Priestly guidance on voting is dividing the Catholic church in America
In theory priests shouldn’t tell their flock how to vote. In practice they often do
CAN A CATHOLIC vote for Joe Biden and avoid damnation? Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, a diocese covering 33 counties in east Texas, doesn’t think so. Last month he endorsed a video made by a priest in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, which urged Catholic Democrats to “repent of your support of that party...or face the fires of hell”. In a tweet, Bishop Strickland thanked the priest for his courage and urged his followers to “HEED THIS MESSAGE”.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Render unto Caesar”
United States October 3rd 2020
- Why Donald Trump is doing surprisingly well in Florida
- Would the Supreme Court hand Donald Trump a second term?
- Why do voters in Georgia face so many hurdles to voting?
- Measuring poverty in the midst of America’s covid-19 epidemic
- Priestly guidance on voting is dividing the Catholic church in America
- The end of the debate
From the October 3rd 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from United States
The beginning of the end of the Trump era
The new president is more confident, and radical, than ever—and also more accepted
Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands
But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?
Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy
The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”
A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction
Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is
Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump
In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite
How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?
Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling