My dear parishioners, with elections a few days away it is time that we remember the document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility by the Catholic Bishops of the United States.”[1] Our bishops remind us that “As a nation, we share many blessings including a tradition of religious freedom and political participation. However, as a people, we face serious challenges that are clearly political and also profoundly moral.” “The right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn children, the most vulnerable members of the American family. We are a nation at war. We are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We are struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants. We are a society built on the strength of our families. We are confronting terror while trying to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent while too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities. We are part of a global community facing threats to the environment that must sustain us.” These challenges require Catholics who are responsible citizens. In our Tradition, “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. This obligation is rooted in our baptismal commitment to follow Jesus Christ and to bear Christian witness in all we do.” Our Church calls us to be politically engaged, and that the engagement must be shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences. A well-formed conscience has several elements. First, we have to desire to embrace goodness and truth, and what is right, by studying Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church. Then, we must examine the facts and background information about our political choices. Finally, we must pray to discern the will of God. The Church fosters well-formed consciences also by encouraging us to develop the virtue of prudence. It enables us “to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it”[2]. Exercising this virtue often requires the courage to act in defense of moral principles when making decisions about how to build a society of justice and peace. The Church also teaches that a good end does not justify the use of immoral means. It is important to recognize that not all possible courses of action are morally acceptable. We have a responsibility to discern carefully which public policies are morally sound. Prudently and with a well-formed conscience we must choose the good and avoid evil, and recognize that there are some things we must never choose because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. It is a mistake, with grave moral consequences, to treat the destruction of innocent human life as a matter of individual choice. Similarly, direct threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life, such as human cloning and destructive research on human embryos, are also evil and must be opposed. Other direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism, and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, can never be justified. Along the evil we must avoid there is also the good we must do. We have a positive duty to contribute to the common good and to act in solidarity with those in needs. Thus, the right to life implies and is linked to other human rights—rights to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive. Decisions about political life are complex. Yet, prudently and with a well-formed conscience, we must oppose laws and other policies that violate human life or weaken its protection. Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles cooperate with evil. Sometimes morally flawed laws already exist. In this situation, the process of framing legislation to protect life is subject to prudential judgment and “the art of the possible.” At times this process may restore justice only partially or gradually. As Catholics we often face difficult choices. A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of what is evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to something evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil. Taking all of the above into account, there are Four Key Themes about a candidate, or a legislative proposal, that Catholics should consider when voting: Right to life and the Dignity of the Human Person. “Human life is sacred. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.” Call to Family, Community and Participation. “The human person is not only sacred but also social. Full human development takes place in relationship with others. The family—based on marriage between a man and a woman—is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children”. “Rights and Responsibilities. “Human dignity is respected and the common good is fostered only if human rights are protected and basic responsibilities are met. Every human being has a right to life, the fundamental right that makes all other rights possible, and a right to access to those things required for human decency—food and shelter, education and employment, health care and housing, freedom of religion and family life. The right to exercise religious freedom publicly and privately, along with freedom of conscience needs to be constantly defended.“ Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. “While the common good embraces all, those who are weak, vulnerable, and most in need deserve preferential concern.” ■ Father Agustin, Pastor.
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