Last week, this column reflected on the coming November election. As a people we will be electing the president and deciding the composition of the Senate, the House and numerous other lower governmental positions. 

 

Those positions, and the related policies which flow from the subsequent candidates, make the election an important opportunity for us as people of faith to vote in a way that seeks to bring about the Kingdom of God in this world.

 

For that reason, I noted that the bishops of the United States have once again issued an updated version of their document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” (FCFC). In so doing, the bishops remind us that our vote must be guided by our conscience, rightly formed and seeking to serve and keep the law and the will of God.

 

At the same time, those who run for office also seek to take on profound responsibilities rooted in a rightly formed conscience. During this electoral season, the conscience of candidates is tested to engage his or her opponent with charity, not destructive rhetoric. And the goal of policy debates between parties, candidates and voters should be to seek the common good. 

 

Achieving a rightly formed conscience is the result of an on-going pursuit of God’s will. That means that a rightly formed conscience does not come about automatically. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) rightly reminds us, “Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.” (CCC 1786).

 

What are some of the issues about which we need to pray, study and reflect on the teaching of our Catholic faith for this election? “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” gives an excellent survey in response to that question.

 

The bishops highlight what they call the four basic principles of Catholic social doctrine. Those are: “the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 160).”

 

Considering the dignity of the human person will begin with a recognition of the threat of abortion which the bishops call “... our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself.” We cannot be indifferent to the nearly 1 million preborn lives that are deliberately taken each year in our country.

 

Concern for human dignity will also require us to form our consciences to confront the sacred reality of “the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection” (Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate, 101). Our national debate on racial injustice is particularly important as a question of human dignity this year.

 

Pope Francis has also given constant attention and guidance for conscience as it relates to the common good. In particular, FCFC highlights the emphasis that Pope Francis has rightly given to issues such as migration, xenophobia, global conflict, and care for creation. (see FCFC, Intro).

 

As Americans, we need to be cognizant of the Church’s social teaching on subsidiarity. That means simply that it is a great good that decisions and policies be made at the lowest level of organization possible. For example, whenever possible, families and parents should be free to make decisions affecting them and their children, and not have such decisions relegated to higher levels of government.

 

And in questions of solidarity, we must reflect on the need for immigration reform and the generous reception of refugees and those fleeing from violence and oppression. Likewise, in the context of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, we must also ask how we can help less fortunate people around the globe.

 

There is much work here for our consciences. But that is why an election like this requires reflection, prayer and a commitment to our faith before we make our choice and submit our ballot.