Churches divided in response to US vote

European church leaders have reacted differently to the US election victory of Donald Trump, with contrasting predictions about its likely consequences. In Germany, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, a former Bishops’ Conference president, told Catholics in Freiburg he was “shocked” by Trump’s success and feared the growing “populist mood”. The head of the German Church’s International Church Affairs commission, Archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg, said he counted on President-elect Trump to “rethink and reposition” his pre-election pledges and bring US power to bear in tackling climate change, world inequality and war in the Middle East.

Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin and his Protestant colleague Bishop Markus Dröge, speaking in Berlin, stated that many Christians were “no longer capable” of explaining the basic values of Christianity. Archbishop Koch hoped Christian parishes would become “better able to interact with people like Trump”, rather than concluding “one can go no further with populists”.

Austria’s Kathpress carried a congratulatory telegram to Mr Trump from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as well as his comments that “the views of presidential candidates often differ from their policies”.

Poland’s Catholic Information Agency, KAI, reported that 52 per cent of US Catholics and over 60 per cent of Protestants voted for Mr Trump, and predicted he would enjoy good ties with the Vatican, having been a “decided opponent of abortion” and “defender of religious freedom”.

France’s Catholic daily, La Croix, said that Mr Trump’s “new American dream” risked becoming “an American nightmare” for those neither white nor Protestant. It added that Mr Trump’s February exchange with Pope Francis over proposals for a Mexican border wall indicated likely conflict.

Positive reactions came from Russia’s predominant Orthodox Church, whose leader, Patriarch Kirill, said in a telegram he wished Mr Trump “strength, God’s help and success” in fulfilling American hopes for “change in domestic policy and international relations”. The patriarch added that the US and Russia were “joined by shared history and Christian values”, and should cooperate “to counter extremism and terrorism, and defend the basic values and high moral ideals lying at the foundation of human rights and dignity”.

The Russian Church’s No. 2, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, said Mr Trump’s victory offered “hope for improving the entire system of international relations”.