Catholics seeking faith-filled insights before they visit the voting booth Nov. 8 can consult the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship materials.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference has prepared a series based on the FCFC documents, which is available now on the Superior Catholic Herald website, www.spmtrasuher.wpengine.com.
The series of articles includes discussions of the most vital moral issues of this election cycle – abortion and euthanasia, redefinition of marriage, religious liberty, wars, and immigration and refugee crises, among others – and offers guidance for voters.
As the articles explain, the bishops’ purpose in releasing Faithful Citizenship materials is to help Catholics develop well-formed consciences, not to promote the platforms of any specific party or candidate. The documents also offer the church’s position when none of the candidates’ positions match the church’s teachings:
“When all candidates hold a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods.” (FCFC, 36)
The Nov. 3 issue of the Superior Catholic Herald will include a letter from the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin regarding faithful citizenship, and an article highlighting the four key principles of Catholic social teaching.
