Why Catholics must take the lead to rebuke MAGA in the midterms

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Ideas expressed in the piece

• The column recalls a formative Catholic upbringing that stressed charity, humility, and welcoming the stranger, and contrasts that experience of a diverse, immigrant-heavy parish with later waves of anti-immigrant politics in California and the rise of Trump-era xenophobia.

• It argues that Trump embodies the seven deadly sins and has even indulged in quasi-blasphemous self-portrayals as Jesus and a pope, making ongoing Catholic support for Trump a grave moral and spiritual failure.

• The piece stresses that many Catholics, including a majority of voters in recent national elections, backed Trump despite this behavior, with surveys showing that around half or more of U.S. Catholics supported Trump over Democratic opponents in 2020 and 2024, and that 55% of Catholics voted for Trump in 2024.^[9][15]

• It highlights that Latino Catholics in particular increased their support for Trump over time and that many Catholics cited abortion, the economy, transgender issues, and especially a hard line on immigration as reasons for siding with Trump, even as immigrant co-religionists were being demonized.

• The article contends that Trump’s immigration agenda and rhetoric are fundamentally at odds with the Catholic tradition of welcoming migrants and refugees, invoking the Gospel and Catholic social teaching that call for hospitality toward newcomers and humane, dignified treatment of migrants.^{[4][6][10][12]}

• It notes that Church teaching affirms the right of people to migrate to sustain their lives and families and insists that border policies be governed by justice and mercy, suggesting that Trump’s approach to immigration swept aside these principles through cruelty and fear-driven enforcement.^[6][10][11]

• The column laments that Catholic officeholders in Trump’s administration and in other branches of government have acted as enablers rather than as moral checks, failing to imitate Christ in their public roles and instead rubber-stamping policies that harm the poor, migrants, and refugees.

• It draws on Proverbs 21:13 and on Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical urging solidarity with workers to argue that Catholicism calls for self-sacrifice and attentiveness to the cry of the poor, framing the MAGA ethos as diametrically opposed to this ethic of self-giving and care for the vulnerable.

• The piece emphasizes that Catholics have historically embodied both the best and worst of American society, from welcoming immigrants to participating in conquest and remaining silent during abuse scandals, and suggests that Catholic support for Trump represents a new low within that complicated legacy.

• It underscores recent polling that shows Trump’s standing deteriorating among Catholics and the broader public, describing a majority of Catholics now holding unfavorable views of Trump and opposing his handling of immigration, and presenting this shift as a providential opening for change.

• The article interprets Catholic sacraments as a template for political repentance, arguing that Catholics who once supported Trump must “confess” that error and “make amends” by voting against MAGA candidates in the midterms and encouraging fellow Catholics to do the same.

• It concludes that because Catholics were instrumental in Trump’s rise, they bear a special responsibility to lead in rejecting Trumpism at the ballot box, portraying a decisive Catholic turn away from MAGA as essential to “exorcising” Trump’s influence from American society.

Different views on the topic

• In contrast to the column’s depiction of Trump-era immigration policies as categorically un-Catholic, many U.S. bishops and Catholic organizations emphasize that Church teaching balances the right of people to migrate with the right of nations to regulate their borders, insisting that governments may set legal conditions on immigration so long as they respect human dignity.^[2][3][5][6]

• Catholic statements on immigration, including those from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, explicitly affirm that political authorities may enforce immigration laws and maintain border security, provided enforcement is proportional, humane, and not driven by fear, which some Catholics cite to argue that stronger border controls or deportations can be morally legitimate in certain circumstances.^{[5][10][11][14]}

• Conservative Catholic commentators note that the Church does not endorse an “open borders” policy, pointing out that the catechism allows nations to limit immigration “to the extent they are able” and to impose juridical conditions on entry, and therefore argue that Catholics can in good conscience support policies aimed at deterrence, stricter border enforcement, or even deportation, if these are pursued with justice and mercy.^[5][8][13]

• Some Catholic analysts frame immigration as a prudential issue where faithful Catholics may legitimately disagree about policy specifics, observing that Church teaching provides broad moral principles but does not dictate detailed legislative solutions, and thus reject the idea that support for particular enforcement policies or politicians automatically constitutes a betrayal of the faith.^[2][6][12]

• Polling and election analyses show that many Catholic voters who supported Trump did so primarily because of concerns over abortion, religious liberty, and cultural questions rather than enthusiasm for harsh rhetoric, with conservative Catholics especially wary of Democratic commitments to expanded abortion rights and perceiving Trump-aligned candidates as more protective of unborn life and traditional moral norms.^[9][15]

• Election data from recent cycles indicate that Catholics have been closely divided politically, with a slim majority backing Trump in 2024 while a substantial minority opposed him, and some Catholics argue that this split reflects an ongoing internal debate about how to weigh issues like abortion, immigration, economic policy, and foreign affairs, rather than a simple embrace of Trumpism.^[7][9][15]

• Catholic leaders who focus on comprehensive immigration reform urge engagement with both parties instead of aligning wholly against one figure or movement, emphasizing the need for policies that expand legal pathways, prioritize family unity, and create earned legalization, while also calling for targeted enforcement; from this perspective, reducing Catholic political responsibility to voting against Trump or MAGA is seen as too narrow and insufficient for achieving lasting reform.^[5][11][14]

• Catholic educators and advocacy groups stress that Catholic social teaching on migrants calls both for welcoming the stranger and for upholding the rule of law, leading some to argue that faithful Catholics can support a combination of generous humanitarian protections, expanded legal immigration, and robust but humane enforcement, and that such a stance should not be conflated with hostility toward immigrants or automatic opposition to all Trump-era policies.^{[1][3][6][10]}

• Commentaries in Catholic media note that while many liberal Catholics criticized Trump for his rhetoric and policies toward immigrants and the poor, many conservative Catholics believed that his administration took steps they viewed as beneficial for religious schools, pro-life causes, and certain economic sectors, and therefore see their past votes not as complicity in cruelty but as an imperfect choice made within a polarized political environment.^[9][15]

• Some Catholic voices caution against framing political disagreements in quasi-theological terms of exorcism or heresy, arguing instead that the Church calls the faithful to examine their consciences, apply moral principles to complex realities, and maintain charity toward those who reach different prudential conclusions about candidates or parties, even while vigorously debating immigration, social justice, and the common good.^[2][6][12]