a national and international basis.
Pope Francis spoke for the rest of the civilised world when he said the planned mass deportation of immigrants, which may well even include children who were born in the US, was a disgrace.
The pontiff, who comes from a family of Italian immigrants in Argentina, has consistently spoken of the need to respect basic human rights and treat people everywhere with dignity and compassion.
It will be widely concluded that Mr Trump, who again claimed during his inauguration address that he was “saved by God to make America great again”, appears committed to a range of policies which are in no way compatible with Christianity.
Another massive contradiction is the new president’s insistence he will prioritise law and order while at the same time ordering the overnight release of all those convicted of involvement in the US Capitol building insurrection of January 6, 2021.
It had been anticipated that, although Mr Trump had previously attempted to downplay the violence inflicted on police officers and civilian staff, those responsible for the most vicious crimes would still remain in custody, but instead he issued pardons or commutations for all 1,500 of the offenders.
While there will be concern about the circumstances in which his predecessor, Joe Biden, also granted a series of pardons as he left office, those involved individuals who had reason to believe they would be politically targeted by Mr Trump and had no link to a blatant attempt to overturn a democratic election.
The way in which Mr Trump has swept away legislation designed to maintain racial equity and protect gay and transgender citizens can also only be described as deeply disturbing.
It is obvious the new president will not listen to his political opponents, or indeed to more reasonable voices in his own party, but it remains essential that faith leaders on all sides follow the example of Pope Francis by firmly defending the most vulnerable members of our society.