St Charles Church .org   News & Events Faith Ministries Parish Volunteer Help Contact Us

Let Your Conscience Guide Your Political Choices

We are called to do the work of the kingdom by transforming our world and its structures.

« previous homily

This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on October 20, 2002

Today's Gospel is complicated although it sounds simple. It always has been taken as a reference to the relationship between church and state, politics and religion and that relationship isn't simple either. This Gospel is often interpreted as an affirmation of a principle that has been very important in the history of the church in this country, the separation of church and state. It is a principle that has served this country well and needs to be reaffirmed for us Catholics in our time. When the wrong kind of religion and the wrong kind of politics get mixed up they are a dangerous combination as we can see from what is happening in other parts of the world.

There is a necessary separation of church and state. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops declares in Faithful Citizenship,

"As bishops we do not seek the formation of a religious voting block nor do we wish to instruct persons on how they should vote by endorsing or opposing candidates".

The Church has no business endorsing or opposing specific candidates. To do so violates the principle of separation of church and state. Catholics vote their consciences.

Yet we know that there must be some relationship between what we believe and how we act in the public square. In another document written for Catholic schools and religious educators, the Bishops say,

"Central to our identity as Catholics is that we are called to be leaven for transforming the world, agents for bringing about a kingdom of love and justice. When we pray, 'Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', we are praying for God's kingdom of justice and peace and committing ourselves to breaking down the barriers that obstruct God's kingdom of justice and peace and to working to bring about a world more respectful of human life and dignity."

A separation of church and state doesn't call us to retire into our own private cocoons or to turn religion into a personal scapular. There is a relationship between God and public values. We are called to do the work of the kingdom by transforming our world and its structures.

The Bishops also say,

"Jesus called us to love our neighbors by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and afflicted, and comforting the victims of injustice. Our Lord's example and words demand a life of charity from each of us yet they also require action on a broader scale in defense of life, pursuit of peace, support of the common good and opposition to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Such action involves the institutions and structures of society, economy, and politics. Major public issues have clear moral dimensions and religious values have important public consequences".

How do we put the two themes of separation and integration together? We are called not to leave aside our moral traditions and our religious convictions when we go to the voting booth as if there is a total separation or disengagement in what we believe and how we act as citizens. The mediating connections are these moral and religious values that each of us as citizens reflect on in light of our experience and what is going on in the world.

Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching

The Bishops have come up with a summary of the basic values or principles that are the foundations of Catholic Social teaching. These are:

• The life and the dignity of the human person. A bedrock value that has moral, ethical, and political consequences. We are all made in the image of God, Book of Genesis.
• We are called to family and community. We need to ensure that whatever happens in our society enhances the value of the family and the ability of people to form community.
• Rights and responsibilities. Civil rights and human rights are not just secular values. They are values acknowledged and affirmed by our church.
• Option for the poor and the vulnerable. We are called to test all public institutions as well as our own by how well they serve the last and the least. How are the needs of the most vulnerable met? How are the resources of the society arranged so that the needs of the most vulnerable come first in their allocation?
• The dignity of work and the rights of workers. The right to organize to ensure that workers are not exploited and that people have just and living wages.
• Solidarity. Solidarity is a value affirmed on this World Mission Sunday. We are not here as isolated individuals. We work for the good of the larger society and for our whole human family. We are sisters and brothers in solidarity with all God's people. This is a principle particularly important to foreign policy. It means for example that we evaluate whether we go to war not only on how many American Soldiers would potentially lose their lives but also on how many civilians of any nationality might lose their lives. The word "catholic" means universal. The sense of one human family breaks down all of the borders of nationality, ethnicity and other identities that separate us.
• Care for God's creation. Sensitivity and concern for the environment.

The Bishops are teaching us to assess our political choices by looking at a range of issues in the light of these bedrock principles. Priests are not called to go into the voting booth with you and tell you how to exercise your God-given right as a citizen. Your conscience is what enables you to apply these values to your political choices.

While these issues are complex, our commission is simple. Jesus said, "pay taxes". Get involved.

Let's stand.

* * *

  or  2002 Homilies 
 
Revised/reviewed December 7, 2002