Fairfield County Catholic presents a Voter's Guide designed to help Catholics vote with their consciences on Election Day, November 7

Fairfield County Catholic, November 4, 2006

Editor’s note: In order to assist our readers as they prepare to cast their votes for Governor, State Senators and Representatives, one U.S. Senator, and all U.S. Representatives on Tuesday, November 7, Fairfield County Catholic presents the following Voter’s Guide, a study of several issues of interest and importance to Catholics and others, as quoted directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the compendium of official Church teachings.

To Instruct, Not Endorse

As a 501(c)(3) organization, the Catholic Church is prohibited by the Internal Revenue Code from participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office. Endorsing candidates for election to public office or calling for their defeat are, therefore, forbidden. The Church is permitted, however, to instruct the faithful about the Church’s teaching on moral and social issues, and identify such issues as important current topics and questions to ask candidates.

“A Catholic moral framework does not easily fit the ideologies of ‘right’ or ‘left,’ nor the platforms of any party,” the U.S. Catholic bishops advise Catholic voters in Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. “Our values are often not ‘politically correct.’ Believers are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society and to test public life by the values of Scripture and the principles of Catholic social teaching.

Measurement

“Our responsibility is to measure all candidates, policies, parties, and platforms by how they protect or undermine the life, dignity, and rights of the human person, whether they protect the poor and vulnerable and advance the common good.” When a clear choice does not exist between candidates on critical issues of faith, a Catholic voter should cast their ballot for the one they feel would best benefit the common good.

(For further reference and study, consult the paragraph numbers listed from the Catechism, available in bookstores or online, or visit the Connecticut Catholic Conference website: www.ctcatholic.org)

 

Abortion

Support for abortion is not an option within our faith
and is considered supporting a grave evil.

“Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. . . . Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. . . .

“Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. ‘A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae, ‘by the very commission of the offense,’ and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation.” (Catechism, 2270-2273)

Related Questions:

• Does the candidate support parental notification when a minor is seeking an abortion? Connecticut is one of the few remaining states in the U.S. without such a law. Ironically, in our state there are laws forbidding a minor to have a body piercing or receive medication at school without written parental consent.
  
  
• Does the candidate oppose forcing Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception (Plan B) to sexual assault victims, in conflict with Church teachings? Victims of rape are treated with compassion and dignity, but if a life has been created, it must be protected.

Education

The education of children is a fundamental responsibility of parents.

“As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible, parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.” (Catechism, 2229)

Related Question:

• Does the candidate support financial assistance to parents, especially with children in underperforming public school districts, which will enable them to choose the best educational setting for their children?

Marriage

Marriage, as instituted by God, is a faithful, exclusive, life-long union of a man and a woman.

“‘The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.’ . . .

“‘The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by Him with its own proper laws. . . . God Himself is the author of marriage.’ The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution, despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. ‘The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.’” (Catechism, 1601, 1603)

Related Question:

• Does the candidate oppose same-sex “marriage”? Connecticut has a Civil Union law which provides many benefits to same-sex couples. If same-sex “marriage” is legalized, those expressing religious opposition to the homosexual lifestyle and the sanctity of traditional marriage would be silenced by force of law

Health Care

Affordable and accessible health care is a fundamental human right.

“Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good. . . . Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.” (Catechism, 2288)

Related Questions:

• Does the candidate support reform efforts to our health care system to expand access to critical services to the elderly, poor, and all working men and women? Millions of Americans, many in Connecticut, lack basic or adequate health care due to a lack of insurance.
  
  
• Does the candidate oppose embryonic stem-cell research, which kills innocent human life? Does the candidate support adult stem-cell research, approved by the Church, which has shown great medical promise to cure disease?
  
  
• Does the candidate oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia.

The Poor

Poverty remains a serious problem. As Catholics, we are always called
to practice the virtues of charity and justice.

“‘The Church’s love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition.’ This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of His concern for the poor. Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to ‘be able to give to those in need.’ It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty. . . .

“The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.” (Catechism, 2444, 2447)

Related Questions:

• Does the candidate support preserving and promoting programs that help the poor and more vulnerable members of our society, such as the Husky program for children, and the SAGA and TANF financial assistance programs for those living in desperation?
  
  
• Does the candidate support legislation to promote supportive and affordable housing?

Immigration

The Gospel mandate leads the Church to care for and stand with all immigrants,
documented and undocumented.

“Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that ‘everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as “another self,” above all bearing in mind his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity.’ No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every man a ‘neighbor’, a brother.

“The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. ‘As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’” (Catechism, 1931-1932)

Related Questions:

• Does the candidate support seeking basic protections for immigrants and refugees, especially the elderly, disabled, and those fleeing persecution and suffering exploitation?
  
  
• Does the candidate support working towards a comprehensive solution to the immigration problem, one that respects the human dignity of all immigrants and addresses our national security needs?

War

All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.

“All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, ‘as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.’

“The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; there must be serious prospects of success; the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

“These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the ‘just war’ doctrine. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.” (Catechism, 2307-2309)

Related Question:

• Does the candidate support a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, one that will preserve individual freedoms and protect human rights?

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