Fr. Pete and Fr. Adam believe it necessary to republish their joint statement on voting and remind the Our Lady of Fatima family that the Church in the United States, as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, does not and may not participate in or intervene in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
A Joint Statement on Voting
“By the grace of God and through my vote and actions, I have done all that I can to build an ordered, just, and peaceful society.” That is the statement of a clear conscience and the ideal of faithful citizenship. Our democracy depends upon stable, lasting values to give order and peace to our nation. These stable values form the basis of charitable, respectful civil discourse and debate. In the political process, the Church’s role, our role, is to express those values through voting and actions. Only the values revealed to us by Jesus Christ - who is the way, the truth, and the life - can lead to the full and lasting flourishing of humanity. That does not mean we are to blindly bind all peoples to every moral precept of the Church, nor does it give us permission to look down upon those who have not received the gift of faith. It does mean the truths of the Gospel and the mercy shown to us by God must guide our decisions and our discourse. Our political choices must make room for the freedom offered by Christ and build the structures that emancipate people from bondage to poverty and sin. They must provide a society in which love of God and love of neighbor are the highest priorities, and people are empowered to strive for the fullness of life. The political choices we make are never perfect because we are not perfect. Thus, we may never reduce our political decisions to a single criterium, as if one issue holds greater weight than all others. Instead, we must seek the common good and a well-ordered society where Gospel values can shine forth and be enacted to solve real human problems. We will never create paradise on this Earth. However, by God’s grace and the careful, prayerful discernment of our votes and actions, we may draw closer every day and make the Kingdom of God more visible in our world.