美国国家公共电台 NPR Roman Catholics And Evangelicals Move Apart In Their Political Priorities

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, Evangelical and Catholic communities in America have had a mixed relationship politically. After years of Catholics largely voting for Democrats 1 and white evangelicals for Republicans, opposition 2 to abortion 3 and same-sex marriage united these voters at the ballot 4 box. But the presidency 5 of Donald Trump 6 seems to be exposing divisions between these groups, as NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE 7: A prominent Catholic bishop 8 and a key evangelical minister each made an important appearance this month. First, the archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez, gave the commencement address at the Catholic University of America, the official university of the U.S. Catholic Church. His message to the graduates - their country is losing its way.

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JOSE GOMEZ: You are entering an American society that is more anxious and more bitterly divided than I have ever seen in my lifetime.

GJELTEN: Two days later, Pastor 9 Robert Jeffress, from the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, prayed at the dedication 10 of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. His message - God is returning America to greatness.

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ROBERT JEFFRESS: We want to thank you for the tremendous leadership of our great president, Donald J. Trump.

GJELTEN: Jeffress serves on the president's informal evangelical advisory 11 group. During his campaign, Trump also had Catholic advisers 12. But since taking office, he has consulted far more often with the evangelicals. Not entirely 13 surprising, these Christian 14 groups, the largest in the country, have different political agendas at the moment. Catholic leaders famously tangled 15 with the Obama administration over the contraceptive mandate 16 in the Affordable 17 Care Act. But the political environment has changed in the Trump era. Molly Worthen is a historian of American religion at the University of North Carolina.

MOLLY WORTHEN: The advent 18 of Donald Trump has brought to the surface and exacerbated 19 all kinds of tensions and disagreements among different kinds of Christians 20 who, to the casual observer, once appeared to be in agreement.

GJELTEN: For the Catholic Church, the welfare of immigrants has risen as a priority concern. In his commencement address, Archbishop Gomez spoke 21 of the need to tell a new story about America - highlighting how it is alive in her saints.

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GOMEZ: Mystics and missionaries 22, martyrs 23 and immigrants, refugees and exiles - they came from everywhere to share their gifts and make this country what she was meant to be.

GJELTEN: Though he's generally seen as a conservative voice on social issues, Gomez did not once mention abortion. Perhaps he was following the lead of Pope Francis who last month said the situation of migrants is no less important, in his words, than the defense 24 of the unborn. For evangelicals, abortion remains 25 as urgent a concern as ever. And President Trump's conservative judicial 26 appointments are keeping white evangelicals in his corner. Pastor Johnnie Moore told a Washington audience recently that he and other evangelicals are in regular contact with Trump.

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JOHNNIE MOORE: And what has happened is, again and again and again, we've found that there's the strange politician that generally has kept his promises to our community, you know, which is an unusual characteristic for a politician.

GJELTEN: Trump's repeated criticism of immigrants however has hurt him with Catholic leaders for whom social justice has long been a core concern. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 27 filed a Supreme 28 Court brief opposing Trump's travel ban, calling it repugnant to the Catholic faith. And no Catholic leader endorsed 29 Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel fearing the impact on a peace process. Actually it's not just Trump spurring dissent 30. Historian Molly Worthen says distinct Catholic political priorities have also been highlighted by Pope Francis.

WORTHEN: He's become sort of the anti-Trump. He's become this rallying figure for traumatized liberals who are looking for some kind of figure of existential world historical significance who can counteract 31 what they see as the ugliness of the current administration.

GJELTEN: Another story of America divided, this time between two faith traditions whose concerns often overlap 32. Tom Gjelten, NPR News.

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