The Bishop of El Paso, Texas, was pictured on one knee holding a sign stating “Black Lives Matter.” In a silent protest, Mark Seitz and 12 priests knelt in prayer for eight minutes and 46 seconds. That’s the amount of time a white police officer knelt on the neck of a dying George Floyd as he cried out, “I can’t breathe”.

Two days later, on 3 June, Bishop Seitz received a phone call from Rome. It was Pope Francis, wanting to thank him personally for taking a stand against racism. On the day he made that call, Francis pointed out during his Wednesday general audience that it was not possible to be pro-life and at the same time turn a blind eye to racism (for the record, Bishop Seitz has taken a strong public stance against abortion). Francis also urged protesters to avoid any “self-defeating violence”.

The Pope’s remarks are suggestive of how he and the Holy See might approach the forthcoming presidential election in the United States, which looks likely to be the most fraught and divisive political contest in recent memory. Francis does not want to be drawn into a culture war, and his statement on Wednesday sought to balance various concerns. But neither does he want the Church to be a silent bystander.