As U.S. Catholic bishops gathered for their annual fall meeting this week in Baltimore, the specter of President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory hung over the proceedings.
In a letter read at the opening of their public sessions, the bishops asked Pope Francis to “pray for the people of the United States” during this post-election transition.
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“We pray that the transfer of power will be peaceful, and that the incoming administration will promote the life and dignity of all people,” it read.
The Trump administration offers promise and peril for American Catholic leaders’ top policy concerns, which include abortion and immigration.
Catholic teaching prioritizes both the end of abortion and the humane care of migrants. In Trump, as for many U.S. Christians, Catholics find an imperfect standard-bearer.
His anti-abortion rhetoric has been mixed: While Trump has taken credit for the end of federal abortion rights, he has waffled on the concept of a national abortion ban and said abortion policies should be left to the states to decide.
On immigration, he provides a less sanguine picture for Catholic prelates. Trump has campaigned three times on harsh immigration policies and vowed to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted in his opening address that the bishops “certainly do not encourage illegal immigration.” Rather, he said they would “encourage immigration reform, while we continue to care for those in need who cross our borders.”
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ committee on migration, said in an interview, “We’re very, very concerned about the impact of all this,” referring to Trump’s anticipated immigration measures.
Catholic and faith-based organizations have long shouldered most of the care of migrants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. For those migrants in his border diocese fleeing violence or facing deportation, Seitz said, “We hear the fear that they live with every day.”
Seitz will present to his fellow bishops on Wednesday about a plan to educate people in parishes on the plight of migrants.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who also serves on the bishops’ migration committee, sounded a note of “cautious optimism” about a second Trump term, believing that the reality of migrants’ contributions to the U.S. economy will matter more than the “hyperbole” about mass deportations.
“If he wants to accomplish ‘the greatest economy ever,’ he’s going to have to work on some type of accommodation on the immigration issues,” said Wenski, who has also worked closely with migrant and refugee communities.
On abortion and other issues, Wenski said in an interview the Biden administration had sometimes given people of faith “heartburn because of policy decisions that seem to intrude on religious liberty.”
Wenski was relieved Florida’s abortion rights amendment failed – gaining 57% support when it needed 60% to prevail. But he forecast “a long road ahead of us in promoting a culture of life.”
The bishops stress in their voting guide that fighting abortion is “our pre-eminent priority.”
At a press conference, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, who chairs the USCCB’s committee on pro-life activities, commended the hard work of the bishops in states where there have been ballot initiatives on abortion. The anti-abortion movement has a losing record on those ballot measures.
“We will never be able financially to keep up with those who are fighting to legalize abortion in their states,” Burbidge said.
He said the bishops have learned to get out early during election cycles with their messaging on the “extreme positions” taken by abortion rights supporters.
“This is ongoing,” he said. “We celebrated the tremendous victory over Roe v. Wade, but we knew soon thereafter the work is only just beginning.”
For anti-abortion Catholics like Charles Camosy, a bioethics professor at Creighton University School of Medicine, neither U.S. political party feels like home. While Vice President Kamala Harris staunchly defended abortion rights, Trump in his view is no anti-abortion warrior either.
Camosy cited Trump’s statement about being “great for women and their reproductive rights,” as well as his support of IVF and state autonomy on abortion. “In my view, that’s a pro-choice position,” Camosy said.
Camosy is cautiously optimistic that incoming vice president, JD Vance, could better represent “the fullness of Catholic teaching.” Vance, a Catholic convert, is part of the growing traditionalist wing of the church.
In this election, Trump strengthened his support among Catholics compared to 2020, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters.
Catholics overall broke for Trump – 54% supported him and 44% supported Harris – but there was a racial divide. About 6 in 10 white Catholics supported Trump, and about 4 in 10 supported Harris. By contrast, about 6 in 10 Latino Catholics supported Harris, and about 4 in 10 supported Trump.
In Baltimore, the bishops had their own elections for committee chairmen, who will begin their terms next November. Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis will serve as the next treasurer for the USCCB.
The other chairmen-elect are Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, for the committee on clergy, consecrated life and vocations; Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost of Cleveland for the committee on divine worship; Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, for the committee on domestic justice and human development; Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas for the committee on laity, marriage, family life and youth; and Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, for the committee on migration.
The bishops also heard about the ongoing war in Ukraine from Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop Stepan Sus, who thanked the prelates for their support.
Discussing the possible end of the war, Sus said a big concern for Ukrainians is that “our fate is not decided without us.”
“We don't want to be on the menu. We want to be at the table when the world starts any negotiations with Russia,” said Sus, who received a standing ovation.
Beyond domestic and international politics, the bishops’ meeting covers drier, bureaucratic fare like the yearly budget approval. On Tuesday, the bishops voted to advance the cause of beatification and canonization of Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas and Gertrude Barber, a Catholic laywoman who worked with people with disabilities.
The bishops also received an overview of this year’s National Eucharistic Revival and the latest synod meeting in Rome, part of a process to reform the church launched by Pope Francis, whose leadership at times has clashed with the right-leaning American Catholic hierarchy.
From his post along the U.S.-Mexico border, Bishop Seitz said the church will continue to work within U.S. laws while advocating to change those laws it finds unjust.
Two days after the election, Seitz participated in a prayer service for migrants. The following morning, he helped drop water off in the desert for migrants crossing over dangerous terrain.
No matter who is in office, he said, “We as the church will continue to do what the church does.”
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AP reporter Giovanna Dell’Orto contributed to this report.
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