The Mysterious Catholic Faith of Ron DeSantis
Michael J. O’Loughlin|Christopher Parker May 23, 2023
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to enter the Republican presidential contest this week, during an online conversation with billionaire entrepreneur and Twitter owner Elon Musk, NBC News has reported. Supporters of Mr. DeSantis believe the two-term Florida governor offers an opportunity to nominate a conservative who does not carry the same baggage as his onetime ally and chief rival, former President Donald Trump.
Mr. DeSantis has been a vocal proponent of issues important to cultural conservatives, supporting measures that restrict the teaching of “sexual orientation or gender identity” in schools and taking on corporations, including Disney, for their perceived support of progressive causes. Part of Mr. DeSantis’s strategy is the courting of evangelical Christians, whose support helped propel Mr. Trump to the White House in 2016.
But as far as his own religious beliefs go, Mr. DeSantis has offered few clues thus far, instead relying on broad intonations about the importance of faith to him and his family.
Ron DeSantis was raised Catholic, but he and and his wife, Casey, rarely discuss the particularities of their religious beliefs in public.
On Monday, Mr. DeSantis delivered an address to the National Religious Broadcasters’ International Christian Media Convention in Orlando. In that speech, Mr. DeSantis said that the federal government is targeting religious Americans, citing a leaked memo from the F.B.I. that critics say proves that some Catholics have been scrutinized for their religious beliefs. During his address, Mr. DeSantis invoked a phrase he has used repeatedly, stating, “Put on the full armor of God…and don’t ever, ever back down.”
Mr. DeSantis was raised Catholic, attended Mass as a child and was a student at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Dunedin, Florida. He is the nephew of a Catholic priest and also the nephew of a Catholic sister, both residing in Ohio, and a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center noting the religious affiliation of each member of Congress stated that Mr. DeSantis was a Roman Catholic. (A representative for the religious order that Mr. DeSantis’s aunt belongs to declined to comment for this story, and his uncle did not return an email from America.)
But Mr. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, rarely discuss the particularities of their religious beliefs in public, and media reports about Mr. DeSantis vary in how they describe Mr. DeSantis’s faith.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2023/05/23/desantis-catholic-presidential-race-republican-245350