Right to life is foundation
of all other rights

By Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

August 7, 2002

Nobody likes the summer to end, and the slow days of August are some of the happiest in any year. But, unsettling as it sounds, November is just around the corner, and this year, 2002, is an election year. Which means that the primaries, scheduled for Aug. 13, are already upon us.

What's a Catholic to do? Well, if we're serious about our faith, then all of our actions and all of our choices should be rooted in our relationship with God. We need to "think and act Catholic" every day of every year — in an election season.

As a voter, I'm neither Republican nor Democrat. I'm an independent, and so is the Church. From the Catholic point of view, both major parties have strengths and weaknesses. Both major parties usually have decent people among their candidates. The job of connecting your Catholic faith with your specific political choices is yours.

Still, for Catholics, the idea of good citizenship derives from Catholic social doctrine. If you want Catholic social doctrine in a nutshell, it's this: The love and justice we owe our neighbor is rooted in the love and obedience we owe to God. The rights of other people come from the fact that we're all children of the same Father. We're all created in His image.

That's why the first principle of loving our neighbors is: Don't kill them.

About 40 years ago, Pope John XXIII wrote a great encyclical letter on world peace called "Pacem in Terris." But he didn't begin it by talking about international relations. He began by talking about the rights and duties of the individual human person — and the obligations of justice between individuals, and within societies.

Why did he begin that way? It's because the "big picture" depends on the "small picture." World peace begins with a respect for the dignity of the individual human person. John XXIII wrote that "every human being is a person" (9). And he said that "every man has a right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which are suitable to the proper development of life; these are primarily food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and finally the necessary social services" (11).

The big picture depends on the small picture. No amount of good policy on immigration, or unemployment, or education, or housing, compensates for bad policy when it comes to killing the innocent — including the unborn. The right to life comes first. That's the priority. It's the foundation of every other right.

Catholics have the right and the obligation to demand that their public officials — and their public policies — should protect and encourage family life; should help the poor and homeless; should promote economic justice both at home and abroad; and should support the sick, the elderly, and children seeking a decent education. For Catholics, it's completely proper for government to be involved in a serious way in solving these problems — as long as the "solutions" don't promote killing the unborn and the weak.

As Catholics we have an obligation to vote, not just in the general elections, but whenever possible, also in the primaries that determine which candidates will run. We also have an obligation to be informed about what the candidates stand for — and what the Catholic faith teaches.

At a minimum this year, that means we should reread and reflect on the U.S. bishops' 1998 pastoral message "Living the Gospel of Life." And then, in the light of that document and never separate from it, we should reread and reflect on their statement "Faithful Citizenship." Both are available from the U.S. bishops' Web site (www.usccb.org).

The civilization of love and the culture of life begin in our own actions — including our political choices. How we vote matters. On Aug. 13, know your candidates, vote in the primaries and vote for the sanctity of human life. November begins now.