On Sunday, all churches in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington were asked to read a letter from Bishop Michael Burbidge urging the Catholic faithful to turn out and vote No on two state constitutional amendments in the midterm elections: one insisting on a fundamental right to abortion, and one to "affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race."
Bishop Burbidge proclaimed "The Church is not partisan. The Church never advocates for or against specific candidates or parties. At the same time, the Church, in fidelity to the Gospel and her mission, always speaks clearly, faithfully and truthfully concerning matters of faith and morals in public life."
Last month, Burbidge and Barry Knestout, the Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, issued a joint statement opposing these amendments. Has The Washington Post noticed this campaign? We can't find it. One might expect the Post to be upset at this blurring of "separation of church and state" when it comes to opposing Democrats. We know they have no objection to Democrats campaigning in liberal churches, but theocracy is afoot when the social conservative cause gets organized.
🚨A RARE MOVE by a Virginia Bishop Ahead of Election Day
"Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge says he has never before asked every priest in his diocese to do what he requested this weekend: read a letter at Mass urging Catholics to oppose two Virginia constitutional amendments on… pic.twitter.com/FI8LOZRIyv— Virginia News Vanguard (@VaNewsVanguard) September 14, 2026
In fact, a search of WashingtonPost.com for "Michael Burbidge" turns up only 16 results -- and Burbidge has been the Bishop of Arlington for almost ten years now. The latest one is from January 2024.
Compare that to a search of the Post for the Archbishop of Washington, Robert McElroy, appointed last year. His oppositional stances to President Trump thrill them. A search of "Robert McElroy" turns up 244 results. (It's an A.I. search, so it looks like not every article is a match.) Abp. McElroy draws happy headlines, such this 2025 story by Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein: "Pro-immigrant archbishop takes over D.C. church amid Trump crackdown."
There’s also “D.C. archbishop calls U.S. immigration crackdown a ‘governmental assault’” and “D.C. archbishop calls out suffering caused by ICE.” More recently, it was “To criticize an American-led war, an American pope turns to allies.”
The Post could still arrive on this story in its backyard. It's not like they're not covering Catholics. On Friday, Boorstein put together this story: “DHS hires Catholic theologian who defended Trump on birthright citizenship.” Chad Pecknold of Catholic University is identified with a “post-liberal” movement, and Boorstein pounced: “Critics say post-liberalism has reactionary or authoritarian leanings.”
