How are Catholics, especially in this year’s turbulent electoral climate, to respond at the polls as voters in faith?
By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Candidates running for public office are heading into the homestretch of their campaigns as the U.S. general election, Nov. 8, is fast approaching.
Each election brings a renewed look at the issues facing our country and state, as well as the values and characteristics required in the leaders chosen to guide us through society’s most complex problems.
How are Catholics, especially in this year’s turbulent electoral climate, to respond at the polls as voters in faith?
Eva Andrade, communications director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, shared with the Hawaii Catholic Herald some insights from her position in the public policy arm of the Diocese of Honolulu.
She urges Catholic voters, before casting their ballots, to review the document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.”
The document, which underscores the importance of voting as a Catholic civic duty and highlights Catholic positions on various issues, is available on online at http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship.
Why vote?
Andrade explained that Catholics have “the responsibility to participate in political life in light of a properly formed conscience.”
Hawaii’s voter turnout ranks among the lowest in the nation. This is distressing, Andrade said, because “that means a minority is making decisions for the majority.”
Catholics who have not yet registered to vote in the 2016 general election can do so from Oct. 25 to Nov. 5 by visiting an “Early Walk-In” polling site. A listing of these locations for each county can be found at the Hawaii State Office of Elections website, http://elections.hawaii.gov.
To be eligible to vote, a person must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the state of Hawaii and at least 18 years old. Also explained online are options for early and absentee mail-in voting, which begin Oct. 25.
The Office of Elections website has as well a feature to view a general election “sample ballot” based on a voter’s precinct and polling location.
While taking the first step to vote on Election Day certainly impacts the community, Andrade said Catholics must strive for a comprehensive understanding of their civic leaders and how they will affect issues in the long run.
“Our participation is not a one day event,” she said. “An election is only a report card that provides us with an opportunity to pass or fail a candidate for public office. Knowing how to grade them is based on what they have done, and what they will do, to benefit society as a whole.”
“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” explains that “The church’s obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith. It is a basic part of the mission we have received from Jesus Christ, who offers a vision of life revealed to us in Sacred Scripture and Tradition.”
Catholics, therefore, have an obligation to vote. The document notes that voters of faith bring to the polls “a consistent moral frame-work” which allows the “essential truth about human life and dignity” to be emphasized in the public square.
“Without this balance of faith and reason,” Andrade said, “the community suffers.”
How to vote
“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” says that church leaders, especially clergy, are tasked with aiding the faithful in prudent political decision-making based on the church’s teachings.
“In fulfilling these responsibilities,” the document explains, “the church’s leaders avoid endorsing or opposing candidates.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of General Counsel issued in July a note explaining the tax provision the church has as a non-profit entity, prohibiting its participation and intervention in any political campaign.
Clergy and lay Catholics in leadership positions, however, can in election times promote discretional voting based on four basic principles of Catholic social doctrine: the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity.
“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” states that, “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior.”
The document provides a brief summary of the U.S. bishops’ policy positions on issues ranging from religious freedom to healthcare, migration, education and the environment.
“It is important to remember that issues that demean human life are incompatible with our faith,” said Hawaii Catholic Conference communications director Andrade.
“Urgent, top priority issues like housing and homelessness are going to continue to get big press and major community cooperation,” she added. “Life issues, especially physician assisted suicide, on the other hand, tend to get the most attention only from faith-based and disability rights organizations.
“We must defend our first freedom — the freedom to practice our faith freely in the public arena without government interference or intrusion.”
Andrade acknowledges “no political platform falls perfectly in step with what we believe as Catholics.” In an election where the public may view particular candidates as “morally unacceptable,” Andrade said it is crucial to “keep in mind that when we select leaders, we are putting them in a position of furthering either good or evil.”
“They will continue to vote on issues that stem from the core of their personal belief system,” she added.
In “Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics,” a statement issued in 1998, the U.S. bishops conference said “we urge our fellow citizens to see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically, and to choose their political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest.”
The U.S. bishops note in “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” that Catholic voters “should consider candidates’ integrity, philosophy and performance.”
The document explains that if in good conscience, a person of faith cannot deem in a particular electoral race any candidate worthy of his or her vote, “the voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate.”
Dorothy Day, a champion for the poor who founded the Catholic Worker movement and is now a candidate for sainthood, was for example one Catholic who opted because of principle not to vote.
The U.S. bishops add the clause that voters, “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.”
“The struggles that we face as a nation and as a global community cannot be addressed solely by choosing the ‘best candidate’ for political office,” the U.S. bishops wrote. “In addition to forming our consciences, we must fast and pray.”
Andrade said she personally believes “choosing not to vote for a particular candidate — leaving that race blank but voting in other races where you are confident of your vote — is a vote.”
“The important thing is to vote,” she added.
