The bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, has called for “prudence and patience” until the results of the presidential election can be sorted out and verified.
In his “Statement Regarding the Presidential Election,” Fort Worth Bishop Michael F. Olson wrote this week that now “is still a time for prudence and patience as the results of the presidential election have not been officially authenticated.”
“It appears that there will be recourse made in the courts so it is best for us in the meantime to pray for peace in our society and nation and that the integrity of our republic, one nation under God, might be maintained for the common good of all,” Bishop Olson states.
“We need to pray for each presidential candidate that each will maintain a commitment to just and due process in accord with right reason and the rule of law for the sake of justice and peace,” he concludes.
While some national leaders and institutions were quick to accept the assertion by mainstream media that the election results were final, others have adopted a more prudent approach, preferring not to jump to conclusions until an official winner of the election has been declared.
The president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference was among those swift to acknowledge a Biden victory, albeit in a stony statement devoid of joy or enthusiasm.
We recognize “that Joseph R. Biden, Jr., has received enough votes to be elected the 46th President of the United States,” said Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez. “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,” he added.
“Democracy requires that all of us conduct ourselves as people of virtue and self-discipline,” Archbishop Gomez stated. “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 tempered his congratulations with a thinly veiled warning to the putative president-elect, highlighting vital issues where Mr. Biden has been notoriously at odds with his own Church, namely on the matters of abortion and religious freedom.
America’s missionaries and founders had a beautiful vision of “one nation under God, where the sanctity of every human life is defended and freedom of conscience and religion are guaranteed,” he declared.