Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are once again in a general election year, when we elect the next President of the United States and many other important offices at the local, state and national level. As Catholics, we are committed to upholding the dignity and worth of every human person. We are called to witness this belief in the public square as Faithful Citizens. That means participating in elections by voting, if we are eligible, and encouraging others to vote.
We are living in a time of great political polarization, and we may be tempted to think that the teachings of our Church are perfectly aligned with one political party or another. This is not so. On some issues, the Church agrees with Republican positions, and on others, with Democrat positions. But neither party authentically embraces the totality of Catholic Social Teaching.
So, I will not tell you who to vote for, but I strongly urge you to view the election and the candidates through the lens of your Catholic faith.
When we practice conscience formation, our faith can guide us in these difficult decisions on election day. We can do this work of conscience formation by opening ourselves to the truth, studying the Scriptures and Church teaching, examining facts and background information on the issues of the election from multiple sources and multiple points of view, and then, perhaps most importantly, we prayerfully reflect to discern the will of God. This requires us to slow down and reject the polarizing rhetoric that we are hearing on both sides of the political divide.
I also want to take a moment to ask you to treat all your brothers and sisters with civility and respect, even if they don’t share your political views. We are all loved by God equally. We all want the best for our families and communities. It is OK to disagree about politics, but it is not OK to demonize others for their political beliefs.
Let us together pray that God’s will be done in this upcoming election, and in a special way ask for Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for us so that we may remain united as a nation.
Thank you for attention and may God always bless you.