Archbishop Broglio: US Bishops pray for unity and all elected leaders

By Devin Watkins

On the day after Americans went to the polls in presidential elections, Archbishop Timothy Broglio has expressed the US Bishops' prayers for President-elect Donald Trump and all members elected to represent the American people at the national, state, or local levels.

In an interview with Vatican News, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said the Catholic Church is "not aligned with any political party," adding that the US Bishops' look forward to working with elected representatives to promote the common good.

“As Christians and as Americans,” he said, “we have a duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy.”

Archbishop Broglio also noted that the US Bishops will seek to uphold the rights of all people, including the unborn, as residents of 10 states voted on state constitutional amendments to restrict or expand access to abortion.

Q: Your Excellency, could you give us the US Bishops' initial response 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 went to the polls to choose who should 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 move from campaigning to governing.

We rejoice in our ability to transition peacefully for one government to the next. 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. As Christians and as Americans, we have a duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, even if we may disagree on how to carry out matters of public policy.

As a nation blessed with many gifts, we must also be concerned for those outside our borders and eager to offer assistance to all. Let us 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.

Let us ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, the patroness of our nation, that she guide us 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.

Q: President-elect Trump made it clear throughout his campaign which issues he would like to focus on. Could you tell us about the issues the US Bishops would like to highlight during this next four-year term?

Fundamentally, of course, a preeminent concern of ours is the dignity of the human person. We like the phrase that the human person is created in the image and likeness of the Almighty from womb to tomb. So that's a primary concern.

I would say the next concern is that the United States is a tremendously wealthy nation. We've been very, very blessed, and we have to address the concerns of the poor, those who are on the margins of society. It's distressing to see in some of our major cities the number of people who are without homes, without shelter. And I think we all have a responsibility to address those concerns and to try and alleviate some of those problems at the root cause.

Next to that would be that we as Bishops have advocated for reform of the immigration laws in this country for decades. And this is really the time I hope that something can be done to rectify a system that is broken and to try and make it more responsive to the needs of people.

Coupled with that would be our responsibility to help those nations from which people are migrating, because often they're migrating because of poverty and other difficult situations in their home countries. Probably the most productive way to change that would be to help those countries better their own lot.

Q: One aspect of this election regards the 10 states that voted on issues related to abortion. Voters in three states—South Dakota, Florida, and Nebraska—all upheld a limit on abortion. Could you speak to us about the dignity of the human person and how the US Bishops are working to protect the unborn?

We have obviously been, from the start of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, advocates in favor of limiting this threat to human life. Of course, with that, we've tried to advocate in every possible way. Obviously, the most important way is to try and convince people of the right of the unborn to life and not to be suppressed.

Certainly, the national trend—you mentioned the seven states that approved laws that will liberalize abortion—that obviously represents a challenge for us, not only for the Bishops in those states but also for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, because we want to continue to keep this dignity of the human person at the forefront.

When we look at the violence in our society, I don't think it's unrelated to the fact that people suggest that you can decide who can live or when someone can die. I think that also cheapens the dignity the human person. And so, we have a responsibility to educate people and to try and convince them to see the light of the Gospel.