Political Vocations

Catholic teaching views the vocation of politics as a vital element in building up the kingdom of God on earth.

Jun 20, 2014

By Archbishop Robert W. McElroy, America
Catholic teaching views the vocation of politics as a vital element in building up the kingdom of God on earth. Democracy is not merely a set of empty procedures, but instead a way to promote the dignity of the human person, respect for human rights and commitment to the common good. For this reason, both the vocation of citizenship and that of political leadership are deeply moral identities. They are rooted in the commitment to seek solutions to society’s deepest problems; they seek to put power into practice as service. As Pope Francis noted last September, “politics, according to the social doctrine of the church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good in humility and love.”

But how can this deeply moral vocation of politics be carried out by citizens and political leaders in an intensely partisan age? What are the dilemmas of party and conscience that political leaders must grapple with as they attempt to serve their constituents and the nation as a whole? Can parties effectively promote the dignity of the human person and the advancement of government? Only by understanding the moral identity of political parties themselves and their relation to the common good can both citizens and public officials exercise their partisan identities in a way that respects their moral identities.

There are five principles that we need to reflect on for a moral commitment to the common good.

1) Political parties, in their core moral identity, are called to nourish the broad and meaningful participation of citizens in the formulation of public policy choices and the selection of candidates. There is no greater service that parties can render than to bring more Americans directly and meaningfully into the political process. Actions that deliberately limit participation for electoral gain are morally unacceptable and should be politically unacceptable.

2) The political culture of our nation should not only allow public officials to make policy choices of conscience that are at variance with their party’s position, but should also recognize such moments of conscience as a mark of leadership and devotion to public service, rather than a failure of loyalty to party. A political culture that respects the courage of conscience will improve both the quality of its leaders and the quality of its laws.

3) Parties must show more concern for governance than for ideological warfare. It is impossible to pursue the common good if patterns of fundamental governance are destroyed by partisan battles. And the millennial generation is unlikely to enter any world of party structures where a budget cannot be passed or vital offices filled because of partisan strife.

4) There is great social peril in the fact that today our party structure is sharply divided along lines of race and ethnicity. This is not a new development in American politics, of course, but it strikes at the very heart of the Catholic principle of solidarity. Both political parties have a deep responsibility to minimize and assuage these racial and ethnic divisions and not to exacerbate them for electoral benefit.

5) Parties must find pathways to overcome and transform the pressures to be dominated by money. The pursuit of the common good is both a substantive endeavor and a highly symbolic one. The current role of money in our partisan and political life is a threat on both levels because it effectively erects two classes of citizens and distorts the lens through which political leaders fashion public policy.

In “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote, “I ask God to give us more politicians capable of sincere and effective dialogue aimed at healing the deepest roots, and not simply the appearances of the evils in our world.”

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