Christ’s Lordship extends beyond our private lives into society’s laws and leaders. The Church teaches that it has a duty “to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it”. Even in a pluralistic world, truths rooted in the Gospel and in natural law remain non-negotiable, because without God’s vision of man and creation, society loses any firm standard of good and evil. As the Catechism warns, communities that reject this divine guidance “do not admit that one can defend an objective criterion of good and evil,” often sliding into totalitarian ideology instead.
Catholics do not vote as secularists or as blind party members. We are citizens of heaven as well as earth, but we live in our country “to work for the common good of society, to obey just laws, and to respect society and government,” as Gomez notes. Yet we are also called to “render unto God” our faith – meaning we cannot forget Church teaching when we engage in public life. In practice this means our vote should flow from our faith-formed conscience. We seek politicians who respect life, uphold family, defend human dignity and religious freedom – the very values on which all just laws should rest.
Honoring Our Moral Heritage: Dignity in Society Formed by Judeo-Christian Values
While our country may not be a theocracy, we have an obligation to push for what is morally right as residents of society. If we silence ourselves using “not everyone believes what we believe in” as an excuse to allow what our faith teaches as evil, nothing will ever change. Imagine if our ancestors thought that way.
History shows the power of Judeo‑Christian values to shape decent laws and societies. Long before modern human rights, the Hebrew prophets and the Ten Commandments forbade murder and called all people to see each other as God’s children. St. Augustine observed that “the beginning of freedom is to be free from crimes… such as murder, adultery, fornication, theft…”, meaning that real liberty springs from following the moral law. Centuries later, Christians built on that foundation. For example, in the ancient Roman world infanticide and the abandonment of children were commonplace. Early Christians boldly condemned this, caring for orphans and persuading emperors to change the law so that exposing or killing infants was outlawed. They acted on the conviction that every human life bears God’s image, a vision starkly absent in pagan views of human worth.
Without that Christian influence, who knows what moral evils might be normalized today? The Church’s voice raised the standard of justice: it outlawed slavery among Christians, inspired hospitals and care for the poor, and brought the Gospel’s respect for life into law. As the Catechism explains, only a revealed religion “has clearly recognized man’s origin and destiny in God” – without it societies “borrow…ideology” for their goals, arrogating total control over people and their fate. In short, removing God from the public square unmoors us from truth. Catholics know that the security and prosperity of a nation ultimately depends on upholding universal values given by the Creator.
Principled Voting with Prudence
We recognize that no candidate is perfect, so prudence and conscience must guide us. But some choices are non‑negotiable. The U.S. bishops plainly teach that “a Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, … or redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning”. If a candidate’s main intent is to advance a grave wrong like legalized killing of the innocent, we cannot in good conscience support them, for that would mean cooperating with evil in a grave matter. This is echoed by Archbishop Gomez: he lists abortion, euthanasia, and the protection of marriage as “non-negotiables” that Catholics in good conscience cannot set aside.
At the same time, the bishops acknowledge the voter’s dilemma when all choices are flawed. If every candidate mishandles some moral issue, a Catholic may be forced to pick the lesser evil for truly grave reasons, rather than simply boosting narrow interests. For example, if one candidate supports life but handles the economy poorly, and another is fiscally strong but votes to legalize abortion, a conscientious voter may reasonably choose the first, so as not to advance the greater evil. The key is that we never abandon the core principles: life, family, religious freedom, and basic justice must always come first. The bishops emphasize that issues protecting life and the family have “a special claim on our consciences and our actions”. Other matters – taxes, trade, immigration – can be debated by faithful Catholics who apply the same moral principles in different ways.
Questions to Ponder
Every voter needs to examine motives and trade-offs. We might reflect:
- Are we
choosing the greater good, or settling for the lesser evil?
- Are we
sacrificing a minor good (like personal comfort, convenience, or party
unity) at the risk of permitting a grave evil?
- Are our choices driven by fear of the other side or by deep moral convictions shaped by the Gospel?
These questions keep us honest. As Catholics, we should not
be content to vote out of habit, fear, or mere convenience. Instead, we
prayerfully weigh which candidate or party, on balance, will advance the common
good without trampling essential moral values.
Four Categories for Discernment
In trying to put these principles into practice, I have found it helpful to group candidates into four categories:
- Vote and Campaign For. These are candidates who line up with Church teaching on most or all key issues, while at the same time perform well in governance. They may possibly still have minor flaws, but nothing that involves an intrinsic evil. They defend life and family and largely promote justice and charity. For such candidates, we not only vote, but actively support and campaign for them.
- Vote But Do Not Campaign For. These candidates may help prevent grave evils (like abortion or divorce) but carry governance or political concerns that prevent full endorsement. We vote to prevent greater harm, but refrain from active promotion.
- Will Not Vote For, But Will Not Campaign Against. These individuals do some good things (perhaps on social or economic issues) but also support multiple nonnegotiable evils (for example, abortion or redefinition of marriage). They cannot be our choice at the polls, but if a worse candidate is running, we focus on other races and refrain from discouraging others to vote for them.
- Will Not Vote For and Will Campaign Against. This category is for those who actively promote many intrinsic evils or consistently oppose fundamental Church teaching. Whatever good they may bring to the government, this cannot counter the amount of negative values they push. No matter their competence, we cannot in good conscience support them. In a democratic society, we even have the duty to defend the common good by campaigning against such candidates. Of course, this group also includes those who are both bad in governance and push negative values at the same time.
This framework isn’t about popularity or party, but about
moral consistency. It is rooted in the idea that while we accept some
compromise in politics, we must never legitimize grave wrongs.
Considering the Whole Ticket
It is not only individual candidates we should judge, but
also the balance of power they will create. In legislative races (such as for
the Senate or Congress), ask: will our chosen slate of candidates help enact
good laws and block evil ones? A majority that honors life, marriage, and
charity in its platform can advance the common good – funding aid to the poor,
protecting religious freedom, and limiting abortion, for example. By contrast,
a majority indifferent to morality can slip through harmful bills. Catholics
should therefore consider how our vote contributes to building a government
capable of upholding truth. As the Catechism teaches, we have a duty to help
achieve the good of society in “a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and
freedom”. That means thinking not just of one office, but of how all our
elected officials together will shape policy.
Defining “Good” and “Evil” in Politics
It helps to clarify what we mean by “good” and “evil” in political terms. Here, “good” generally refers to effective governance and policies that genuinely improve people’s lives – economic prosperity, opportunities for the young, care for the vulnerable, and so on. These are morally good if they respect the dignity of every person. On the other hand, “evil” in this context means policies that involve moral compromise or directly attack human dignity: for example, legalizing abortion or euthanasia, undermining marriage, or crushing religious liberty.
Even goals like fighting corruption or improving education,
if pursued by trampling on life or human dignity, can become evil. We must
always measure actions against the Gospel and the Fifth Commandment, “You shall
not kill,” which the Church takes seriously from conception to natural death.
Let us never be blinded by what is politically good over what are intrinsically
evil. This becomes even more important when we are weighing what is “possibly
good” versus something “evidently evil”.
Forming Conscience and Seeking God’s Will
Ultimately, voting is a profoundly personal act of conscience. The Church calls every Catholic to form his or her conscience by prayer, Scripture, and Church teaching – not by media or party rhetoric alone. Archbishop Gomez reminds us to strive to act “with the mind of Christ and the mind of the Church”. This means listening to the Holy Spirit and being open to correction. If fellow faithful show us something we missed, we ought to humbly consider it.
Remain vigilant against purely partisan loyalty. The magisterium never tells us whom to vote for, but it urges that truth and justice guide our choice. When we are confused, let us turn to the Catechism and the lives of the saints for wisdom. Let us pray in Eucharist and private prayer for guidance. As Pope Benedict XVI taught, our faith must be “eucharistic” in all things – it cannot be kept on the private altar of our heart but must bear fruit in public life.
Above all, seek God’s will, not just a winning ticket. The Kingdom of Heaven is at stake in earthly decisions. When faith guides the ballot, the result is not only a better country but the glory of God and the salvation of souls. May each of us have the courage and wisdom to vote as a faithful Catholic, trusting that Christ’s light will guide our way.
