Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, D.D., J.D.C.
Bishop of Camden
Catholic Star Herald
October 29, 2004
More than four decades ago, a Catholic politician said, “I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am [a] candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic.” This statement assuaged a nervous public and has been a model for elected officials since. By substituting a few words, we arrive at a formulation for citizenship that seems especially popular today: “I am a citizen who happens to be a Catholic.”
But does this really summarize what we are about as Catholic people? If we say we are citizens who happen to be Catholic, then it sounds as though we are suggesting that our faith is simply an appendage to our civic or professional life. Yet, as Catholics, we are called to exercise our civic and political obligations through the eyes of faith. Indeed, to live as an authentically human person requires that we not erect false barriers between our “private faith life” and “public professional life.” To be morally coherent, faith and life must form an integral whole. The reality is not that we are citizens who happen to be Catholic, but rather that we are Catholics who are citizens of the United States.
With another election cycle now drawing to a close, we stand ready to exercise that most cherished right of citizenship, the right to vote. Confronted by a blizzard of often-confusing policy positions, paid political ads, misleading assertions and outright distortions, we often feel that we do not have adequate or reliable information by which to cast an informed vote. We may also feel frustrated that no political party seems truly like home or captures fully the priorities that concern us as Catholics. We may feel pressure from opinion leaders, even friends and family, to leave our counter-cultural faith outside the ballot box. In spite of all of this, we cannot forget that there is something majestic and awe- inspiring about our democratic process and the gift of our vote. I urge you as faithful and faith-filled Catholic citizens to inform your conscience and to exercise your vote next Tuesday!
As I serve you, the people of this diocese, and collaborate with you in the mission of the Church, I have a special responsibility to call attention to the moral dimensions of public policies and to help you carry out your civic obligations with consciences that are formed in light of Church teaching. As the United States bishops have emphasized, we do not wish to instruct persons on how they should vote. We do not want to diminish the freedom of Catholic citizens to choose among the various political programs that are compatible with faith and the moral law.
We do not wish to impose our religious faith on those who are not Catholic or seek to confusem religion with politics. Yet, since political questions invariably have moral ramifications, the Church has a right and a duty to provide moral judgments and guidance on political questions, particularly those that rest on fundamental moral principles. We do so not through coercion or harsh rhetoric, but in a pastoral way, by giving witness to our values and by teaching persuasively with clarity and conviction.
Some have argued that this amounts to religious interference in politics. This is wrong for several reasons. First, the First mendment, whic h some cite as the basis for a “separation” between church and state, was intended to protect religion from the state and to ensure religious liberty, not to exclude religiously-based moral judgments from the public sphere.
Second, in making moral judgments on political questions, the Church is not imposing its religious doctrine or practices on anyone. Here we must distinguish between those things which pertain to our religious practice (the way we worship, fasting and abstinence during Lent, our belief in transubstantiation and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, to name just a few examples) and fundamental moral principles (such as the dignity of human life) which do not originate or derive their validity from the Church, but which can be known through reason by all people, regardless of religious belief. The Church, however, which concerns itself with the truth, draws attention to and calls all people of good will to uphold these fundamental moral principles.
Because we believe in the dignity of human life from conception to natural death—and every stage in between—we concern ourselves with a wide range of issues, including abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, capital punishment, war and peace, crime and terrorism, homelessness and housing, poverty, unemployment, health care, education, the environment, the role of marriage and family, and many others. We concern ourselves in a special way with unjust inequities and prejudices of every kind that rob our brothers and sisters of their human dignity.
As Catholics who are united in solidarity with our neighbors, we always must ask how and whether various policies and programs uphold human dignity, especially of the weakest and most disadvantaged among us. Some issues admit of exception. For example, as much as we abhor war and work for peace, the Church teaches that there may circumstances under which war may be necessary and just. There may also be divergent opinions on whether a particular military action meets just war criteria. In the case of Iraq, Catholics may legitimately hold differing positions on whether the military
action there was morally justified. Similarly, as much as we oppose capital punishment, the Church teaches that there may be circumstances—however rare and unlikely in a modern society—under which it may be justified.
Some issues admit of more than one approach. For example, while marriage must always be between a man and a woman, Catholics may disagree as to how to best promote this principle, whether through legislation, as some would support, or through some other means. While we are all obligated to alleviate poverty and ensure that people live in dignity in affordable housing with adequate wages and good schools, we can disagree as to how best to accomplish this end. Some issues, however, do not admit of exception and are never permissible. Abortion and euthanasia are two such issues that must be given special priority and weight because they rest on a foundational moral principle that can never be compromised, namely, the dignity of innocent human life from conception to natural death. So, while the Church concerns itself with a broad range of issues that have serious moral implications, it also recognizes that all issues do not carry equal moral weight. Some issues, including abortion and euthanasia, have unique status and must weigh more heavily on the Catholic conscience. That is why all Catholics must never promote but must work to oppose any law that threatens innocent human life.
Is it possible, then, for a faithful Catholic to vote for a candidate that supports abortion rights or euthanasia? The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has emphasized that a Catholic is not in communion with the Church if he or she votes for a candidate precisely because of that candidate’s permissive stance on abortion or euthanasia. The Congregation has also stated that when a Catholic does not share a candidate’s permissive stance on these issues, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, this can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons. Note that this is not as simple as weighing a wide range of issues against abortion and euthanasia and concluding that they cumulatively outweigh the evil of taking an innocent life. Rather, for there to be proportionate reasons, the voter would have to be convinced that the candidate who supports abortion rights would actually do more than the opposing candidate to limit the harm of abortion or to reduce the number of abortions.
Catholic politicians have a special obligation to promote life and to oppose laws th
at threaten innocent human life because their public position amplifies their views and they can often directly impact many of these issues. A Catholic elected official, of course, must represent all of his or her constituents, Catholic and otherwise. But this does not require that an elected official, whatever his or her faith, submerge or abandon deeply held beliefs—whether they be derived from religious faith, philosophy, ethical principles, life experience, or some combination thereof—in the exercise of those public responsibilities (recall that abolition and the civil rights movements received a great impetus from leaders whose religious faith convinced them of the need to upend the status quo ).
The honest political candidate, whether Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, some other faith, or none at all, will confidently present his or her credentials and positions on a wide range of issues before informed voters who decide through their vote whether the candidate is fit to represent them. Some Catholic politicians say that their faith permeates their life, but at the same time emphasize in an appeal to “pluralism” that they would be uncomfortable imposing that faith on someone who doesn’t share it by seeking to influence legislation or political outcomes based on this faith.
Aside from the fact that this posture is reserved almost exclusively for the abortion question, this startling incongruity betrays great moral confusion. Personal and moral integrity require that our faith inform all aspects of life, not simply those things that are convenient or advantageous at the moment. A politician’s moral and ethical principles should influence all his or her positions on all issues from sanctity of life issues (abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem-cell research) to war and peace, health issues, quality of life, insurance, jobs and more.
This is not easy in a culture that thinks faith and life ought to be separate. This is not easy in a culture that views people of belief with suspicion. This is not easy in a culture that promotes values that are antithetical to our Christian beliefs. This is not easy in a media-saturated world that equates faith with closed- mindedness and situates it in opposition to reason (one columnist in an area newspaper last week went so far as to call the Church’s moral world- view “la-la land.” Imagine the public outcry if this disrespectful comment had been hurled at any other religious group). Really, it is only possible to integrate one’s faith into one’s life through recourse to prayer and the sacraments, by seeking sound spiritual advice, by rooting ourselves in Jesus and His teaching. With God’s grace, we will find courage in our faith.
This grace will also help us form our consciences in light of the Church’s moral and social teaching. In the Catholic view, the conscience is “man’s most secret core and sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” (Gaudium et spes, 16). The Church teaches that we must always obey the judgment of our own conscience. But since one’s conscience can be in error, due to sin, confusion, or ignorance, we have a special obligation form it properly, in the light of faith. Having done this, we will find in the deepness of our consciences the courage of our convictions. It is here that we will find inscribed in our hearts the truths about the sanctity of human life, the call to love our neighbor as ourselves, the imperative to do what is good.
As people of faith and people of integrity, we stand ready for the challenge before us. We stand ready to accept the responsibilities and blessings that come with citizenship and our faith. We stand ready to make informed decisions based on the moral implications of the issues before us, the public positions taken by various parties and candidates for office, as well as the candidates’ personal qualities and leadership traits. We stand ready to do our part to advance the common good. Let us, then, as Catholic citizens, participate fully in the political process before us and let us vote according to our consciences, which is where we find the God who created us, who loves us, and sustains us on our journey of faith.