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Voting In 2008
New Guidance From Catholic Bishops
BY SUSAN E. WILLS January 6-12, 2008 Issue |
Posted 1/2/08 at 11:14 AM
Since 1976, Catholic bishops of the United States have
released statements, commonly called “political responsibility” or “faithful
citizenship” statements, in the fall preceding presidential election years.
Their aim has been to enable Catholics to better “evaluate
policy positions, party platforms, and candidates’ promises and actions in
light of the Gospel and the moral and social teaching of the Church in order to
help build a better world.”
These statements were never intended to be, or to replace,
the voter guides distributed by advocacy groups, which highlight the
candidates’ adherence (or lack thereof) to the group’s focused agenda.
Indeed they could not, for the simple reason that the
Catholic Church has always been concerned about a multitude of issues within
the following broad areas: protecting human life, fostering conditions that
allow humans to flourish, such as ensuring freedom, peace, a just and impartial
legal system, and opportunities for education and work, providing care for the
most vulnerable members of society, and being wise stewards of the earth’s
resources.
Past statements have sometimes been criticized for being too
long or too detailed or for failing to show how each issue of concern is rooted
in basic moral principles.
Taken together, these rather trivial deficiencies have
allowed some candidates and their partisans to mislead voters. Some have, for
example, cherry-picked issues to show their fidelity to Catholic teaching and
wrongly interpreted moral theological language in self-serving ways.
This year, the bishops were determined to take a hands-on
approach in writing “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”
In a broadly collaborative effort, they squarely address the
questions that have nagged Catholic voters (for example, can a Catholic in good
conscience ever vote for a pro-choice candidate?) and they provide guidance
that is precise, clear and virtually immune from misinterpretation.
Spin by news media, of course, we will always have with us,
as two headlines attest: “Bishops: Abortion Isn’t Voters’ Only Issue”
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 15, 2007) and “Catholic Bishops Vote for
Document Saying Abortion Should Guide Voting” (lifenews.com, Nov. 14, 2007).
In fact, both headlines are true as far as they go, and both
ignore an aspect of the document.
The bishops readily acknowledge that their responsibility in
building a just society does not include endorsing or opposing candidates or
telling people how to vote. Their primary role is instead “to teach fundamental
moral principles that help Catholics form their consciences correctly, to
provide guidance on the moral dimensions of public decisions, and to encourage
the faithful to carry out their responsibilities in political life” (No. 15).
Early in the statement, they warn against two opposing
“temptations” in public life that “can distort the Church’s defense of human
life and dignity.”
The first temptation is “moral equivalence” that treats
issues as diverse as abortion and minimum wage policy, for example, as equally
weighty.
The bishops repeatedly emphasize that “the direct and
intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception
until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It
must always be opposed” (No. 28).
The second temptation is to think that the Church cares
about only one issue, dismissing or ignoring all other serious threats to human
life and dignity.
The bishops explain that the Church cares about the dignity
of the human person in a wide variety of ways, while noting that not every
individual can be actively involved in each of these concerns.
The statement helpfully distinguishes between actions that
are intrinsically evil, that is, those that are “so deeply flawed that they are
always opposed to the authentic good of persons” and can never be condoned (No.
22), and positive policy initiatives that foster human dignity and the common
good.
In the category of intrinsically evil actions, the statement
names abortion, euthanasia, destructive research on human embryos, human
cloning, genocide, torture, racism and the targeting of noncombatants in acts
of terror or war.
The intentional destruction of innocent human life as in abortion
is said to have a preeminent place among these concerns. Positive policies
would enhance respect for life, strengthen families, ensure quality education
and provide healthcare for the poor, for example.
In paragraphs 34 through 38 of “Forming Consciences for
Faithful Citizenship,” the bishops give concrete guidance to Catholic voters.
These passages were crafted with great care and, lest some
of the precision be lost in paraphrasing them, they are quoted below:
34. “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a
position in favor of an intrinsic 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 an intrinsic evil to justify indifference
or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and
dignity.”
35. “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.”
36. “When all candidates hold a position in favor of an
intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide
to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after
careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely
to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other
authentic human goods.”
37. “In making these decisions, it is essential for
Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all
issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to
oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our
actions. These decisions should take into account a candidate’s commitments,
character, integrity and ability to influence a given issue. In the end, this
is a decision to be made by each Catholic guided by a conscience formed by
Catholic moral teaching.”
38. “It is important to be clear that the political choices
faced by citizens not only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but
also may affect the individual’s salvation. Similarly, the kinds of laws and
policies supported by public officials affect their spiritual well-being.”
Additional guidance is offered in the section of the
statement that follows on seven key themes in Catholic social teaching.
41. “Catholic voters should use the framework of Catholic
teaching to examine candidates’ positions on issues affecting human life and
dignity as well as issues of justice and peace, and they should consider
candidates’ integrity, philosophy and performance. It is important for all
citizens “to see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric
critically, and to choose their principle, not party affiliation.”
42. “As Catholics, we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s
position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support.
Yet a candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil,
such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately
lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.”
“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” includes much
more of interest to voters — summaries of teaching on seven key issues of
concern to the Catholic Church and an enumeration of 10 goals for political
life which could be the starting point for personal or group reflection. A very
brief summary of the statement will be printed for parish distribution.
One hopes that lay Catholics, who typically make up 25% of
the national electorate, will give as much careful attention to reading this
statement as the bishops gave in writing it. Imagine what could happen if at
least one-fourth of voters cast their ballots on the basis of moral principles.
It’s so crazy, it just might work!
“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: a Call to
Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States,” U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Nov. 14, 2007 (No. 5), is available at
USCCB.org.
Susan Wills is associate director
for education for the U.S. bishops’
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.
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