As voting day approaches, I want to offer some guidance on how Catholics are called to engage in the democratic process. These considerations are taken from a doctrinal note from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on some questions regarding “The Participation of Catholics in Political Life.” One of the ways Christians in this country influence political society is by casting their vote, and this places on each of our shoulders a grave responsibility to use this opportunity in such a way that our engagement in democracy promotes authentic human flourishing, based on the Gospel and right morals. St. Thomas More, patron saint of politicians, professed rightfully that “man cannot be separated from God, nor politics from morality”. Our Faith tells us that “by fulfilling their civic duties, guided by a Christian conscience, in conformity with its values, the lay faithful exercise their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values…” Such “infusion” is not only the right but also the responsibility of the laity, who bear this burden by virtue of their life lived in the context of civil society. The laity are never to abandon their participation in public life, which means promoting and defending certain common goods: order, peace, freedom and equality, respect for human life at every stage, care for the environment, justice, and solidarity. The foundational good, of course, is respect for the dignity of the human person at every stage, without exception.
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and the abortion debate has returned to the individual states, Catholics must be renewed in their conviction that democracy only “works” if it is based on a correct understanding of the nature and dignity of the human person. Catholics cannot compromise on this principle without negating their Christian witness as individuals and as members of Christ’s Body. In our society, which is confronted with many proposals that attack the very inviolability of human life, “Catholics have the right and the duty to recall society to a deeper understanding of human life and to the responsibility of everyone in this regard.” When considering the individual for whom one may cast his or her vote, concerns pertaining to the dignity of human persons are preeminent. Christians must strive, amid an imperfect system and a broken society, to promote individuals who defend and protect the human person in all areas. To earn a Catholic vote, elected officials should: reject abortion and euthanasia, and defend the dignity of human embryos; they should safeguard the family, based on the monogamous and indissoluble marriage between one man and one woman, rejecting all proposals that legitimize or equalize so-called “alternative” families; they should respect parents’ freedom to educate their children; they should work to defend minors from modern forms of slavery, such as drugs, prostitution, and, in its own way, pornography, which enslaves both those who produce it and those who consume it; they must defend the right to religious freedom; they must develop an economy at the service of the human person and the common good; and they must be committed to fostering within and among nations a true and lasting peace, which is “the work of justice and the effect of charity.” All these considerations must bear upon our political involvement while we seek to cast our votes as concerned citizens and faithful Christians.
There are many who hold the erroneous idea that one’s political activity can in some way be isolated from their religious activity, that somehow the Gospel and the Church have no business in “my politics”. This is sadly just another expression of that perennial temptation not to surrender all things to the reign of Christ, to keep one’s political opinions away from His judgement. The Church’s guidance in political activity is a gift that supports “the lay Catholic’s duty to be morally coherent…[because] there cannot be two parallel lives in their existence: on the one hand, the so-called ‘spiritual life’ with its values and demands; and on the other, the so-called ‘secular life’…life in a family, at work, in social responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public life and in culture.” The Church can and does speak on social issues in order to direct and guide the faithful in their task of imbuing civil life with Gospel light. As a wise professor said, the Church, like her Lord, transcends and relativizes every other institution, including political institutions. The Church endorses no political party, because she is above politics, and Catholics would be wise to follow her example not to become beholden to any one party even at the expense of moral truths. Every aspect of our lives falls under God’s plan to reveal and realize the love of Christ for the glory of God and the service of others. As Catholics, our “faith in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, calls us to exert a greater effort in building a culture which, inspired by the Gospel, will reclaim the values and contents of Catholic Tradition.” Let us use whatever means we have at our disposal, especially our vote, to accomplish this task. May God bless you in the week ahead and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
