Statistically, American Catholics are unusual in that they are roughly evenly divided across the political spectrum. This is a direct result of this. Abortion has historically been used as a wedge issue to align American Catholics and Evangelicals. In fact, up until around the 60's,

April 10, 2026 - 21:26 UTC

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abortion was really just a fringe issue that Catholics cared about.

Over the past few Popes, we've seen a deliberate refocusing of the Church's priorities: the Popes have been emphasizing teachings on economic justice over their social positions on, for example, gay and trans people.
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This is *not* a change in Church doctrine. The Second Vatican Council established all of these things as being the Church's official position. It's just that Francis and now Leo have taken pains to focus efforts on the "peace and economic equality" bits over the "gays are a sin" bits.
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