Catholic leaders see 'close alignment' with Trump as he installs social conservatives in top positions

16 December 2024

Although President-elect Donald Trump was raised Mainline Protestant — Presbyterian, to be exact — some of his most ardent supporters have been white evangelical Christian fundamentalists, who are hoping to see him promote an agenda of extreme social conservatism during his second term.

Social conservatism, however, doesn't necessarily come from evangelicals in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court is now dominated by socially conservative Catholic Republicans.

Politico's Megan Messerly, in an article published on December 15, reports that Trump has "nominated at least a dozen Catholics to top positions in his administration."

Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance is a far-right social conservative and a convert to Catholicism, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (a former Democrat) is Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy isn't known for being socially conservative, but his anti-vaxxer views and love of conspiracy theories has made him a popular figure among MAGA Republicans.

"In interviews," Messerly reports, "several conservative practicing Catholic leaders said they see a close alignment between many of Trump's second-term policy priorities and a conservative read of Catholic social teaching, which goes far beyond abortion. It's also focused on promoting marriage and having children, giving parents wide discretion on everything from school content to health care and empowering non-governmental institutions like churches and nonprofit organizations for social support…. This is, of course, not the progressive-leaning Catholicism of (President Joe) Biden, (former House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats, which has honed in on social justice, climate change and health care access among its top causes."

Messerly adds, "Their definition of Catholicism would bristle at the idea of turning away migrants or curtailing Medicaid access."

Politically and socially, Catholics hold a wide variety of views in the United States.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a Catholic, but she has had vehement disagreements with far-right Catholic Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett. And Biden and Rep. Pelosi (D-California) are known for being devout Catholics but are scathing critics of Trump and the MAGA movement.

"Catholics are the largest group of Christians worldwide, and Catholics from both parties have long held prominent positions not only in the White House, but across Washington," Messerly notes. "Six of them sit on the nine-member U.S. Supreme Court; they make up a quarter of Congress, where they are overrepresented compared to the American population; and Biden appointed a similarly sizable number of Catholics to his Cabinet."

Read Politico's full article at this link.

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