This is my last opportunity to preach before the upcoming elections in November. Due to this fact my mind has been very focused on the many concerns of the coming election and I want today to discuss how a Catholic should vote. All week I have tried to connect what I want to say to today’s readings but the sermon became too convoluted. I could have worked it out eventually, if I had more time, but that would have also required much more time to preach it. So what you are receiving today is much shorter than it could have been.
Now for those of you who know me or who have heard me preach what I am about to say may come as a surprise or even cause you some concern. Therefore I ask that you listen carefully to all I am about to say. The first thing I want you to know is that I am not a Republican. But connected to this you should also know that I am not a Democrat. I am first and foremost a Catholic and I vote accordingly. But what does that mean? After all, Catholics have started to identify themselves as either liberals or conservatives. But there is a problem with this type of identification in that Catholics cannot be differentiated between right and left or conservative and liberal because to do so would imply that either way is acceptable. But that is not the case. If you claim to be Catholic then you should simply abide by the teachings of the Church and if you are not willing to do that then why stay in the Catholic Church? Why continue to call yourself Catholic? Why continue to come to Mass week after week and present yourself at the altar to receive Christ’s Body and Blood? You either are Catholic, with everything that entails, or you are not.
But before we address the question of how a Catholic should vote there is another question that must be answered first, that being should a Catholic vote at all? In answer to this and other questions I will be referring to the USCCB’s document called Faithful Citizenship. Now I know some people have strong feelings about this document but I ask that you listen to what I have to say.
So, should a Catholic vote? The short answer is yes. Faithful Citizenship states, “In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.” The purpose of this participation in political life is to influence our society with the teachings of Christ that we have received through His Church. Faithful Citizenship then goes on to state, “As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group.” In addition to this it must be said that our moral convictions, in other words our conscience, must be formed correctly by the teachings of the Church. Just because you think something is right doesn’t make it so unless it is in agreement with the teaching of the Church. Faithful Citizenship goes on to say, “When necessary, our participation (in politics) should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths.” And these fundamental moral truths are what I want to talk about in regards to how a Catholic should vote.
In order to be able to pick between the various candidates I want to focus on what is commonly called the 5 non-negotiable issues. They include the following:
-Abortion
-Euthanasia
-Embryonic stem cell research
-Human cloning
-So-called homosexual marriage
These five issues are to be seen as completely, totally and intrinsically immoral by all Catholics. In other words these issues are intrinsically evil and there is never a time in which they can be viewed as acceptable. And Faithful Citizenship states that “Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles (such as the ones I have just listed) cooperate with evil.” Which means that if you vote for a candidate that supports these issues then you are cooperating with evil and therefore are sinning.
Now some people might want to say, “But what about war and capital punishment? Aren’t they intrinsically evil?” I will let Pope Benedict XVI answer that question. Before he became Pope he said the following in regards to who may rightly receive Holy Communion,
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.1
Therefore, these five non-negotiable issues, since they are intrinsically evil, cannot be supported by any Catholic: not with your own private opinion and not with your vote. And Faithful Citizenship states that we should not “ignore a fundamental moral evil” when we are voting. And in another place it states “that the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.” So, if a politician believes that abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning or homosexual marriages are ok then Catholics should not vote for that particular politician.
But what about the situation that arises at times where both candidates believe that a particular intrinsic evil is ok, what do we do then? Faithful Citizenship states the following,
When all candidates hold a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, 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.
For instance, suppose that both candidates support abortion. One candidate thinks that it is ok at anytime and for any reason. The other is willing to concede on the point in cases of rape or incest. Now the Church teaches that the position of both of these politicians is false. The Church teaches that abortion is always wrong and that there is no acceptable reason for obtaining an abortion. So which candidate should you vote for? According to what I just quoted we should only support the candidate “deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position.” In other words, we should only vote for the candidate who does the least harm: that being the one who only supports abortion in cases of rape or incest.
I know that there are a multitude of issues to consider in the coming elections but as Faithful Citizenship states “all issues do not carry the same moral weight.” I believe the five issues that I have listed are enough for any Catholic to make the correct decision in how to vote as long as they know how the candidates stand on those issues. And just to be clear I want everyone to understand that what I have said in this sermon is not my own private opinion; it is the teaching of the Church. And with that there really is nothing left to say. May God inspire all Catholics and in fact all Americans to vote in a way that is morally upright.
1 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles
Now for those of you who know me or who have heard me preach what I am about to say may come as a surprise or even cause you some concern. Therefore I ask that you listen carefully to all I am about to say. The first thing I want you to know is that I am not a Republican. But connected to this you should also know that I am not a Democrat. I am first and foremost a Catholic and I vote accordingly. But what does that mean? After all, Catholics have started to identify themselves as either liberals or conservatives. But there is a problem with this type of identification in that Catholics cannot be differentiated between right and left or conservative and liberal because to do so would imply that either way is acceptable. But that is not the case. If you claim to be Catholic then you should simply abide by the teachings of the Church and if you are not willing to do that then why stay in the Catholic Church? Why continue to call yourself Catholic? Why continue to come to Mass week after week and present yourself at the altar to receive Christ’s Body and Blood? You either are Catholic, with everything that entails, or you are not.
But before we address the question of how a Catholic should vote there is another question that must be answered first, that being should a Catholic vote at all? In answer to this and other questions I will be referring to the USCCB’s document called Faithful Citizenship. Now I know some people have strong feelings about this document but I ask that you listen to what I have to say.
So, should a Catholic vote? The short answer is yes. Faithful Citizenship states, “In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.” The purpose of this participation in political life is to influence our society with the teachings of Christ that we have received through His Church. Faithful Citizenship then goes on to state, “As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group.” In addition to this it must be said that our moral convictions, in other words our conscience, must be formed correctly by the teachings of the Church. Just because you think something is right doesn’t make it so unless it is in agreement with the teaching of the Church. Faithful Citizenship goes on to say, “When necessary, our participation (in politics) should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths.” And these fundamental moral truths are what I want to talk about in regards to how a Catholic should vote.
In order to be able to pick between the various candidates I want to focus on what is commonly called the 5 non-negotiable issues. They include the following:
-Abortion
-Euthanasia
-Embryonic stem cell research
-Human cloning
-So-called homosexual marriage
These five issues are to be seen as completely, totally and intrinsically immoral by all Catholics. In other words these issues are intrinsically evil and there is never a time in which they can be viewed as acceptable. And Faithful Citizenship states that “Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles (such as the ones I have just listed) cooperate with evil.” Which means that if you vote for a candidate that supports these issues then you are cooperating with evil and therefore are sinning.
Now some people might want to say, “But what about war and capital punishment? Aren’t they intrinsically evil?” I will let Pope Benedict XVI answer that question. Before he became Pope he said the following in regards to who may rightly receive Holy Communion,
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.1
Therefore, these five non-negotiable issues, since they are intrinsically evil, cannot be supported by any Catholic: not with your own private opinion and not with your vote. And Faithful Citizenship states that we should not “ignore a fundamental moral evil” when we are voting. And in another place it states “that the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.” So, if a politician believes that abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning or homosexual marriages are ok then Catholics should not vote for that particular politician.
But what about the situation that arises at times where both candidates believe that a particular intrinsic evil is ok, what do we do then? Faithful Citizenship states the following,
When all candidates hold a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, 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.
For instance, suppose that both candidates support abortion. One candidate thinks that it is ok at anytime and for any reason. The other is willing to concede on the point in cases of rape or incest. Now the Church teaches that the position of both of these politicians is false. The Church teaches that abortion is always wrong and that there is no acceptable reason for obtaining an abortion. So which candidate should you vote for? According to what I just quoted we should only support the candidate “deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position.” In other words, we should only vote for the candidate who does the least harm: that being the one who only supports abortion in cases of rape or incest.
I know that there are a multitude of issues to consider in the coming elections but as Faithful Citizenship states “all issues do not carry the same moral weight.” I believe the five issues that I have listed are enough for any Catholic to make the correct decision in how to vote as long as they know how the candidates stand on those issues. And just to be clear I want everyone to understand that what I have said in this sermon is not my own private opinion; it is the teaching of the Church. And with that there really is nothing left to say. May God inspire all Catholics and in fact all Americans to vote in a way that is morally upright.
1 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles
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