ROME – In a recent column in an Austrian newspaper, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, widely hailed as one of the Church’s most gifted intellectuals, has condemned recent policy decisions by United States President Donald Trump as “dangerous.”

Schönborn, 80, is a Dominican and served as the Archbishop of Vienna from 1995 until his retirement in January, holding the post for nearly 30 years.

At one point considered a frontrunner among the papabili, meaning candidates who could be elected pope, he is considered one of the Catholic Church’s most respected intellectuals and theologians within the College of Cardinals.

In a brief “Answers” column in Austrian newspaper HEUTE published Feb. 7, just weeks after Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, Schönborn reflected on the global state of affairs and the impact of the bold and controversial decisions Trump has made during his first days in office.

He reflected on contracts as agreements that “regulate large parts of our lives,” and are often done “in good faith.”

“They are written in mutual trust. Both parties have agreed on the content. They must therefore be conscientiously adhered to by both parties,” he said, saying this logic applies to a variety of situations, whether it be a rental agreement, trade or business contracts, marriages, and interstate agreements.

Contracts can also be changed and renegotiated, he said, saying “the rule of law depends on contracts being valid.”

The opposite of this, he said, is an “arbitrariness” in which “the powerful dictate their will, regardless of what is contractually agreed.”

“Arbitrariness creates fear and mistrust. It undermines mutual trust. Nothing can be relied on anymore,” he said.

To this end, Schönborn said that “What is currently happening in the USA is extremely dangerous.”

“Trade agreements are being unilaterally broken, existing state rights are being called into question, the existing law and its constitutional protection are being pushed aside,” he said, cautioning that “dictatorships are on the rise worldwide and with them the arbitrariness of those in power.”

Back in the White House for less than a month, Trump so far has issued a sweeping set of executive orders closing agencies, freezing spending that US Congress had mandated by law, and challenging the breadth of rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and is testing his limits in the judicial system.

The scope and speed of his efforts to push limits and flex his powers many believe are unprecedented and have left officials on both sides of the political aisle concerned.

While lower courts are currently temporarily blocking many of his edicts, nothing has yet risen to the level of the Supreme Court, where the outcome of these presidential power grabs could have historic consequences.

In a decision that has drawn widespread criticism from around the world, including the Catholic Church’s largest charitable organization, Caritas, he has dismantled USAID, the primary international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government, despite the fact that it was mandated by Congress and its funding required by law.

Trump is now working alongside billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, which, beginning in January, gained rapid and sweeping access to USAID and U.S. Treasury networks, and which has either fired or put on leave thousands of federal employees.

These employees mostly belong to the departments of Health and Human Services, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Interior and Agriculture, according to a tally from Reuters news agency.

So far Trump has also pledged to carry out mass deportations and has ordered the tightening of the immigrant vetting process.

He has ordered the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and has revoked the security clearances of dozens of intelligence officials who signed a 2020 letter casting doubt on a report critical of Hunter Biden.

Trump has ordered the director of the Office of Management and Budget and other agencies are directed to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government and has also ordered the federal government to recognize individuals by their biological sex.

Also related to gender, he has issued an order contending that those with gender dysmorphia and shifting pronouns are unfit for military service.

Announced during his inaugural address, Trump has moved to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America – a designation that the Associated Press refused to recognize in its copy, and afterwards was banned from the White House press room in what many have said is an act of retaliation and an assault against the free press by the Trump administration.

An order was issued by Trump directing the secretary of state to issue state department guidance on promoting an “America First” foreign policy through its various policies, programs, personnel and operations.

Trump has also ordered the U.S.’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and has issued an order denying citizenship to certain U.S.-born children whose parents are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

Implying that Trump is a dictator orchestrating unprecedented power grabs, Schönborn in his column said, “Good faith, trust and security are falling by the wayside, and above all the weaker, poorer and defenseless.”

“Is that what we want?” he asked.

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