Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert
While attending the USCCB meeting, I sat next to a bishop at lunch whose name tag I could not read from my position.
He was extremely pleasant and warm. I joked with him that he should look around and find a bishop to come to Little Rock. He was solicitous and compassionate about our need. His views on various subjects that were discussed at the table were always wise and offered in a humble and genial manner.
It was only after the luncheon that I found out that I had been talking to Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley from Boston.
On the next day, Nov. 15, the International Herald Tribune reported the following: “Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, saying the Democratic Party has been persistently hostile to opponents of abortion rights, asserted yesterday that the support of many Catholics for Democratic candidates ’borders on scandal.’”
The article further reported that the cardinal had stated that while the Democratic Party had historically been supported by the majority of Catholics, the party had been “extremely insensitive to the Church’s position, on the gospel of life in particular, and on many other moral issues.”
Needless to say, the cardinal’s remarks caused quite a buzz, particularly in heavily Democratic and liberal Boston.
It also needs to be pointed out that Cardinal O’Malley stated that he had problems with the Republican Party over immigration and economic issues, capital punishment and the war in Iraq, but that abortion was the most important moral issue.
I might mention that the remarks the cardinal made were not provoked by a disagreeable lunch but rather by a document voted on that day by the bishops titled, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility From the Catholic Bishops of the United States and the Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”
It is a very strong document which challenges us as Americans to form our consciences properly and be aware of the serious moral responsibility that voting entails.
The document states, “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic moral evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity.”
The document is far too lengthy to quote in its entirety in this column, but its importance to us as Catholic Americans cannot be overstated. Its approach is neither simplistic nor overly nuanced. It makes us aware that we have a serious moral responsibility to be informed concerning a candidate’s position on basic moral issues.
We are about 11 months away from the time that you and I will go the polls to cast our votes; we have the time to study the issues and cast morally responsible votes.
We should never underestimate the importance of our votes. The document beautifully states the potential of voting in a morally responsible manner: “As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths. We are called to bring together our principles and our political choices, our values and our votes, to help build a better world.”
That sounds important to me.
