A call to political responsibility

(Editor’s Note: Beginning with this issue, and in every issue until the November 2012 General Election, we will publish excerpts from the bishops’ exhortation on how to be faithful Catholics in the public square. We cannot, and will not, tell people for whom to vote nor advocate for any political party. What we hope is that the Catholic faithful will become active participants in the political process advocating Church teaching.)

The Catholic Bishops of the United States urge the Catholic faithful to read and embrace “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” a teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics. This document, overwhelmingly adopted by the body of bishops in 2007, represents the continuing teaching of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and provides guidance to Catholics in the exercise of their rights and duties as participants in our democracy.

The bishops urge Catholic pastors and lay people to continue to use this document to help them form their consciences, to contribute to civil and respectful public dialogue and to shape their choices in the coming election in the light of Catholic teaching.

The statement lifts up our dual heritage as both faithful Catholics and American citizens. We are members of a community of faith with a long tradition of teaching and action on human life, and dignity, marriage and family, justice and peace, care for creation, and the common good. As Americans, we are also blessed with religious liberty, which safeguards our right to bring our principles and moral convictions into the public arena.

These Constitutional freedoms need to be both exercised and protected, as some seek to mute the voices or limit the freedoms of religious believers and religious institutions. Catholics have the same rights and duties as others to participate fully in public life. The Church through its institutions must be free to carry out its mission and contribute to the common good without being pressured to sacrifice fundamental teachings and moral principles.

“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” is widely used to share Catholic teaching on the role of faith and conscience in political life. Although it has at times been misused to present an incomplete or distorted view of the demands of faith in politics, this statement remains a faithful and challenging call to discipleship in the world of politics.

It does not offer a voters’ guide, scorecard of issues or direction on how to vote. It applies Catholic moral principles to a range of important issues and warns against misguided appeals to “conscience” to ignore fundamental moral claims, to reduce Catholic moral concerns to one or two matters, or to justify choices simply to advance partisan, ideological or personal interests.

It does not offer a quantitative listing of issues for equal consideration, but outlines and makes important distinctions among moral issues acknowledging that some involve the clear obligation to oppose intrinsic evils, which can never be justified, and that others require action to pursue justice and promote the common good.

In short, it calls Catholics to form their consciences in the light of their Catholic faith and to bring our moral principles to the debate and decisions about candidates and issues.

The moral and human challenges outlined in the second half of “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” remain pressing national issues. In particular, the USCCB is focused on several current and fundamental problems, some involving opposition to intrinsic evils and others raising serious moral questions:

Continuing destruction of unborn children through abortion and other threats to the lives and dignity of others who are vulnerable, sick or unwanted;

Renewed efforts to force Catholic ministries—in health care, education and social services—to violate their consciences or stop serving those in need;

Intensifying efforts to redefine marriage and enact measures which undermine marriage as the permanent, faithful and fruitful union of one man and one woman and a fundamental moral and social institution essential to the common good;

An economic crisis which has devastated lives and livelihoods, increasing national and global unemployment, poverty and hunger; increasing deficits and debt and the duty to respond in ways which protect those who are poor and vulnerable as well as future generations;

The failure to repair a broken immigration system with comprehensive measures that promote true respect for law, protect the human rights and dignity of immigrants and refugees, recognize their contributions to our nation, keep families together and advance the common good;

Wars, terror and violence which raise serious moral questions on the use of force and its human and moral costs in a dangerous world, particularly the absence of justice, security, and peace in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East.

In this coming election and beyond, the bishops urge leaders and all Catholics to share the message of faithful citizenship and to use this document in forming their own consciences, so we can act together to promote and protect human life and dignity, marriage and family, justice and peace in service to the common good.

This kind of political responsibility is a requirement of our faith and our duty as citizens.