White Catholic voters were decisive in the re-election victory of Donald Trump as the next 47th president of the United States. At the time of writing, the Republican candidate secured 295 electoral votes, surpassing the required majority of 270. Trump won 56% of the Catholic vote vs. 41% for Harris, according to a Washington Post exit poll released on 5 November. The same poll found that a significant proportion of non-Catholic Christians (62%) also voted for Trump. Conversely, most Jewish voters (79%), other believers (60%) and those with no religious affiliation (72%) voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, whose defeat was also attributed to a lack of electoral strategy targeting this electoral group. By contrast, Trump emphasised this connection ever since his choice of vice-president, Ohio Senator JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism. An NBC News exit poll, conducted across 10 states, found that 56% of Catholics supported the US tycoon and only 41%, Kamala Harris. As many as 60% of white Catholics supported the tycoon.
The President-elect was offered prayers and congratulations by many religious leaders, starting with the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), archbishop Timothy Broglio. The task ahead for Donald Trump is to “move from campaigning to governing” and to “transition peacefully from one government to the next,” the U.S. bishops’ president remarked.
In his post-election statement, Broglio went on to make clear that the Catholic Church “is not aligned with any political party, and neither is the bishops’ conference. No matter who occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, the teachings of the Church remain unchanged, and we bishops look forward to working with the people’s elected representatives to advance the common good of all.”
In his closing remarks, the archbishop addressed believers and non-believers: “As Christians, and as Americans, we have the duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy”, he affirmed.
From Washington, Card. Wilton Gregory called on all people of good will to work together to meet the new challenges facing the country. “Today, as our nation prepares for a new direction in governance, it is vital for each of us to remember that as people of faith and goodwill, we are called to work together to seek truth, justice and peace in our homes, our communities and our nation,” said Cardinal Gregory.
Massimo Faggioli, professor of historical theology at Villanova University, said in an interview with La Croix that the increase in the number of Catholics who support Trump represents a shift because “US Catholicism is changing”. Faggioli explained that “there are fewer US Catholics who resemble Biden or Pelosi (former Speaker of the House): it’s a generational shift”, linked to cultural and ethnic diversification, as well as to the preservation of traditional and conservative values that new generations of Catholics identify with. Issues of concern to Catholic groups include the new president’s pledge to launch mass deportations and target immigrants. The Jesuit Refugee Service USA issued a statement on Wednesday calling on the new administration to “honour the United States’ historic role as a proud nation of immigrants” and urging the new Congress to enact immigration reform. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark likewise returned to the subject of immigration with posts on X.
According to a survey published on 1 November, some 19 million Catholics and 65 million Christians were considering abstaining from voting because of sensitive issues such as abortion and immigration, and because none of the candidates fully represented their values. Most of these non-voters claimed that their lack of interest in politics was the motivation for not expressing an opinion, against the advice of the episcopate and the recommendations of local and international documents on the political engagement of Christian citizens.
But neither voters nor non-voters, says Professor Faggioli, can afford to ignore the most important question of this election: “What kind of democracy will the United States of America become? Answering this question will require the wholehearted commitment of all Catholics, including non-voters, who will nevertheless experience the presidency of Donald Trump, elected 47th President of the United States.
