This nation was established on the idea of democratic consent of the people, who are endowed with certain inalienable, God-given rights. President Abraham Lincoln would later characterize our government as being “of the people, by the people [and] for the people.” Yet today, for myriad reasons we see widespread civic disaffection and disengagement among people all across the country.
We need to realize, however, that each of us has a responsibility for the direction of the society we live in, and its culture and government. With decisions being made at every turn that affect us all, on Election Day we can have some say in these matters.
We each have a solemn moral obligation to become informed and get involved in civic life, including casting votes for candidates and on ballot issues at every level – national, state and local – as well as things like discussing issues with others and contacting public officials to voice concerns. “None of us can say, ‘I have nothing to do with this,’” Pope Francis has said. With respect to public officials, he added, we each need to say to ourselves, “I am responsible for their governance, and I have to do the best so that they govern well, and I have to do my best by participating in politics according to my ability.”
It is when good people remain silent and do nothing that injustice and wrong are able to take root. A just society with equality and liberty for all does not automatically happen, we must work for it. This means transcending individual gain and personal ambition, and moving beyond partisanship, so we can work together for the common good and just ordering of society in a manner that acknowledges the intrinsic dignity of all. The choices we make will contribute to the goodness – or badness – of society.
For this election season, as in the past, the U.S. bishops have published a document entitled Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, in which they challenge voters to analyze campaign rhetoric critically and choose leaders according to “a different kind of political engagement: one shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and the vulnerable,” as further set out in Catholic social doctrine (14, 17-18).
In exercising the civic function, our faith cannot be left at home. Rather, we need to know and then bring our moral values and vision to the process (Id., 10-11). Otherwise, were public policy to be detached from objective truth and social justice, it would soon have no rational coherence or moral authority.
Every Christian is charged to seek first the kingdom of God. But we go about our tasks in different ways (Id., 15-16). As I discussed in detail in a previous Catholic Standard article, it is the function of the clergy to provide spiritual and moral formation, teaching clearly and in its entirety the Gospel message with its imperatives. It is laywomen and laymen who have the equally demanding responsibility to apply these imperatives in the political and social order (The Problems of Priest Politicians, The Urgency of Lay Leadership, September 8, 2016). It is precisely the voice and engagement of the laity that ultimately determines the direction of society.
Every election places before us serious moral choices. What defines us as a people is, in no small way, how we respond. Those fundamental matters pertaining to human life, dignity and the true nature of the human person must always be at the top of the list (Faithful Citizenship, 21-30, 40-45, 64-67). Important as well is religious freedom, which touches the transcendent core of the person and spirit (Id., 72). However, these are not exclusively “Catholic” issues. They are human issues. Human life and liberty are not Catholic doctrines. They are basic human realities.
The Church recognizes and applauds personal freedom in moral decision-making, including politics. However, as Pope Francis says, one should not “confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there were no truths, values and principles to provide guidance, and everything were possible and permissible” (Amoris Laetitia, 34). In offering that guidance, the Church is not imposing subjective religious belief on anyone or dictating outcomes, but is bringing to the process the recognition of universal and objective principles regarding transcendent human dignity, the common good, and fundamental right and wrong (Faithful Citizenship, 12).
In fact, we can all be thankful that for over 100 years, the Church’s articulated corpus of social doctrine has helped to mold and formulate legislation and public policy in areas of health care, labor and human relations, social assistance and the proper balance of human rights within the common good. This enlightened doctrine applies equally in the voting booth today (Id., 40-56).
Civic participation is not a simple task for faithful citizens (Id. 31-39). It requires a willingness to listen to Catholic social teaching, and then conscientiously apply it to the political sphere. We must pray for guidance in our civic choices so as to uphold the dignity of all life and the common good. We must learn about the issues and where candidates stand. We must vote in recognition of the important contribution that every voice makes on Election Day, and we must remain engaged to build a civilization of justice, peace and caring for one another.
