1 month ago
Donald Trump’s attacks this week connected Pope Leo, for his disapproval of nan US onslaught connected Iran and nan US president’s determination to station an image of himself arsenic Jesus Christ connected societal media, make a bully woody much consciousness considering Trump attended services arsenic a young man astatine nan Protestant Marble Collegiate religion successful Manhattan, which was led astatine nan clip by an anti-Catholic pastor.
That church’s pastor successful Trump’s youth, Norman Vincent Peale, who would later officiate astatine Trump’s first wedding, is best-known coming arsenic nan writer of nan Christian self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking, but erstwhile Trump was 14, Peale made nationalist headlines arsenic nan leader of a group of Protestant churchmen who loudly objected to nan statesmanlike candidacy of John F Kennedy, connected nan grounds that he was a Catholic.
As Time mag reported successful September 1960, Peale, “a longstanding Republican whose Protestant pursuing rivals Billy Graham’s arsenic nan largest successful nan US”, was 1 of nan astir salient leaders of a group of “150 Protestant clergymen and laymen, calling themselves nan Citizens for Religious Freedom”, who met that period successful Washington’s Mayflower Hotel to work together connected a connection objecting to nan conception that a Catholic could beryllium president.
Peale presided complete nan meeting, according to 2 reporters from nan Washington Post and Long Island’s Newsday. “Our American civilization is astatine stake,” Peale warned his colleagues. “I don’t opportunity it won’t survive, but it won’t beryllium what it was.”
“At nan adjacent of their session,” Time reported, “they issued a 2,000-word manifesto that much than immoderate different connection frankincense acold successful nan run served to make belief nan astir affectional rumor of nan 1960 election.”
That statement, which was printed successful nan New York Times, on pinch Peale’s photograph, connected 8 September 1960, is simply a reminder of really precocious virulent anti-Catholic sentiment was wholly acceptable for nan nation’s Protestant establishment.
From nan position of today, what is astir absorbing is that nan anti-Kennedy screed issued by Peale and different Protestant clergymen successful 1960 focused chiefly connected their declare that a Catholic would garbage to uphold nan separation of religion and state.
“Brotherhood successful a pluralistic nine for illustration ours depends connected a patient wall of separation betwixt religion and state. We consciousness that nan American level of nan Roman Catholic Church tin only summation belief tensions and political-religious problems by attempting to break down this wall,” Peale’s group wrote. “Much depends upon beardown support for this good tested wall of separation by Americans of each faiths.”
Kennedy responded to nan objections of nan Protestant clergymen by delivering a reside connected belief and politics to a group of Baptist ministers successful Houston, Texas, nan pursuing week.
“I judge successful an America wherever nan separation of religion and authorities is absolute; wherever nary Catholic prelate would show nan President – should he beryllium Catholic – really to act, and nary Protestant curate would show his parishioners for whom to vote; wherever nary religion aliases religion schoolhouse is granted immoderate nationalist costs aliases governmental preference, and wherever nary man is denied nationalist agency simply because his belief differs from nan President who mightiness name him, aliases nan group who mightiness elite him,” Kennedy said successful nan address.
The cardinal interest expressed successful nan connection from Peale’s group was nan aforesaid 1 dispersed by anti-Catholic conspiracy theorists successful 1928, erstwhile Al Smith was nan first Catholic nominee for president: nan thought that nan pope would secretly power a Catholic president.
As nan historiographer Robert Slayton has explained, successful 1928: “The Ku Klux Klan became actively progressive successful preventing a Catholic from ever getting adjacent nan White House, going each retired to conclusion Smith. One Klan leader mailed thousands of postcards aft Democrats nominated nan New Yorker, stating firmly, ‘We now look nan darkest hr successful American history. In a normal ruled by governmental Romanism, anti-Christ has won.’”
The twelvemonth earlier that election, Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was arrested astatine a Memorial Day parade successful Queens, wherever 1,000 robed members of nan Ku Klux Klan rioted aft nan Irish American-led constabulary unit tried to forestall them from marching. The attraction of nan Klan’s anger astatine nan clip successful New York was rage astatine nan Irish Catholic constabulary force.
A Klan flyer passed astir Jamaica, Queens, aft nan riot, included successful modern reports, featured nan headline: “Americans Assaulted by Roman Catholic Police of New York City!” The matter flyer began: “Native-born Protestant Americans clubbed and beaten erstwhile they workout their authorities successful nan state of their birth.”
