Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Keeping Love in the Debate

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops' call to political responsibility, is a high-profile document. One reason is that it deals with issues that have major ramifications for the lives and well being of people everywhere. Another is that it provides a guide for the intersection of the values of faith and the world of politics, certainly a tall and delicate order. But another reason it draws so much attention is probably the fact that it covers an area--politics--that everyone likes to fight about.

People like having their arguments validated. And what greater validation is there than to be able to say that the bishops--and by extension, God--agree with this political view or that? This gives rise to regarding Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship not as a guiding tool for understanding Church teaching and forming one's conscience by it but like a Catholic Rubik's Cube with a secret code to crack, a code that provides the definitive Catholic ideological view. And from such a vantage point, of course, a person is then free to attack every other ideological view and the people holding them.

And therein lies a problem. Catholics have a duty to be advocates for issues affecting the common good, both at the ballot box and year round. But they also have a duty to carry out this advocacy in a way that's worthy of their faith. This means not giving into the cultural mentality that it's okay to engage in the scorched earth, zero sum game that American politics have become. In Catholic teaching, ends do not justify means.

In a video on civility in public discourse (part of a series of videos promoting Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship), Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington lists "falsehoods, lies, distortions, half-truths" among the sort of things Catholics should not be saying/spreading. He instead challenges Catholics to "speak the truth with love."

In the worlds of cable news, the blogosphere and comment boxes, both parts of this can be a challenge. Even when one manages to find the truth, there's the added challenge of not using it as a license to be a jerk.

Pope John XXIII famously reiterated a guiding principle that has been attributed to St. Augustine and others: "In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity." While the first two items fuel endless debate as to what's essential and what's doubtful, "in all things, charity" trumps the rest. The Christian can never stop loving, even when engaging in intense debate over life-and-death issues. The person who does so risks becoming, in the words of St. Paul, a banging gong or clashing cymbal, something that gets attention by being loud and obnoxious, but ultimately lacks meaning or the ability to connect to people.

When Pope John Paul II canonized Edith Stein in 1998, he recalled that she went so far as to insist, "Do not accept anything as truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth."

As Catholics engage the world of politics in 2012, they should view the truths of the Church from the perspective of love: Catholics care about immigration reform because they love immigrants. Catholics care about threats to human life because they love the unborn, the sick and the elderly. Catholics care about marriage because they love the family. Catholics care about religious freedom and domestic poverty because they love the poor and vulnerable and want to serve them freely. Finally, Catholics care about world peace because they love every person on the planet as part of one big, interconnected family.

The sheer importance of the Church's belief in the dignity of each person is what compels Catholics to take their faith into the public square. It follows then that this belief, essentially "Love thy neighbor," should also be translated into how Catholics treat the people they encounter in the public square, even fellow Catholics, no matter how heated the discussion or sharp the disagreement.

It's a challenge to live up to the standard first mentioned in the Gospels: that the rest of the world would recognize the followers of Jesus by their love.

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Temptations and Voting

Nowhere do the issues of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the U.S. bishops' call to political responsibility, get more delicate than when the document tackles questions of voting.

In the document, the bishops describe at length a Catholic moral framework that encompasses their priority issues for 2012 -- abortion and threats to human life and dignity, religious freedom concerns, efforts to redefine marriage, immigration reform, international peace, and domestic poverty, unemployment and the economic crisis. They describe the nature of these issues and why each is a concern for the Church, essentially why Catholics should care about them.

But then comes the inevitable question: how should Catholics put the pieces together when they go to vote? On this question, it's best to let the document speak for itself: "The consistent ethic of life provides a moral framework for principled Catholic engagement in political life and, rightly understood, neither treats all issues as morally equivalent nor reduces Catholic teaching to one or two issues."

This prompts the question, "Wait, so Catholics aren't supposed to be single-issue voters?"

The bishops answer this squarely, asserting, "As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support." But then it gets even more interesting: "Yet a candidate'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 support."

Per the possibility of bringing a candidate back from a disqualified state, the bishops say, "There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate's unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons." They state that this is not a flippant matter: "Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preference or to ignore a fundamental moral evil."

Of course a voting Catholic's responsibilities don't end at avoiding evil; they must also do good. As the bishops note, "a voter should not use a candidate's opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues of human life and dignity."

So a candidate who passes the test on big issues doesn't get a free pass on every other moral question. The bishops list "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, or an unjust immigration policy" as "serious moral issues that challenge our conscience and require us to act."

The delicate balance of all of these issues is best summarized as what could be called the "Two Temptations" of Faithful Citizenship:

1. To say that all issues are morally equivalent with no ethical distinctions. This simply isn't so, say the bishops. For instance, "The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life...is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed."

2. To say that only certain issues matter or, as the bishops phrase it, "the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity."

Suddenly the challenge of the Catholic voter becomes comparable to navigating a speeding car down a slippery road at night without falling into the ditches on both sides of the road, or like the children's board game "Operation," where players use tweezers to remove ailments from a patient without touching the metal sides, setting off a buzzer. This may sound like a daunting task, but it's a responsibility the bishops have entrusted to every U.S. Catholic. Voting may be only one way Catholics can answer the call to live out their faith in the public square, but accepting its challenge is a powerful way to show that they care.

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Immigration Reform and a Reasonable Church

It's popular in some circles today to portray the Catholic Church as the opposite of reasonable.

One example: When the Church insists that its charities, hospitals and universities be allowed to carry out their mission without being forced by the government to violate Catholic teaching, it's depicted as attacking women's health care, despite the Church being a strong supporter of health care for all people. Another example: Recent years have seen the rise of more strident, outspoken atheists who, with evangelical fervor and more than a touch of hubris, declare that only their like-minded brethren are freethinkers and that people of any faith are superstitious children at best and hate-filled bigots at worst. Their favorite buzzword: reason.

Of course Pope Benedict XVI and others have long maintained that no conflict or competition exists between faith and reason, that the two in fact work together harmoniously as people engage the world around them. A great example of this is the position the U.S. bishops take on immigration reform, one of six priority issues raised in their reissued document on political responsibility, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

When the bishops speak out on immigration, it's not the shrill rhetoric of partisan politics or ideology. It's not even a dense and lofty theological pronouncement. Instead, it's the calm, educated advice of people who understand an issue, care about it and want to see it resolved for the benefit of everyone involved. It's the pairing of values rooted in faith with arguments rooted in logic and common sense. It's humanitarian, and it's reasonable on numerous levels.

For instance...

When a country is saddled with immigration policies that have resulted in 12 million people living under the radar, it's reasonable to say, "Everyone recognizes the system is broken; let's move forward and replace this broken system with something that works so that everyone can benefit." Hence the bishops' calls for comprehensive immigration reform. Conversely, the approach of digging in further with the same enforcement-only approach that has been used for the last two decades is an example of repeating the same practice and expecting different results. It's also reasonable to recognize that one simply cannot deport 12 million people, with the costs, economic disruptions and logistical difficulties making it beyond impractical.

It's reasonable to question practices like raiding workplaces, separating families and holding people in prolonged detention as a proportionate response to non-violent offenders whose only offenses were motivated by need and, to be blunt about it, family values. It's reasonable to recognize that a tension can exist between two important values--in this case, the right of a country to secure and guard its borders and the right of people to emigrate to seek a livelihood for themselves and their families--and realize that a creative accommodation can alleviate that tension, whether that means increasing the number of visas given annually to meet demand or removing roadblocks to naturalization for young people who had no choice in coming.

It's reasonable to want to understand and address the underlying causes that drive illegal immigration. When people risk their lives and leave their families to come to a foreign land, the humane and logical response is to find out what forces compelled them to do such a risky, oftentimes desperate thing. The answer is usually some combination of systemic poverty, economic instability and political or religious persecution, issues the United States can work to alleviate in collaboration with its neighbors.

This is a humanitarian challenge for the United States, but it's also an opportunity and even a gift. It's reasonable to look to the historical context, to the tremendous energy and productivity infused in American culture by every subsequent wave of immigrants (most of which occurred under very different immigration laws, rendering moot the popular "well my ancestors came here legally" argument).

And so it's reasonable not only to know one's history, but to know oneself, especially as a politically-engaged Catholic. As Cardinal Timothy Dolan recently noted, "We are a church of immigrants, so we're particularly sensitive to the rights of immigrants." This should compel Catholics to approach the challenges of immigration reform not punitively, but as people of compassion, faith and reason.

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Untangling the International Knot

Sometimes it's just best to go to an expert.

Whether it's a burst water pipe, an unresponsive computer, or the challenges of international peace and stability, some problems just require special expertise. For instance, that third example, as the U.S. bishops describe it, involves "war, terror and violence, which raise serious moral questions on the use of force and its human and moral costs in a dangerous world, particularly the absence of justice, security and peace in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East."

The bishops list these concerns as one of six issue areas in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship that Catholics should be concerned about as they prepare for political engagement. The problem with this particular area is that it's so messy and tangled with politics, history, culture and the ever-changing realities on the 6 o'clock news that, for many Catholics, the issue is first to understand the issues before they can care about them. Fortunately for the Church, it has experts who can help all Catholics engage.

Stephen Colecchi, director of International Justice and Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has traveled extensively, written articles and parish resources and was recognized by Pope John Paul II for his work. Colecchi recognizes that the international concerns of the bishops are broad, but their practical focus is to take a very Catholic approach of helping "the least of these," and advocating for life-serving, poverty-focused international assistance.

"Pope Benedict said in his 2009 World Day of Peace Message that to fight poverty is to build peace," says Colecchi. "Effective international assistance not only saves and supports the lives of millions of vulnerable people around the world, it also expresses our values as a nation and is a requirement of being a global leader."

Colecchi notes that such international assistance benefits Americans too.

"It improves global security and stability and contributes to our own security," he says. "Contrary to popular misconceptions, poverty-focused international assistance accounts for less than 1 percent of the federal budget, and careless cuts will cost lives and not make a significant impact on the important goal of reducing deficits. In many poor countries, the Catholic Church and faith-based organizations partner with the U.S. government to deliver assistance. The Church is trusted by local people and has an extensive presence in many developing countries."

Colecchi also sees war as closely related to issues of poverty and international aid.

"War and violence take innocent lives and increase poverty," he explains. "In a sense, war is human development in reverse. It destroys lives and livelihoods and often drives people from their homes and into deeper poverty. For example, millions of persons are displaced by conflicts in Sudan, Iraq and Colombia. As Catholics, we are called to be peacemakers. We can and should urge our government to work for peace and to assist displaced persons and refugees."

In terms of the Middle East specifically, Colecchi says the Catholic Church, under the Vatican's leadership, has worked for decades toward peace in the Holy Land and that the bishops have urged strong U.S. leadership for a two-state solution with a secure and recognized Israel living in peace alongside a viable and independent Palestinian state. This, of course, comes with some requirements.

"Peaceful societies are built on respect for human rights and religious freedom," says Colecchi, "but in many countries religious minorities are discriminated against and even persecuted."

As Catholics try to incorporate all of these issues into their political engagement, Colecchi says there are a few key questions that can shed some light. "For example, does a candidate see poverty-focused international assistance as an investment in saving lives and making our world and nation safer? Does the candidate value working for peace and only using force as a last resort in keeping with just war teaching?  Will he or she promote religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy? Does the candidate value partnerships with faith-based organizations, and will he or she support conscience clauses and other provisions that allow such partnerships?" In short, "Will the candidate support policies and programs that protect human life and dignity?"

With these guidelines, all Catholics can be empowered to take action on international issues, at election time and all year round.

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Poverty and Helping People to Flourish

"The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them," Jesus says in Mark's Gospel.

This would, at face value, seem like a fairly open-ended statement. But it gets a pretty heavy degree of specificity from the U.S. bishops in the introductory note to the reissued Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, when the bishops cite "an economic crisis ... , increasing national and global unemployment, poverty, and hunger; increasing deficits and debt and the duty to respond in ways which protect those who are poor and vulnerable as well as future generations" as one of their six areas of concern going into the 2012 elections.

If these are issues that are supposed to matter to Catholics, the bishops have certainly led by example in this area. For the Church, political engagement isn't just about what happens in a voting booth in November; it's about consistently bringing one's values and perspective to the public discussion. The U.S. bishops have brought their values to the issues of debt, poverty, unemployment and hunger in numerous letters to leaders in Congress. The Vatican has even tackled the more overarching challenge of financial reform.

Of course, every Catholic is called to engage the political process, as voters, lawmakers, advocates, etc. And all Catholics are called to, as Jesus said, do good for the poor, through whatever means are at their disposal, whether they're a teacher educating the next generation, a banker engaging in responsible lending practices or a legislator shaping public policy that will impact millions of lives. In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI called this the "institutional path of charity."

On this path, Catholic teaching places a crowded cast of characters, all with their own responsibilities: government, businesses, churches and other organizations, and individuals. The Church's vision for society involves all of these stakeholders working together in a way that allows people to flourish, living life with a sense of dignity and reaching the potential God intended for them. In Catholic terms, everyone has a responsibility to promote the common good. To keep this from becoming stifling or chaotic, the Church prescribes principles like solidarity and subsidiarity.

Solidarity is the recognition of the responsibility of everyone in society to care for those who are poor and vulnerable. (The words of Jesus in Matthew 25 put this in perspective by saying that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. are requirements for entering the kingdom.) Subsidiarity is the principle that says care for the poor -- and all human problems, in fact -- should be addressed at the lowest level possible and the highest level necessary. It promotes the robust network of relationships in society, from the individual to the global. It can be seen at work when, for instance, funding from the federal government goes to finance anti-poverty programs that are regulated and administered at the state or local level, often by charities, sometimes by Catholic charities.

The goal is always human flourishing. The tangled, interconnected mess of joblessness, the economy, poverty, etc. is a political concern for the bishops because it impacts the lives and dignity of so many. "Work is more than a way to make a living," the bishops write in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, "it is a form of continuing participation in God's creation." And as so many people struggle in financial hardship to regain that part of their lives, it becomes apparent that "The poor you will always have with you" isn't a license to ignore the poor or assume they will disappear when times improve for everyone. Rather it's a reminder of a duty shared by everyone and articulated by the bishops:  "The economy must serve people, not the other way around."

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Strengthening and Defending Marriage is a Matter of Justice

By Bethany Meola

Marriage is clearly a big deal for Catholics.

Even many non-Catholics know that, for instance, the Catholic Church doesn’t recognize divorce and that being married in the Church is important to Catholics. Delving into Catholic teaching itself, Scripture is filled with references to marriage, and the Church presents it as a vocation and as one of the Sacraments, a visible sign of God’s gift of grace.

What might be more surprising is that, for Catholics, marriage is also a key public policy issue, in fact one of six raised by the U.S. bishops when they reissued Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, their call to political responsibility. This means marriage is not only something that matters to the doctrine of the Church and the private lives of the people entering into it. It matters to all society.

The reason it matters is because marriage affects the common good. In fact, the two are inseparably intertwined. As the Second Vatican Council put it, “The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and the family.” In fact, because the union of husband and wife is uniquely capable of welcoming new life into the world, the Church describes marriage as the very “condition” for society’s existence.

The family founded on marriage plays a profound educational role in society. Pope John Paul II taught that the family is “the first and irreplaceable school of social life,” where each person “learns what it means to love and to be loved, and thus what it actually means to be a person.” This “dynamic of love” emanates from the total self-giving union between husband and wife.

Because of marriage’s unique contribution to society, all people should be concerned with its well-being. In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops write that, in light of the tragic consequences of marriage’s breakdown or disappearance, especially for children, “policies on taxes, work, divorce, immigration, and welfare should help families stay together.” They also advocate for wages that “allow workers to support their families” and for public assistance for struggling families.

In addition to urging policies that strengthen marriages and families, the bishops are deeply concerned with “intensifying efforts” to redefine marriage, namely proposals to remove sexual difference from marriage. This is not “expanding” marriage, as the bishops see it, but rather redefining it and in effect dismantling it. Sexual difference is not an optional component of marriage but rather an essential element, rooted in the nature of the human person created male and female.

Both the bishops of the United States and Pope Benedict XVI have stated that defending marriage as the union of one man and one woman is, as the Pope taught in one ad limina talk, “ultimately a question of justice, since it entails safeguarding the good of the entire human community and the rights of parents and children alike.” Defending marriage does justice to the child by providing him or her with the best possibility of knowing and being loved by both mother and father together. In contrast, redefining marriage asserts that mothers and fathers are interchangeable and denies a child the right to know both a father and a mother. It also obscures the core of marriage, namely the union of husband and wife founded on sexual difference.

Standing up for marriage can be difficult and often uncomfortable in today’s cultural climate, but it’s essential for the good of marriage itself and for the common good, especially for the welfare of children. The USCCB offers resources to help Catholics understand and articulate what marriage is and why it matters. Preserving, strengthening and defending marriage are matters of justice that should matter to everyone.

Bethany Meola is program specialist for the USCCB’s Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.

Tips for Welcoming Returning Catholics

Was church a little crowded Easter Sunday?

On the heels of Easter Sunday, a holy day notorious for bringing generally "inactive" Catholics back to church for one day, the bishops' Evangelization and Catechesis committee has released a document, Disciples Called toWitness: The New Evangelization, which is geared toward reawakening the faith of Catholics.

The document never actually talks about “inactive” Catholics and makes this omission intentionally. For instance, people who can’t make it to Mass because they are homebound or because they’re working three jobs to stay afloat may not be regularly  participating in parish and sacramental life, but they haven’t exactly renounced their faith either.

The document instead takes a more universal approach, saying that the bishops want to re-energize the faith of all Catholics. A Catholic who’s lost a sense of the faith can be someone who hasn’t been to Mass in 30 years or someone who comes to Mass every Sunday but experiences no personal growth, who goes through the paces with no internal conviction.

Of course, the idea of energizing Catholics, wherever they may be in their faith journeys, ties directly into the New Evangelization. Popularized by John Paul II and made a major priority of Benedict XVI, the New Evangelization is the notion that every Catholic  must have a relationship with Christ, and have an authentic experience of their faith if they are to in turn draw others to Jesus and the Gospel.

In the final section of Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization, the bishops list areas where parish communities can strengthen their outreach to Catholics who might be returning to the practice of the faith. Some of the specific suggestions include:

• Since returning to the Church is an act of the Holy Spirit, emphasize personal witnessing to the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the pastor and pastoral ministers.
• Recognize that each person’s conversion will be unique and unfold at a different pace.
• Have programs that are flexible, as some people might not be able to participate in an entire program.
• Extend personal invitations to those who are missing and a spirit of welcome to all who seek assistance.
• Have pastoral ministers who have the knowledge to share the Gospel message and how have the ability to listen and empathize.
• Foster a liturgical environment that invites, spiritually fulfills and welcomes full and active participation.
• Offer encouraging words of welcome, especially at special events such as weddings, funerals, quinceañeras, and Christmas and Easter Masses.
• Offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation when it is convenient for those with busy work schedules.
• Utilize multiple languages in every aspect of parish life when dealing with a diverse community.
• Include links on the parish website to reputable Catholic catechetical websites and social media presences.
• Ensure the church building is accessible to those with disabilities.
• Provide resources and training for pastors to give well-prepared homilies that stir the heart.
• Provide catechetical materials, as well as contact information for marriage tribunals and professionals who can assist those seeking to regularize their marriages or who are struggling with depression, addiction, etc.
• Provide opportunities for lifelong faith formation.
• Maintain personal relationships with returning Catholics, bearing in mind that the process of welcoming someone back into the Church is an ongoing one.

 This weekend, if there are a few extra people in the pews, remember the words of St. Paul: “Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you” (Rom 15:7).