Dear Friends,
With the election on Tuesday, I would encourage you this weekend to reread the statement by the United States
Bishops on Faithful Citizenship. You can find it on line at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship.
It is impossible to put it all here in the bulletin, but let me give you a couple of paragraphs from the document:
“There are two temptations in public life that can distort the Church’s defense of human life and dignity: The first is a
moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and
dignity. 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.
The second is the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats
to human life and dignity. The current and projected extent of environmental degradation has become a moral crisis
especially because it poses a risk to humanity in the future and threatens the lives of poor and vulnerable human
persons here and now. Racism and other unjust discrimination, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war,
the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health care,
pornography, redefining civil marriage, compromising religious liberty, or an unjust immigration policy are all serious
moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act. These are not optional concerns which can be
dismissed. Catholics are urged to seriously consider Church teaching on these issues.
Although choices about how best to respond to these and other compelling threats to human life and dignity are
matters for principled debate and decision, this does not make them optional concerns or permit Catholics to dismiss
or ignore Church teaching on these important issues. Clearly not every Catholic can be actively involved on each of
these concerns, but we need to support one another as our community of faith defends human life and dignity
wherever it is threatened. We are not factions, but one family of faith fulfilling the mission of Jesus Christ.
It must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an
individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. The Christian faith is an integral unity,
and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A
political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church’s social doctrine does not exhaust one’s responsibility
toward the common good…
…the permanent principles of the Church’s social doctrine constitute the very heart of Catholic social teaching. These
are the principles of: the dignity of the human person; the common good; subsidiarity; and solidarity. These
principles [are] the expression of the whole truth about man known by reason and faith.”
In the words of Pope Francis, ‘progress in building a people in peace, justice and fraternity depends on four principles
related to constant tensions present in every social reality. These derive from the pillars of the Church’s social
doctrine, which serve as primary and fundamental parameters of reference for interpreting and evaluating social
phenomena.’ Taken together, these principles provide a moral framework for Catholic engagement in advancing what
we have called elsewhere a ‘consistent ethic of life.’ Rightly understood, this ethic does not treat all issues as morally
equivalent nor does it reduce Catholic teaching to one or two issues. It anchors the Catholic commitment to defend
human life, from conception until natural death, in the fundamental moral obligation to respect the dignity of every
person as a child of God. It unites us as a ‘people of life and for life’ pledged to build what St. John Paul II called a
‘culture of life.’ This culture of life begins with the preeminent obligation to protect innocent life from direct attack
and extends to defending life whenever it is threatened or diminished:
Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education,
housing, and health care. If we understand the human person as the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’-the living house of
God-then these issues fall logically into place as the crossbeams and walls of that house.”
Please read the rest of the document on line and please vote!
Peace,
Fr. Damian