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Ten Suggestions for Faithful Catholics in Electing Public Officials
- “Good Catholics immerse themselves in politics by offering the best of themselves so that the leader can govern.” (Pope Francis) To participate in the election process is to exercise good and responsible citizenship.
- Party affiliation or the personal faith of the candidate are less important than the proposals, platform and record of that candidate.
- Since truth is often a casualty of political rhetoric, one is better off looking at the public record of the person’s actions and not simply what they say.
- Beware of political propaganda, including from the press; seek concrete facts of the matter.
- Actions and actual legislation of the past can be a good indicator of what a politician will do in the future.
- Political parties and candidates evolve and change: consider not only what they supported in the past but the direction they are going now.
- Although the ideal would be virtuous candidates, to elect someone to public office does not mean approval of the personal life of that person, or even all that they propose; often in fact it is a process of choosing the lesser evil.
- “There are several issues that are ‘non negotiable’ for Catholics in political life, because they involve matters that are always wrong given their nature.” (Bishop Thomas Olmstead, Catholics in the Public Square n. 18)
- Examples of n. 8 include, legal support for abortion and legalized euthanasia. “There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society,… These are called “intrinsically evil” actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. In our nation, “abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others” (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice. A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed.” USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, n. 22.
- Charity and kindness toward one another overall, regardless of their political affiliation. “In what is necessary, unity; in what is not necessary, liberty and in all things charity”. (St. Augustine)