Catholics and Their Electoral Responsibilities

I am so very grateful for Rob’s, Tom’s, Rick’s, Amy’s, and Greg’s recent and multiple postings on several fundamental questions regarding the role of Catholics involved with public life and the direction of our political system. Like them, I have expressed thoughts about these matters in the past [HERE], [HERE], [HERE], [HERE], [HERE] and [HERE].

But with the ongoing process of candidate debates that has begun very early and has been taking place very often, our five mentioned colleagues and friends in the Lord have focused attention on the significance of these debates in the context of the duties of the electorate who assert that they Christian and Catholic. At this point, I would like to make the following observations about the Catholic voter.

Since my return to the US, I have been able to follow more closely (and even watch) several of these debates among same-party candidates that commenced in the spring of this year. I think one thing that all Americans need to keep in mind is that, regardless of the political party to which any of these candidates belongs, each seeker of office is trying to secure the largest popular approval that he or she can attain. This means that their fellow candidates from the own parties are not above criticism, oftentimes strong. While we may object to these machinations, this is politics pure and simple in a democratic state. Once each of the parties has narrowed the competition, the strong candidates from both groups will most likely extend their criticism to the survivors of the contest of the other party. The electorate, in general, and Catholic voters, in particular, need to take stock of this: what candidates and parties promise and what they deliver are not necessarily synonymous.

Promises will be made, and all voters will have to assess their reality. In addition, the faithful Catholic must also decide how he or she will exercise the franchise not only as a citizen but as a Catholic knowing that some of what is promised by candidates will be implemented. This is no easy task since none of us can accurately predict how any candidate will conduct himself or herself once elected. As voters (and as Catholics), we should not be surprised that most strong pro-abortion candidates will remain confirmed in this view should they be elected. But one thing is certain: whatever may be promised by any candidate may not be delivered because of the necessity of political compromise.

Thus, the Catholic voter—like any voter—can be confounded by the promises of the candidate versus the record of the office holder. So what guidance does the Church offer Her faithful regarding their duties pertaining to the exercise of the franchise knowing that the outcome escapes the exactitude of the campaign promise? This question raises the need to be particularly conscious of the distinction the Church makes in Her teachings between formal cooperation and material cooperation.

John Paul II in his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae, N. 74 had this to say about the duty of a Christian pertaining to formal cooperation:

Christians, like all people of good will, are called upon under grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God’s law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. Such cooperation occurs when an action, either by its very nature or by the form it takes in a concrete situation, can be defined as a direct participation in an act against innocent human life or a sharing in the immoral intention of the person committing it. This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it. Each individual in fact has moral responsibility for the acts which he personally performs; no one can be exempted from this responsibility, and on the basis of it everyone will be judged by God himself.

This instruction applies not just to some issues, such as abortion or euthanasia, but to all. However, the Catholic might consider how material cooperation is different. On this point, then Cardinal Ratzinger had something to say in his July 2004 letter to Cardinal McCarrick:

A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.

I will not be surprised if this statement from Cardinal Ratzinger is exploited by some involved with the ongoing campaigns and the 2008 election. But there are several points to keep in mind about the Cardinal’s statement.

First of all, we need to take stock of whether the candidates themselves are bound by the teachings of the Church regarding formal and material cooperation. A few of the candidates for the Presidency assert that they are Catholics, and, surely, the responsibilities imposed by Catholic teachings apply to them. Indeed, both John Paul II and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have addressed the duties of officeholders, particularly legislators, in recent years; therefore, the obligations imposed by the Church’s teachings, including those quoted from Evangelium Vitae, cannot be ignored. While those office holders and candidates who are not Catholic may argue that they are not bound by these duties, I would suggest that no one is excused from observing the moral natural law that applies to all. But my discussion today does not focus on office holders or candidates, it concentrates, rather, on the electorate who profess to be Catholic.

In addition, some Catholics voters may consider that the text quoted from the letter of Cardinal Ratzinger would enable them to vote for a pro-abortion candidate (or in favor of a candidate who supports euthanasia/assisted suicide) as long as the voter cast his or her ballot for this candidate for other reasons such as the candidate’s support for laws enhancing care for the sick and elderly, refugee relief, and education or restricting penal laws imposing capital punishment. I, for one, do not think that this is what the former head of the CDF had in mind. If it were otherwise, the Catholic voter could justify voting for any candidate or supporting any party as long as this voter expressed disagreement with the candidate (or the candidate’s party on certain issues) on these particular questions or others that conflicted with specific, fundamental, and clear Catholic teachings. For then, the Catholic would be cooperating in a material but not formal way.

But there comes the time when even material cooperation by any Catholic presents gave problems. It should not be considered either an excuse or a permission to justify whatever the user of the distinction claims.

I tender this view because candidates who are elected (and the parties to which they belong) may be emboldened to fortify their positions on issues that are antithetical to Catholic teaching and the moral natural law knowing that they can still win a good percentage of the Catholic vote that is based on the material cooperation argument. While the voter may think that his vote for such candidates is for “proportionate reasons”, the office holder who legislates for or enforces with vigor these problematic positions will likely not take this into consideration. Thus, the laws and policies that contravene Catholic teachings will assuredly become more entrenched. That is why I have previously argued in my October 8, 2006 posting that the “proportionate reasons” cannot be for any reason as long as it is “proportionate.” To properly be “proportionate”, justifications must take into account the concerns that I have mentioned that will further entrench laws and policies antithetical to the teachings of the Church. If I may borrow from Thomas More, when Catholics forsake their religious beliefs for “proportionate reasons”, they will lead this country on a road, if not to chaos, then surely to a place in which the moral natural law has been relegated to the periphery if not abandoned outright.    RJA sj