The Church’s ability to bring partisans together in a polarized nation is indispensable.
I was looking forward to meeting Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at this year’s Al Smith Dinner, held annually in Manhattan on 17 October. Since its inception in 1945, the event has honored the first Catholic presidential nominee from a major party and serves as a night where politicians set aside partisanship to raise money for Catholic charities. Unfortunately, one of the two, Harris, has decided to skip the event.
This decision marks a missed opportunity and a needlessly joyless move for a Harris campaign that claims to be fueled by joy. But beyond that, it may signal the growing irrelevance of the so-called Catholic vote.
In the context of American elections, the Catholic vote has often been seen as a powerful bloc, capable of swinging key battleground states. However, the idea of a unified “Catholic vote” is more myth than reality. Catholics, like any other group, are deeply divided along partisan lines. The political affiliations of Catholic voters are shaped by a range of issues—abortion, healthcare, immigration—and are far from monolithic.
Yet the Catholic Church’s ability to bring people together, transcending partisan divides, is more important now than ever. In an increasingly polarized nation, the Church continues to have an outsized influence, especially when it comes to issues of morality and social justice. The Church’s role as a unifying force for Americans of all political persuasions remains indispensable, even if the “Catholic vote” itself is less of a tangible political entity than it’s often portrayed.
Kamala Harris’ absence at the Al Smith Dinner may, in the long run, further diminish her connection with Catholic voters. By distancing herself from an event that celebrates Catholic tradition and charity, Harris risks alienating a key segment of the electorate that could help determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential race.
In many ways, the decline of the Catholic vote as a distinct, powerful force may reflect the broader fragmentation of American political life. The lines between political parties are drawn ever more sharply, leaving little room for the nuanced, unifying influence that institutions like the Catholic Church once provided. As the nation becomes more polarized, the challenge remains: how can institutions of faith, like the Catholic Church, continue to foster unity in a society increasingly divided by partisanship?