Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Peace and well-being to you in these days of Autumn. As we say, time flies! The cool days are approaching, and we are looking forward to the festivities of this time of year with Thanksgiving Day and then the beginning of our Holy Season of Advent in preparation for Christmas. Indeed, let us remember the many ways that God blesses us and give Him all praise and thanks.
In the recent days, we have come through a national election and Donald Trump was chosen by the people as our next president. I congratulate President-elect Trump on his victory and I ask that all join me in prayer for him as he prepares to take leadership of our country in these challenging times. I know that some people are probably very pleased by the outcome of the election and others may be quite upset by it. As you know, our country is polarized more than ever and, sadly, somehow this extends to our Church, we are members of society. But if we look at this election and it’s results through the lens of our Catholic faith, we know that we have met our responsibility to participate as faithful citizens. We have formed our conscience and looked at the issues and how they relate to Catholic social teaching and the morals of our Church, and we have cast our vote. If we have done this, we can, and should, be at peace with the result. Let us pray for our new president, support him when his policies reflect our Catholic values, and voice our concern when his policies contradict our values.
As I noted in my pre-election message, the Catholic Church does not align with the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, and so we should not try fit our faith within the tenets of our preferred political party. Rather, it should be the other way around. Many people would like to see the Catholic Church acting like a political party, but we are not a political party. We are the Church of Christ Jesus, guided by Gospel values.
The election may be over but our responsibility to participate in the civic process by advocating on moral issues that are being impacted by public policy is not. There is certainly no shortage of those issues facing us: protection of the unborn, reform of immigration policy to protect the life and dignity of our migrant brothers and sisters, standing up for family values and parental rights, addressing the climate crisis and ensuring access to quality health care and education for all, among many others. We will need to make our positions clear to President Trump and to lawmakers at all levels of government on these issues and others in the coming months and years.
Finally, let us remember, in the aftermath of this contentious election season, that all of our brothers and sisters are worthy of our respect and civil treatment, regardless of who they voted for on Nov. 5. Let us remember, as Catholic Christians, we live by Gospel values. So, there should be no place for violence or lawlessness as a response to the result of this election. It has truly been a blessing that we were able to be part of choosing our next president. Let us pray for President-elect Trump and for our country. May the Holy Spirit inspire and strengthen us all with wisdom and love as we begin this new chapter and may God’s will be done.