September 12, 2008

A Shepherd's Message

By Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

In two recent columns I have been treating and commenting upon a document issued by all the Bishops of the United States last November.  It is entitled “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” and like its predecessor documents the past thirty years, it analyzes the moral and social teachings of the Church relative to our national elections every four years.  The present document includes an enlarged section on the formation of conscience, a matter I analyzed in my first column.  The document then proposes seven major themes of the Church’s Social Doctrine that should enter constitutively in our deliberations for voting.  Since I already examined the themes of the human person and the role of family and community, I will use this column to examine the five remaining themes.

Theme Three gathers a number of issues under “Rights and Responsibilities.”  The fundamental right to life of each human person is the root for all other rights and responsibilities.  Within this theme the document analyzes various rights of access to those realities necessary for human decency.  Some of these realities are the rights to food and for decent shelter and the right to education.  It is within such rights that the document also addresses health care and employment.  Affordable and accessible health care, most especially for children born and unborn and for the growing number of uninsured persons are becoming increasing national priorities; these are fundamental moral-social concerns for they affect an essential safeguard for human life.  Within this theme the document also highlights the right to exercise religious freedom publicly and privately and the right to the free expression of religious beliefs.  With all such rights come corresponding duties and responsibilities, a distinctive aspect of Catholic Social Teaching where individual rights are always related to solidarity and the common good.

Theme Four, “Option for the Poor and Vulnerable,” targets a growing emphasis in Catholic Social teaching.  Within the general concern for the common good, the Scriptures and our Faith tradition have always emphasized the responsibility of society for the poor and the vulnerable.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of those who are oppressed by poverty and explains that the Church has always manifested a preferential love for them. It is an essential aspect of the Church and her teaching.  In the public square the test for a more just society is the way that society treats the most vulnerable in its midst, particularly as the disparities between poor and rich become more pronounced.  There are certainly a variety of approaches of how this theme and its concerns might be implemented in our society and in our political decisions; it is still important, however, for us to remember the narrative of the Last Judgment in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 25, and the response that each of us and our society at large give to the “least among us.”

Theme Five, “Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers,” spells out the role of our faith in dealing with the economy.  Work is more than a piece of the economy or a way to make a living.  Work also involves our participation in God’s creation.  Both employers and employees have rights and responsibilities as they help to enact the common good and the well-being of all in our social life.  The importance of just wages and humane working conditions, of adequate benefits and the role of security in old age, of private property and economic initiative are outlined in this theme.  It is also under this theme that the role of immigrants and immigration reform are profiled against our present system and the need for a more comprehensive reform is proposed.

The Sixth theme, that of “Solidarity,” emphasizes our human togetherness as one human family.  Whatever our differences we are sisters and brothers and need to be reminded that we are “our brother’s keepers.”  Our solidarity invites us to welcome the stranger and to be more mindful of global cooperation in peace-making.  The world is marred today by great violence and conflict.  Our political choices in addressing public policy on matters of justice and peace underscore our commitment to human life and solidarity.

The final theme in the Bishops’ document addresses the question of care for all of God’s creation.  We are placed on this earth as stewards of all the goods and beauty God has showered upon this earth.  Stewardship for the earth is a duty of faith, a sign of solidarity for all peoples, present and future, and an invitation to live in simplicity of life and spirit so as to manifest God’s glory.  In this care for creation, we are allowed to share in the work of Divine Providence.

These themes provide a genuine moral framework for public policy decisions in our voting.  As each theme is spelled out more specifically, as I mentioned in an earlier article, whether by the teaching authority of the Church or by individuals, the virtue of prudence is essential in making proper decisions, in weighing the priorities morally, of distinguishing real necessities from accidentals.  The moral principles do not fit into ideologies of left and right; nor are they partisan or sectarian.  They reflect fundamental moral teachings that apply to our public and social life.

In the next column I want to deal with some issues that involve principles that can never be violated when we make decisions about voting and about candidates.

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