United States: Catholics torn between Leo XIV and Donald Trump

Representing at least a third of the inhabitants, Catholics constitute the main confession of the city and its surroundings. “The population is historically made up of immigrants coming mainly from Belgium and the Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, from Poland and Italy, arriving a century and a half ago,” explains Father John Girotti, vicar general of the diocese, whose offices are located in the countryside, on a large plot of land on the banks of the Fox River. Rondou, Desnoyeux, Lemieux, Scholten and even Van Susterem: the names of the donors of the stained glass windows in the churches confirm the priest’s statements.

Politicized bishops

Among these Catholics, Anna, who recites the rosary prayer in the street. Opposite, a pub flies several rainbow flags. Anna looks at them. For this 27-year-old Catholic, Christianity should not remain confined to the private sphere. “The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ, and yet the world makes it one of pride for those who orient themselves sexually differently from the way God created them. I think it’s bad. »

When it comes to voting, Anna has very specific criteria. “I choose the candidate who prioritizes actions pro-life (“pro-life”), family, children,” she lists. In this, it is in line with the declarations of the American bishops in recent years. In 2012, a few days before the presidential election which saw the re-election of Barack Obama, the Bishop of Green Bay, Mgr David Ricken – still in office today – did not hesitate to take a position against the Democratic Party, on the subject of abortion, euthanasia and the marriage of same-sex couples. “Some candidates and a party have even chosen certain intrinsically bad ideas as a political program, whether for their organization or personally,” he criticized. To vote for someone who supports these positions is to make oneself morally complicit in these intrinsically bad choices. »

Fourteen years later, the tone is softer. “There is good will in each of the camps,” procrastinates the right arm of Mgr Ricken. It is very difficult to choose. » What changed the situation? The pontificate of Francis of course, which emphasized other demands – starting with respect for migrants and the environment. The gradual renewal of the episcopate gradually allows us to create a shift in discourse. The election of Leo XIV, American pope born in Chicago, a three-hour drive from Green Bay and speaking mainly in English, also plays a role. But also the irruption into American political life of a man, Donald Trump, who, from one outrage to another, did not hesitate to clash through the media with the Bishop of Rome just a few months ago. “Leon XIV should be grateful because, as everyone knows, his appointment was a real surprise (…) If I was not in the White House, he would not be in the Vatican,” he said last April.

“My God, such inappropriate hubris! I was so shocked, so disappointed. » Long involved in the activities of the diocese, Karen Monfre does not hide her irritation with the current tenant of the White House. “I prayed a lot before the 2024 election because I didn’t want to vote for him. He is a terrible man and I fear he is dangerous…” And yet, she concedes: “The President is doing good things for the Catholic program while Joe Biden, although claiming to be Catholic, has not done any. He should confess to it. » This is the dilemma of many Wisconsin Catholics. They like what Donald Trump does, particularly on abortion or the family, without always liking what he is, while listening to a pope who insists on migrants, social justice or the environment.

A poll organized shortly before the 2024 presidential election showed that the more Catholics were practicing, the more they placed Donald Trump clearly in the lead in their voting intentions. In the end, they had mostly voted for him, and in Brown County – the one on which Green Bay depends – the New York billionaire ran in the lead in the three presidential elections in which he ran, increasing his score each time, to end up in the 2024 election with a solid lead of 7.5 points over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

Abortion in the crosshairs

An example of these “good things” that the impetuous tenant of the White House does for the “Catholic program”? Restrict abortion, quote almost systematically the practicing Catholics from Wisconsin interviewed. In 2022, thanks to Donald Trump’s appointments of conservative judges to the Supreme Court, a decision was issued overturning the historic Roe vs. Wade ruling. This new jurisprudence has allowed States to very strictly restrict abortion, or even to make it almost impossible on their territory. In Wisconsin, doctors then completely stopped abortions for a few weeks, while the legal situation was clarified.

“I would have been dancing in the street when it happened,” says Genny Jones. This dynamic sixty-year-old runs the Alexandrina center. Installed in a soulless building alongside shops, this “secular Catholic apostolate” offers complete support to women, from pregnancy tests to clothing for little ones, including free ultrasounds. Clothes – many of which are returned by families once the child is too old – and powdered milk. In Green Bay, activism on moral principles is accompanied by concrete and effective action. “Every month, we donate no less than 25,000 diapers,” explains the director.

Pinned to her blouse is a silver brooch representing tiny feet. “It’s the exact size of a ten-week-old baby’s feet: it’s not a piece of jewelry, but a reminder of reality. Here we are not practicing the dialogue of guilt, but that of truth. » If she does not explicitly say who she voted for, Genny Jones reveals it half-heartedly. “The pro-life issue is very important, and sometimes you have to choose the lesser evil. » No question of voting for the Democratic presidential candidates therefore, they who had made the legalization of abortion a major axis of their program.

For him, the current President is almost providential. “If God could have worked with Saul (persecutor of the first Christians, he became Saint Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus, editor’s note) he can work with Donald Trump. » Even the President’s questioning of Pope Leo XIV finds favor in Jim’s eyes. “He doesn’t necessarily use the vocabulary I would use, but he says it to shock and provoke debate. Donald Trump’s words may be sharp, but his actions do a lot of good. »

Above all, for the committed Catholic, life of the city and faith are inseparable, far from a strict vision of secularism which can sometimes exist in France. “The United States exists by the grace of God,” he analyzes, sitting in an armchair on the terrace of his house. We will have to repent of abortion, otherwise our country will no longer exist because it will have turned away from God. »

Final battle approaching

Often associated with evangelical Christianity, this interweaving of religion and politics is also found among Catholics. Jim VandeHey is not alone in this. “Have you watched this documentary?” asks Genny Jones in an email with a link to a video. It’s about a hermit who predicted in the 1980s that Donald Trump would save America. » For some, the alliance is all the stronger because the fight between good and evil is always more heated – with a final battle approaching, according to the most millenarian among them. “Our Lady is in the process of gathering her troops,” says a committed lay person, however seeming to immediately regret having expressed his deep thoughts out loud.

Not all Catholics in Green Bay agree with this view. Eva Garcia, a 17-year-old high school student, was born an American citizen to Mexican parents. Her father is a deacon, her mother “very Catholic,” she says with a smile. The young woman, who takes advantage of her summer to work in the dishwasher of a restaurant, wears a crucifix around her neck and regularly goes to mass. “I don’t believe you can be Catholic and vote for Donald Trump. She’s not a very… Christian person. ” For what ? “I’m afraid of him, he has a lot of power and sometimes seems ready to exercise it. » Modestly, she clarifies her thoughts, in reference to the arrests and sometimes violent expulsions of Latin American migrants: “It’s hard to see what is happening to people like me. »

“The United States is a blessed place to freely exercise our faith,” analyzes Father Girotti. But today’s challenges – migrants, the environment, freedom of education – are both politics and the gospel. The risk would be to manipulate religion in the service of politics. » The vicar general even pushes the reflection further. “With our power and influence, if we confuse faith and politics, we would end up confusing the Kingdom of God with the United States. Which is not true. »

Here again, providential help responds to this risk. The election of a compatriot to the pontificate, Leo XIV, can remind America that the Church is universal, and that it constitutes only a part of it. As for the relationship that certain Catholics have with Donald Trump… Father Girotti raises his eyes to heaven, takes a moment of reflection, the time to carefully weigh his words. “We always pray for Presidents. And currently we are perhaps doing it with particular emphasis. »