James Rudin
  • Home
  • About
  • Appearances
  • Books
    • The People in the Room
    • Pillar of Fire - A biography
    • Christians & Jews: Faith to Faith
    • Cushing, Spellman, O'Connor
    • The Baptizing of America
  • Publications & Reviews
  • Contact

America hasn’t always been kind to Catholic presidential candidates

8/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
(RNS) — Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic, is running for the United States presidency. It hasn’t happened very often; there have only been three others nominated in our national history.

The first was New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith in 1928, followed by Massachusetts Sens. John F. Kennedy in 1960 and John F. Kerry in 2004.

Biden has openly described how his deep religious faith sustained him through the dark moments of his life, especially the tragic deaths of his first wife and two children. Biden is, in many ways, doubling down on his faith during his campaign, in the hopes of attracting Catholic faithful and religious voters who may see President Donald Trump’s use of faith as hypocritical.

In fact, Biden is counting on his Catholicism to be a boon to his campaign — but that hasn’t always been the case for Catholic presidential hopefuls.

It certainly was not for Smith, who ran against U.S. Commerce Secretary and Republican Herbert C. Hoover. Back then, the religious bigots publicly charged that the New York governor’s religious loyalty to Pope Pius XI superseded his faithfulness to the Constitution and made him unfit, even dangerous, to sit in the Oval Office.
​
The obscene anti-Catholic attacks on Smith came not only from members of the anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic and anti-African American Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. There were also strong anti-Catholic feelings deeply embedded among the clergy and laity of many Protestant denominations, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the Methodist Church.

Read More
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Rabbi James Rudin

    Check in often to see the latest publications from James Rudin.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    October 2014
    March 2012
    February 2011
    December 2006
    August 2005
    April 2005
    September 1987
    June 1987
    February 1987
    September 1986
    May 1984
    December 1974
    August 1972

    Categories

    All
    Appearances
    Articles
    Religion News Service
    Reviews

    RSS Feed

Picture
All Titles
Picture
All Titles
Picture
All Titles
HOME
ABOUT
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
APPEARANCES
CONTACT

The Official Website of James Rudin - ©2015-2023 - All Rights Reserved.
​Website by Stage Door Designs