As Catholics prepare to head to the polls on Nov. 5 after a bruising, tumultuous 2024 presidential campaign, Church leaders are reminding their flocks that voting isn’t our only responsibility.

We’re also called to pray for our country.

With control of the White House and Congress up for grabs and sweeping pro-abortion measures on the ballots in 10 states, among other consequential issues, the stakes are enormous.

Urgent prayers are needed to ensure the integrity of the election and ask for the protection of all our candidates, poll workers and fellow citizens, as well as for a just election outcome.

But America has deeper problems that no one election or elected leader can fully rectify. Americans are deeply divided and discouraged. The right to life remains threatened, and marriage, families and religious liberty are under attack like never before.

Ultimately, the remedy for such deep-seated ills is spiritual, not political. It’s why some Catholic parishes around the country will offer all-day adoration on Election Day, including St. James Church in Falls Church, Virginia. “Our help is in the name of the Lord,” Father Paul Scalia, St. James’ pastor, emphasized in a pre-election conversation with the Register. 

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles recently penned a commentary that captured that state of the country right now.

“Again this year, the experts are telling us that this will be another close election, that the country is deeply divided,” he observed.

“From the perspective of our ministries in the Church, we see the divisions. We also see signs that people are confused about how they should live and about what’s going on in the world around them. Some seem anxious and afraid; some are losing hope for the future.” So much of the national conversation today, Archbishop Gomez noted, focuses on material questions about money, power and inclusion.

And yet, he continued, “the Gospel remains the only answer to every question. Only in Jesus can men and women find the true purpose of their lives. And only in his Gospel can our society once again discover the true worth and dignity of the human person and the true foundation for human rights. It is our task to bring this good news to our neighbors.”

Other Catholic leaders have struck a similar chord on social media and other public forums in the run-up to Election Day.

“First and foremost, let us pray and fast for our nation, that it will once again serve the good of all its citizens, especially of those who are threatened by the present prevalent anti-life, anti-family, and anti-religion agenda, by obedience to the moral law,” Cardinal Raymond Burke wrote in a post on X. “Let us pray for the conversion of our national culture from violence and death to peace and life.”

Msgr. Charles Pope, a regular Register contributor who is pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian parish in Washington, D.C., told the Register that while he offers the Catholic perspective on life issues and other important civic issues in his homilies and communications to his parish, he doesn’t want his flock to only think about these matters at election time.

“We want to stay in a longer conversation with people and focus on issues, because, frankly, parties come and go,” he emphasized. “The Gospel stays put. And we preach the Gospel. We stick to the issues and the Catholic position on these issues — everything: immigration to abortion to physician-assisted suicide, marriage, transgenderism — all these things. We stay Catholic.”

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco spoke about voting in his video message on the November San Francisco ballot Proposition O, which calls for the San Francisco Department of Health to “install the signage in the public right of way, at or near the entrance” of a pregnancy center in order “to inform the public that those facilities do not provide or offer referrals for abortions or emergency contraception, and to provide information about where those services may be available.” 

Beside strongly urging people to vote “No,” the archbishop’s reasons applied to voting in a national election. “Good Catholics immerse themselves in politics by offering the best of themselves so that the leader can govern. As American citizens in a democratic republic, we do make a difference. As Catholics, we have the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the teachings of our Church to help us make our decision. Ultimately, and this is very important, the Catholic Church respects the individual right of conscience. Every person is called to become educated and pray, but ultimately, it is up to you, the individual, to decide how to vote. I urge you to pray, to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, and to vote.” The archbishop said, “If we want to create a civil society, we must affirm across the board support for human life.”

Father Jeffrey Kirby, pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and the host of “Daily Discipleship With Father Kirby,” shared strong guidelines both with the Register and in a parish homily. 

“As Catholic Christians, we are obliged to vote as a civic duty,” he said. It is also a moral duty. “It’s not an option for a Catholic Christian. If we don’t vote, it is a sin of omission. When we vote, we must vote according to our conscience that has been formed on the Gospel.”

He said that conscience is to be “formed on the Gospel and the moral tradition that flows from it.”

Father Kirby underscored, “When we vote, we are giving our support to a candidate and their public policies. As Christians, we must ensure that a candidate supports efforts to defend human dignity and promote the common good.” 

Since in politics there is never a perfect candidate, “We must weigh where candidates stand … where a candidate’s platform and public policies stand in relation to moral truth. We need to discern and choose the best possible candidate in the light of justice and moral goodness.” Of course, he added, “For the Catholic Christian, the preeminent issue of abortion carries a lot of weight and should be taken seriously in our discernment on who to vote for and what platform to support. When it comes to abortion, we must have a maximum determination in defending life and opposing any candidate whose policies support or extend abortion.” 

Together with that is euthanasia and now IVF; these are “absolute moral issues” that are always wrong, he explained. Father Kirby also said, “We have to make the distinction between what are absolute issues and what are prudential issues … because prudential issues can actually have multiple right answers,” such as regarding immigration. He explains these in detail in his YouTube video homily, “The Catholic Guide on Voting.” 

“Then after we vote,” Father Kirby said, “we say a prayer to the Holy Spirit that whatever we have done may serve the greater good, the common good, that whatever decisions the candidate we have voted for, that the decisions are made that they’ll always be for the good of humanity.” 

Father Edward Looney, author, podcaster and pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Shawano, Wisconsin, put it very simply. 

“When all is said and done, what we must do is remain faithful. We go to Mass, pray our Rosaries, and remain in the state of grace. Daily prayer and frequenting the sacraments is the best thing any person can do, leading up to or in the aftermath of an election.”

One of the ways Catholics have been gathering in a united voice to seek heavenly help is EWTN’s “Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation,” which began Sunday, Oct. 27, and continued through Nov. 4. 

The novena’s introduction reminds the faithful quite clearly: “In this powerful supplication, our voices speak as one asking Mary’s intercession to unite us as one nation under God.” 

“As Catholics, we turn instinctively to our Blessed Mother in times of need,” said EWTN Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw. 

In 1792, Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the nation’s first Catholic bishop, chose the Blessed Mother as “Patroness of the United States,” and he entrusted the new United States of America to her maternal care. 

Then, 54 years later, on May 13, 1846 — the same month and day she would appear years later at Fatima — the nation’s bishops named Mary under the title of “The Immaculate Conception” as the patroness of this country. 

Once again, the bishops solemnly entrusted the United States to our Blessed Mother in 1959, when the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated in Washington, D.C. 

“In this present moment, when there is so much division and unrest in our country, and when many of the values that formed our nation seem to be at risk, we again need to turn to our Blessed Mother,” Warsaw said. “We need to pray for her intercession, that leaders and all who seek public office will follow the path of Truth, guarantee religious liberty, and ensure that all human life is valued and protected, most especially the unborn.”