EDITORIAL: Both options sent a clear message. On Election Day, Catholic voters delivered a clear message of their own.

When Vice President Kamala Harris broke with tradition and belittled Upon an invitation from the Archdiocese of New York to attend the Al Smith Dinner, Cardinal Timothy Dolan urged him to reconsider, good-naturedly noting that the last presidential candidate to reject the iconic charity fundraiser was Walter Mondale, who lost 49 of 50 states. 1984 Election.

“I don’t want to say there’s a direct connection there,” he said with a smile.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s landslide victory on November 5, Cardinal Dolan’s now widely expressed insinuations of Ronald Reagan’s landslide seem prescient. In the end, Trump easily won the electoral and popular votes, claiming victory in all seven battleground states.

For Harris and the Democrats, it was a shocking and devastating defeat made possible in part by Trump’s surprisingly strong performance among Catholic voters. Exit polls showed that 60 percent of Catholic voters supported Trump; This is a striking reversal from four years ago.

It’s tempting to blame Harris’ radical abortion stance for her poor showing against Catholics; not only because it is diametrically opposed to the Church’s clear-sighted teaching on the sanctity of life, but also because it is the only significant policy position he offers.

But the truth is that most Catholics who voted for Trump did so for reasons that had nothing to do with their faith. As with voters generally, concerns about inflation and a porous U.S. border drove them to Trump. It’s likely that relatively few Catholic voters were aware of Harris’ absence from the Al Smith Dinner. public disdain Knights of Columbus and even for him rejection Considering a religious exemption for medical professionals who oppose abortion. (They would know all this if they subscribed to the Register and read our “Voter Guide.”)

This year, as in previous elections, there was serious doubt about whether there was a “Catholic vote”. There is absolutely no such thing as a Catholic “bloc,” as Catholics long ago, for better or worse, became thoroughly assimilated into American society and ceased to act simultaneously. Even Catholics who regularly attend mass and go to confession (a better measure of how important a role their faith plays in their daily lives than identifying culturally as Catholic) embrace a wide range of political views.

Perhaps the real value of looking to Catholic voters lies in the universality of our Church. Here in the United States, we are spread across the country and represent every race, ethnicity, age, income level, and life situation. Therefore, we provide a useful snapshot of the overall electorate. This means that a candidate who scores low among Catholic voters will likely face real problems getting elected.

This wonderful diversity adds important nuance to a more comprehensive analysis of the Catholic vote; because several key subgroups—Latino men, working-class Latinos in the Rust Belt, married women, Catholics without a college degree, and church-going Catholics—all had a critical impact on the election. last vote

Donald Trump understands this. That’s one reason he chose J.D. Vance as his running mate, an outspoken Catholic who has proven his worth on the campaign’s home turf. Harris, on the contrary, preferred Tim Walz, who in his youth rejected the Catholic faith and advocated radical views on gender ideology and unrestricted abortion, completely contradicting the Church’s teachings on human dignity.

Both options sent a clear message. On Election Day, Catholic voters delivered a clear message of their own.