US Catholics, like other Americans, are preparing to vote in the midterm elections in November. Some members of the Senate and House of Representatives, along with state and local officials and a number of legislative issues, are on the ballot. As it does during every election season, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) draws attention to its statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States. This year, the bishops have provided new resources for clergy, to assist them in preparing their parishioners to vote.
Outlines for Clergy Formation on Faithful Citizenship was released in pdf form last week. It is meant for use by dioceses in gathering clergy for preparation sessions providing background in conscience formation, faithfully executing the duty of citizenship to vote, and maintaining Christian charity during often-fraught election discussions. The USCCB also released guidelines for preparing homilies on these topics. These and other resources are also available in Spanish.
Catholics called to vote with faith
Why brings politics into Church? many might ask. The bishops turn it around. Catholics are called to bring their faith into the voting booth, and to do so authentically requires some reminding about what the Church teaches.
Outlines for Clergy Formation puts it this way:
At times, the endless political news cycle can drown out the core convictions of our Catholic faith. Like many Americans, some Catholics choose to expose themselves to a steady stream of information from partisan sources, and this often results in the embrace of partisan viewpoints, such that the faithful embrace political ideologies aligned with a political party rather than allowing their perspectives to be formed by the whole of Church teaching, which does not align itself with any political party or ideology. In embracing partisan viewpoints, the faithful may also come to perceive those with different political opinions as enemies. These tendencies have given rise to a politics in search of a moral justification instead of a sound integral conviction of faith seeking to wisely exercise political discretion. In the midst of such a challenge, a question that we must ask ourselves is how best to accompany Catholics to authentically live the call to faithful citizenship—which embraces the fullness of the Church’s teachings and is a way of living the Gospel in attending to specific duties in the public square, which sit alongside a wide array of other duties.
How will you prepare to vote?
If you want a head start on preparing to vote, you might want to look through the bishops' statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, especially the section on "Goals for Political Life." Here the bishops list key points of Catholic teaching with which we should evaluate candidates and issues, including:
- Addressing the preeminent requirement to protect the weakest in our midst
- Keeping our nation from turning to violence to address fundamental problems
- Promoting family as the foundation of society, and providing better support for family life morally, socially, and economically
- Achieving comprehensive immigration reform
- Helping families and children overcome poverty
- Providing health care while respecting human life, human dignity, and religious freedom in our health care system
- Continuing to oppose policies that reflect prejudice, hostility toward immigrants, religious bigotry, and other forms of unjust discrimination
- Joining with others around the world to pursue peace, protect human rights and religious liberty, and advance economic justice and care for creation
You may also want to check out other resources offered at the USCCB's Faith Before Politics page, or watch this video in which several bishops explain the importance of voting as faithful citizens.
The US midterm elections are scheduled for Tuesday, November 3.
