Finding common ground in election not easy for some Pa. Catholics
On a sidewalk opposite Pittsburgh’s St. Paul Cathedral on a recent Sunday, across Fifth Avenue from where Mass-goers were entering, a group called Pittsburgh Catholics4Biden help up signs in support of the Democratic presidential nominee and criticizing President Donald Trump’s policies toward immigrant children and others.
Then another group surrounded them with signs calling for an end to abortion — a signature issue for the Trump campaign — competing with the first group’s chants byloudly praying the “Hail Mary.”
“We said the ‘Hail Mary’ with them,” said Beth Venditti, anorganizer of the group favoring Democratic candidate Joe Biden. “It’s a very common Catholic prayer. They don’t own it.”
But finding common ground on the upcoming election may be elusive for Catholics locally and beyond. Advocates for both presidential candidates have aggressively courted Keystone Catholic voters, and no wonder: Pennsylvania Catholics — estimated at nearly one-quarter of the commonwealth’s likely voters — can be considered the ultimate swing voters in the ultimate swing state. In recent presidential elections,
Catholics nationally have see-sawed in support of Democratic andRepublican candidates, with Trump winning them in 2016. Catholic personalities loom large in this campaign. Biden, if elected, would be the second Catholic president, embracing many policies on immigration, poverty, health care and the environment that track the liberal side of Catholic social teaching — though many conservatives see a deal-breaker in his support for legal and Medicaid-funded abortion.
Critics have scrutinized Trump’snomineefortheSupreme Court, Judge AmyConeyBarrett, a conservative Catholic, over her views on church and constitutional authority. Jim Sismour of Edgewood, a member of the steering committee for Pittsburgh Catholics4Biden, said: “I’m against abortion, but I’m in favor of the policies andideas Joe Biden supports across the spectrum of life issues, many of which reduce the numbers of abortions,” such as on health care and reducing poverty.
But James Gartner of Penn Hills is supporting Trump, primarily over abortion. “Life is to methefirst issue,” Gartner said at a gathering of Catholics for TrumplastmonthattheHulaBar and Grill in Verona. One speaker at that event wasKristan Hawkins of McDonald, a board member of the national Catholics for Trump caucus. “This is not an election about, ‘Oh, how does one candidate line up about this policy on immigration, or this policy of school choice?’ “she said. “These are important issues. ... But this election is about whether or not human beings — babies — have the very right to be born.”
Much of the attention to Trump’s religious base has focused on the loyalty of most white, evangelical Christians. But Trump also won big majorities of other white Christian voters in 2016, including Catholics, said Robert Jones of the Washington-based Public Religion Research Institute. Jones, author of “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in AmericanChristianity,” attributes this to a fear of demographicshifts eroding the historic majority of white Christians, who in surveys are most likely to see racism as a personal rather than a social problem.
White evangelicals are fairly “locked down” for Trump, he added. But hesaid support among white Catholics and mainline Protestants this time is “more up for grabs.” In Pennsylvania, 24% of likely voters are white Catholics, according to an NBC News/Marist Poll released in early September. Slightly more than half of them are considered “practicing” — defined as attending Mass at least once per month.
Overall, white Catholics were polling for Trump by a 53%-43% margin. That margin grew to 69%-28% among “practicing” Catholics, while Biden led by 60%-35% percent amongtherest. Thepoll gave Biden a 9-point lead overall. (Thepoll did not measure non-white Catholics, though other polling has found them to be about one-10th of all Pennsylvania Catholics. In national polling, Hispanic voters have strongly favored Biden.)
Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said in a recent statement to the faithful that many Catholics feel politically “homeless” because neither partly aligns squarely with the church’s values.
“Catholics can in good faith make different political choices based on different moral reasoning about howbesttopromotethe common good,” Zubik said. “But good Catholics cannot vote for a candidate in order to support a position that endangers human lives, promotes racism, violates religious freedom, or in any way violates human rights.”
He also asked clergy to avoid endorsements, and he reiterated diocesan policy that no political materials should bedistributed on church property.
Varied approaches
In the Diocese of Pittsburgh, priests have taken varied approaches. The Rev. David Bonnar, pastor of St. Aidan Parish in the North Hills, quoted from Zubik’s letter at Masses last weekend, citing “serious threats to human life and dignity, some of which are racism, the environment crisis, human trafficking, unemployment, underemployment, appropriate medical coverage, the death penalty, religious freedom, the plight of immigrants, and poverty,” while citing “the right to be born as the right upon which all other ‘life issues’ rest.”
The Rev. Frank Almade, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in eastern Allegheny County, said some parishioners had read incorrect information online that “voting for one candidate would incur a mortal sin.” He cited Zubik’s letter, saying voter intent is key: A conscientious Catholic voter needs to be seeking the common good.
“Important life issues are not on the ballot —- human beings are,” Almade said via email. “Flawed human beings, none of whom embrace or embody the fullness of Catholic social and moral teaching. (Neither do their political parties.) In voting we citizens must make prudential choices after looking at all the issues.”
He said he does preach on important issues throughout the year, such as abortion, racism and immigration, and reminds parishioners to advocate for the common good year-round, not just at the ballot box.
TheRev. Jason Charron, pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, said he distributed a voter guide from the group Priests for Life with his bishop’s approval, highlighting the party platforms on such issues as abortion, sex education and private-school vouchers. The parish is part of the smaller, multistate Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat, which has different bishops and liturgies but is loyal to the pope and Catholic dogma.
“We don’t tell parishioners whichparty to vote for, but weare certainly very duty-bound to lay out for them the Christian obligations that are incumbent upon us in the ballot box,” Charron said. Without “the right to life and the dignity of the Christian family and the right to educate children,” he said, any other issue is a “moot point.”
Catholic supporters of Trump cite his policies including nominating three Supreme Court justices and other judges favored by anti-abortion groups. Theycite the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ depiction of abortion as the “preeminent” issue. Supporters of Biden say a single issue can’t excuse what they consider Trump’s failures on other moral issues. They point to Pope Francis’ teaching that the defense “of the innocent unborn ... needs to be clear, firm and passionate” while also stating that “equally sacred ... are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned” and other needy persons.
“The bishops highlight what is intrinsically evil, e.g. abortion and euthanasia, but do not highlight the positive call to serve those in need,” said the Rev. John Oesterle, a hospital chaplain and member of Pittsburgh Catholics4Biden, via email. Hecited the call to “welcomethe stranger, care for the sick, visit those in prison, be nonviolent, and heal divisions, that we all may be one.”