JG Vance by Gage Skidmore / Flickr (Left)
CV NEWS FEED // Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-OH, penned an opinion piece for a major Pennsylvania newspaper, exploring Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ “prejudice against Catholics.”
Vance is a Catholic who converted to the faith in 2019.
“Only by rejecting her record of anti-Catholic bias will we ensure religious liberty for all,” he wrote of Harris in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Post-Gazette is the second-largest newspaper in the state of Pennsylvania by circulation, and the largest in the western portion of the state.
Vance argued that Harris-Walz Campaign Vice-Chairwoman Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s mockery of the Eucharist and Harris’ decision not to attend the Al Smith Dinner in person both “show the Harris campaign’s anti-Catholic bigotry.”
“The first insults Catholics, while the latter displays a more subtle disregard for an important Catholic cultural event,” he wrote.
Donald Trump’s running mate also delved into Harris’ “record of bigotry toward Catholics and Catholic teachings” during her tenure in the U.S. Senate prior to her becoming vice president.
He mentioned her 2018 opposition to Judge Brian Buescher’s nomination to the federal bench “over his membership in the Knights of Columbus.” Buescher was Trump’s ultimately successful nominee for a U.S. District Court seat.
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“In addition to slandering the Knights, Ms. Harris suggested that Judge Buescher was unfit to serve on the bench because of his Catholic faith,” continued Vance.
The Yale Law School graduate added: “Any first-year law student would tell you that her line of questioning qualifies as an unconstitutional religious test for public office.”
Vance noted that Harris, also in 2018, denounced the Supreme Court for siding with Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who refused to be compelled to make a cake celebrating a same-sex “marriage.”
On a similar note, the vice presidential hopeful also scrutinized then-Sen. Harris’ co-sponsorship “of the ‘Equality Act,’ a bill that would render the Constitution’s protection of religious liberty effectively null and void.”
Vance cautioned that, if enacted, the Equality Act
would demand that Catholic churches host 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.
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Harris introduced the pro-LGBTQ “Do No Harm Act” the following year, Vance continued, “which would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions and even transgender surgeries.”
Besides a legislative record at odds with Church teachings, “Harris has been an integral part of the most anti-Catholic administration in living memory,” Vance went on to write.
Specifically, he mentioned the Biden-Harris Department of Justice’s (DOJ) prosecution of now-acquitted pro-life Catholic husband and father-of-seven Mark Houck, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) heavily scrutinized Richmond memo targeting Catholics.
The FBI is an agency of the DOJ.
“As a Catholic myself, I have a personal investment in ending this consistent pattern of anti-Catholic policies and actions,” Vance stressed:
But even non-Catholics and nonreligious Americans should be alarmed. If politicians can use the power of the government to target Catholics for their faith or force them into compromising their beliefs, they can trample any of the rights we hold dear if those rights get in the way of their agenda.
Readers can find Vance’s full op-ed here.
