Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • September 27, 2024 13 Part I of the summary of the US bishops’ reflec- tion, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship , considered the core principles that underlie Catholic engagement in the political realm. Part II is a consid- eration of the process by which these principles are applied to the act of voting and taking positions on policy issues. It begins with the general consider- ation of the nature of conscience and the role of prudence. The application of prudential judgment does not mean that all choices are equally valid or that the bishops’ guidance and that of other church leaders is just another political opinion or policy preference among many others. Rather, Catholics are urged to listen carefully to the Church’s teachers when they apply Catholic social teaching to specific proposals and situations. How does the Church help the Catholic faithful to speak about political and social questions? A well-formed conscience The Church equips its members to address polit- ical questions by helping them develop well-formed consciences. “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act. . . . [Every person] is obliged to follow faithfully what he [or she] knows to be just and right” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , no. 1778). We Catholics have a lifelong obligation to form our consciences in accord with human reason, enlightened by the teaching of Christ as it comes to us through the Church. The Virtue of Prudence The Church also encourages Catholics to devel- op the virtue of prudence, which enables us “to dis- cern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , no. 1806). Prudence shapes and informs our ability to deliberate over available alternatives, to determine what is most fitting to a specific context, and to act. Prudence must be accompanied by courage, which calls us to act. As Catholics seek to advance the common good, we must carefully discern which public policies are morally sound. At times, Catholics may choose dif- ferent ways to respond to social problems, but we cannot differ on our obligation to protect human life and dignity and help build, through moral means, a more just and peaceful world. Doing good and avoiding evil There are some things we must never do, as indi- viduals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. These intrinsically evil acts must always be rejected and never supported. A preeminent example is the inten- tional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion. Similarly, human cloning, destructive research on human embryos, and other acts that directly violate the sanctity and dignity of human life including genocide, torture, and the targeting of noncomba- tants 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 rede- fining marriage to deny its essential meaning, ever be justified. Opposition to intrinsically evil acts also prompts us to recognize our positive duty to contribute to the common good and act in solidarity with those in need. Both opposing evil and doing good are essen- tial. As St. John Paul II said, “The fact that only the negative commandments oblige always and under all circumstances does not mean that in the moral life prohibitions are more important than the obliga- tion to do good indicated by the positive command- ment.” 1 The basic right to life implies and is linked to other human rights such as a right to the goods that every person needs to live and thrive -- includ- ing food, shelter, health care, education, and mean- ingful work. Avoiding two temptations Two temptations in public life 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 involv- ing human life and dignity. The direct and intention- al 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 dis- missing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity. Racism and other unjust discrimina- tion, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, environmental degradation, the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health care or housing, pornography, human trafficking, redefining civil marriage, compromising religious liberty, or unjust immigration policies are all serious moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act. Making moral choices The bishops do not tell Catholics how to vote; the responsibility to make political choices rests with each person and his or her properly formed conscience, aided by prudence. This exercise of con- science begins with always opposing policies that violate human life or weaken its protection. When morally flawed laws already exist, pruden- tial judgment is needed to determine how to do what is possible to restore justice -- even if partially or gradually -- without ever abandoning a moral com- mitment to full protection for all human life from conception to natural death (see St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae , no. 73). Prudential judgment is also needed to determine the best way to promote the common good in areas such as housing, health care, and immigration. When church leaders make judgments about how to apply Catholic teaching to specific policies, this may not carry the same binding authority as universal moral principles but cannot be dismissed as one political opinion among others. These moral applications should inform the consciences and guide the actions of Catholics. As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not suffi- cient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet a candi- date’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving sup- port. 1 What public policies should concern Catholics most? As Catholics, we are led to raise questions about political life other than those that concentrate on individual, material well-being. We focus more broadly on what protects or threatens the dignity of every human life. Catholic teaching challenges vot- ers and candidates, citizens and elected officials, to consider the moral and ethical dimensions of public policy issues. In light of ethical principles, we bish- ops offer the following policy goals that we hope will guide Catholics as they form their consciences and reflect on the moral dimensions of their public choices: • Address the preeminent requirement to protect human life -- by restricting and bringing to an end the destruction of unborn children through abortion and providing women in crisis pregnancies with the supports they need. End the following practices: the FORMING CONSCIENCES II, PAGE 16