Preparing for Nov. 5 election

By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor

Election Day 2024 is just two months from today, a good reminder that we have a responsibility to model faithful citizenship that sets a respectful, charitable tone for democracy in the public square. This responsibility requires more than good intentions. It requires prayer, Scripture reading and reflection, studying Catholic Social Teaching and applying that teaching to the platform priorities of each major political party and the stated priorities of our candidates for political office.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) provides a helpful document on approaching our responsibility, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” (https://tinyurl.com/mr2t9wh9) and a “Civilize It” campaign (usccb.org/civilizeit) to guide us in that responsibility with civility.

In an introductory note, the USCCB said the Faithful Citizenship document “reflects the perennial role of the Church in public life in proclaiming timeless principles: the infinite worth and dignity of every human life, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity.” The document spells out these four principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

However, applying these principles to the realities of the society in which we live today is challenging because even faithful citizens express a myriad of opinions on interpretation of these principles. Forming our consciences is essential to the task.

“Conscience — properly formed according to God’s revelation and the teaching of the Church — is a means by which one listens to God and discerns how to act in accordance with the truth.” We do so by studying Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by examining the facts and background information about various choices, and by prayerful reflection to discern God’s will (Faithful Citizenship).

 Other key points from Faithful Citizenship on which to reflect in these 60 days leading up to the election:

• Engage in genuine dialogue and openness to others. We can be frank and open about our beliefs while continuing to discuss, to seek points of contact and to work and struggle together. (Fratelli Tutti, no. 203).
• Learn from trustworthy sources about the issues facing our communities. (We would recommend the USCCB, Iowa Catholic Conference and The Catholic Messenger.)
• Keep in mind that we are “called to promote the well-being of all, to share our blessings with those most in need, to defend marriage, and to protect the lives and dignity of all, especially the weak, the vulnerable, the voiceless.”
• All “issues do not carry the same moral weight … the moral obligation to oppose policies promoting intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.” Each Catholic must make decisions “guided by a conscience formed by Catholic moral teaching.”
• “Catholics may choose different ways to respond to compelling social problems, but we cannot differ on our moral obligation to help build a more just and peaceful world through morally acceptable means, so that the weak and vulnerable are protected and human rights and dignity are defended.”
• “The right to life implies and is linked to other human rights — to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive.” The “erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life.” We must ensure that our neighbors have their basic needs met for food, shelter, health care, education and meaningful work.
• “Every person and association has a right and a duty to participate actively in shaping society and to promote the well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.”

This guidance from the USCCB’s “Civilize It” campaign buttresses our Faithful Citizenship responsibilities:

• Affirm the dignity of every person, each made in God’s image, through our words and actions. Listen respectfully to understand experiences different from our own.
• Examine our perspectives to ensure that we root them in truth, seek out unbiased sources and do not allow partisan interests to manipulate us. Seek guidance from reputable experts.
• Reflect our own values and seek, with others, to identify shared values.
• Be open to the process of dialogue that can require change of perspective — our own and others — in service to the inviolable dignity of all and the common good.
• Be a bridge-builder. See differences in perspective as opportunities for creative tension that can yield solutions for the common good.

Finally, commit to memory this message from the Second Vatican Council’s document Gaudium et Spes (“Joy and Hope”); we are “called to be witnesses to Christ in all things in the midst of human society.”

Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org