The American Catholic Moment
For the first time in history, an American sits on the Throne of St. Peter. Pope Leo XIV – born in Dolton, Illinois, and formed at Villanova University – now leads the global Church. At the same moment, President Trump’s new Ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, heads to Rome.
The Catalyst: Pope Leo XIV. His election electrifies the faithful. His modesty, steadiness, and clarity provide a needed counterbalance to the recent era of confusion.
Conversions surge. Young people – searching for meaning and noble lives of purpose – are returning to the pews (especially men). Conservative religious orders attract new vocations. Witnesses like Blessed Carlo Acutis inspire a generation hungry for truth, stability, and eternal meaning.
In American politics, Catholics are no longer the foundation of the Democratic Party. It is difficult to exaggerate how profound this reversal is. In fact, Catholics move decisively to the populist right.
Our spring poll: Catholics massively reject radicalism, rating the Democrats at -25% net approval (31–56%). Republicans? -2% net (44–46%).
In 2024, Trump carried Catholics by +12% nationally – and won Hispanic Catholics in record numbers, the largest Latino vote total ever for a Republican. With Latinos now 40% of U.S. Catholics – and a majority of Gen Z – this shift is demographic destiny.
If past is prelude, then these gains point toward a lot more wins ahead for the patriotic populist right wing. After all, Catholics have voted for the winning presidential candidate in every single election but one (2000) for a half century. So, new Catholic convert Vice President JD Vance seems especially well-positioned to grow this populist right trend among the demographic that “picks presidents.”
More than most political leaders, Vance understands and promotes the social and economic approach to policies best explained in Rerum Novarum, the encyclical of Pope Leo XIII in 1891 at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, as Marxism swirled around the globe. This Pope Leo chose his name explicitly to pay homage to his predecessor and the importance of that teaching, in this new data/AI world.
The Rerum Novarum philosophy wholly rejects socialism as antithetical to Christianity and affirms the economic primacy of private property. It simultaneously abhors a commercialism that degrades human dignity and prioritizes workers and families over corporatism.
These principles – subsidiarity, human dignity, solidarity – now find a political home in America First populism. Today’s Catholics see the GOP as the party of workers (+5% margin, 45–40%).
So, historic opportunities beckon. Ambassador Burch arrives in Rome at precisely this inflection point: an American Pope, a Catholic political realignment, a generation seeking meaning. As Reagan and John Paul II once did, America and the Vatican can again move in concert – resisting socialism, uplifting workers, and advancing justice worldwide.
With a unity of purpose between the world’s superpowers of the temporal and spiritual realms, we can truly build the society we want, one based on broad prosperity, vibrant communities, and a respect for transcendent truth. A society that promotes the common good and creates the conditions for faith to flourish.
When America and the Church align, history bends. That is the power – and the promise – of this American Catholic Moment.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
