Texas senator sparks controversy over social media post critical of Catholic integralism

March 20, 2026

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CWN Editor's Note: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) sparked controversy for recommending a social media article subtitled “How a Network of Political Catholic Integralists, Russian Ideologues, and Media Provocateurs Are Systematically Dismantling the Evangelical Foundation of the American Right.”

“READ every word of this,” said Senator Cruz. “It’s the best & most comprehensive explanation of what we’re fighting.”

“The online assault on sola scriptura has been running for years through Catholic Answers, YouTube debates, conversion testimonies, and TikTok content, targeting young evangelical men specifically,” the article also stated—prompting a response from Catholic Answers, the apologetics organization founded in 1979 by Karl Keating.

After endorsing the post critical of Catholic integralism, Sen. Cruz endorsed a post by Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon, decrying anti-Semitism.

“Catholics & Protestants & Jews should all be resolutely standing together in defense of our shared values,” said Sen. Cruz. “Those seeking to divide us do not have America’s interests in their hearts.”

Archbishop Sample, who chairs the US bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty, responded:

I urge my fellow Christians to approach these matters not through the lens of personal ideology or political preference, but according to the moral principles handed on by Holy Mother Church and her magisterium.

All Christians must reject unjust discrimination on the basis of religion or ethnicity. But that principle must not be misused to silence legitimate criticism of governments.

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