“Let us not see each other in the divisive light of Democrat or Republican or any other political party, but rather, let us see the face of Christ in our neighbors, especially the suffering or those with whom we may disagree,” he added.
Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese issued a statement following Trump’s election calling the campaign “the most bitter and divisive in memory” and urging the public to “turn our efforts toward healing and mending these divisions.” (the full text of Bishop Barnes’ post-election statement is included on this page)
Trump scored a surprising victory in the Electoral College Nov. 9, ascending to the presidency despite being projected to lose the popular vote to his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Republicans kept the Senate as well as their lead in the House, winning key Senate races in Wisconsin, Missouri, and Pennsylvania to hold their majority.
According to New York Times exit polls, Catholics overall voted 52 percent for Trump and 45 percent for Clinton. NBC News exit polls showed the results fell sharply along racial lines: Trump won white Catholics by 23 percentage points, 60 to 37, while Clinton won Hispanic Catholics 67 percent to 26 percent.
In his victory speech at a hotel in Manhattan, Trump called for unity. “Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American Dream,” he told his audience.
Clinton, in her concession speech the following day, said Trump is owed “an open mind and a chance to lead,” adding that “We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought.”
Archbishop Kurtz reaffirmed the bishops’ commitment to upholding the sanctity of all human life, welcoming “migrants and refugees,” and defending religious freedom at home and abroad.
Pro-life groups applauded the victory of pro-life Senate candidates and expressed their desire to work with Trump’s administration to pass pro-life legislation.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, called it “an historic moment for the pro-life movement” and said that “four critical pro-life goals now within our reach: end painful late-term abortions, codify the Hyde Amendment, defund Planned Parenthood, and appoint pro-life Supreme Court Justices.”
“Acknowledging the divisiveness in our country we also commit to working for the day when all Americans know that abortion is unthinkable, and to building a lasting culture of life,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, stated Wednesday morning. “We applaud candidates that took a stand on the most critical human rights issue of today, abortion,” she said.