Cardinal Tobin: The Challenge of Politics and Public Affairs

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

The world of politics and public affairs often presents a challenge to clear thinking and right judgment. It isn’t easy to tell what the right answers are to serious questions that confront us as we seek to make responsible decisions on questions of public policy.

None of us has infallible judgment on social issues. What we do have is a clear and consistent guide to faithful decision-making. This guide is, of course, Catholic social teaching based on Sacred Scripture and 2,000 years of informed reflection on issues that are fundamental to living according to God’s plan for individuals and communities. The task of faithful citizenship is to apply these basic principles of Catholic social teaching to the concrete circumstances of today.

To help us in this often-complex process, the bishops of the United States have provided us with a useful framework called “Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship” (available online at www.usccb.org). This publication identifies many of the serious issues that are at stake today.

Catholic social teaching does not tell anyone who or what they should vote for, but it does advise us on the moral principles that must be applied to each major issue. Then it’s up to us to study the positions of candidates and the platforms of political parties and determine where they stand in relationship to fundamental moral values.

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