Democratic presidential
nominee Joe Biden
gestures during his
election rally after news
media declared he won the
presidential election.
Photo: CNS With Joe Biden now elected as the nation’s 46th president, it is “time for our leaders to come together in a spirit of national unity,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
They also must “commit themselves to dialogue and compromise for the common good,” he said in a statement issued late November 7.
A few hours earlier news organisations such as The Associated Press, The New York Times and Fox News announced Mr Biden and running mate Kamala Harris had won the race.
The projection came following the announcement from Pennsylvania officials that Mr Biden had won the state’s cache of 20 electoral votes, putting him over the 270 electoral-vote-threshold needed to secure a victory.
The statement read, “we recognize that Joseph R. Biden Jr, has received enough votes to be elected the 46th President of the United States. We congratulate Mr Biden and acknowledge that he joins the late President John F. Kennedy as the second United States president to profess the Catholic faith. We also congratulate Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California, who becomes the first woman ever elected as vice president.”
“We thank God for the blessings of liberty. The American people have spoken in this election,” Archbishop Gomez said, congratulating Mr Biden and Ms Harris on behalf of the USCCB.
“As Catholics and Americans, our priorities and mission are clear,” he said. “We are here to follow Jesus Christ, to bear witness to his love in our lives, and to build his kingdom on earth.”
Archbishop Gomez said he believes “at this moment in American history, Catholics have a special duty to be peacemakers, to promote fraternity and mutual trust, and to pray for a renewed spirit of true patriotism in our country.”
“Democracy requires that all of us conduct ourselves as people of virtue and self-discipline,” he added. “It requires that we respect the free expression of opinions and that we treat one another with charity and civility, even as we might disagree deeply in our debates on matters of law and public policy.”
The archbishop asked Mary, as “patroness of this great nation,” to “intercede for us.”
“May she help us to work together to fulfil the beautiful vision of America’s missionaries and founders – one nation under God, where the sanctity of every human life is defended and freedom of conscience and religion are guaranteed,” Archbishop Gomez said.