July 18, 2008

A Shepherd's Message

By Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

This is the first of several articles on the Bishops’ Document: “Faithful Citizenship.”

For more than thirty years, the Bishops of the United States have issued a series of statements on political responsibility; the statements are published every four years in the year before the major national elections.  Last November a new statement, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” was approved and published.  Its thirty-six pages set forth the fundamental moral principles of Catholic Social Teaching.  The text also proposes some applications of the same Catholic Social Teaching relevant to current realities in our own country, a country blessed with a great history of religious freedom and of political participation by its citizens.

A distinctive feature of the recent statement is an introductory discussion about “why the Church teaches about issues affecting public policy.”  The reason concerns the moral character of society and its importance for the full flourishing of all members of our country.  The person of faith is obligated by his or her profession of faith to seek the truth and work for the just and right reality not only in personal matters or with others as individuals, but the person of faith is already implicated in civic and political life by his or her humanity to choose and decide rightly for just public policy.  Faith and reason need to blend together in a person of faith so that good and prudent judgments can be made about public life and public policy.

The role of the teaching authority of the Church is to help Catholics form their consciences well; this is a life-long opportunity and this is also a life-long obligation.  Conscience is not a “feeling” or a vague desire to do what I want to do.  It is the voice of God that echoes in each heart leading a person to discover the truth and do what is good.  Conscience “shows up” most in a particular judgment about what a person must do or decide in a concrete case.  One is obliged, by one’s very humanity by being made in the image and likeness of God, to follow faithfully what is known to be just and right in each situation that calls for a “moral” act.  Participation in public life, including voting, is one dimension of the exercise of moral judgment. 

In the formation of conscience the initial desire to do what is true and good needs to be filled with a willingness to be informed by the teaching of Sacred Scripture and by the teaching of our Faith.  Further, our reason enters substantially into each question of moral decision by assessing the facts and background information.  A person needs to develop the virtue of prudence that allows us to rightly “shake out” means and ends, to deliberate over various alternatives, and with the help of grace and prayer, to make a decision, even a courageous one, that respects the full truth and rightness of a situation.

A well formed conscience is indispensable in making good decisions in the political realm and in the act of voting.  In the next article I want to speak about the key themes the Bishops have brought forward as a framework for political decisions in the upcoming elections.

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