The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship
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Part Two: Making Moral Choices & Applying Our Principles
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The USCCB published a two-part summary to complement their full teaching document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility. We walked through Part One in May as we voted in our local and primary elections. Now, ahead of our 2020 local and national elections in November, we will walk through Part Two, which considers how we apply our principles and social teachings to the act of voting and taking positions on various policy issues.
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Policy Issues: Nuclear Disarmament | Human Life and Dignity | Care for God's Creation | Justice for Immigrants
Applying Our Principles: Call to Holiness | Voting as a Moral Responsibility | The Virtue of Prudence | Evaluating Candidates & Practicing Civil Dialogue
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Policy Issue: Nuclear Disarmament
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“The use of atomic energy. . . [is] a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home. The use of atomic energy for purposes of war . . . [and] the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral.”
—Pope Francis, address at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, November 2019
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Nuclear disarmament is an essential element of the Church's call to protect all life and defend human dignity. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945.
Learn more about nuclear disarmament and take action:-
USCCB President's statement on the 75th Anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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USCCB Backgrounder on Nuclear Disarmament and Challenging Increases in Military Spending
USCCB Action Alert:
Tell Congress to Support Nuclear Nonproliferation & Extend the New START Treaty
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The Call to Holiness in an Election Year
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“Our political involvement is nothing short of living out our call to holiness, making God’s work of bringing about the kingdom of heaven our own.”
During a speaking engagement with young Catholics last fall, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, was asked how our faith should inform our politics and our voting decisions. His key points include (click to read his full speech):
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Participate in political debate according to Christian principles. Our obligation goes beyond the ballot.
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Engage in the political process, especially those with whom we disagree.
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All respect for life issues are interconnected; avoid limiting involvement to party-aligned or litmus-test issues.
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Beware of prioritizing the status of one issue over another.
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Voting as a Moral Responsibility
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"It is primarily through the votes of Catholic women and men, rooted in conscience and in faith, that the Church enters into the just ordering of society and the state."
"There cannot be faith-filled Catholic voting without the virtue of prudence, exercised within the sanctity of well-formed conscience."—Bishop Robert McElroy, Archdiocese of San Diego, "Conscience, Candidates, and Discipleship in Voting" (click to read his full speech)
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The Virtue of Prudence
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The virtue of prudence has its roots in sacred scripture and is one of the four cardinal virtues of our faith. St. Thomas Aquinas defined prudence as “right reason in action”; the Catechism explains further that prudence enables us “to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it’ (no. 1806). In Forming Consciences, the USCCB highlights the importance of this virtue, noting that it “shapes and informs our ability to deliberate over available alternatives, to determine what is most fitting to a specific context, and to act decisively.” Prudential judgment is needed to determine the best way to promote the common good. As faithful Catholics, we are morally obligated to vote — and the virtue of prudence is our guide in evaluating complex moral issues and flawed candidates.
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Lord, let conscience and prudence guide us in making decisions in the upcoming election!
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Evaluating Candidates & Practicing Civil Dialogue
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We are called to engage in civil dialogue, especially when “discourse is eroding at all levels of society.” We must “strive to understand before seeking to be understood, to treat with respect those with whom we disagree, to dismantle stereotypes, and to build productive conversation in place of vitriol.”
Civilize It is a Catholic, non-partisan call to make room in one’s heart for those with whom you disagree and engage in respectful dialogue with each other. It can be difficult to evaluate candidate’s competence on issues and make decisions about their character and integrity when living in a culture dominated by “partisan attacks, sound bites, and media hype.” The Church calls us to practice “a different kind of political engagement” (no. 14) as we consider the ability of each candidate to advance the common good.
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Policy Issue: Human Life & Dignity
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As direct attacks on life itself, our Catholic faith makes clear that abortion and euthanasia are morally wrong. The USCCB identifies “two temptations in public life” that can distort the Church’s defense of human life and dignity (HLD) in Faithful Citizenship: a “moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving [HLD]” and “the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to [HLD].”
The CDC reported last year that the number, rate, and ratio of abortions in the U.S. are at their lowest since recording began in 1969, but significant, well-documented disparities exist. For women of color, the abortion rate is 1.8–3.8 times higher compared to white women; and while overall poverty rates are at historic lows, their average household income remains significantly lower in comparison as well.
Studies have repeatedly shown that lack of support for raising a child and financial instability are the primary reasons women choose abortion. Thus, we must ensure these root causes are eradicated by protecting affordable health care, opposing housing discrimination, eliminating hunger, supporting equitable income, and addressing similar socioeconomic concerns.
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Policy Issue: Care for God's Creation
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Concern for the environment has been highlighted not just by Pope Francis, but our previous two Holy Fathers as well. In 1990, Pope John Paul II stated:
“Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith.”
Likewise, Pope Benedict wrote in 2007 that:
“Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development, and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family.”
In Faithful Citizenship, the USCCB calls for us to “seriously address global climate change” (no. 86). For nearly two decades, solid scientific consensus indicates that human activities are continually increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions beyond the planet’s natural capacity, which in turn is causing the planet to warm at a dangerous rate.
Based on the United Nation’s 2018 report, we now have less than ten years to prevent irreversible damage to our common home. As “a moral issue,” we must pay special attention to climate policy when voting.
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Policy Issue: Justice for Immigrants
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Immigration & the Church
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Faithful Citizenship, states that "the Gospel mandate to 'welcome the stranger' requires Catholics to care for and stand with newcomers, authorized and unauthorized," noting that such newcomers include unaccompanied children, refugees, asylum-seekers, those unnecessarily detained, and victims of human trafficking (no. 81).
The USCCB emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive reform to our immigration system, listing several key priorities including earned legalization for residents who are undocumented, an improved foreign worker program, policies that prevent the separation of families, restoration of due process rights, addressing the root causes for migration in home countries, and humane enforcement of laws.
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