A sizable portion of Catholics ‘ electorates cast their clear ballots for former president Donald Trump.
Tarnish- A- LAGO, Fla. —A outspoken team of Catholic social activists endorsed previous President Donald Trump’s nomination on his home turf Tuesday. Additionally, they pledged to defend four basic rights, which they believe have been in jeopardized since he left office.
” We wanted to encompass him with prayer as he continues to be attacked from all sides”, John Yep, leader of Catholic for Christians, told The Epoch Times.
By going all- in for President Trump, Mr. Yep’s Arizona- based party rejected the latest leader, despite his being of the Catholic faith—a election alliance that has often helped determine who wins the presidency.
” Best today, we’re going up against a Catholic- in- title- only, President Joe Biden”, Mr. Yep said, adding,” We’re certainly judging his heart. That’s between him and God”.
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But Mr. Yep says President Biden’s leadership has undermined or openly attacked privileges that are essential to all Americans, not only Catholics:” the right to devotion, the right to life, kids ‘ right, and children’s right”.
Mr. Yep stressed that, as President Trump and President Biden campaign for the presidency,” the election is not a choice between two men”.
He views it as” a choice between two American systems, one that upholds the values of a Republic and the other that is counter to everything we know as a society.”
Catholics Exert Influence
The Catholic Church has been” the single- largest religious body in the United States” for more than a century, boasting about 60 million adherents–about one- fifth of the U. S. population, political scientist Clifford Grammich points out.
Although President Trump is not Catholic, his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump, served as the nation’s first Catholic first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of the late President John F. Kennedy, who served from 1961 to 1963.
President Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is running as an independent candidate, opposing both Presidents Biden and Trump.
In 2020, President Trump won 50 % of the Catholic vote, one percentage point higher than Joe Biden, who has garnered the support of roughly 80 % of white evangelical Christian voters.
For a number of reasons, the former president is regarded among such people of faith, including the fact that he appointed conservative Supreme Court justices who overturned a landmark abortion case. Their decision gave individual 50 states new authority over abortion.
Speakers at Tuesday’s event lauded President Trump as” the most pro- life president in history”, pointing out that, in 2020, he became the first sitting president to attend the annual March for Life in Washington.
On Tuesday, several hundred people attended the Catholics for Catholics formal affair, which featured calls to action from Trump allies, pro- life activists, and people who have faced political persecution in the United States and elsewhere.
They expressed confidence in President Trump’s capacity and willingness to reclaim rights that they believe have been violated by the current administration.
Tim Ballard, whose real-life battle against child sex trafficking served as inspiration for last year’s popular Christian film” The Sound of Freedom,” said to the Mar-a-Lago audience that President Trump had made significant progress in bringing down that despicable and illegal trade. Mr. Ballard also said he is currently facing “lawfare” at the hands of the current administration, but he declined to reveal details.
He claimed that President Biden’s open-border policies put more children at risk.
A member of the audience yelled out,” God’s children are not for sale,” in a powerful line from the film!
A Memorable Tuesday
The event was scheduled for March 19 by Catholics for Catholics to coincide with St. Joseph’s annual celebration of the world’s patron saint, who is the worldwide protector of communism.
In accordance with the description of the event,” We will invoke his protection on President Trump and our great country.”
Mr. Yep told the crowd:” When you name your enemy, you control it”. And the enemy for their group —and the nation—is “atheistic communism”, which seeks to dismantle religion and other principles forming the bedrock of American society, he said.
The former president won his most recent primary election victories in several states, including Florida, where he and the former first lady had earlier cast ballots, adding to the significance of Tuesday’s date.
Conservative podcaster Jack Posobiec urged Mar-a-Lago viewers to join him in applauding and cheering so loudly that Mr. Navarro could hear it from his jail cell in Miami, which is about 75 miles away. The group responded with a standing ovation in honor of Mr. Navarro, whom Mr. Posobiec described as a foe of the Chinese communists.
Mr. Navarro is going to prison because he had the fortitude to stand up for his principles, Mr. Posobiec said. ” That is the energy we need as Catholics”, he added.
The toughest man I know,
Another Trump ally, Roger Stone, told the audience that he, too, stood his ground when federal authorities pressured him” to bear false witness” against President Trump. ” I told them that they could go to hell”, he said.
Mr. Stone claimed to have known President Trump for 45 years and that he was” the leader for this moment” facing America. ” He is an uncommon man”, Mr. Stone said. ” Donald Trump is the toughest man I know…. They want to destroy him, and he faces it with uncannily optimistic self-assurance. He’s incredibly resolute”.
Standing up for one’s beliefs “is a noble virtue, and we see that in President Trump”, Mr. Yep told The Epoch Times.
When asked about criticisms of President Trump’s brashness and name- calling tendencies, Mr. Yep replied,” This is not a canonization ceremony, this is an endorsement. There’s a difference”.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump ally who was also persecuted, reminded the crowd that when President Trump gave his State of the Union address in 2019, he declared that” America will never be a socialist country”. It was unthinkable that a U. S. president would ever have to make such a statement, Mr. Flynn said.
The situation is worse now, he said. In a reference to the 23rd Psalm from the Bible, Mr. Flynn said,” This country is in the valley of the shadow of death”. However, he urged the audience to be “fearless” in their quest for what they believe to be true.
Politics and religion Do Mix
Tickets to the Mar- a- Lago event sold for$ 1, 000 apiece, but the gathering was not a fundraiser, Mr. Yep said. Instead, the money was used to cover the expenses associated with hosting the event, which included a cocktail hour and dinner.
Catholics for Catholics was established just 15 months ago, but the organization has succeeded in bringing together Catholics. Large crowds turned out for “rosary rallies” that the group has organized.
5, 000 people participated in a prayer procession with the group in June of last year to protest the Los Angeles Dodgers ‘ decision to honor a drag queen group.
The Catholic Prayer for Trump event was put together in just three weeks, but according to Mr. Yep, it attracted media attention from as far away as Sweden.
Mr. Yep explains why Catholics for Catholics tend to adopt outspoken positions.
” Some organizations may use faith to sway politics. We are the opposite”, he told The Epoch Times. We are Catholics who are utilizing politics to spread the word; politics gives us a platform to do so.
This report was written by The Associated Press.
