I was in America when Paul Ryan announced he was retiring as Speaker of the House. Mr Ryan represented the pinnacle of Catholic influence among the Republicans. In an alternate reality, Jeb Bush won the 2016 race on a ticket with Marco Rubio and, working with Ryan in the Congress, they consecrated America to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Instead, Trump's victory spelled the end of Ryan's era: the President is neither privately virtuous nor interested in casting policy in terms of morality. It's America First for the moment, with a big wall to prevent the Catholic Mexicans from breaking in and doing all the work.
We should have seen this coming. Ryan is a decent, intelligent man, but was an example of the tendency of American politics to lag behind the culture. Take the Democrats. I found plenty of liberal parishes during my wander through the north east: in one instance, the priest's accent was so Noo Yourk he made the Gospels sound like a police report. Here it is forever 1968, in décor, liturgy and Vatican II idealism. The age of the Kennedys.
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