This past week, thousands of Americans traveled on two pilgrimages. Republicans flocked to Milwaukee to nominate Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as their nominee for the White House. Meanwhile, Catholics overtook Indianapolis for the first Eucharistic Congress in 83 years.
Both were pivotal moments in American politics. Trump’s assassination attempt and the implosion of the Democratic Party has invigorated the base, and his victory in November seems inevitable. Meanwhile, the graces and prayers that will come from the Eucharistic Congress will transform the lives of many who attended.
But it is impossible to overlook the glaring contrast between the two events. In spite of all the pomp of circumstances, a real rot is occurring in the Republican Party.
The Eucharistic Congress showed that conservatives should strive to build a Eucharistic polity and place the Eucharist as the soul of a nation.
The Eucharist is the solution to our societal ills. While our culture promotes degeneracy, confusion, and division, Christ in the Blessed Sacrament provides His followers with the strength to overcome these challenges. At a time when only 69 percent of Catholics believe in the Real Presence, devotion to the Eucharist remains all the more important.
The Eucharist can offer an alternative political vision that can only be found in Christ. As Vincent Schiffiano wrote in The American Postliberal,
This is what our political ends should strive for—not just party conventions and balloon-drops but a real polity that worships the sacrifice of Christ. Our country needs more massive Eucharistic processions and fewer party conventions.
While we should support being politically prudent to win elections to secure the common good, we have to come to the sobering truth that conservatives lost the culture war. Instead of working toward preserving the culture, conservatives have decided to scandalize voters and concede the fundamental political issue. The GOP leadership should be reminded of St. Peter, who wrote, “You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Peter 3:17).
The struggle is, as St. Augustine described it, the conflict between the City of Man and the City of God.
