Last month upon the return from his trip to Southeast Asia, Pope Francis was asked for his advice to American Catholics as we approach the November elections. "My job is to confirm the Catholics of the United States in the faith, not in any political decision-making,” he said. “They can, and must, form their own consciences about whom they should be voting for in their elections.”
“The issues facing the people of the United States are grave and I encourage the Catholics of that great country to search their hearts, do what they can to build a politics that is worthy of the human person, one that leaves no one behind, a politics focused on the common good, with a special concern for the poor. That is the only political guidance offered in the Gospels so it is the only political advice I can offer."
Several years earlier during a morning meditation, the Holy Father reminded Catholics that such advice is not offered in a vacuum: "We need to participate for the common good. Sometimes we hear: a good Catholic is not interested in politics. This is not true: good Catholics immerse themselves in politics by offering the best of themselves so that the leader can govern." (9/16/13)
In these remarks, Pope Francis simply echoed the gist of Catholic Social Teaching—we are obligated to participate in the political process and we must be guided by our consciences as we do so. The first of those obligations is fairly straightforward: as Americans, we are afforded the opportunity on a regular basis (not simply every four years) to make our voices heard and influence the direction of our cities, counties, states, and nation, and we need to do so. The second—following our consciences in doing so—is a little less clear. It’s easy to say “Let your conscience be your guide,” but what exactly is the Pope referring to when he exhorts us to take that route?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the conscience as such:
Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed…It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law (#1778)
This is decidedly NOT the understanding of conscience most of us have been taught: the idea that conscience is a feeling that tells us what is right or what is wrong. As Pope John Paul II said in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor such an understanding “...[makes] the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity and ‘being at peace with oneself’…[and] granting to the individual conscience the prerogative of independently determining the criteria of good and evil” (VS #32)—a philosophy he condemned as “individualistic” and running the danger of “denying the very idea of human nature” (#32).
A Catholic humanistic understanding of conscience, rather, is that conscience is a quality of the intellect whereby we are enabled to apply pre-existing standards of good and evil, right and wrong, to concrete situations. These standards are given to us through God’s Revelation (Scripture and Sacred Tradition) and the natural law, and are clarified in each new age by the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the bishops in union with the Pope).
Catholics are obligated to follow their consciences—understanding that those consciences must be well-formed. I humbly submit with all due respect that the talking-heads on MSNBC, Fox News, and “The View”—not to mention political ads—are not the places to inform our consciences. Rather a good—and I will argue the best—place to start is from the 2,000-year-old wisdom and experience of the Catholic Church, the bishops of which are guided by the charism of teaching. For the past several decades, the bishops of the United States have published a guide to political responsibility which, in an intentionally non-partisan manner, presents principles to inform our political consciences.
It is a relatively long read and there is plenty in there to make each of us a bit uncomfortable, especially if we identify as unqualified conservatives or liberals.
Such is the prophetic role of the Church.
This is why I recommend taking the time to engage the text, to inform our consciences, even—and especially—when such informing stretches and makes us uncomfortable. Ours is a fallen humanity, subject to self-interest and comfort: things which, while good in themselves, can tend to blind us to the needs of others and our obligation to address them.
While not doing justice to the fullness of the bishops’ statement (again, I urge you to take the time to read it yourself), the document early on quotes the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church emphasizing that we should be guided by four essential, permanent principles: “the principles of: the dignity of the human person . . . the common good; subsidiarity; and solidarity. These principles [are] the expression of the whole truth about man known by reason and faith . . ." (#160).
The principle of human dignity is paramount, the sine qua non of all other rights and principles:
Every human being has a right to life, the fundamental right that makes all other rights possible, and a right to access those things required for human decency-food and shelter, education and employment, health care and housing, freedom of religion and family life. (Forming Consciences #49)
The other key virtues mentioned: concern for the common good (over and above personal interests), subsidiarity (the responsibility of government to be as small as possible, but as big as necessary to achieve the common good and protect human dignity), and solidarity (the affirmation of our common humanity, worth, and membership in a human family that transcends political and ideological borders) all flow from the principle of human dignity. Further principles that should inform our consciences and guide our decisions flow from these.
Applying these principles to the day-to-day life of Americans, the bishops offer policy positions and prudential judgments for our consideration as well as note challenges our leaders face as we move ahead. Here we might be tempted to reject their insights and judgments. (I guarantee no one gets through this section unchallenged!) But I will repeat what I have been saying for years to generations of students: if everything the Church taught were easy, if the message of the apostles and prophets merely confirmed what we already think and do, we wouldn’t need the Church. Yet Jesus gave us the Church precisely because we struggle, and so in those moments where what we are taught causes us to rebel in our hearts, we need to search our hearts more deeply, seek to truly and humbly understand the reasons behind the teaching and ask—honestly—if it is the teaching that is the problem or if we are the problem.
I personally find the problem rests in me.
Forming and following our consciences isn’t easy. They aren’t the little voices Jiminy Cricket would have us follow in determining right from wrong. They are muscles that we need to continually develop and exercise: in our daily interactions with each other, in our relationship with God,
and at the polling booths.
A.M.D.G./B.V.M.H