"In our opinion, the viability of Donald Trump's candidacy is now in question," they stated. "Furthermore, the good many hoped to achieve, in spite of Trump's many well-known flaws, is also now in doubt. If Donald Trump is unwilling to step aside, the Republican National Committee must act soon out of basic decency and self-preservation."
Other Christian leaders who have endorsed Trump either expressed hesitation over continuing to support him, or stopped publicly supporting him over the weekend.
Prominent Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem withdrew his support for Trump's candidacy and asked Trump to drop out of the race.
"His vulgar comments in 2005 about his sexual aggression and assaults against women were morally evil and revealed pride in conduct that violates God's command, 'You shall not commit adultery'," he stated. "God intends that men honor and respect women, not abuse them as sexual objects."
R.R. Reno, the editor of the journal First Things and a Catholic, recently endorsed Trump along with several other writers, but explained to the Washington Post over the weekend that he could not finish writing an op-ed endorsing Trump after the news broke of his 2005 comments.
"It's not just that I'm jammed up with deadlines, but Trump has hit new moral lows (who thought that possible???) and I'm beginning to regret signaling any public support," he said in an email to the Post.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, has insisted that pro-lifers should support Trump for his pro-life policy proposals and promise to nominate pro-life Supreme Court justices.
However, the group has issued no public statement on Trump's comments, and did not respond on Monday when CNA requested comment.
Some Catholics stood by the candidate, insisting that he remained the best option.
Fr. Frank Pavone, speaking personally and not as president of Priests for Life, insisted that "the lewd comments, made over a decade ago and for which Mr. Trump has apologized, and which I, like everyone else, find repulsive, do not in the least change my intentions of voting for him, of urging others to do so, and of advising his campaign."
Trump will advance a greater agenda for the common good than will his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Fr. Pavone continued, and to vote for him is not to endorse all of his private behavior.
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"I hope my doctor is virtuous, but when it comes to treating me, whether he has made lewd comments doesn't enter into the equation," he explained his support.
And Trump is actually making "reparation" for his comments now, he added.
"What an incredible reparation Mr. Trump is making now for any past faults by the very fact that he is running as the Republican nominee for President, and is ready to nominate the right kind of judges and sign the right kinds of legislation, which will steer our nation away from so many morally corrupt public policies. A penitent sinner could hardly have a more substantial opportunity to make reparation."
"It takes a great deal of moral courage, actually, to take the step Mr. Trump is taking by running for public office," he continued. "He knows his past and knows what will be brought up about it. Yet he is willing to move forward both personally and professionally for the good of the country."
Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.), a Catholic member of Congress who is on Trump's Catholic advisory board, stated his disgust for the comments, but still expressed his support for Trump's candidacy over Clinton's.
"I'm a father of five daughters. I am disgusted by the comments" he told WSAW. However, he added, "I didn't agree to support him because of what he's done in his personal life" bur rather "because I agree with his policies more than Hillary Clinton's policies."
A growing list of GOP officials have called for Trump's resignation. The nominee has said that he will not step down.