"The threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone."
By Robert Stackpole, STD
They’re the questions the Marian Fathers and, indeed, anyone who works for the Catholic Church (or any religious denomination) are asked this time of year: “Whom should I vote for on Election Day, Nov. 5?” and “How should I vote in a way that fits with the core principles of my Catholic faith?”
The first question we cannot answer, but the second one we most certainly can.
The Church cannot, for tax-exempt reasons, endorse particular candidates or even the platforms of particular political parties. So you won’t hear a Marian priest from the pulpit say, “Cast your vote for so-and-so!” or “This is the party of choice!”
But what we can do — and must do — is offer robust and persuasive, but non-partisan, voter education on the issues of our day.
Based on the light of Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition, the Church teaches funda-mental social principles that Catholics in all walks of life can apply to the complex social, economic, and political problems of our time.
In their document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops points to several key social principles that all Catholics should bear in mind as they consider how to vote.
Dignity of the Human Person
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church (2005) tells us that the first and most fundamental social principle is the God-given dignity and worth of every human person (n. 105-117). In other words, there are no “throwaway” human beings. People are not reducible to “things,” mere objects, “useful” or “useless” to society, to the economy, to the government, or even to ourselves.
Rather, we are all “persons,” not “things.” From a Christian perspective, we are all children of God, in that each one of us is a unique creation of our heavenly Father (see Acts 17:24-28), and fashioned by Him in His “image” (see Gen 1:26-27) as “persons,” — that is, as creatures with the inherent capacity for self-consciousness, rational thought, and the exercise of free will. We are capable of using that freedom, with the help of His grace, to grow in His “likeness” in love and wisdom throughout this earthly life, in preparation for the life to come.
So, according to Catholic Social Teaching, a truly just society is one that respects, protects, and nurtures this God-given worth and dignity of every human being. Of course, individuals who grossly violate the human dignity of others (e.g., violent criminals) are to be restrained with the minimum force necessary for the protection of the innocent.
Meanwhile, the gift of life is to be guarded and sustained as the foundational gift from God, the one on which our human worth and dignity ultimately is based. Therefore the protection of innocent human life is the fundamental “human right”; it is the first responsibility of every society, every social institution, and every government, to uphold and defend that right.
The gift of life is to be guarded and sustained as the foundational gift from God, the one on which our human worth and dignity ultimately is based. Therefore the protection of innocent human life is the fundamental “human right”; it is the first responsibility of every society, every social institution, and every government, to uphold and defend that right.
Right to life
This Church teaching should not sound strange to the ears of Americans. Our Declaration of Independence (in 1776) established that all human beings are “endowed by their Creator” with certain “unalienable rights” (in other words, rights that should never be violated because they come to us from God, not from society), and that chief among these are the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — in that order.
This hierarchy of fundamental human rights is precisely what made the institution of slavery in America so deplorable. It was a blatant contradiction both of the Catholic faith and of the founding principles of our nation. Slavery in the United States involved the attempt by some people to “pursue their happiness” by depriving others of their legitimate human “liberty.”
Over the past century and a half, the Church has repeatedly spoken out against direct threats to the dignity of the human person, including abortion and euthanasia; poverty and deprivation; tyranny and totalitarianism; terrorism and military aggression.
So keep these in mind when casting your vote.
Solidarity and the Poor
A second, essential principle of Catholic Social Teaching is the principle of “Solidarity.” This involves a complete commitment of oneself to the common good. Pope St. John Paul II elaborated on this principle in his 1987 encyclical Solicitudo rei Socialis (On Social Concern):
[Solidarity] is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good: that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all (n. 38).
To put it another way, the answer to Cain’s question after he killed his brother Abel, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is simply “Yes, to some extent you really are your brother’s, and your neighbor’s, keeper,” at least in the sense of upholding the life and legitimate liberty of others.
That includes helping that they have access to the basic goods needed for human health and well-being: such as adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, educational and employment opportunities — and, of course, access to the truth of the Gospel (for it is the truth of the love of Christ for us, and the help of His grace poured into our hearts through prayer and the Sacraments, that enables us to attain that integral happiness and salvation which we all long to find).
The principle of Solidarity insists that the needs of the poor and the suffering, the lost and the helpless actually should be given preferential concern, in accord with our Lord’s own teachings in the Gospels (e.g. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” Mt 25:40.).
So keep these in mind when casting your vote.
Family, Local, Voluntary
At the same time, Solidarity always must be coupled with a third basic social precept: the principle of “Subsidiarity.” This principle states that the higher, more central authorities of society — and the central offices of government above all — must not usurp the role of what the Compendium calls “the original expressions of social life,” especially the role of the family, and the role of voluntary associations and local social groupings of all kinds. We can call this “the preferential option for the family, the local, and the voluntary.”
Pope Pius XI discussed this principle in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (On the Reconstruction of the Social Order), issued in 1931 during the Great Depression, a time when there was a huge push for central governments around the world to take over the control and supervision of every aspect of life in order to "set things right" — and the most direct result of that social movement, of course, was the rise of Communism and Fascism in Europe.
In a nutshell, Pius XI taught: we are indeed our brother's keeper, but central, distant authorities, and especially central government authorities, are only our brother's keeper of last resort. The main work of practicing Solidarity is to be accomplished by individuals, families, churches, voluntary organizations and private charities, local businesses and local unions, and even local levels of government, not primarily by the central government authority.
Given that the government is the institution that by right, and according to good civic order, has a monopoly on the exercise of coercive power and compulsion (through the law, the courts, and the police forces) nothing is more dangerous to human dignity and human rights in the long run than the concentration of that coercive power in the hands of the central government — and as history has repeatedly shown, nothing is more often abused.
So keep this in mind when casting your vote.
The threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone.
Other grave threats to the life and dignity of the human person include euthanasia, gun violence, terrorism, the death penalty, and human trafficking. There is also the redefinition of marriage and gender, threats to religious freedom at home and abroad, lack of justice for the poor, the suffering of migrants and refugees, wars and famines around the world, racism, the need for greater access to healthcare and education, care for our common home, and more. All threaten the dignity of the human person. (Introductory note)
Intrinsically evil
At the end of the day, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” tells us:
There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called “intrinsically evil” actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia … because “they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others” (Living the Gospel of Life, n. 5). …
Similarly, human cloning, destructive research on human embryos, and other acts that directly violate the sanctity and dignity of human life are also intrinsically evil. These must always be opposed. Other direct assaults on innocent human life, such as genocide, torture, and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, can never be justified. Nor can violations of human dignity, such as acts of racism, treating workers as mere means to an end, deliberately subjecting workers to subhuman living conditions, treating the poor as disposable, or redefining marriage to deny its essential meaning, ever be justified. (n. 22-23)
It goes on to cite specifics to bear in mind when deciding how to cast your vote:
The threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone.
Other grave threats to the life and dignity of the human person include euthanasia, gun violence, terrorism, the death penalty, and human trafficking. There is also the redefinition of marriage and gender, threats to religious freedom at home and abroad, lack of justice for the poor, the suffering of migrants and refugees, wars and famines around the world, racism, the need for greater access to healthcare and education, care for our common home, and more. All threaten the dignity of the human person. ("Introductory note")
Clearly, the Church puts these intrinsically evil acts into a hierarchy, seeing some as more of a direct threat to human life and dignity than others.
What to do?
What do we do when all of the candidates support “intrinsically evil acts”? Always keeping in mind that “abortion remains our pre-eminent priority,” the USCCB recommends that, “after careful deliberation, [the voter] may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods.” (n. 36)
Taking all of this into account, it may seem obvious that as one candidate clearly favors the protection and facilitation of widespread access to abortion, and the other opposes that agenda, then there is a proper choice for Catholic voters this time around. It is certainly a strong point in favor.
But the matter may not be quite so simple. Some argue that there are several other areas where a candidate supports policies which directly threaten the life and dignity of the human person, such as support for the death penalty; lack of care for the environment, our common home; and lack of compassion toward legitimate refugees and “dreamers” (children of illegal immigrants).
Do your homework
In order to be responsible voters on Nov. 5, Catholics in the United States not only need to get up-to-speed on the Church’s teachings; we also face the grueling task of applying those principles to the key issues facing our country today.
Here are links to useful resources:
- USCCB's "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship"
- National Catholic Register's Voter's Guide
- EWTN's "Guide to Moral Duties Concerning Voting"
- OSV News' A Catholic Guide to Voting
Dr. Robert Stackpole is the emeritus director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy and the author of several books and pamphlets from Marian Press.
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