Archbishop Viganò endorses Trump, tells Catholics abstaining ‘means allying oneself with the enemy’
LifeSiteTue Oct 22, 2024 - 8:59 am
(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has thrown his full support behind Donald Trump as the next president of the U.S. and called upon American Catholics to vote for Trump on November 5 as a moral imperative.
In an open letter addressed to Catholics in America, Viganò, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States, urged the faithful to vote for Trump as the “only possible choice” for president to oppose the “deep state” and protect “future generations,” echoing his previous claims that only Trump stands in the way of a “globalist coup.”The archbishop suggested that “voting for Kamala Harris,” on the other hand, “is morally inadmissible and constitutes a very grave sin,” adding that to abstain from voting would not be “morally possible,” since “in this war declaring oneself neutral means allying oneself with the enemy.”
Viganò, who is a long-time supporter of Trump’s political candidacy, argued in his Tuesday letter that a vote for Trump “means firmly distancing ourselves from an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, and anti-human vision of society” while at the same time noting “serious problems” with the former president’s declared positions on both abortion and “assisted procreation [IVF],” which he said “a Catholic cannot agree with.”
Indeed, Trump has stated that he would oppose a federal ban on abortion and would mandate insurance coverage for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), both of which practices violate natural law and the explicit doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Viganò wrote that Trump,whom he said “is paying with his very life for his fight against the deep state” in refence to recent assassination attempts,represents “the only possible choice to counter the globalist coup that the woke Left is about to implement definitively, irreparably, and with incalculable damage for future generations.” The prelate added that if Catholics were to assist in placing Trump back in the White House, it must become for him “the premise for a more incisive commitment to the defense of life from conception to natural death, the traditional family, the right of parents to educate their children, and to the defense of the Christian faith and the cultural identity of the nation.”
In contrast, thearchbishop stated that Kamala Harris, whose party supports abortion through all nine months and aggressively pushes the LGBT agenda, is “an infernal monster who obeys Satan” and argued that a potential Harris presidency would usher in an era of “slavery” which would promote “everything that directly opposes the faith and morals of the Catholic Church.”
Describing such ascenario as “the most ferocious dictatorship,” Viganò said America under Harris would suffer “moral, social, and economic destruction.”
Harris recently declined to show at the annual Al Smith Memorial dinner, a Catholic fundraising event which typically sees the Republican and Democrat presidential candidates put aside partisanship to attend the charitable event. Critics roundly condemned Harris as “anti-Catholic” for the no-show and criticized her pre-recorded speech as “purposely” offensive.
During his speech at the dinner, Trump blastedHarris’ snub as “very disrespectful” to Catholics and used the opportunity to call upon Catholics to vote for him this election cycle. Trump also told Raymond Arroyo ahead of the event that he likes the Catholic Church “a lot.”
In concluding his Tuesday letter,Viganò emphasized that “Our Lord must return to reign, and the first way to make Him reign is by obeying His holy law and living in His grace.”
“Let Christ reign in your hearts, in your families, in your communities, and throughout the entire United States of America: this is the only way to peace, harmony, and prosperity for your nation,” the prelate added.
American Cardinal Raymond Burke also weighed in on the upcoming election, publishing advice to the faithful to “pray and fast” ahead of casting their vote.
Offering counsel on “how to vote in good conscience” this November 5, Burke said – alongside prioritizing prayer and fasting that America “will once again serve the good of all its citizens” – Catholics should “study carefully the agenda of each candidate” to see whether they “will limit” evils, “even though he or she espouses morally objectionable programs and policies.”
While lamenting the “desperate situation” of U.S. politics, owing to “the agenda of both major political parties” being “so fundamentally objectionable,” Burke said that Catholics should vote where they find “even the smallest ray of hope” that their vote could positively impact the common good….
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archbishop-vigano-endorses-trump-tells-catholics-abstaining-means-allying-oneself-with-the-enemy/