At one time, the presence of Catholics on both major-party tickets would have been cause for celebration. But now Mr. Vance and Mr. Biden reflect the political divisions among U.S. Catholics.

We need more than cooler rhetoric. We need a politics for the common good.

If Trump is elected, Vance would be the second Catholic vice president in US history—after Joe Biden.

My fellow Americans, I have some bad news: This is who we are.

"Together with my brother bishops, we condemn political violence, and we offer our prayers for President Trump, and those who were killed or injured," said Archbishop Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Many political and faith leaders, even as they prayed for Trump, also asked for prayers for the country as a whole, and particularly America’s polarized political landscape.