On Praying for the President

 "I pray for the President.  May God Bless Joe Biden."

You have probably heard this.  You have probably said this.  If not, you probably should say it.  Yet what does it actually mean?  

In the annals of American civic religion, it goes something like the following:  we pray that Joe Biden unite this country, bring about an era of friendship, and see America "succeed."  If anyone notices that this is awfully non-descript, well, it is.  The entire point of civic religion in America has been to be as minimalist as possible, so that everyone can ascribe to it.  Praying means whatever you want it to mean, just as the office of the Presidency is a vehicle for your own hopes and ambitions.

Catholics should reject this.  I'd even say we can't "pray" for the President in this manner.  Its an empty prayer that places far too much of a prominence on secular matters.  It also prays for something that in some cases should not even be desired.  There is an obsession with "unity" that implies that everyone should submit to a basic set of principles that the administration outlines.  We see this often in the Catholic Church as well, where Catholics are expected to change how they practice their Catholicism because of who occupies the papal throne.  So we have to act one way when one individual is president, another way with his successor, and so on.

That's not how politics works.  On a certain level one has to agree that the sovereign is, well.... sovereign.  In the United States, sovereignty (for better or worse) flows through a rather complicated patchwork of the President, Congress, and the courts.  That patchwork is further amplified by state vs federal matters.  So when we agree with unity, we agree that those invested with authority should use that authority.  Which begs the question:  how?  In those discussions, there will be debates, often bitter ones.  Far from being bad for a government, this can be healthy.  What is needed to make it work (and what is sorely lacking) is an understanding of fraternity (that those involved are all working from good intentions), and legitimacy.  (That government is serving the ends of the governed.)  Perhaps those are two things worth praying for.

Most importantly, when one prays for the President, one prays for His soul.  I pray that he makes it to heaven.  Most importantly, I pray that he renounces his errors.  The way to heaven is narrow, even for those who do not support evil.  We know of no way outside of God's mercy for those who support evil to obtain heaven, and God has made clear time and time again we should not presume His mercy will save you from those errors.  This is more than just issue such as abortion or gay marriage, though they are two prominent issues.  Often Americans don't want to confront just how united both parties have been in neglecting large swaths of their populace, to often disastrous results.  In many nations, when Republicans and Democrats are united, it means a wedding in their backyard is about to get a drone strike.  

In these instances, one should pray that the President, as well as Congress, is resisted.  Not for some partisan end, but because what they are advocating will be injurious to souls.  We shouldn't expect perfection from our elected leaders, but it has been some time since we have had an executive, from either party, focused on the common good of all citizens, much less on creating an environment that allows them to serve God unhindered.  That's what a Catholic should pray for, and it is a prayer that almost certainly cannot be fulfilled by a political party.