“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. And be our protector against the wickedness and the snares of the devil. »The prayer to Saint Michael introduced into the Roman liturgy by Pope Leo XIII, used for the conversion of Russia by Pius XI, encouraged by John Paul II and recited every day by Pope Francis, has been taken up by millions of Catholics across the world, Sunday September 29, for the solemnity of the Archangel having defeated the dragon.
But among all the messages posted on this occasion on social networks, there was one that caught the attention. In a post on on evangelical Protestants – who do not pray to the saints.
Electoral strategy
This is not the first time that the 45th American president has used Catholic iconography. On September 8, for the Nativity of the Virgin, Donald Trump published on his Truth Social network an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to a native in Mexico in 1531, accompanied by the message “Happy Birthday Mary!” » (“Happy birthday Marie!”). This release then aroused questions, sometimes disapproval, from many Christians from evangelical denominations in the United States.
In a campaign where faith and religion are, for the moment, less exposed than during the previous election, Donald Trump has increased his gestures of openness towards American Catholics. At the beginning of September, the former president had already launched an initiative called “Catholics for Trump”, consisting of highlighting the latter’s record on religious freedom.
In 2020, the Catholic vote proved decisive in allowing Joe Biden to enter the White House. “With these communication campaigns, Donald Trump targets the young elites and executives of the American right, who are increasingly Catholic”Judge Paul Carpenter, researcher in religious sciences at the Practical School of Advanced Studies. The former president does not target all American Catholics, for whom the fault lines linked to faith are not a criterion of choice, favoring economic themes.
Through these publications, the Republican candidate could also try to improve his image with conservatives opposed to abortion, since he spoke out against the ban on abortion at the federal level. “Pro-life organizations are very influential among elites and major donorsdescribes Paul Carpenter. Their reaction was more virulent than anticipated to Donald Trump’s positions, to the point that some suspended their support for his campaign. The images and posts on social media are a purely symbolic gesture. This shows that his teams are aware that a fringe of the Republican Party is not satisfied with their candidate’s positions. By giving them guarantees, Donald Trump is trying to ease internal tensions. »
Rification with the Catholic electorate
All this in a context where the Catholic electorate is divided. According to a poll published by the Pew Research Center on September 9, the former president is a short head ahead of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris (52% of voting intentions against 47% for his competitor). “This shows that Donald Trump has made up for the slight gap that allowed current President Joe Biden to win in 2020” with 51% of Catholic votes, analyzes Marie Gayte, lecturer in American civilization at the University of Toulon.
This study also shows stronger Republican voting intentions among white Catholics, at 61% versus 38%. “Donald Trump also wins among regular practitionersadds the researcher. We note, however, that the Hispanic Catholic vote is largely in favor of Kamala Harris (65%), whereas before his withdrawal from the Democratic primary, Joe Biden was doing poorly with this electorate. »
