Catholic Resources for Preserving Democracy in the Trump Era

Bill a faithful Catholic has been doing all he can to resist the creeping authoritarianism fostered by President Trump. Recently, he has been alarmed by Trump’s successes: appointing three judges to the Supreme Court, forcing an Ivy League President to resign, winning a lawsuit against CBS, controlling productions at the Kennedy Center, blocking Harvard’s efforts to recruit international students, getting Congress to pass a reconciliation bill that will reward the rich and severely harm the poor on Medicaid. Fearing the inevitability of Trump’s effort to become a dictator, Bill is tempted to withdraw from the public arena and spend time with his three grandchildren. In short, he has lost hope in our democratic process to halt Trump’s march toward creating a dictatorship.

To encourage Bill, who represents many like-minded persons, it is important to distinguish optimism from Christian hope. Optimism is a mental attitude characterized by a sense that things are going to get better and the future will be bright. On the other hand, Christian hope is based on the faith conviction that God is in charge of the world, that God wills the goodness and salvation of all people, and that the divine plan will ultimately be fulfilled. In our current political situation, it is hard to be optimistic, but it is possible to be hopeful. In the great struggle between good and evil, God’s grace is always more powerful and will eventually prevail. This faith conviction alerts us to signs of hope in the midst of the toxic darkness that we face.

To encourage Bill, I want to raise up Catholic leaders and groups who have challenged some of Trump’s policies.

• Pope Leo XIV has insisted that he will follow the path of his predecessor Pope Francis who was a strong advocate for refuges and publicly chided President Trump for building walls instead of bridges. Pope Leo’s experience as a descendent of immigrants who settled in the Chicago area and as an immigrant in Peru who served as a missionary and bishop, gave him a deep “respect for migrants,” as he himself has said publicly.
• Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington D.C. criticized Trump’s mass deportation policy as “inhumane, morally repugnant and incompatible with Catholic teaching.”
• As Congress debated Trump’s reconciliation bill, some 300 sisters and supporters gathered in the Capital in an event called “Sisters Speak Out” to pray and to insist that the proposed legislation would do serious damage to the Medicaid program. Numerous “Echo Events” with the same format were held around the country and within religious orders.
• At Catholic colleges and Newman centers around the country, large numbers of collegians have been participating in Christian Service projects, serving poor people in disadvantaged communities at home and abroad – an experience that can reveal the weaknesses of the America First policy and the richness of diverse cultures.
• The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests issued a statement condemning “the devastating budget that Donald Trump seeks to inflict on the hungry, thirsty, and the strangers, as well as on our poor and our elderly, our children, the disabled, ordinary working men and women, and on anyone who does not fall within the millionaire class for which the budget is tailored.”
• The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops which has been reluctant to criticize Trump did comment on his reconciliation bill by encouraging lawmakers “to reconsider provisions that will harm the poor and disadvantaged, our immigrant brothers and sisters, and our environment.”
• On January 7, 2025 the Catholic Climate Covenant and the Laudato Si Movement issued a joint statement expressing their alarm at the “extensive reversal of U.S. domestic and international climate policies by the Trump administration,” especially withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and stopping progress on renewable energy programs.
• By word and example, Pope Francis has urged Catholics to collaborate with other churches to seek justice for all. In the United States we are blessed with many strong religious, spiritual and humanistic communities which have valuable resources for resisting Trump’s authoritarian policies. To summarize the main point, the good example of these Catholic leaders and groups are designed to encourage Bill to find renewed hope, and reengage in the struggle to save democracy.

Turning to the pollical arena, it is important for Bill to realize that Catholics can make a difference in future elections. In 2024, it can be argued that Catholics helped elect Trump, although I have not seen any scholars or commentators actually making that claim. Since the election of John Kennedy in 1960, Catholics have backed the winning candidate in most presidential elections with the exception of Nixon/Humphrey in 1968 and Bush/Gore in 2000. In 2020 the majority of Catholics voted for President Biden while in 2024, they voted for Donald Trump. Actually Trump did not win in a landslide as he often claims but won the three major swing states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by a total of only 220,000 votes. The Jewish community voted for Trump by the same margins in 2020 and 2024 as did White Evangelicals. It was the Catholic vote that changed from Biden to Trump in 2024. In this regard Catholic theology insists we have a moral obligation to vote. Furthermore, withdrawing from the public arena and not voting could be decisive and could determine who wins future presidential elections.

As President Trump pursues his political agenda, polls show that the majority of Americans think our democracy is under serious threat, 76% according to a recent Marist poll. Christian hope is not based on various material factors: poll numbers; stock market fluctuations; judicial decisions including class action lawsuits; Federal Reserve decisions; or inflation rates. It is based on the faith conviction that God is faithful to the divine promise to save all people. This conviction can and should be nourished by prayer and meditation. It is a free unmerited gift of the Holy Spirit that should prompt constructive action to promote justice and peace. As a virtue, it strengthens us to do good even in the darkest time. Christian hope is indeed a most valuable resource as Americans of various backgrounds join in an historic epic battle to halt creeping authoritarianism and preserve our fragile democracy.