Denver Catholic

2 I CATHOLIC LIFE OCTOBER 1, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER ARCHBISHOP'S COLUMN MOST REV. SAMUEL J. AQUILA A few months ago I spoke with some Catholics who told me that they had not voted in the last three elections because they had given up hope in politics. I was stunned, but not surprised. This past week the Pew Forum on Religion and Pub- lic Life released a survey that reported 72 percent of the public thinks religion is losing influence in American life. At the same time, the number of people who think that churches and other religious leaders should speak about politics and social issues has grown from 43 percent in 2010 to 49 percent. This shows us that a growing number of people realize faith plays an irreplaceable role in public life. We are just over 30 days away from our next election. This presents every Catholic with an opportunity to bring what our faith teaches us about the human person and God's plan for our true happiness into the voting booth. It is also chance for us to respond to the Second Vatican Council's call for Catholics to be leaven in society. Catholics should be voting, but society needs the faithful to do more than that. It needs intentional disciples of Christ and his Church to run for office or be involved in some way with the political process. It is easy to bemoan the state of politics and give in to despair about society. But this is not a Christian attitude. As believers in Christ, our faith should give us the convic- tion of hope, because we know that Jesus conquered sin and death. Our hope is not in politicians, political parties, laws or institutions. Our hope is in Christ, who is able to transform our society and its people, if we let him work in us and through us. This means that if our candidate loses an election, if bad laws are enacted, or even if we are persecuted, our hope should not be shaken. Nor should we give up the battle. We can say this with confidence because Christ's resurrection proves that, in the end, his faithful disciples will succeed. Indeed, Jesus promised Peter, "the gates of hell will not prevail" against the Church (Matt 16:18). With the election drawing near, I re-read a note that was put out in 2002 by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith on the topic of Catholics' involvement in political life. Few of you are probably aware of the note and fewer yet have probably read it. Yet, the more I have thought about its contents, the more I have come to the conviction that all Catholics should read and reflect on it, as it contains important teachings about living our faith in the world and how we vote. Every Catholic who is running for office or is presently an elected official should read and study the note. Too often, Catholics of either political party pay more attention to the ideology of their party and know more about that than the teaching of Jesus Christ and his Church. Catholics are called to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ whose hearts, minds and consciences are continually formed by his teachings and not by a political party or someone's opinion. The Second Vatican Council teaches in "Lumen Gentium" that "the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupa- tions. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is wo- ven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity" (No. 31). Catholics must be leaven in the world DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-722-4687 OR CIRCULATION@ARCHDEN.ORG Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic Register (USPS 557-020) is published weekly except the last week of December and the first week of January, and in June, July and August when it goes bi-weekly. The Register is printed by Signature Offset in Denver. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. Subscriptions: $35 a year in Colorado; $42 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $42 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $48 air; Canada, $55 air. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic Register, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or e-mail circulation@archden.org. Editorial: 303-715-3215 or editor@archden.org Advertising: 303-715-3253 or dcrads@archden.org Circulation: 303-715-3211 or circulation@archden.org Online: www.DenverCatholicRegister.org General Manager Karna Swanson Editor Roxanne King Business Manager Michael O'Neill Below is the introduction to the Doctrinal Note on the Participa- tion of Catholics in Political Life promulgated by the Congrega- tion for the Doctrine of the Faith on Nov. 24, 2002. The Denver Catholic Register is running the doctrinal note in a series to help faithful as they approach the up- coming elections. The Congregation for the Doc- trine of the Faith, having received the opinion of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, has decid- ed that it would be appropriate to publish the present "Doctrinal Note on some questions regard- ing the participation of Catholics in political life." This note is di- rected to the bishops of the Cath- olic Church and, in a particular way, to Catholic politicians and all lay members of the faithful called to participate in the polit- ical life of democratic societies. Part I. A constant teaching 1. The commitment of Chris- tians in the world has found a va- riety of expressions in the course of the past 2,000 years. One such expression has been Christian involvement in political life: Christians, as one early Church writer stated, "play their full role as citizens." Among the saints, the Church venerates many men and women who served God through their generous commit- ment to politics and government. Among these, St. Thomas More, who was proclaimed Patron of Statesmen and Politicians, gave witness by his martyrdom to "the inalienable dignity of the human conscience." Though subjected to various forms of psycholog- ical pressure, St. Thomas More refused to compromise, never forsaking the "constant fidelity to legitimate authority and in- stitutions" which distinguished him; he taught by his life and his death that "man cannot be sepa- rated from God, nor politics from morality." It is commendable that in to- day's democratic societies, in a climate of true freedom, everyone is made a participant in direct- ing the body politic. Such societ- ies call for new and fuller forms of participation in public life by Christian and non-Christian cit- izens alike. Indeed, all can con- tribute, by voting in elections for lawmakers and government of- ficials, and in other ways as well, to the development of political solutions and legislative choices which, in their opinion, will bene- fit the common good. The life of a democracy could not be produc- tive without the active, responsi- ble and generous involvement of everyone, "albeit in a diversity and complementarity of forms, levels, tasks, and responsibilities." By fulfilling their civic duties, "guided by a Christian con- science," in conformity with its values, the lay faithful exercise their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values, all the while respecting the nature and rightful autono- my of that order, and cooperat- ing with other citizens according to their particular competence and responsibility. The con- sequence of this fundamental teaching of the Second Vatican Council is that "the lay faithful are never to relinquish their par- ticipation in 'public life', that is, in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good." This would include the promotion and defense of goods such as public order and peace, freedom and equality, respect for human life and for the environ- ment, justice and solidarity. The present note does not seek to set out the entire teaching of the Church on this matter, which is summarized in its essentials in the Catechism of the Catho- lic Church, but intends only to recall some principles proper to the Christian conscience, which inspire the social and political in- volvement of Catholics in dem- ocratic societies. The emergence of ambiguities or questionable positions in recent times, often because of the pressure of world events, has made it necessary to clarify some important elements of Church teaching in this area. For the footnotes, read the full Doctrinal Note on the Participa- tion of Catholics in Political Life at www.DenverCatholicRegister.org. On Catholics and politics See Aquila, Page 10 PHOTO BY JEFFREY BRUNO/CNA TENS of thousands of people exercise their civic right and duty to be heard in the public square every year as they par- ticipate in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., to call for an end to abortion. Above: A scene from the 2014 March for Life held Jan. 22.

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