Post-Election Reflections

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is not officially connected to any political party, and does not explicitly endorse candidates for public office, although some individual bishops have said that Catholics should not vote for candidates who support “pro-abortion policies.” In the last six decades Catholic citizens, currently around 20% of the U.S. population, have voted for both Democrat and Republican candidates for president, usually for the winner. For instance, in 1960 an estimated 78% of Catholics voted for Democrat John F. Kennedy who became the first Catholic president in U.S. history. (For this percentage and the following statistics I simply used approximate numbers available on the internet provided by government agencies, respected researchers and scholars in the field.) Forty-four years later in 2004, another Catholic senator from Massachusetts with the initials J.F.K., John Kerry received only 48% of the Catholic vote and lost to Republican incumbent George W. Bush by 2.3 percentage points. That year when Ohio was considered the most important swing state there were signs in the northwestern part of the state “Catholics Against Kerry,” because of his permissive stand on abortion. During that campaign, archbishop of St. Louis Raymond Burke said Kerry should not present himself for communion because he supported the “practice of procured abortion.”

In 2016, Catholics supported Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton by seven percentage points. In 2020, Joe Biden got just about half the Catholic vote to defeat Trump and in 2024 Trump got 52% of the Catholic vote to defeat Kamala Harris and win back the White House. In the recent election Trump won all the battle ground states to give him a significant electoral college victory with 312 electoral votes. However, he won the three Blue Wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by a total of only 121,000 votes. In 2020 President Biden won those three states by about 250,000 votes. In the 2024 election, 81% of White evangelicals voted for Trump, about the same percentage he won in 2016 and 2020. Thus, a case can be made that among religious groups it was the Catholic vote in the Blue Wall States that propelled Trump into the White House by choosing him over Kamala Harris by four percentage points.

Some conservative Catholic leaders accused Vice President Harris of harboring anti-Catholic bias. For instance, Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, accused the Vice President of a “clear animus against Catholics,” exemplified by her decision not to attend the annual Al Smith charity dinner hosted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. Brian Burch, president of Catholics Vote, a conservative political advocacy organization said Harris has a long history of bias against Catholics, adding she “hates what we believe.” As an organization Catholics Vote actively supported Trump with a ten-million-dollar project that captured Mass goers’ cell phone numbers and repeatedly sent them political ads supporting Trump.

There were also Catholic organizations supporting Harris, although they were not as well organized and financed. For instance, Catholics Vote Common Good helped sponsor an 84-page booklet available on-line that praised the Vice President for her stand on many issues, including democracy, health care and global warming.

As our nation gropes its way forward after such a contentious election, Catholic Social Teaching (CST) offers wise guidance. For example, it insists that we respect and honor the inherent dignity and worth of every individual person including those who disagreed with our choice for president. This theme is grounded in the fundamental teaching of Christ that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. To put this into practice after the election, we need to love ourselves and find ways to heal and recuperate. For example: Identifying and naming our emotional responses, whether anger, frustration, fear, bewilderment, disappointment and even despair; Fasting from political news and commentary for a few days or weeks as needed; Commiserating with a friend who knows when to stop and lighten the mood; Enjoying fun time with family; Keeping up a regular exercise routine; and Spending more time in prayer and meditation.

Feeling rejuvenated prepares us to do our part to develop a “better kind of politics” as Pope Francis proposed in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (pp 69-89). The pope insisted that politics should serve “the common good” and foster “social love” through “dialogue across perspectives” that can profoundly renew societal institutions (n 183). In general, this requires listening to one another; identifying shared values and working together to find creative solutions for the common good.

In 2021, the American bishops published a statement advocating five ways of developing a “better kind of politics” based on Fratelli. 1. We must recover the sense of belonging to a single human family (n 30). This means rejecting “every individualistic mindset” and seeking “the good of all people” including those who voted differently. 2. Commit to approaching others with love (n 201). This involves “stepping outside ourselves” and seeking “to understand another’s personal experience.” 3. Identify common values based on truth (n 184). This includes a commitment to “fundamental human rights” and “integral human development” that can lead to creative political solutions. 4. Learn how to unmask the various ways that the truth is manipulated (n 201). This requires identifying our main sources of political information and checking if they are reliable. 5. Get comfortable with the fact that societal differences can coexist that complement and enrich one another despite disagreements (n 215). This calls us to engage in frank and open political conversations with others recognizing they may have legitimate convictions and concerns. In Fratelli Tutti, Francis reminded us that building a better politics will not be easy, quick or glamorous. However, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can make progress toward a “better politics” that serves the “common good where all can thrive” (n 198). Pope Francis has provided us with a rich resource worth further thought and application as we try to maintain a Christian perspective on troublesome political developments in our country.

Let us consider some concrete ways Catholics intend to deal with the election results moving forward. A happily married couple who split their vote has decided to maintain their silence on politics and to concentrate on things they enjoy together. Another couple in a fragile marriage who split their vote decided to have a serious conversation about their political views in the hope that this would open up the possibility of other conversations on contentious issues in their marriage. A factory worker exuberant over Trump’s victory resolved to treat his good friend grieving the Harris loss with utmost respect and compassion so that their friendship can thrive despite their political disagreements. A retired professor of public health has resolved not to let Trump, such a vile and disgusting man, affect her daily mood. A young Catholic woman, who thinks Kamala Harris ran an almost flawless campaign was dating an evangelical Christian man she really liked but who thinks God sent Donald Trump as our savior, has decided to break off the relationship because of what she now sees as an irreconcilable political disagreement. A Catholic man very familiar with the twelve-step program for alcoholic addiction who feels powerless to do anything about the dire political situation has resolved to trust his higher power to keep him sane and engaged in the political process. A grad student in political science has decided to write a paper on why so many Catholics voted for Trump, including the theory that he activated their latent authoritarianism and consequent desire for a strong leader by constantly talking about dangerous migrants pouring over our borders and by investing over twenty million dollars in ads claiming Harris favors spending taxpayer money for transgender surgeries. A grandfather, a social justice activist, intends to give his three adult grandchildren a gift membership to Network (Advocates For Justice Inspired By Catholic Sisters) a large, stable organization with great leadership and competent theologians is well-prepared for a long and challenging struggle against authoritarian moves initiated by the Trump administration. Members of the parish prolife and social justice committees plan to have an open discussion of their political preferences to help ease any tensions between them, employing the synodal process of “conversations in the spirit” that stress empathetic listening, non-judgmental responses and efforts to build social friendships.

Personally, I am extremely distressed by Trump’s victory and am very disappointed in the Catholic vote that contributed to his election. Of all Trump’s troublesome policies, including mass deportations of immigrants, his radical reorganization of NATO that will affect Ukraine, and his restrictions on the LGBT community, I am most concerned about his energy policy that denies the danger of global warming, leading to a weakening of the Paris Agreement and increase in the U.S. carbon output. Immediately this will continue to produce more extreme weather patterns and eventually threaten the viability of our planet and all its inhabitants. As to Trump’s threat to democracy, his selections for federal positions and choice of advisors make it even clearer that he intends to implement proposals in Project 2025 that has been described as a “blueprint” for establishing an authoritarian regime. It will be important to pay close attention to these developments and do all we can to influence our legislators to resist any infringements on our democratic rights.

In response, I intend to continue my efforts to make Catholic Social Teaching better known as a valuable resource for saving our democracy, resisting authoritarian policies initiated by President Trump and preserving our planet as a viable home for the human race (Paulist Press plans to publish my latest book Catholic Social Teaching: Revealing More of The Treasure for publication on May 8, 2025). I will also continue to urge prayers to the Holy Spirit for the gift of Christian hope that can strengthen us to overcome cynicism and despair and empower us to do all that we can to create a “more perfect union” fostered by the “better angels of our nature,” as President Abraham Lincoln so eloquently put it in his First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.