Election 2000:
'Thinking Catholic'

A forum on conscience, Catholic faith
and responsible citizenship in the Jubilee Year

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
October 23, 2000

Good evening. Thanks for being here.

I think the program tonight will work this way: I'm going to speak for 20 minutes or so. Then we'll open things up to questions and general discussion. And I have some of my staff here to help with that, so let me just introduce them quickly:

Bill Beckman was our director of evangelization and catechesis for eight years. Now he serves as an adviser on my personal staff. Bill's also an attorney.

Al Hooper helps run our Secretariat for Social Concerns. Al's been involved in distributing the U.S. bishops' election year document Faithful Citizenship, and making it better known.

Greg Kail is our secretary for communications. Greg has the job of getting our views better known and understood in the wider public.

Fran Maier is our chancellor. He'll MC tonight.

And Jim Tatten is executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference. Jim works for all three Colorado Catholic bishops, not just the archdiocese. Jim represents all of us as our registered lobbyist at the State Capitol. He's also an attorney.

OK. Let's talk about why we're here. We're here for two reasons. First, for at least six months, people have been asking me, "Archbishop, what should we do about the November election?"

That's a good question. A lot of important issues are at stake this year. If we're serious about our faith, then our political choices should be formed and informed by our Catholic convictions. All of our actions and all of our choices should be rooted in our Catholic identity, and our relationship with God. That means our choices at work; within our families; and also the choices we make in the exercise of our citizenship. So we're here tonight first to remind ourselves how to think and act as Catholics as we weigh the election and its choices.

The second reason is connected to the first. We need to "think and act Catholic" every day of every year. But even more so this year -- the Great Jubilee. Remember that the Catholic idea of the Jubilee comes from the experience of the Jewish people. It's in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25. The Jubilee was a time for the Chosen People to repent; to center their lives in God; to forgive the debts of others; to seek forgiveness for their own sins; and to work for justice among all the people.

What's that mean for us? Citizenship in the Jubilee Year is an act of social responsibility and political power in the presence of God. And when we step into the voting booth, we either help to build His civilization of love . . . or its opposite.

Now, what are the guidelines for tonight's discussion?

There's really just one. I cannot, I will not, and I do not want to, tell you how to vote when it comes to specific candidates or political parties. That's not the purpose of this discussion. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. And neither is the Church. From the Catholic point of view, both major parties have strengths and weaknesses. Both major parties have decent and well-meaning people among their candidates. The job of connecting your Catholic faith with your specific political choices is yours. So please don't ask me whether you should vote for Mr. Gore or Mr. Bush, or which political party has the better platform. Legally, I can't answer that -- and morally, that's your responsibility.

I will talk about what the Church teaches, and where her priorities lie. I will talk about how to form and inform a healthy Catholic conscience. I will talk about how we should apply that to our citizenship. And at the end of my remarks I legally can -- and I will -- talk about specific amendments on this year's ballot.

So let's begin with a little bit of background. For Catholics, the job of good citizenship is a subset of Catholic social doctrine. If you want Catholic social doctrine in a nutshell, just read Mark 12:29-31. A scribe asks Jesus, "Which commandment is the first of all?" And Jesus answers:

" . . . 'Hear o Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Those of you who've been through the Catholic Biblical School know what Jesus is doing here. He's being a good young Jewish rabbi. He's reciting the shema, and quoting directly from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. A Jewish man would repeat the shema - "Hear o Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one" - many times a day. He would do it to ground himself in the reality that only God is the center and meaning of everything. Nothing should compete with Him; and when we forget Him, everything starts to unravel.

In other words, 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. God owns life. We don't. That's why the first principle of loving our neighbors is: Don't kill them. That's why, in understanding the Ten Commandments, we should observe that the first three commandments govern our fundamental relationship with God -- and only because of them can the other seven govern our relationships with each other.

What's this got to do with Election 2000? Actually, quite a lot. And here's why. God guarantees the "humanity" of human society. All political authority derives its legitimacy from God's authority - and is therefore accountable to Him. Without God, human authority very quickly becomes inhumane. We can see this happening in our own country today. That's why the Church always has a lot to say about culture, economics, politics and social justice. That's part of her missionary mandate, and also ours. The witness of the Church on "social issues" begins in Scripture, runs through history in the papal encyclicals and the Second Vatican Council, and continues today in documents like Living the Gospel of Life and Faithful Citizenship.

Here's one example that applies directly to our discussion tonight. 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 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. Without it, every other right is built on sand. This is the core message of the U.S. bishops' 1998 pastoral statement, Living the Gospel of Life. And that's why the Church is so adamant about abortion and the other "life" issues.

Of course, if the "right to life" is the only issue Catholics care about, that doesn't work either. In Genesis 9:5, God says, "From man, in regard to his fellow man, I will demand an accounting." When you go home tonight, reread the Epistle of James. It'll take you just10 or15 minutes. And pay particular attention to James 2:15-17:

"If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

Vatican II teaches that "the political community exists . . . for the common good [which] embraces the sum total of all those conditions of social life which enable individuals, families and organizations to achieve complete and efficacious fulfillment" (GS, 74). It also teaches that, "Every citizen ought to be mindful of his right and his duty to promote the common good by using his vote." (GS, 75).

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.

This is the core message of the U.S. bishops' Election Year message, Faithful Citizenship. It's not enough to say, "Well, these are matters for private charity." Private charities in this country are already overwhelmed by the demand. 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. That means we also have an obligation to be informed about what the candidates stand for -- and what the Catholic faith teaches. And don't assume that newspapers and the television will give you the information you need. Neil Postman once said that the main contribution television has made to the American political process is this: It's made it impossible for a short, fat, ugly person to be elected president - even if he has the genius of Einstein and the sanctity of Mother Teresa.

We have the obligation to read and reflect on what the Church teaches. At a minimum this year, that means we should read and reflect on Living the Gospel of Life. And then, in the light of that document and never separate from it, we should read and reflect on Faithful Citizenship.

We also have the duty to vote our conscience. But remember that for Catholics, conscience is never just a matter of private feeling or opinion, or personal preference. Vatican II reminds us that "in forming their consciences, the faithful must pay careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is by the will of Christ the teacher of truth" (DH, 14). If our private conscience conflicts with the Church -- especially on an important teaching -- the problem is probably not with the Church. It's more likely with our conscience.

We have a lot to talk about tonight -- including the fact that we all face imperfect and complicated choices as citizens, and "doing the right thing" may not be obvious. So I'm going to stop here. But before I do, I want to comment on two of the amendments on the ballot this November, because in a way they embody two key elements of the Church's social teaching.

The Catholic bishops of Colorado support Amendment 25, and I strongly urge you to vote for it. Amendment 25 will require physicians to provide important information to a woman before performing an abortion. Women have a right to "informed consent" about abortion. Women have a right not to be misled about what abortion entails. Amendment 25 will protect women, and it will save unborn lives. It's an important prolife effort. Please give it your support.

The bishops also support Amendment 22, and I strongly encourage you to vote for this one, as well. Amendment 22 will require background checks at gun shows. Like Amendment 25, it's also thoroughly "prolife" - but in a different way. We have 200 million guns in this country. Too many of those guns are illegal and used in violent crimes. We're rightly committed to the safety of children in side the womb, We also need to protect them once they're born. Amendment 22 is a reasonable and prudent gun-safety measure which will help Colorado prevent the illegal sale of firearms to minors and felons.

So, thank you for listening, and let's go to question.