In just a few weeks, we, the citizens of our country, will select governmental leaders, from president to local officials.  Each of us is faced with the challenge of deciding how we will vote. Before the elections on Nov. 3, we should inform ourselves on the candidates and their positions — not just their party or their personality, but also what they stand for and what direction they would take this country.

Either on election day or by early voting, we should plan our schedules to make time to vote.  Keep in mind that the presidential race is not the only item on the ballot.  There are other races and measures down the ballot that are also important.  Even voting in just some of them is better than not voting at all.

To help form your conscience on the important issues at stake in our elections, I recommend reading a brief teaching document entitled Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility.  It is published every four years by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and it is available in English and Spanish, in print and online, at www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship. This is the primary resource offered by the church in this country to help Catholics make responsible decisions in the upcoming election.

In this article, I will offer a summary of the main points of that document, with the hope that you will take some time to study it for yourself.  In my citations I will refer to the document as FC.

It is not the role of bishops, priests, deacons, religious, or lay representatives of the church to endorse or oppose specific candidates or parties (FC, nos. 7, 15, 58).  Each one of us has a right and responsibility to look carefully at the platform of each candidate and compare those positions to the teaching of Christ and the church.

Our faith teaches us basic moral principles, and each person then applies those moral principles to concrete circumstances to bring about a more just society.  “The obligation to teach the moral truths that should shape our lives, including our public lives, is central to the mission given to the church by Jesus Christ” (FC, no. 11). “We bring a consistent moral framework­ — drawn from basic human reason that is illuminated by Scripture and the teaching of the church — for assessing issues, political platforms, and campaigns” (FC, no. 12).

“We should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths or approve intrinsically evil acts” (FC, no. 14).

When Catholics make choices in the voting booth, they are to use their prudential judgment and follow their well-formed conscience as they apply the teachings of Christ to the issue at hand. “Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teachings of the church. … Conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil” (FC, no. 17).

In order to help properly form the conscience, the teachings of the Catholic Church identify “some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. … These are called ‘intrinsically evil’ actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. … It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice” (FC, no. 22).

Other intrinsically evil acts include human cloning, destructive research on human embryos, and other acts that directly violate the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life. Other actions which can never be justified include genocide, torture, the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, acts of racism, treating workers as mere means to an end, deliberately subjecting workers to subhuman working conditions, treating the poor as disposable, or redefining marriage to deny its essential meaning (FC, no. 23).

In the introductory letter to the document, it says, "The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed. At the same time, we cannot dismiss or ignore other serious threats to human life and dignity such as racism, the environmental crisis, poverty and the death penalty."

All the life issues are connected. “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed” (FC, no. 28).

However, our fundamental opposition to the intentional taking of innocent human life does not justify dismissing or ignoring other serious moral issues. These include such things as environmental degradation, racism, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or lack of health care, pornography, redefining civil marriage, compromising religious liberty, and unjust immigration policy. Choices about how best to respond to these issues are matters for principled debate and decision (FC, no. 29).

In the situation where morally flawed laws already exist, such as laws which support abortion, a government official who fully opposes abortion sometimes may need to pursue only partial, incremental improvements in the law as gradual steps toward the full restoration of justice. “However, Catholics must never abandon the moral requirement to seek full protection for all human life from the moment of conception until natural death” (FC, no. 32).
All issues do not carry the same moral weight, and we do not treat all issues as morally equivalent (FC, nos. 37, 40). When we as bishops offer guidance and recommendations in the application of moral principles to specific policy choices (such as armed conflict, housing, health care, or immigration), these recommendations do not carry the same moral authority as statements of universal moral teachings. Nevertheless, we consider this guidance to be essential for shedding the light of the Gospel and Catholic teaching on prudential moral judgments (FC, no. 33).

Sections 34 and 35 of the document merit close attention, and they should be read very carefully: “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 sub-human living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity” (FC, no. 34).

“There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position even on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may reasonably decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil” (FC, no. 35).

In voting, we should consider the candidates’ integrity, philosophy, and performance. We should analyze their campaign rhetoric critically, and make our voting choices according to principle, not merely on the basis of party affiliation or self-interest (FC, no. 41).

The document addresses the question of single-issue voters in section 42: “As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet if a candidate’s position on a single issue promotes an intrinsically evil act, such as legal abortion, redefining marriage in a way that denies its essential meaning, or racist behavior, a voter may legitimately disqualify a candidate from receiving support” (FC, no. 42).

The next section of the document lists four basic principles of Catholic social teaching which shape our involvement in the political life of any society.  These are the dignity of the human person, subsidiarity, the common good, and solidarity.

The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This principle calls us to oppose all of the following: abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, human cloning, in vitro fertilization, the destruction of human embryos for research, torture, unjust war, the indiscriminate use of drones for violent purposes, genocide, direct and intentional attacks against noncombatants in war, racism, human trafficking, and the use of the death penalty as a means of protecting society from violent crime. It also calls us to seek to overcome poverty and suffering (See FC, nos. 44-45).

The principle of subsidiarity reminds us that the functions of government should be performed at the lowest level possible, as long as they can be performed adequately. If they cannot, then a higher level of government should intervene to provide help (See FC, nos. 46-48).

The principle of the common good teaches that everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the good of the whole society. This has implications for the dignity and rights of workers, the freedom of conscience, the right to free expression of religious beliefs, and good stewardship of God’s creation (See FC, nos. 49-51).

The principle of solidarity affirms that we are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are called to work globally for justice. The suffering of our fellow human beings, no matter how far away, should be a matter of concern for all of us (See FC, nos. 52-56).

In light of our basic ethical principles, the document presents a summary of policy positions of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in sections 63-90. These are intended to guide Catholics as they form their consciences and reflect on the moral dimensions of society and politics. These policy positions include the following:

• Address the preeminent requirement to protect human life.
• Protect the fundamental understanding of marriage as the lifelong, exclusive commitment between one man and one woman.
• Promote the complementarity of the sexes and reject false gender ideologies.
• Protect the well-being of children.
• Avoid war and promote peace.
• Ensure conscience protection and promote religious liberty at home and abroad.
• Support the rights of workers.
• Foster the creation of jobs for all who can work.
• Affirm economic freedom, initiative, the right to private property.
• Protect consumers from the exploitative interest rates charged by many payday lenders.
• Support rural agricultural communities.
• Fight hunger and poverty.
• Provide affordable and accessible health care that respects the sanctity of human life and moral and religious convictions.
• Address global climate change.
• Oppose unjust discrimination.
• Achieve comprehensive immigration reform.
• Support parental choice in education.
• Reform the broken criminal justice system.