Joshua Bennett
Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign was accused of anti-Catholic sentiment following the release of WikiLeaks emails. The emails revealed plans for a Catholic Spring to foment revolt within the Church and align its doctrine with Clinton's political agenda. Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, was implicated in the scandal, along with Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, both of whom are Catholic. They were accused of meddling in the internal affairs of the Church and displaying contempt for Catholics and evangelicals. Clinton's advisers denied the allegations, calling them a faux controversy. However, the scandal sparked outrage among Catholic and evangelical leaders, who called for an apology and respect for religious liberty.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Clinton campaign's anti-Catholic nature | Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri |
| said hateful things about Catholics and evangelicals | |
| divulged a plan referred to as the "Catholic Spring" | |
| Clinton staffers' anti-Catholic bias | |
| Clinton campaign's anti-Christian bigotry | |
| Clinton campaign's Christophobic behaviour | |
| Clinton's anti-Catholic 'scandal' | |
| Clinton campaign's anti-Catholic 'charge' |
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What You'll Learn
Clinton's pro-abortion stance
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has been accused of anti-Catholic sentiment, largely due to two email exchanges revealed in the WikiLeaks hack. The emails in question were between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, both Catholic, and left-wing activist and Voices for Progress president Sandy Newman.
In the first email exchange, Podesta and Palmieri made comments about reforming their church and about political conservatives, some of whom are also Catholic. Palmieri wrote:
> I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they became evangelicals.
In the second email exchange, Newman wrote to Podesta that:
> "there needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic church."
Podesta replied, saying:
> "We created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a moment like this . . . Likewise Catholics United."
These emails have been interpreted by some as evidence of an attempt by the Clinton campaign to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church and ensure its doctrines align with Clinton's political agenda. Clinton advisers, however, have dismissed the controversy as a "faux controversy" stirred up by the Trump campaign.
Catholic Scandals: Empty Pews, Broken Faith
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Clinton's campaign staff
In 2016, Clinton's campaign staff was accused of anti-Catholic sentiment. The controversy arose from two email exchanges revealed in the WikiLeaks hack. In one email exchange, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri referred to a plan called the "Catholic Spring". The plan aimed to foment revolt within the Catholic Church to ensure its religious doctrines aligned with Clinton/Democratic views and agendas. Podesta also acknowledged creating two groups, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United, to promote liberal movements in the Catholic Church.
In another email exchange, Podesta and left-wing activist Sandy Newman, president of Voices for Progress, discussed the need for a "Catholic Spring" to end the "middle ages dictatorship" within the Catholic Church and promote gender equality. These emails caused outrage among Catholic and evangelical leaders, who called for Clinton to apologize for the anti-Catholic and anti-evangelical sentiments expressed by her campaign staff.
Clinton's campaign pushed back on the anti-Catholic charges, with advisers calling it a "faux controversy". They criticized the email hacking, blaming WikiLeaks for being a "propaganda arm of the Kremlin" trying to help elect Donald Trump. Clinton's spokesman, Glen Caplin, also pointed out that groups like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United were created to push for a more progressive approach to the faith.
The controversy over the Clinton campaign's emails highlights the tension between religious institutions and political agendas. While Clinton's campaign staff may have had intentions to promote progressive change within the Catholic Church, their methods and language caused concern and outrage among many Catholics and raised questions about religious liberty and respect for differing beliefs.
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Clinton's comments on reforming the church
In 2016, the Clinton campaign was accused of being anti-Catholic following the release of emails by WikiLeaks. The emails in question included an exchange between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Sandy Newman, the left-wing activist and president/founder of Voices for Progress. In the exchange, Newman wrote that there "needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic Church." Podesta responded by noting that they had created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United to organize for a moment like this.
Clinton advisers called the controversy a ""faux controversy" stirred up over the email exchanges. They also criticized the email hacking, accusing WikiLeaks of being a "propaganda arm of the Kremlin with a political agenda." However, critics, including Donald Trump's campaign, called the emails anti-Catholic. Joseph Cella, Trump's chief liaison to Catholics, said the emails "reveal the depths of the hostility of Hillary Clinton and her campaign toward Catholics."
In response to the controversy, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote that he would welcome a repudiation of the content of the emails from Clinton. He noted that the emails were consistent with Clinton's public comments, such as her speech to the 2015 Women in the World Summit, where she declared that "deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed." Chaput questioned whether Clinton's professed-Catholic, Jesuit-educated running mate, Gov. Tim Kaine, agreed with her comments.
While the Clinton campaign faced accusations of anti-Catholic sentiment, it is important to note that the campaign itself included prominent Catholic figures, such as Podesta and Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri. The goal of the aforementioned organizations, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United, was to push for a more progressive approach to the faith, with change coming from the bottom up.
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Clinton's emails on conservative Catholics
In 2016, WikiLeaks released a batch of emails from John Podesta's email account. Podesta was the chairman of Hillary Clinton's election campaign. The emails in question contained exchanges between Podesta, Clinton's campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. In these emails, there were negative comments about conservative Catholics and their beliefs, which were referred to as "backwards".
In one email, the senior fellow wrote about many "powerful elements of the conservative movement" that are "all Catholic", saying they were a ""bastardization of the faith" and that "they must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations". Palmieri responded, agreeing that Catholicism is the "most socially acceptable politically conservative religion" and that "their rich friends wouldn't understand if they became evangelicals". Podesta did not respond.
In another email exchange, Podesta and left-wing activist Sandy Newman discussed the need for a ""Catholic Spring", in which Catholics would demand an end to the "middle ages dictatorship" of the Church. This was likened to a Stalinist plot to infiltrate the Russian Orthodox priesthood with Communist agents.
The Trump campaign and its supporters called for Clinton to apologise for this "hostility to religious liberty and to the beliefs we hold as Catholics". Clinton advisers, however, dismissed the controversy as ""faux", stirred up by the WikiLeaks hack. They also criticised the email hacking, calling WikiLeaks "a propaganda arm of the Kremlin with a political agenda doing Putin's dirty work to help elect Donald Trump".
The Clinton campaign was also accused of firing staffers over the anti-Catholic comments only because they had been caught, and of attempting to spread "dirty progressive seed within the Church".
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Clinton's criticism of the Catholic sacrament of Communion
In 2016, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was accused of being anti-Catholic. This was largely due to two email exchanges between Clinton campaigners that were uncovered by WikiLeaks.
The first exchange was between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, both Catholic. They discussed many "powerful elements of the conservative movement" that are "all Catholic", saying they were a "bastardization of the faith". Palmieri responded:
> "I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they became evangelicals."
The second exchange was between Podesta and Sandy Newman, the left-wing activist and president/founder of Voices for Progress. Newman wrote that there "needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic church". Podesta replied:
> "We created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a moment like this . . . Likewise Catholics United."
These emails were interpreted by some as evidence of anti-Catholic sentiment within the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. They were also seen as an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church and to ensure that its religious doctrines align with Clinton's political agenda.
Clinton's advisers pushed back on these accusations, calling them a ""faux controversy". However, some Catholic groups, such as Catholics United, have also been critical of the Catholic Church, condemning bishops who deny Communion to politicians who support legal abortion. They describe this as "a shameful attempt to use the Catholic sacrament of Communion as a political weapon".
Frequently asked questions
Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta and Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri were implicated in a series of email exchanges uncovered by WikiLeaks. In these emails, they referred to a plan called the "Catholic Spring" to foment revolt within the Church to ensure its religious doctrines aligned with Clinton/Democratic views.
Clinton's campaign spokesman Glen Caplin criticized the email hacking, stating that "Wikileaks is proving they are nothing but a propaganda arm of the Kremlin with a political agenda doing Putin's dirty work to help elect Donald Trump." Clinton advisers also said that the Trump campaign's charge was a "faux controversy".
Catholic leaders called for Clinton to apologize for the Christophobic behavior of her associates and the open anti-Catholic bigotry of her senior advisers. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote that he would welcome a repudiation of the content of the emails from Clinton, but also noted that the emails were consistent with Clinton's public comments, such as her speech to the 2015 Women in the World Summit.
