Statement on Responsibilities of Catholics in Public Life
March 10, 2006
Cardinal William H. Keeler
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Pro Life Activities
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick
Chairman, USCCB Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Domestic Policy
A recent public statement
by 55 Catholic and Democratic members of the House of Representatives offers an
opportunity to address several important points about the responsibilities of
Catholics in public life.
We welcome this and other efforts that seek to examine how Catholic legislators
bring together their faith and their policy choices. As the Catholic bishops of
the United States said in our June 2004 statement, “Catholics in Political
Life”:
We need to do more to persuade all people that human life
is precious and human dignity must be defended. This requires more effective
dialogue and engagement with all public officials, especially Catholic
public officials. We welcome conversation initiated by political leaders
themselves.
Therefore, we welcome the Representatives’ recognition that Catholics in
public life must act seriously and responsibly on many important moral issues.
Our faith has an integral unity that calls Catholics to defend human life and
human dignity whenever they are threatened. A priority for the poor, the
protection of family life, the pursuit of justice and the promotion of peace are
fundamental priorities of the Catholic moral tradition which cannot be ignored
or neglected. We encourage and will continue to work with those in both parties
who seek to act on these essential principles in defense of the poor and
vulnerable.
At the same time, we also need to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s constant
teaching that abortion is a grave violation of the most fundamental human right
– the right to life that is inherent in all human beings, and that grounds every
other right we possess. Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation on the
vocation and mission of the laity, Christifideles Laici, which the
Representatives’ statement cites, declares:
The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute
inviolability of God fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the
inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly
made on behalf of human rights -- for example, the right to health, to home,
to work, to family, to culture -- is false and illusory if the right to
life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other
personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination…. The human
being is entitled to such rights, in every phase of development, from
conception until natural death; and in every condition, whether healthy or
sick, whole or handicapped, rich or poor (# 38).
While it is always necessary to work to reduce the number of abortions by
providing alternatives and help to vulnerable parents and children, Catholic
teaching calls all Catholics to work actively to restrain, restrict and bring to
an end the destruction of unborn human life. As the Church carries out its
central responsibility to teach clearly and help form consciences, and as
Catholic legislators seek to act in accord with their own consciences, it is
essential to remember that conscience must be consistent with fundamental moral
principles. As members of the Church, all Catholics are obliged to shape our
consciences in accord with the moral teaching of the Church.
As bishops, we too are bound by our own consciences to teach faithfully and
to recommit ourselves to continued reflection and discussion on how Catholic
faith and public service can work together to promote human life and dignity and
advance the common good. Through dialogue, especially the irreplaceable dialogue
between Catholic political leaders and their own bishops, we hope to promote a
better understanding of how the Church’s teaching on human life and dignity
challenges us all.
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