Author: Eric Deabill

(OSV News) – The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling for prayer and unity, following the nation’s general election that saw Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump defeat Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris to win another term as president.

In a Nov. 6 statement, USCCB president Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said, “I congratulate President-elect Trump, as well as the national, state and local officials who campaigned to represent the people. Now, we move from campaigning to governing.”

The archbishop said that Americans are “fortunate to live in a democracy,” and that “we rejoice in our ability to transition peacefully from one government to the next.”

He stressed that “the Catholic Church is not aligned with any political party, and neither is the bishops’ conference.

“No matter who occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, the Church’s teachings remain unchanged, and we bishops look forward to working with the people’s elected representatives to advance the common good of all,” said Archbishop Broglio. “As Christians, and as Americans, we have the duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy.”

The archbishop added, “As a Nation blessed with many gifts we must also be concerned for those outside our borders and eager to offer assistance to all.”

Archbishop Broglio concluded his statement by inviting people to “pray for President-elect Trump, as well as all leaders in public life, that they may rise to meet the responsibilities entrusted to them as they serve our country and those whom they represent.”

He said, “Let us ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, the patroness of our nation, that she guide to uphold 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 stranger, the elderly and infirm, and migrants.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Voters in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota Nov. 5 rejected amendments to their state constitutions that would have codified abortion as a right, while other states, including Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada and Missouri, did vote to codify such a right in their constitutions, on Election Day.

Nebraska’s 12-week abortion ban will remain in effect after Initiative 434, which proposed limiting abortion after the first trimester, received more “For” votes than its competing Initiative 439, which would have codified a constitutional right to abortion.

South Dakota likewise rejected a measure to codify abortion protections.

Ten states had 2024 ballot referenda considering abortion either directly or indirectly.

Unlike the other nine states, the Sunshine State requires such measures to reach a threshold of 60% to pass.

However, Amendment 4 failed to reach that threshold, as only 57% of Floridians voted to support it, with 97% of precincts reporting. It became the first ballot measure aimed at expanding abortion access to fail since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022.

That ruling reversed the high court’s previous abortion precedent. Soon after, voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it as the result of ballot measures.

In Maryland, voters approved a ballot measure to add “reproductive freedom” — which it defines as inclusive of abortion — to that state’s Declaration of Rights.

A measure in New York called the “Equal Rights Amendment,” Proposal 1, also passed handily and will codify what it calls fair treatment for all people in the state’s constitution. However, New York’s Catholic bishops and other opponents argued the measure was aimed at protecting abortion among other objections, such as unforeseen consequences for parental rights.

“We are disappointed in the decision of the voters to approve this deceptively worded state constitutional amendment and we thank all who voted no,” the New York State Catholic Conference said in a statement Nov. 6. “Despite this outcome, we will continue to fight the good fight for the protection of human rights, the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of all life, the rights of parents, and the preservation of religious liberty.”

It added, “The Catholic Bishops of New York State encourage legislators and state officials to focus on true support for women, children, and families rather than continuing to push abortion as the only option. If you are pregnant or a new parent and you need help, the Catholic Church is here for you. You are not alone.”

In Florida, the state conference of Catholic bishops said in a statement that it is “profoundly relieved at the defeat of Florida’s pro-abortion Amendment 4. This is a positive outcome for Florida and all efforts to promote the flourishing of our state.”

“Though Amendment 4 failed to reach the 60% threshold required to pass, a majority of Floridians voting in the general election supported it,” the statement said. “While significant gains to protect women and preborn children in recent years will remain in place, abortion in Florida will continue at a very high rate under our current laws.”

Current Florida law prohibits most abortions after six weeks, with some exceptions, including scenarios where a woman’s life is at risk.

Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4, which supported the measure, said in a statement, “Despite relentless government sabotage, the state’s promotion of disinformation, and, anti-democratic attacks, the majority of Floridians still voted for Amendment 4.”

“The people have spoken and have sent a clear mandate to the legislature: repeal Florida’s extreme ban,” Brenzel said. “Today’s results are evidence of the strong support for abortion access in Florida and only fuels our resolve to keep fighting government interference.”

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.

The Florida bishops reiterated that call in their statement.

“Much work remains to open hearts and minds to the dignity and goodness of life in the womb and at every stage,” the bishops’ statement said. “We will continue to proclaim in our churches and in the public square the value of every human life and to highlight that there is a better way forward for women, families and society than abortion. Through our many ministries, we will continue to support, encourage and assist pregnant women and young families.

“For those who regret their abortion or abortions, or their cooperation in one, we reiterate that the Lord is eager to forgive, and the Church is ready to facilitate healing,” the bishops’ statement said.

Abortion rates, which began steadily rising in 2017 after a nearly three-decade decline, have further increased in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion data, abortions in 2023 were up 11% over 2020. The 2023 data represents the first full year after Dobbs created a “fractured abortion landscape” as states enact restrictions on, or protections of, abortion access.

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis prayed at the graves of children and of miscarried babies on the feast of All Souls before concelebrating Mass with several hundred mourners.

The pope traveled Nov. 2 to Rome’s Laurentino cemetery, which has a special section for children who have died and, nearby, a section called the “Garden of the Angels” where parents who have experienced a miscarriage can opt to have their children buried rather than having a hospital dispose of the remains.

A father who had lost a son greeted the pope, kneeling to kiss the pope’s hand, and then pointing to his son’s grave.

Pope Francis left a bouquet of white roses at the entrance to the garden where stuffed animals, toys, pinwheels and pots of white chrysanthemums in the shape of a heart stand in contrast to the candles and flowers on other graves. The grave markers have only one date on them.

Rather than giving a homily during the Mass, the pope led the congregation in a long moment silent reflection.

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of November is for parents who have lost a child. In his video message asking people to join him in the prayer, he began by saying, “What can we say to parents who have lost a child? How can we console them? There are no words.”

At the end of the Mass, the pope prayed that by visiting the graves of their beloved deceased, people would renew their faith in Jesus, who died, was buried and rose again to save humanity.

The bodies of those who have died will rise again on the last day, he said, and those who have fallen asleep in the Lord will join him in the triumph over death.

He prayed that God would hear people’s prayers for their beloved dead and would “open your arms of mercy” and receive them into the heavenly host.

“Comfort those who are suffering the pain of separation with the certainty that the dead live in you,” he prayed, “and that even the bodies entrusted to the earth will one day participate in the paschal victory of your son.”

The main celebrant at the Mass was Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the master of papal liturgical ceremonies. However, unlike at most public Masses in the last few years where the pope presides, but does not concelebrate, Pope Francis stood for the Eucharistic prayer and concelebrated the Mass.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With the Holy Year 2025 beginning on Christmas Eve, the Vatican’s 2024 Christmas stamps feature the Jubilee message of hope as well as a prayer for peace.

Both Christmas stamps, set to go on sale Nov. 4, feature the logo of the Holy Year.

The 1.25-euro stamp features “the Christmas angel bearing a scroll that reads ‘Glory to God’ and ‘Peace on Earth,'” excerpts from the hymn Luke 2:14 says was sung by the angels announcing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, said a note from the Vatican philatelic office.

“It is the invocation that in recent years rises heartfelt from so many parts of the world crushed by violence and war,” said the note, released Oct. 30.

The second stamp, with a value of 1.30 euros, shows the Baby Jesus in the manger with his hand raised in blessing. A scroll above his head has the Latin title of Pope Francis’ bull of indiction, formally proclaiming the Holy Year: “Spes Non Confundit,” which means “Hope does not disappoint.”

The Vatican post office also sells two of each stamp in a booklet for collectors; the cover features a detail from Orazio Zecca da Montefortino’s early 17th-century painting, the Adoration of the Shepherds, which is kept in the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major.

ROME (CNS) – Approximately 40,000 visitors enter St. Peter’s Basilica each day, and now they can gain deeper insights into what they are seeing inside the world’s largest church.

In the leadup to the Holy Year 2025, the Vatican inaugurated the “Official Area” for St. Peter’s Basilica. Located at the start of the long avenue leading to the basilica, the center aims to enhance pilgrims’ experiences and serve as a information point.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the basilica, blessed the information point during its inauguration Oct. 31, stating that enhancing the visitor experience for the basilica “fosters spaces of freedom in each person’s heart to return to a deep awareness of oneself, but also of the other.”

Inside, visitors will find informative books, guides, memorabilia from the basilica, and they can buy tickets to visit the dome — the only part of the basilica that requires a paid ticket. Above all they can encounter a multilingual staff that can answer their questions.

Any profits from the sale of goods from the info point will be used for nonprofit projects in partnership with the Be Human Foundation.

The info point will also offer augmented reality experiences to show visitors aspects of the basilica in greater detail, such as the recent restoration of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s 10-story bronze canopy that stands over the basilica’s main altar.

For those with mobility concerns, the center provides support to organize accessible visits to the basilica, including tactile resources for the visually impaired.

Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato, communications director of St. Peter’s Basilica, told Catholic News Service that people visiting Rome “many times, not knowing the city, feel lost, and so having a signpost that can help them orient themselves I think is a service in the true sense of the word.”

As a major destination for pilgrims, the basilica should be accessible to everyone, he said, and the church should enable visitors to have a meaningful and profound experience as they walk through it.

Many visitors “come here only once their whole lives,” he said. “If we are not close to these people, then who should we be close to?”

Cardinal Gambetti said that the next step for the basilica lies in the digital realm: the basilica is in the process of launching a digital platform that includes an app with podcasts, videos and information about religious sites in Rome.

The platform will help people reserve tours for groups and advise pilgrims, in real time, which sites are busy and suggesting alternatives.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Young people need “big-hearted educators” to guide them through the complexities of modernity, Pope Francis told leaders in Catholic education.

Speaking to members of the educational engagement branch of the Italian lay Catholic Action movement Oct. 31, the pope highlighted the critical role of Catholic educators in shaping young people and society in the face of widespread cultural shifts and secularization.

“In this change of epoch, amid the process of secularization” — which he described as “clearly the spirit of this world” — education “finds itself immersed in an almost unprecedented horizon,” the pope said. As a result, “Chistian education traverses uncharted terrain, marked by anthropological and cultural changes on which we are still seeking answers in the light of the Word of God.”

Leaders in Catholic education, he said, “should not be afraid to put forward high ideals, to not be discouraged in the face of difficulties.”

To be effective agents of change, Pope Francis encouraged Catholic educators to “build and strengthen fruitful relationships with different actors in the process of education: families, teachers, social actors, coaches, catechists, priests, religious women and men, without overlooking collaboration with public institutions.”

He also stressed the importance of involving children directly, since children “must not be passive in the educational process; they must be active.”

In his vision for Catholic education, Pope Francis urged educators to center their work on the dignity of each person.

“Bring forward an idea and practice of education that effectively places each person, his or her essential value and original dignity, at the center,” he said.

Teaching, he added, “means first of all rediscovering and valuing the centrality of the person in a relationship where the dignity of human life finds fulfillment and adequate space to grow.”

Looking ahead to the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis called for particular attention to be given to young people, who are “the present and the future of the church.” He urged educators to look to young people with “trust, empathy, with the gaze and heart of Jesus,” embodying a compassionate approach to teaching and mentorship.

November 4, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

Every December 8, Catholics joyfully celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patroness of the United States.

This year, December 8 will fall on a Sunday – specifically the Second Sunday of Advent.

As a result, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to Monday, December 9th.

In the past, it was understood that when this situation occurred, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception did not maintain the obligation to attend Mass due to its proximity to the Sunday Mass obligation. However, the Holy See just recently clarified that the obligation must remain.

As we quickly approach the end of the liturgical year, I am keenly aware that many parishes have already finalized their schedules for December and many deaneries are planning communal penance services around that time. Furthermore, the short notice of this change might cause confusion.

Therefore, in accord with canon 87, §1, I am hereby granting a dispensation to the Catholic faithful from the obligation to attend Mass on Monday, December 9, 2024, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception throughout the territory of the Diocese of Scranton.

In granting this dispensation, I want to emphasize two things.

First, while the obligation will not be in effect this year, I strongly encourage all faithful who are able to make a special effort to attend Mass on December 9, or do some form of extra prayer, like praying the Rosary.

Second, this dispensation is for this year (2024) only. Next year, in 2025, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will fall on a Monday and there will be NO dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on that day.

Please be assured of my prayers for you and your family as the sacred season of Advent approaches.

 

Faithfully yours in Christ,

 

Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.

Bishop of Scranton

 

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God wants everyone to be a saint, and the clearest path to achieving that goal is loving service to others, Pope Francis said.

Celebrating the feast of All Saints, the pope led the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer Nov. 1 with thousands of visitors in St. Peter’s Square. Hundreds of them had just finished the annual Race of the Saints, a 10-km run that begins and ends at the square.

The runners remind everyone that “the Christian life is a race, but not the way the world races, no! It is the race of a heart that loves,” the pope said, adding thanks to the runners for supporting a Salesian Missions’ project in Ukraine.

God calls everyone to holiness, the pope said, and he gives all the baptized what they need to become saints, “but he does not impose it.”

God gives everyone the freedom to follow the example of Jesus, to discern and accept God’s plan, to treat others the way God would and to place themselves at “the service of others with an ever more universal charity, open and addressed to all,” Pope Francis said.

The Eight Beatitudes, listed in the feast day’s Gospel reading — Matthew 5:1-12 — are a clear roadmap to sainthood, the pope said, and the path followed by Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa of Kolkata and St. Oscar Romero.

Everyone can list many saints, he said, both those formally canonized and those “I like to call the ‘saints next door,’ the everyday, hidden ones who carry on their daily Christian lives,” the pope said. “Brothers and sisters, how much hidden holiness there is in the church!”

“So many brothers and sisters” have lived lives “shaped by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungry and thirsty for justice, peacemakers,” he said. “They are ‘God-filled’ people, unable to remain indifferent to their neighbor’s needs; they are witnesses of luminous paths, which is possible for us as well.”

The feast of All Saints is a good time to reflect, Pope Francis said. “Do I ask God, in prayer, for the gift of a holy life? Do I let myself be guided by the good impulses that his Spirit inspires in me? And do I commit myself personally to practicing the Beatitudes of the Gospel?”

The pope also encouraged people to visit, if possible, the graves of their loved ones Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls. And he told them the Mass “is the greatest and most effective prayer for the souls of the deceased.”

As always, the pope asked people in the square to pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, for the victims of a terrorist attack on a military base in Chad Oct. 28, and for the victims of recent flooding in Spain, particularly in and around Valencia.

SCRANTON – All people are invited to join in a joyous celebration as we honor the dedicated contributions of those in religious life as the Diocese of Scranton celebrates its annual Jubilee Mass for Women and Men Religious on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

Together, we will gather at 12:15 p.m. to recognize the faith-filled service and commitment of those who have devoted their lives to God and our community.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will be principal celebrant and homilist for the Mass.

The Mass will be broadcast on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton for those unable to attend in person. The Mass will also be livestream on the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel and links for the Mass will also be provided on all Diocesan social media platforms.

2024 Jubilarians

SISTERS, SERVANTS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY (I.H.M.)

80 Years
Sister M. Melissa Hester, I.H.M.

75 Years
Sister Catherine Anne Mullaly, I.H.M.

70 Years
Sister Joan M. Bastress, I.H.M.
Sister M. de Montfort Babb, I.H.M.
Sister M. Alphonsa Concilio, I.H.M.
Sister M. Annellen Kelly, I.H.M.

60 Years
Sister Beatrice Caulson, I.H.M.
Sister Marylin Grosselfinger, I.H.M.
Sister Agnes Panik, I.H.M.
Sister Richard Mary Peters, I.H.M.
Sister Mary Reap, I.H.M.

50 Years
Sister Kathleen Mary Burns, I.H.M.
Sister Sandra Grieco, I.H.M.

SISTERS OF MERCY OF THE AMERICAS (R.S.M.)

80 Years
Sister Timothy Galbraith, R.S.M.

75 Years
Sister Marise Fabie, R.S.M.
Sister Aileen Purvey, R.S.M.
Sister Ellen Kelly, R.S.M.

70 Years
Sister Elizabeth Gaynor, R.S.M.
Sister Miriam Francis Stadulis, R.S.M.

60 Years
Sister Mary Ann Dillon, R.S.M.

50 Years
Sister Mayon Sylvain, R.S.M.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Catholic voters are among the key constituencies that candidates are seeking to win in 2024, as surveys and analysts indicate they are on track to be closely divided at the polls.

Catholic voters as a whole have varied in recent presidential elections about which party most of them choose to support. For example, data from the Pew Research Center found that most Catholic voters supported former President Donald Trump in 2016, but more Catholics voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Margaret Susan Thompson, an associate professor of history at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, who has studied the intersection of religion and politics in the U.S., told OSV News, “We know that Catholics are probably as divided as the rest of the electorate right now.”

“The election is extremely close by almost any standard and Catholics seem to be in many ways mirroring the American population in that regard,” she said.

Polls of the 2024 contest have shown conflicting data about Catholic voters, but also that similar trends are playing out in this constituency compared to the electorate as a whole.

A poll by the Pew Research Center in September found Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris 52%-47% among Catholic voters. But Pew’s survey differed from an EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research survey of Catholic U.S. voters conducted Aug. 28-30, which found 50% of Catholic voters said they plan to support Harris for president, while 43% said they planned to support Trump, with another 6% undecided.

Another poll of Catholic voters in seven battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — by the National Catholic Reporter found these voters favored Trump over Harris 50% to 45%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.86%.

But most of those same polls also found partisan gaps widened when divided by demographics such as race and gender. While majorities of white Catholics favored Trump, majorities of Black and Hispanic Catholics said they would support Harris.

Thompson said that the Catholic vote in recent decades has grown less distinct from that of the general electorate, and “Catholics are very representative of the American population these days.”

“I think a lot of Catholics are going to vote for Harris, a lot of Catholics are going to vote for Trump,” she said. “And I don’t know how many of them are going to vote for Harris or Trump because they are Catholic.”

Catholic experts who have spoken with OSV News have alternately drawn points of agreement and tension between the platforms of Harris and Trump with respect to Catholic social teaching, on issues ranging from abortion and in vitro fertilization to immigration to climate and labor.

Pope Francis in September cast the upcoming U.S. election as a choice between the “lesser of two evils,” citing tension with the candidates’ platforms on immigration and abortion as “against life.”

But despite this tension, both campaigns have courted Catholic voters and launched Catholic coalitions. The Trump campaign has on social media made some cultural signals to Catholics, for instance, tweeting the St. Michael prayer. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is also a convert to Catholicism. Trump and his surrogates have also labeled Harris as anti-Catholic, pointing to her work as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, when she scrutinized the nominations of some potential judges over whether their membership in the “all-male” Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charitable organization, could impact their ability to hear cases “fairly and impartially,” citing the organization’s opposition to abortion.

The Harris campaign, Thompson said, has been less overt in targeting specifically Catholic voters, but is trying “to retain the votes that President Biden received” in 2020. Biden, whom Harris serves under, is the country’s second Catholic president.

“I do think one area where the Catholic Church position may — and I really emphasize ‘may’ not ‘will’ — help the Democrats is on immigration,” she said, arguing that the U.S. bishops have long advocated for humane immigration policy and treatment of migrants, even those bishops who sometimes otherwise appear “generally pretty conservative.”

“And of course, so has the Holy Father,” she added, referring to Pope Francis.

Courting Catholic voters was also on display Oct. 17 at the annual Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a long-standing white-tie fundraiser benefiting Catholic charities. The dinner has a long tradition of welcoming both major party presidential candidates in election years, where the rivals typically exchange lighthearted jabs at one another. But this year, Harris declined to attend the event, sending a video message in which she praised “the tremendous charitable work of the Catholic Church.”

Thompson said that although Trump was in attendance at the event, his remarks included vulgarities and differed from the traditional format of light humor about the other candidate. For example, in 2008, then Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain teased one another but also offered remarks noting their respect for their rival, with Obama praising the “honor and distinction” of McCain’s military service, and McCain praising the historic nature of Obama’s candidacy and his “skill, energy and determination” to achieve it.

Harris instead spent that evening campaigning in Wisconsin, one of the three Rust Belt states along with Michigan and Pennsylvania that are seen as key battlegrounds in 2024.

Of those states, Pennsylvania, nicknamed the Keystone State, might live up to its nickname as the key contest in determining whether Trump or Harris secures the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to be elected president. A significant share of that state’s electorate is Catholic.

Micheal Allison, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Scranton, said the area has a sizable Catholic population. It includes descendants of “particularly European Catholics who came over 100 years ago, 130 years ago,” and then those whose more recent relatives, or they themselves, immigrated to the area, he said, including “a lot from Latin America.”

Asked about how Biden carried both Catholic voters and Pennsylvania in 2020, Allison told OSV News that Biden was arguably “the right person at the right time,” someone who was seen as “a safe, moderate to conservative Democrat, up against someone who had overseen a pretty rough to worse time, particularly under COVID.”

Exit polling from 2020 found that 30% of Pennsylvania voters that year said they were Catholic. Allison said that shows “Catholic voters are going to show up.”

“I think they’re committed to voting,” he said. But he added that “the Catholic population is dwindling.”

“A lot of Catholics — people (who) are baptized and raised Catholic — don’t attend Mass,” he said. “There’s been some alienation from the Catholic Church. So it’s not entirely always clear what people mean (in polling) when they say they’re Catholic, and they’re filling out exit polling, versus how regularly they attend church.”

Pennsylvania, he said, also has strong union ties, which can impact the voting habits of some who might otherwise be more socially conservative.

Thompson added that Catholics, like many voters, likely “have their positions pretty well solidified by now,” but pointed to controversial remarks at an Oct. 27 Trump rally at Madison Square Garden that generated headlines after a comedian who spoke there called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” among other controversial remarks about Latinos and other groups, as something that could affect how the remaining undecided Catholics ultimately vote.

Noting that “a sizable proportion of that population is Catholic,” Thompson said, “Is that going to persuade an undecided Catholic voter to say, ‘Well, having heard that, I’m definitely going to vote for the Republicans?’ Frankly, I don’t think so.”

Election Day is Nov. 5.