Sed Contra: Catholics and the GOP

Catholics make up the largest religious denomination in this country-65 million. They are also one-third of the electorate in a presidential election, some 30 million. Yet in more than 200 years, a Catholic priest has never served as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In December, an 18-member bi­partisan committee gave its top rec­ommendation to Fr. Timothy O’Brien, a political science professor at Mar­quette University, for the job of House chaplain. When House Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader Armey, and Minority Leader Gephart chose the Presbyterian minister Rev. Charles Wright over Fr. O’Brien, charges of anti-Catholic bigotry broke out, fueled in part by the press comments of Fr. O’Brien after he was not chosen. But when Rep. Henry Hyde, a highly respected Catholic, raised the same question, Catholics took notice.

This controversy comes at an awk­ward moment for the GOP. Its leading presidential contender, Gov. George W. Bush, has already shown a strong pull on the decisive Catholic swing vote. Our Catholic Voter Report indi­cates that up to 40 percent of the Catholic vote, twelve million, can swing from one party to another in presidential elections. Democrats would be delighted to undercut Bush’s appeal by adding anti-Catholic preju­dice to the list of complaints normally aimed at Republican conservatives.

The full House will be voting on who will be the House chaplain when they return from recess later this month. It appears from the comments of vari­ous Democratic members that they intend to make a major issue out of the choice of Rev. Wright over Fr. O’Brien.

When the Democrats raise the issue of anti-Catholicism on the House floor, they will be touching a deep nerve among this nation’s Catholics. The Democratic Party was the tradi­tional home for most Catholics until the late 60s, when they slowly began to migrate into the conservative move­ment and the Republican Party. Today, Catholics make up the largest single Republican constituency—about 31 percent of the party.

But the size of the remaining swing vote indicates hesitation and discom­fort about the fit of Catholics in the Republican Party. Our research indi­cates that Catholics who basically agree with the conservative social val­ues of the GOP are often turned off by the harshness of Republican rhetoric, a preoccupation with economic matters, and vituperative attacks on govern­ment programs aimed at the needy. In short, Catholics remain unconvinced of Republican compassion.

Selection of the House chaplain gave Republicans the opportunity to reach out to Catholics and to refashion the image of a party frequently por­trayed as in the clutches of the reli­gious right. Instead, the House leadership provided Democrats with an opportunity to begin recapturing a generation of Catholics grown accus­tomed to voting for, but not comfort­able with, the Republican Party. Democrats can paint a picture of a WASPy party hopelessly out of touch with this nation’s religious diversity.

In a January 3 letter to Bill Dono­hue, president of the Catholic League, Rep. Armey explained that his decision to vote for Rev. Wright over Fr. O’Brien was Wright’s “interpersonal skills and pastoral experiences” versus O’Brien’s 22 years as a professor of political science. As Armey explained to me, he never focused on the denominational ties of the candidates but on their qualifications to be a pas­tor to House members.

The political turmoil and Catholic backlash following the selection of Wright came as a surprise to the House leadership—it shouldn’t have. The GOP has gradually become the home of Catholic voters whose social conser­vatism is closely intertwined with their Catholic identity. The voter concerns that bring Catholics closer to the GOP are directly connected to issues informed by their Catholic faith: This includes not only the defense of life but also the general social decay caused by the decline in morality.

The blunder of the GOP leadership was not the result of anti-Catholic prejudice but of its lack of awareness of where Catholics voters are moving and why. Rep. Armey’s deliberate inatten­tion to the religious affiliation of the candidates tells the story. The GOP doesn’t need to examine its con­science, but its leaders had best start doing their homework. For the last 35 years Catholics have slowly joined the conservative movement, but the GOP has yet to register this fact. No wonder Catholics are feeling hesitant to make the GOP their home, when their sup­port goes unnoticed.

Author

  • Deal W. Hudson

    Deal W. Hudson is ​publisher and editor of The Christian Review and the host of "Church and Culture," a weekly two-hour radio show on the Ave Maria Radio Network.​ He is the former publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine.

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