Archbishop Brolio: American bishops pray for unity and elected leaders

Vatican News

United States, Thursday, November 7, 2024 (REI): On the second day of Americans voting in the presidential election, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, on behalf of the American bishops, said they have expressed their solidarity with President-elect Donald Trump and The American people at the national, state or local level prayed for all members elected to represent.

In an interview with Vatican News, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said that the Catholic Church “is not aligned with any political party,” adding that American bishops are elected to promote the common good. with representatives.

He said: “As Christians and Americans, we have a duty to treat each other with generosity, respect and courtesy, even when we disagree on issues of public policy implementation.” Archbishop Broglio also said the U.S. bishops will seek to defend the rights of all people, including unborn children, as residents of 10 states voted on state constitutional amendments to restrict or expand access to abortion.

Question: Your Excellency, can you give us the initial reaction of the American bishops to the news that Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th president of the United States?

In the United States we are fortunate to live in a democracy and yesterday Americans voted to choose who will lead our country as the next President of the United States.

I congratulate President Trump, as well as the national, state and local officials who campaigned to represent the people. Now we are moving from campaigning to governing.

We are satisfied with our ability to make a peaceful transition from one government to another. Neither the Catholic Church nor the Episcopal Conference are affiliated with any political party. No matter who is in the White House or the majority on Capitol Hill, the church’s teachings remain unchanged.

And we, the bishops, are willing to work with our elected representatives to promote the common good of all. As Christians and as Americans, we have a duty to treat each other with generosity, respect, and decency, even if we disagree about how to implement public policy issues.

As a rich nation in many ways, we must also care about those outside our borders and be ready to provide assistance to all. Please pray that President-elect Trump, as well as all leaders in public life, will assume the responsibilities assigned to them as they serve our country and the people they represent.

Let us pray to Our Blessed Mother, Patroness of our Nation, to guide us to preserve the common good of all and promote the dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn, the poor, the strangers, the elderly and sick, and migrants.

Question: President-elect Trump made it clear during his campaign what issues he wanted to focus on. Can you tell us about the issues that the American bishops would like to highlight during their next four-year term?

Of course, fundamentally our greatest concern is the dignity of the human person. We love the phrase that the human person is created in the image and likeness of the Almighty from the womb to the grave. So this is a primary concern.

I would say the next concern is that the United States is a very wealthy nation. We are fortunate and we have to pay attention to the concerns of the poor, who are on the margins of society. It is sad to see the number of people who are homeless, without shelter, in some of our major cities. And I think we all have a responsibility to pay attention to those concerns and try to eradicate some of those problems.

On the other hand, we, as bishops, have been calling for decades to reform the immigration laws in this country. And this is really the moment where I hope that something can be done to reform this broken system and try to make it more responsive to people’s needs.

In addition to this, it will be our responsibility to help the countries where people emigrate from, because they often do so due to poverty and other difficult conditions in their own country. Perhaps the most productive way to change this would be to help those countries improve their own situation.

Question: One aspect of this election has to do with the 10 states that voted on abortion-related issues. Voters in three states (South Dakota, Florida and Nebraska) maintained limits on abortion. Can you talk to us about the dignity of the human person and how the American bishops are working to protect unborn children?

We have been advocating, unequivocally, to limit this threat to human life since the beginning of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Of course, at the same time we have tried to defend it in every possible way. Obviously, the most important thing is to try to convince people of the right to life of the fetus and that it should not be suppressed.

Certainly, the national trend – you mentioned the seven states that have passed laws decriminalizing abortion – that is clearly a challenge for us, not only for the bishops of those states but also for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, because we want to maintain it. This dignity of the human person is essential.

When we look at violence in our society, I don’t think it’s related to the fact that people suggest that you can decide who lives or when someone dies. I think this also reduces the dignity of the human person. Therefore, we have a responsibility to educate people and try to inspire them to see the light of the gospel.