CATHOLICS AND POLITICS

 CATHOLICS IN ACTIVE POLITICS II

COMMITMENT IN POLITICAL LIFE

Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus Zereuwa

PRACTICE POLITICS

Traditional Catholic teachings recognize not only the necessity of government for human life but also its responsibility to promote the good for the society. Since the church sees political life as natural and ideally a noble activity for achieving what cannot be done by private individuals, therefore, Catholics should and must practice politics. Citizenship comes with a moral obligation to be involved in public life. In a democracy where voting is a primary form of political engagement, Catholic teachings insist on the importance of voting.

ENGAGE SELFLESSLY

The basic Christian message has always been about overcoming the self in love of God and others. In politics, this gospel message means that we should engage not to advance interests, whether they self-interest, special interests, or partisan interests; but rather to advance the common good of the whole community. It means that there should not be a politics of division and competition; instead it should be a politics of solidarity and cooperation as citizens rise above selfish concerns to focus on what is best for the polity and all its parts. Catholic Social teaching holds that citizens should vote in the light of the common good.

DISCERN THE COMMON GOOD

In practice, engaging in political life for the common good means putting the needs of the vulnerable, marginalized, and least powerful foremost. The vulnerable, marginalized, and least powerful are those whom the gospels speak of as the least among us: the poor, the unborn, the oppressed, the abused, the migrants in the shadows, the sick, the imprisoned, children, those at the end of life, and even our abused planet itself. The measure for the common good is not military prowess or technology and so on; it is instead the quality of life of the least among us. In Catholic Social teachings, citizens should vote with the least among us foremost in their minds.

The Common good is concrete and normative for Catholic politicians. The common good has always been part of the social teaching of the Church, indeed, its central content. The Vatican II Council forcefully reaffirmed this when it wrote: The political community, then, exists for the common good: this is its full justification and meaning and the source of its specific and basic right to exist (Gaudium et Spes, no. 74). So, Catholic Politicians should grasp its concrete dimension in order to come up with a coherent and lasting response to the expectations of citizens. 

CHOOSE VIRTUE

What “to advance the common good” means is to promote virtue. Promoting virtue is in many ways the paraphernalia, material, matter and stuff of true politics. Citizenship is not so much a matter of legal rules and birthright; instead good citizenship emerges from the formation of citizens in virtue. Character matters. It is crucially incumbent on voters to weigh the virtue of a candidate, but even more it is incumbent to vote for those whose policies inculcate virtue. In Catholic teachings citizens should vote for the virtuous.

ENGAGE WITH HUMILITY

As Catholics we understand how sin clouds minds and corrupt hearts, even our own. Inasmuch as those in authority must govern humbly and show they are practicing servant leadership, citizens should vote for those who humble themselves as servants of the common good.

EXERCISE PRUDENCE

Prudence is the virtue of making wise choices about things that are not certain. St. Thomas Aquinas thought prudence was the essential virtue for politics and government. Unlike revolutionaries who would destroy the existing order and replace it with another, a prudent person takes his or her bearings for change from the existing order. So tradition, custom, precedent, due process, and rule of law are valued and respected. In Catholic teachings, voting should be guided by prudence.

VOTE PROPHETICALLY

Truth is what the ancient prophets lifted up in times of falsehood and confusion. Prophets are those with the grace not be fooled by lies and the courage to bear witness to inconvenient truths. Prophets unmask the blinders of ideology, post-truths, partisanship, and mass opinion. Prophecy is speaking truth to power. With the resurrection, all Christians are called to be prophets. In Catholic Social teachings, voting should be informed by the truth, should bear witness to truth, and should speak truth to power.

COMMITMENT IN POLITICAL LIFE IS A VOCATION 

As Catholics, we come to understand and posit that Politics demands passion, dedication, patience and foresight, as well as intelligence and impartiality. Without the vocational dimension, politics would easily become a profession, preventing its inherent value from shining through. It would be clouded by the frenzy for power and restricted by the thirst for gain. Indeed, Catholics who enter politics should view it as a special kind of activity by means of which the future of entire generations is responsibly foreseen and concretely prepared.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carol Glatz. Catholics must be active in politics, no matter how 'dirty,' pope says. May 1, 2015. Catholic News Service Vatican https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/catholics-must-be-active-politics-no-matter-how-dirty-pope-says August 23 2021

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life.

https://cacatholic.org/article/making-practical-decisions-using-themes-principles-catholic-social-teaching August 23 2021

Stephen Schneck. How Catholics should think about politics and government. November 1, 2017 https://uscatholic.org/blog/how-catholics-should-think-about-politics-and-government/ August 23 2021

Rino Fisichella. The Duty of Catholic Politicians. L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 25 June 2003, page 10. https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/duty-of-catholic-politicians-3134 August 23 2021

© Rev Fr Utazi Prince Marie Benignus Zereuwa

Updated January 17 2023