Federal Election Commission Chairman Trey Trainor on Wednesday blasted Catholic bishops for not making political endorsements in the 2020 election.
“The bishops are using their nonprofit status as a shield from having to make a decision about who to support,” Trainor said, adding that church leaders “hide” from making overt political statements.
Trainor, a Catholic Trump appointee, described the arrangement as “almost a pay off” from the federal government to the Catholic Church during an interview with right-wing media personality Michael Voris. Trainor said that Catholic churches receive massive subsidies from federal entities, effectively silencing them on making political statements.
Trainor noted that while the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops frequently makes general statements on its positions about topics such as abortion and gay marriage, the body does not “take that next step” to endorse candidates whose policies align with church teachings. Trainor all but said that they should endorse Trump, saying that the 2020 election is a spiritual war between good and evil.
Amid questions from Voris, Trainor said that churches “absolutely” can make political endorsements without fear of losing their nonprofit status. He added later in the interview that priests have a “higher duty to our Lord” to make political statements in election years, even if their bishops forbid them from doing so.
The issue of priests endorsing political candidates became controversial for Catholics last week. James Altman, a Wisconsin priest, made a viral video in which he asserted that “you can not be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period.” Altman’s bishop, William Callahan, publicly corrected him, saying that Altman comes off as “angry and judgmental” in the video.
“His generalization and condemnation of entire groups of people is completely inappropriate and not in keeping with our values or the life of virtue,” Callahan said.
Altman in his video highlighted Democratic support for abortion as one of the main reasons why Catholics cannot vote for Democrats. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is Catholic and supports abortion rights, has become the target of many similar criticisms of Catholic public figures.
One of Biden’s top critics on the abortion issue, Rev. Frank Pavone, served on President Trump’s campaign as an ambassador to both Catholics and anti-abortion voters, until bishops in July told him to cease. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Pavone said that he stepped down from the campaign because his bishop felt that it was not appropriate for him, as a priest, to participate.
“By request of church authority, I’m no longer on those boards,” he said, adding that he will continue to work in anti-abortion advocacy throughout the rest of the election season.
