(LifeSiteNews) — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an op-ed written by GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance that lays out the many instances when Kamala Harris’ “anti-Catholic bias” has been on display.
In his 835-word essay, which went to print on Thursday, Vance documents the most well-known behaviors and remarks Harris has made over the past eight years that demonstrate what he says is a “consistent pattern of anti-Catholic policies and actions.”
Kamala Harris’s anti-Catholic record is disgraceful and an insult to millions of Americans.
My op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette⬇️https://t.co/tZR2NJCL22
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 24, 2024
Vance first reminds his readers that Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer mocked the sacrament of the Eucharist in a bizarre video where she fed a Doritos chip to a pro-abortion female influencer. He then recalls that Harris skipped the Al Smith Dinner, a Catholic fundraising event hosted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City that raises money for needy people.
“Both show the Harris campaign’s anti-Catholic bigotry,” Vance writes.
Vance goes on to note that, as a senator in 2018, Harris attacked Trump judicial nominee Brian Buescher over his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal group that engages in acts of charity and also upholds the Church’s moral teachings on abortion, LGBT issues, and homosexual “marriage.”
“In addition to slandering the Knights, Ms. Harris suggested that Judge Buescher was unfit to serve on the bench because of his Catholic faith. Any first-year law student would tell you that her line of questioning qualifies as an unconstitutional religious test for public office,” Vance wrote.
“That same year,” he continued, “Ms. Harris condemned the Masterpiece Cakeshop Supreme Court decision, in effect arguing that the government should be able to compel Catholics — or believers of any faith — to perform services that violate their sincerely held religious views, or indeed anyone’s conscientious belief she disagrees with.”
The Masterpiece Cakeshop suit involved a Christian baker in Colorado who refused to bake two homosexual men a “wedding” cake.
Vance further drew attention to what LifeSite has reported on for many years, namely, Harris’ radical support for other anti-Catholic and left-wing causes.
“Ms. Harris’s legislative record as a senator was similarly antagonistic toward Catholics,” he writes. “She was an early cosponsor of the ‘Equality Act,’ a bill that would render the Constitution’s protection of religious liberty effectively null and void. Among many potential consequences, this legislation would demand that Catholic churches host [so-called] same-sex weddings, require Catholic schools (and all federally funded education institutions) to allow men to compete in women’s sports and share women’s restroom and locker room facilities, and strip faith-based charities of their tax-exempt status.”
Vance then notes Harris’ support for the “Do No Harm Act,” which would require Catholic hospitals to commit abortions and “sex-change” surgeries. He also recalls that, while she was serving as attorney general of California, she directed law enforcement to raid the home of David Daleiden, a Catholic pro-life activist who released video showing that Planned Parenthood was selling aborted babies’ body parts.
Vance concludes his op-ed by fixing his gaze on what Harris has done while vice president. Among other things, he lists the FBI’s spying on Latin Mass churches, the targeting of Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic father of seven who had his house raided by more than a dozen FBI agents in 2022, and the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to prosecute criminals who have vandalized Catholic churches.
“This administration … has essentially ignored the nearly 300 attacks on Catholic churches since … 2022,” he writes. “In the White House, Ms. Harris has been an integral part of the most anti-Catholic administration in living memory,” which Vance notes is “ironic” because Joe Biden professes to be Catholic.
Vance ends his forcefully-written essay by noting that the “the best way” forward in the U.S. is to “respect our fellow Americans’ beliefs, not threaten Catholics and other Christians with government lawsuits.” There “was once a time in our nation’s history when both parties agreed on a common set of ideals, among them the understanding that an individual’s First Amendment right to practice his or her faith supersedes the political agenda of any bureaucrat, elected official, or political party. Ms. Harris has made clear that time has passed.”
In late September, dissident self-professed Catholics, including heterodox Sister Simone Campbell, made light of the Church’s teachings on the evil of abortion during the inaugural “Catholics for Harris” virtual meeting to cast Harris, who has avoided saying that she supports any restrictions on abortion, in a more positive light. A group called Catholics for Trump had been launched on September 4.
Two recent polls, one conducted by EWTN, the other by Pew Research, show conflicting data on which presidential candidate Catholic voters are supporting. EWTN reported that Trump is trailing Harris among Catholics 43 percent to 50 percent with 6 percent undecided. Pew said 52 percent of Catholics were backing Trump, compared with 47 percent favoring Harris. Election Day is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 5, nine days from now.