Archbishop Charles Chaput said, “We have obligations as believers. We have duties as citizens. We need to honor both, or we honor neither.” Saint Justin Martyr (100-165) said: “God has set [Christians] in the world as his sentinels, and they may not leave their posts.”

 

We are not to live as if “Christian” equals “Citizen". They are not the same thing.

And as Christians, we cannot live as if we are not citizens of the country in which we reside. A Christian can be a patriotic citizen and can pledge allegiance to ones country, but cannot automatically agree with all laws and practices around us.

 

Archbishop Charles Chaput said, “Christian faith is always personal but never private.” It is not okay for Catholics—whether politicians or private citizens---to say, for example: “I am against abortion personally [because of my religious convictions], but I do not want to impose my personal views onto others.” Meanwhile, others gladly impose their personal views on us. Pope Benedict XVI added that the Church’s teachings require "all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

 

As individuals, we cannot prevent religious beliefs from influencing our public attitudes and forming our political convictions. The Church expects the laity to bring Christian values to the daily world of laws and ideas. In fact, this is the Mission of the laity. The laity live in the “marketplace” of the world. The issues of rights/liberties, life/death, war/peace, wealth/poverty, personal freedom/common good, are so complex that we need all the wisdom they can get.

 

Nobody lives all alone in the world and nobody can survive without interacting with others. Social systems do not just happen. They result from human actions and decisions. Any social issue is not merely economic, not merely political, but always also a moral issue. Our faith informs our consciences and our individual political views.

Ultimately, we vote according to our conscience. But for Catholics, a well-formed conscience never contradicts Catholic moral teaching. Since Jesus is King, then everything we think and do must flow from submission to Christ.

 

—Fr. Curtis

​