Mr. Trump and Pope Francis clashed earlier this year over immigration, and the pope gave a speech in Rome last Saturday in which he denounced the building of walls. Mr. Trump has promised to build a wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexico.
Mr. Trump’s personal history and crude comments about women and sex led some Catholic and evangelical leaders to denounce him in the months leading up to the election. Many urged their fellow believers not to support the Republican nominee. Their efforts appear to have been futile.
The path to victory for the real-estate mogul and reality television star was propelled in part by enthusiasm from white Catholic voters. In Elk County, Pa., for example, which is about 70 percent Catholics, Mr. Trump won 70 percent of the vote compared to 57 percent for Mitt Romney in 2012.
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