Donald Trump’s presidential campaign CEO has accused US Catholics of only being in favour of immigration to boost Church membership. “I understand why Catholics want as many Hispanics in this country as possible, because the Church is dying in this country if it was not for the Hispanics,” said Steve Bannon, who is reported to be Catholic himself. He had previously complained that House Speaker Paul Ryan was “rubbing his social-justice Catholicism in my nose every second”.
What the US media are saying
Several outlets reported the reaction of the Franciscan Action Network, which said Bannon’s comments were “anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant” and had “racist undertones”.
There was also wider discussion of Donald Trump’s lack of appeal among Catholic voters. Under the headline “Donald Trump has a massive Catholic problem”, the Washington Post claimed that Trump is “cratering” among Catholics. Polls show that he has the support of only 32-34 per cent of Catholics, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 55-61 per cent. Catholics are important in the election; they comprise a quarter of voters and are regarded by some as a coherent voting bloc. “But Catholics have long been a swing vote in presidential elections, and right now they’re swinging hard for Clinton,” the paper said.
What Catholics are saying
Catholic columnist Christine Flowers wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Bannon “knew exactly what he was doing when he conflated ‘immigrant’ with ‘Hispanic’,” and called him a “backdoor bigot”. “They don’t actually come out and say they hate the Church, because even though anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice, it still doesn’t fly in polite company,” she said. “Instead, they will point to some negative societal influence or occurrence and then deftly tie the Church to it.”
Michael O’Loughlin, in a blog post for America magazine’s site, noted that while Hispanic Catholics were 76 per cent behind Hillary Clinton and only 13 per cent for Trump, non-Hispanic Catholics were more evenly split, with 44 per cent for Clinton versus 41 per cent for Trump.
The most overlooked story of the week
✣Vatican faces backlash over sex education site
What happened?
The Vatican has provoked strong criticism for its newly released guidance on sex education. “The Meeting Point: Project for Affective and Sexual Formation” was produced by the Pontifical Council for the Family, led by Archbishop Vicenzo Paglia, but a petition calling for it to be retracted has gathered 3,600 signatures so far.
Why was it under-reported?
The issues that have alarmed Catholics – the soft-pedalling of Church teaching on sexuality, for example, and explicit material such as images of scantily clad teenagers – are not likely to raise an eyebrow from a secular readership. But it is surprising that a Vatican initiative has met such opposition. The website has been criticised by two American groups in particular: the Cardinal Newman Society and the American Life League.
The guidelines were intended to be a response to Pope Francis’s document on the family, Amoris Laetitia.
What will happen next?
This depends if the protests gain momentum beyond US lobby groups. It seems unlikely, though, that the Vatican will retract such an initiative.
A key criticism is that the guidelines do not emphasise that sex education is an area primarily for parents. Dr Thomas Ward, founder and president of the National Association of Catholic Families, said: “I find it monstrous that an official arm of the Church would not only create a sexual education programme for teens but one that bypasses parents as the primary educator of their children.”
✣The week ahead
Mother Teresa will be canonised by Pope Francis on Sunday morning in a Mass in St Peter’s Square. The Mass will be preceded by events including a “family feast” for the poor, a musical about the life of Mother Teresa, Masses and prayer vigils. Mother Teresa’s relics will be venerated at St John Lateran and St Gregory the Great over the following four days.
Malta Day-UK will be celebrated tomorrow with a Maltese fair at Westminster Cathedral Hall at 10am, a Solemn Mass at 2.30pm, a street procession with the Statue of Our Lady of Victories and a reception in the evening.
The Paralympics begin in Rio next Wednesday. Pope Francis has already wished good luck to all the competitors. Last week the Pope met four Paralympians, from hosts Brazil and from Italy, during his audience in St Peter’s Square. They told him they hoped people watching the Games would change their attitudes to those with impairments.
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