Pulpit and Politics: Clergy in American Politics at the Advent of the Millennium

18. Roman Catholic Priests

In recent years, there has been increased interest in the politics of Roman Catholicism among academic observers and political activists alike. Such attention to the political behavior of Catholics is not surprising; by any measure, Catholics are an enormous constituency, representing the largest religious denomination in the United States.36 Further, this huge component of the U.S. population is disproportionately concentrated in large, urban, “swing” states rich in electoral votes (Bendyna and Perl 2000). Thus, the size and geographical dispersion of the Catholic vote renders American Catholics of great interest to observers of United States politics. Recent scholarship has also emphasized the role of churches and clergy as sources of political learning for the general public (Crawford and Olson 2001; Jelen 1993; Guth et. al. 1997; Verba et. al. 1995; Welch et. al. 1993). Both scholarly evidence and common sense suggest that the clergy can be highly influential community figures and may provide consequential political cues for members of their congregations and the broader community. Our purpose in this paper is to examine the political attitudes and activities of Roman Catholic priests in the context of the 2000 presidential election. 235 Chapter 18 Roman Catholic Priests Ted G. Jelen HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Although Roman Catholics were among the earliest Europeans to settle in North America, the Catholic presence in the United States became most conspicuous during three waves of immigration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first influx of Catholic immigration occurred during the 1840s and 1850s and consisted primarily of individuals from Ireland and Germany. The second major group came during the years surrounding World War I, bringing numerous immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe to the United States. Finally, during the last third of the twentieth century, a large number of Catholic immigrants from Latin America and Asian nations with large Catholic presences (such as South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines) comprised the third wave of Catholics moving to the United States (Jelen 2001). For much of American history, the politics of Catholicism have been inextricably linked with questions of immigration and nativism. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, issues such as public education and temperance divided Catholic from Protestant in many parts of the country (Abramson 1973). To this day, numerous state constitutions contain provisions directed at limiting the role of Catholics in public life. There has been a strong link between Catholics and the Democratic Party for much of American electoral history. Indeed, during the late nineteenth century, the Democrats were labeled the party of “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.” The alliance between Catholic voters and the Democratic Party was renewed by the presidential candidacy of Al Smith in 1928 (Clubb and Allen 1971), and solidified by the New Deal (Andersen 1979). The election of John F. Kennedy was thought by many to indicate the end of anti-Catholic prejudice in the United States, although studies of that election indicate that pro- and antiCatholic attitudes were important predictors of vote choice (Converse 1966). Since the 1960 presidential election, the story of lay Catholics in the United States has largely been one of assimilation and acceptance. White Catholics now exhibit levels of income and education comparable to white Protestants, and Catholics constitute a formidable political force in the suburbs. Numerous observers have predicted that these demographic trends would occasion a shift in the partisan loyalties of Catholics to Republican partisanship (see especially Prendergast 1999), but the ties between Catholics and the Democratic Party have proven 236 Roman Catholic Priests quite resilient (Bendyna 2000; Brewer 2001). While some Republican presidential candidates have achieved success with Catholic voters in particular elections, the cultural conservatism of numerous devout Catholics has not resulted in major shifts toward the GOP (Jelen 1997). Nevertheless, many observers have characterized Catholics as a crucial swing vote in recent American elections (Catholic News Service 2000; Kenski and Lockwood 1991). Outside the area of electoral politics, Catholic elites made several attempts to provide prophetic leadership during the final quarter of the twentieth century. In addition to the Church’s traditional opposition to abortion, the National Council of Catholic Bishops took highly visible, public positions on nuclear war, American policy in Central America, and the moral imperatives surrounding the practice of capitalism during the 1980s. Although it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of these efforts (see Wald 1992), it is clear that the leadership of the Church has taken a politically assertive role...