BE NOT AFRAID
STEVE HARVEY | UNSPLASH
voting with a well-formed conscience
Catholics and Civic Participation Benedict Nguyen, MTS, JCL/JD, D.Min (ABD)
T
Chancellor for the Diocese of Corpus Christi
hroughout the history of the Church and even today, the question of how faithful Catholics can and should exercise civic participation has been an area of great interest. The Church has always called for people of faith to make Jesus Christ present in our world. In the exercise of our civic duties, we have an important opportunity to exercise a “faithful citizenship” that promotes and fosters the common good. Participation in civic and social life should continually call us and our society to a deeper examination of our values and actions, so that the dignity of every human person is recognized and respected, and a just and peaceful 26
S O U T H T E X A S C AT H O L I C
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FALL 2020
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society can be fostered. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1913-1927). This is among the important ways of living out our baptismal call and putting our Faith into action. Neither the Catholic Church nor the Diocese of Corpus Christi intends to tell anyone how to vote by endorsing candidates or political parties. Partisan electioneering is not the goal of the Church’s teachings on political responsibility. Rather, the Church calls her members to develop a deep and continual formation of conscience.
Conscience
More than merely “feelings” or falsely justifying doing
M AY T H E Y A L L B E O N E
