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One of the more dramatic moments in the last months
of Jesus' earthly life occurred when the Pharisees and Herodians
posed the question: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or
not?" (Mt.22:17) They wanted to trap Jesus in the midst of
a heated political controversy with profound religious overtones.
He asked for a coin used for paying taxes and replied, "Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the
things that are God's." (Mt.22:21)
The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States provides
for the free exercise of religion as well as a prohibition against
the country's establishment of any one religion. The free exercise
and non-establishment clauses in the Constitution serve to protect
the freedom of religion, while recognizing the proper role of government
in advancing the common good. In both Sacred Scripture and the United
States Constitution, there is a provision to honor the twin duties
to obey God and be a responsible citizen. In our own time, we face
the tension of these twin responsibilities.
Responsible Citizenship
Each person is social by nature. We live in a society organized
according to the principle of unity that promotes the common good.
In order to advance the common good, we are called to participate
in the public life of society. One of the fundamental ways we participate
is through responsible political activity. The manner and degree
of participation in political life will vary with our calling. Most
of us are called to participate through exercising the duty to vote.
Others will take a more active role in the political process, such
as becoming involved in various political activities, even to the
point of seeking office.
Regardless of our level of participation, responsible citizenship
requires that we promote justice, freedom, peace, and the common
good. Essential to such responsible citizenship is the obligation
to promote those laws and policies which respect all of human life.
Faithful Citizenship
After the right to life, freedom of conscience is the most important
human right. Citizens who are believers recognize that God has ultimate
dominion over their lives. It is the role of the state to provide
for and protect the freedom of each citizen to respond to God. In
addition, responsible government should want that all citizens,
whether people of faith or not, contribute to the development of
public policy rooted in the natural moral law.
When Jesus was confronted with the question of the legitimacy of
paying the tax to Caesar, he responded by articulating a two-fold
principle. The state has the right to collect taxes, for example,
in order to provide necessary services and promote domestic tranquility.
The Church, guided by revelation and right reason, must speak God's
truth in every circumstance. The state can never legitimately deny
or suppress these truths. As Peter said when forbidden to proclaim
the message of Jesus Christ: "We must obey God rather than
men." (Acts 5:29)
Our country rightfully values tolerance. True tolerance requires
that we bring an authentic respect for the freedom of conscience
of each individual person. It does not, however, enjoin upon us
the duty to accept competing positions on truth as having equal
value or deserving of the same respect. Rightful pluralism is not
the same as moral relativism. A society that does not hold to certain
fundamental universal truths cannot long endure.
The Role of the Church
The Lord Jesus entrusted to his Church the responsibility to hand
on the Gospel to subsequent generations through fidelity to the
creed, participation in the sacramental life, and a desire for the
true good as the goal of our actions.
The Catholic Church teaches truths of faith and morals. Baptized
Catholics have a responsibility to accept the truths of faith and
morals which the Church teaches are fundamental for faithful living.
The Catholic Church also teaches fundamental and universal moral
truths written on the heart of the human person. The Church has
a mission to proclaim in the public square these truths which shed
light on the natural moral law. Such a proclamation, when addressing
universal moral truth, is not sectarian, but in service to the common
good. The contemporary desire to privatize all faith must be resisted.
Faith must contribute to and inform public life. To be sure, participation
must be characterized by charity, justice and fidelity. What is
not acceptable is to ban believers from participation in the shaping
of public policy.
Defining Issues
Pope John Paul II began his encyclical, "The Gospel of Life,"
with these words: "The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus'
message, lovingly received day after day by the Church. It is to
be preached with dauntless fidelity as 'good news' to the people
of every age and culture." (No. 1) The defining issue is our
fundamental attitude toward the sacredness of human life.
Respect for life includes a number of issues: the sacredness of
unborn life; the inviolability of the human embryo in the face of
some destructive bio-technological procedures; the sanctity of one's
own life or the lives of others which forbids suicide, homicide,
euthanasia or the removal of ordinary means of human support at
the end of life; the difficult question of capital punishment for
those guilty of heinous crime; and the always problematic decisions
regarding war. Each of these life issues is linked to one another
by a respect for the dignity and sacredness of human life. Each,
however, is subject to a distinctive moral analysis. For example,
we can never accept abortion, the destruction of embryonic cells
or human cloning; and euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.
We may not perform an evil act in order to achieve some real or
apparent benefit.
We must carefully distinguish these defining issues that touch
upon realities that are absolute from those issues about which there
is a legitimate exercise of human prudential judgment. For instance,
while it is incumbent upon all to preserve a deep respect for human
life, there is a role for human prudential judgment in determining
whether the conditions that make capital punishment permissible
are realized. Our Holy Father and the Bishops in the United States
have indicated that in our own time it is usually possible to protect
citizens from perpetrators of heinous crime by means that do not
require capital punishment. Hence, we should reject capital punishment
in most instances, but not necessarily all.
In addressing issues of the pursuit of peace and the moral necessity
of protecting a people against violence in military action, there
is room for moral assessment whether the conditions for engaging
in a military action or the means used to prosecute such action
can be morally justified. While it is not permitted to support legislation
which violates basic human rights, there is a legitimate freedom
for promoting different policies and strategies. While racism is
always wrong, human prudential judgment is going to be needed in
the development of the best public policy to counteract racist practice
in life.
The Co-responsibility of Catholics for Public
Policy
As Catholics we have a duty to be informed about the moral issues
that impact public policy. We need to communicate with publicly
elected officials about these issues. It is our responsibility to
support those candidates who best espouse and actively promote the
universal natural moral law. In choosing between candidates who
take conflicting positions with regard to fundamental moral truths,
it is important to give greater weight to those issues that are
more fundamental, that is, do not allow for differences in prudential
judgment.
Catholics in general, and Catholic politicians in particular, have
a responsibility to shape law and policy so as to respect the natural
moral law. This law, written in the human heart, is not particular
to the Catholic Church but accessible to all persons through right
reason.
Because of sin we do not live in a perfect moral world. At times
the best we can do is limit some evil. In those instances
it is permissible to support legislation which restricts the evil.
However, such support is always given with the determination to
overcome the sinful situation.
When we are not dealing with fundamental and universal moral truths,
but rather with strategies for the protection of human rights, or
policies to promote social justice or competing initiatives to secure
peace, there is room for differing prudential judgment.
Catholic officials, regardless of political affiliation, who openly
support the taking of innocent human life in abortion, euthanasia,
or the destruction of human embryos, or the re-definition of marriage
beyond one man and one woman, cannot call themselves practicing
Catholics, and as such should not present themselves for the reception
of Holy Communion. Moreover, citizens who want to promote this unjust
taking of human life by their support of such candidates or measures
share a proportional responsibility for these grave evils. The degree
or extent of proportional responsibility will vary from situation
to situation.
Come, Holy Spirit
When each of us was confirmed we received the gift of the Holy
Spirit. How important it is for us to invoke the Holy Spirit and
the special gifts the Spirit gives to us: wisdom about what is of
ultimate importance, knowledge about the fundamental and universal
human truths; understanding of their meaning; right judgment about
their application in life; courage to abide by them even in the
face of adversity; and a sense of awe and reverence before the divine
sacredness that God imparts to human life.
In his stage play, Robert Bolt describes St. Thomas More as a "man
for all seasons." His wisdom, knowledge and understanding about
how to discern the respective claims of Caesar and God, and his
courage in being faithful even at the cost of his own life, make
him a patron of those who serve in public life. God grant us all
the grace, in these challenging times, to have the wisdom and the
courage to "render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to
God what belongs to God."
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