When I offered to write this article for VinFam, I did not expect the results we witnessed on November fifth.  Given the results, I offer these limited reflections for our consideration on several aspects of Catholic social teaching.

1. Catholic social teaching has a strong stand on the dignity of every person from the moment of conception. The winning candidate originally took a strong position on this issue, leading to the overturning of Roe v Wade. Later in the just completed Presidential campaign, he took a position that the issue of choice and abortion needs to be left to the states to decide.
2. Catholic social teaching also takes a strong stand on the issue of immigration, respecting rights of migrants to seek shelter and a place to prosper. At the same time, Catholic social teaching supports the rights of countries to maintain their borders and establish appropriate procedures for legal immigration. The winning candidate has taken a strong stand on rounding up illegal immigrants and sending them back to their homeland.
3. Concern for the life of our planet is another important aspect of Catholic Social teaching. Unfortunately, the winning candidate does not consider Climate change an issue of any concern for our nation, despite the overwhelming convictions and data from scientific research..
4. Personal integrity of everyone and certainly of candidates for public office is a significant aspect of Catholic social teaching. Unfortunately, the winning candidate has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records alleging he was involved in a scheme to cover up extramarital affairs in advance of the 2016 presidential election. Those who supported him either concluded that these were biased convictions or they were not significant enough to prevent their voting for him.

From these examples of Catholic social teaching and there are others, it deserves to be stated that USA Presidential elections are not bound by Catholic social teaching; they are bound by the Constitution of the USA and the electoral college of the USA government.

As Catholic followers of St. Vincent DePaul, we are called to live out our Catholic social teachings. We ought to incorporate those teachings into our choices of candidates for public office and in voting. The recently completed USA presidential election indicates that a majority of voting Catholics supported the candidacy of the winning candidate. How much weight any Catholic voter gave to  Catholic social teaching is a matter of personal conscience, given the fact that no candidate incorporates all aspects of Catholic social teaching.

Louis Arceneaux, C.M.  November 6, 2024