They’re not Catholics, they are fallen away Catholics - just like many Protestants have fallen away from their faith. What about the Lutherans in Germany? Are they so holy? What about the loony Archbishop of Canterbury - who is actually a practicing Anglican unlike the Irish Catholics. Plus, there is probably a whole generation of Europeans who have bought into the atheism fad that is sweeping the west. They believe in nothing so tend to believe everything.
And I repeat, agreeing with Frank Bruni - a complete fraud like Frank Rich before him - will betray you.
They are Catholics, and they are counted as Catholics, just as all non Catholic Christians are counted as Protestant.
The Protestant vote has only gone democrat in 1932, 1936, and 1964, and that counts all Protestants, church attending or not.
You cannot change the Catholic vote by just telling everyone that you don’t consider them to be real Catholics.
As conservatives, why would you even be trying to conceal the Catholic vote?