(CNN) In recent years a number of Catholic bishops have denounced President Donald Trump's immigration policies and harsh rhetoric toward immigrants and people of color.

But one church leader went one step further, becoming likely the first Catholic bishop in the United States to publicly accuse Trump of racism.

Gustavo Garcia Siller, archbishop of San Antonio, USA, leaves the altar after receiving the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI, a woolen shawl symbolizing his bond to the Pope, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

In a series of lacerating tweets, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio, Texas, called the President "a very poor man" and urged him to " stop hate and racism, starting with yourself ."

On Tuesday, Garcia-Siller deleted the tweets and said in a statement: "I regret that my recent Tweet remarks were not focused on the issues but on an individual."

"We must pray for fervently for peace amidst all of the violence which seems to be overwhelming our society. We must be lights in the darkness," the archbishop added.