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A PASTORAL LETTER
TO THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL
OF THE DIOCESE OF COLORADO SPRINGS
ON THE DUTIES OF CATHOLIC POLITICIANS AND VOTERS
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This coming November we Americans will participate in one
of the most important national elections in recent history. The president,
senators and congressmen who are placed in office by our votes will serve
at a time in which issues that are critical to the very survival of our
civilization will be at the top of the political agenda. As we prepare for
these elections I consider it my duty as your bishop to write to you about
these matters so that you might go to the polls this fall with a
well-informed conscience.
The Church teaches that "man has the right to act in
conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions." (1)
Often we hear people claim that they are making decisions in accord with
conscience even when those decisions defy the natural law and the revealed
teachings of Jesus Christ. This is because of a widespread
misunderstanding of the very meaning of conscience.
For many, conscience is no more than personal preference
or even a vague sense or feeling that something is right or wrong, often
based on information drawn from sources that have nothing to do with the
law of God.
The right judgment of conscience is not a matter of
personal preference nor has it anything to do with feelings. It has only
to do with objective truth. "Conscience must be informed and moral
judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It
formulates its judgments according to reason ,
in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator.
The education of
conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative
influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject
authoritative teachings." (2)
All people have a grave obligation to form their
consciences by adhering to the truth, precisely as that truth is found in
the natural law and in the revelation of God. As Catholics we have the
further obligation to give assent to the doctrinal and moral teachings of
the Church because "to the Church belongs the right always and everywhere
to announce moral principles,
including those
pertaining to the social order,
and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are
required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of
souls." (3) In other words, as people who profess the Catholic faith, we
must "have the mind of Christ" in every judgment and act.
Among the many distortions and misrepresentations that
prevail in the current debates about the relationship between religion and
the social order (politics) is the assertion that faith and politics are
to be kept separated. This, apparently, is based upon the American
doctrine of the separation of church and state. In fact, the wall that
separates church and state is the safeguard against both the establishment
of a state religion and the imposition of sectarian religious beliefs and
practices, such as particular denominational forms of worship or
theological tenets. In no way does the American doctrine of separation of
church and state even suggest that the well-formed consciences of
religious people should not be brought to bear on their political choices.
The Second Vatican Council was abundantly clear on this
matter. "Nor, on the contrary, are they any less wide of the mark who
think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge
of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves
into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether
divorced from the religious life.
This split between the
faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted
among the more serious errors of our age.
Long since, the Prophets of the
Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did
Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave
punishments. Therefore, let there be no false opposition between
professional and social activities on the one part, and religious life on
the other." (4)
When Catholics are elected to public office or when
Catholics go to the polls to vote, they take their consciences with them.
Pope John Paul II has consistently taught this as, for example, when he
said that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a
"grave and clear obligation to oppose" any law that attacks human life.
(5) The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has declared that, "in
this context, it must be noted also that a well-formed Christian
conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an
individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and
morals." (6) Anyone who professes the Catholic faith with his lips while
at the same time publicly supporting legislation or candidates that defy
God’s law makes a mockery of that faith and belies his identity as a
Catholic.
In November we will once again have the privilege of
exercising our most precious right as citizens – the right to vote. Our
choices will be made from among an array of candidates who take a variety
of positions with regard to many important issues. In the midst of what
could be a difficult and confusing exercise it is very important to
remember that not all issues are of equal gravity. As men and women of
good will we strive to achieve true justice for all people and to preserve
their rights as human beings. There is, however, one right that is
"inalienable", and that is the RIGHT TO LIFE. This is the FIRST right.
This is the right that grounds all other human rights. This is the issue
that trumps all other issues.
The November elections will be critical in the battle to
restore the right to life to all citizens, especially the unborn and the
elderly and infirm. As a result of the pro-life efforts of countless
Americans the number of abortions performed in our country is now
declining for the first time since the appalling Supreme Court decision of
1973 that made it "legal" to kill our children. We cannot allow the
progress that has been made to be reversed by a pro-abortion President,
Senate or House of Representatives. Neither can we permit illicit stem
cell research that makes use of aborted babies. Any movement to promote
and legalize euthanasia must be halted. Our votes have the power to stop
these abominations.
There must be no confusion in these matters. Any Catholic
politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or
for any form of euthanasia
ipso facto
place themselves outside full
communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation. Any Catholics
who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research
or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences. It is for this reason
that these Catholics, whether candidates for office or those who would
vote for them, may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted
their positions and been reconciled with God and the Church in the
Sacrament of Penance.
In recent months another issue has reached the level of
our legislatures. It is so-called "same-sex marriage." Those who now
promote this deviancy often present it as a human right denied homosexual
persons and thus illegally discriminating against them. But, in fact, no
one has a right to that which flies in the face of God’s own design.
Marriage is not an invention of individuals or even of societies. Rather
it is an element of God’s creation. It is God who created us male and
female. It is God who joined man and woman so that they could be fruitful
and multiply and fill the earth. Every civilization known to mankind has
understood marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the procreation
and rearing of children. And yet now, in 21 stcentury
America, there are those who would want us to believe that all people of
all times have been mistaken about the true nature and purpose of
marriage. No one can simply redefine marriage to suit a political or
social agenda.
Once again, we must be clear about this matter. The future
of our world depends upon the strength of the family, the basic unit of
society. The future of the family depends on the state of marriage. The
family – father, mother and children – reflects the nature of God Himself,
who is a communion of selfless and self-giving love. For this reason
marriage and family life cannot be whatever we want them to be. They are
only and always as God has created them. As in the matter of abortion, any
Catholic politician who would promote so-called "same-sex marriage" and
any Catholic who would vote for that political candidate place themselves
outside the full communion of the Church and may not receive Holy
Communion until they have recanted their positions and been reconciled by
the Sacrament of Penance.
The Church never directs citizens to vote for any specific
candidate. The Church does, however, have the right and the obligation to
teach clearly and fully the objective truth about the dignity and rights
of the human person. These teachings, in turn, must inform the consciences
of voters. "By its intervention in this area, the Church’s Magisterium
does not wish to exercise political power or eliminate the freedom of
opinion of Catholics regarding contingent questions. Instead, it intends –
as is its proper function – to instruct and illuminate the consciences of
the faithful, particularly those involved in political life, so that their
actions may always serve the integral promotion of the human person and
the common good." (7)
Dear friends in Christ, I exhort you with all my heart to
take courage and proclaim the Gospel of Life to those who will stand for
elected office this fall. It is by your prayers and by your votes that
politicians who are unconditionally pro-life and pro-family will serve our
country. Conversely, if our voices remain silent or if, God forbid, we
vote contrary to our informed consciences, we will see our country led
down a short path to ruin. We want freedom for all, but there can be no
freedom without truth. In the words of our Holy Father: "When freedom is
detached from objective truth it becomes impossible to establish personal
rights on a firm rational basis; and the ground is laid for society to be
at the mercy of the unrestrained will of individuals or the oppressive
totalitarianism of public authority." (8)
Let us all pray for those politicians who claim to be
Catholic yet continue to oppose the law of God and the rights of persons
that, by the grace of God, they will be converted once again to the full
and authentic articulation and practice of the faith.
Finally, I wish to affirm my brother bishops who have
proclaimed the truth of these critical matters and who have admonished
those Catholic politicians who place themselves at odds with the truth of
God. May that truth which is the foundation of genuine freedom prevail in
our country.
Given at the Chancery on this first day of May 2004, the
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan
Bishop of Colorado Springs
Used with permission from the Diocese of Colorado
Springs.
Endnotes
(1) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1782.
(2) ibid., 1783.
(3) ibid., 2032 and Code of Canon Law 747.2.
(4) Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World ( Gaudium et
spes), 43.
(5) John Paul II, The Gospel of Life ( Evangelium
vitae), 73.
(6) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Doctrinal
Notes on Some Questions
Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life", 4.
(7) ibid., 6.
(8) The Gospel of Life, 101.
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