By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND
Part 1
As the fall elections loom, it is essential to ask this question, “What is the role of the Catholic Christian faith in informing our participation in the political and public policy process?” In the next several columns, I will touch upon several important areas of moral concern which should be considered as we prepare to exercise our right — and our duty — to vote.
In addressing what are called the “social issues,” the Catholic Church offers principles which are intended to guide all Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith, and all people of goodwill, in forming their conscience so that they can then properly approach participation in every area of culture — including political participation.
As Christians we are all called to live an integrated life wherein our faith informs every aspect of who we are and how we live our lives with others. We are called to serve the common good.
The Common Good
The concept of “the common good” is integral to understanding our Christian vocation and the social obligation that flows from it. Concern for the common good lies at the heart of the social teaching of the Catholic Church. Sadly, it is often misunderstood. If it has been misused, we who are Christians need to take it back and re-present it by articulating a vision for a new Catholic action. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nn. 1905-1927 summarizes the concept:
“By common good is to be understood ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.’ The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements:
“First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as ‘the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . . privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion.’
“Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.
“Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense. Each human community possesses a common good which permits it to be recognized as such; it is in the political community that its most complete realization is found. It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies.”
Christians are called to live in society with others, as Christians. We are supposed to be concerned about creating a truly just society so that we can, as much as is possible, foster a social environment conducive to authentic freedom and human flourishing for everyone. This task is not new. It has been a part of the self-understanding of the mission of the Christian community from its inception.
Christianity As A Way Of Life
Before they were called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26) the early followers of Jesus Christ were often referred to as “the Way.” The Apostle Paul, in recounting his own conversion, speaks of having persecuted “this Way” (Acts 22:3-16) prior to his encounter with the Risen Lord on the Road to Damascus.
This expression “the Way” reveals a profoundly important aspect of the understanding of the early Christians. They believed and proclaimed that the Christian faith was to be expressed in a new way of living. It still is. Our relationship with Jesus Christ and membership in His Mystical Body, the Church, is meant to effect change in every aspect of our lives and influence the way in which we participate in civil society. That includes our citizenship, political participation, and the exercise of our right and duty to vote.
There is an ancient Christian manuscript entitled The Letter to Diognetus, which most historians date back to AD 125. It contained an insight concerning the relationship of Christians to the world which, though seemingly simple, is a key to understanding the heart of the matter.
The letter was an “apology,” which means a defense of the early Christian faith and lifestyle. It was addressed to a pagan inquirer into the Christian faith. Its importance is underscored by the fact that it was one of the documents favored by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council and quoted quite often. They use it as the foundational basis of their teaching on social involvement in the Council documents which address the role of the Church in the modern world.
It is also cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its excellent treatment of the duties of citizenship (CCC, n. 2234-2246). It is regularly referred to in social encyclicals and explanatory sources.
I offer a portion of this letter for two reasons. First, because it shows that the conditions which we face as Christians at the beginning of the Third Christian Millennium are like those faced by our early brothers and sisters in the first few centuries. Just as they were called to help transform the cultures of the First Millennium, we are called to help transform the cultures of the Third Millennium. Second, because it expresses an integrated vision for our social participation which we should take to heart.
“For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs. For they dwell not somewhere in cities of their own, neither do they use some different language, nor practice an extraordinary kind of life. Nor again do they possess any invention discovered by any intelligence or study of ingenious men, nor are they masters of any human dogma as some are.
“But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvelous, and confessedly contradicts expectation.
“They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. They marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. They have their meals in common, but not their wives. They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh.
“Their existence is on Earth, but their citizenship is in Heaven. They obey the established laws, and they surpass the laws in their own lives. They love all men, and they are persecuted by all. They are ignored, and yet they are condemned.
“They are put to death, and yet they are endued with life. They are in beggary, and yet they make many rich. They are in want of all things, and yet they abound in all things. They are dishonored, and yet they are glorified in their dishonor. They are evil spoken of, and yet they are vindicated. They are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted, and they respect. Doing good they are punished as evildoers; being punished they rejoice, as if they were thereby quickened by life….In a word, what the soul is in a body, the Christians are in the world.”
Christians are still called to be the “Soul of the World” in this age. That phrase has implications for how we approach every area of our life, including our political participation. We are called into the world to continue the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ until He returns. We are invited through our baptismal vocation to live the entirety of our lives differently. In so doing, we are to invite our neighbors, by word and witness, to consider the truths of the faith we proclaim.
We were baptized into the Mystical Body of the Resurrected Jesus Christ, the Church, and no matter what our state in life, we are invited to participate in her missionary activity. That mission includes service in and to the social order. One aspect of this service is our political participation. To respond to this invitation faithfully, fruitfully, and effectively requires that we understand the social teaching of the Catholic Church and form our consciences accordingly. We need renewed minds. (Continued Next Week)
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