Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
San Bernardo (Agenzia Fides) – The Bishop of San Bernardo (Chile), His Excellency Juan Ignacio Gonzalez, issued a statement on several guidelines for voting in right conscience, to help Catholics and all believers to have sound criteria in casting their vote in the upcoming city elections.
Firstly, the Bishop makes reference to a statement from the Bishops’ Conference Permanent Committee, issued four years ago prior to elections, in which they reminded all Catholics that “participating in the democratic process is a right and a duty of solidarity in the common good.” He also mentioned the words of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI in May 2007, when he said that “if the Church were to start transforming herself into a directly political subject...she would lose her independence and her moral authority. The Church is the advocate of justice and of the poor, precisely because she does not identify with politicians nor with partisan interests. Only by remaining independent can she teach the great criteria and inalienable values, guide consciences and offer a life choice that goes beyond the political sphere.”
Basing his statement upon these two main ideas, the Bishop offers some fundamental guidelines for illuminating the personal conscience of believers. He says that in voting on whom they believe will best govern, they should keep in mind several points that the Bishop gives, inspired by the words of Vietnamese Cardinal Francisco Javier Nguyên Van Thuân, in his book, “The Beatitudes of a Politician.” According to the Cardinal, a politician should reflect credibility, work for the common good and not for his own interests, remain faithfully coherent with a constant coherence between his faith and his life, be a source of unity, know how to listen to the people before, during, and after elections, know how to follow his own conscience and listen to God, and have no fear of the truth.
Bishop Juan Ignacio also affirms that on voting day, they should keep in mind the fact that the primary concern is respect for human life from conception until natural death. He mentions, in a special manner, the use and distribution of the “morning-after” pill, a very controversial issue in the country in recent years. The Bishop affirms that its use “is contrary to the dignity of the human person and can destroy the life of one that has been conceived,” and thus, “Catholics should be familiar with what candidates think on this issue.”
The Bishop continues: “Likewise, a Catholic should not support a candidate that does not respect the dignity of the human person, as would be the case of those who defend or promote homosexual unions, contraceptives, and those who try to place co-habitation on par with marriage.”
The Bishop explains that a Catholic “should vote for those candidates who respect the primordial right of every person to privately or publicly practice, as an individual or in a group, their religious beliefs, and who does not block religious education in any manner, not prohibit public manifestations of the faith, or oppose the establishment of Churches or houses of worship that are requested by the community.” It is also important to know whether the candidates “are open to Catholic religion classes for parents who so wish.” A Catholic, the Bishop says, should vote for a candidate that has shown a spirit of service to others, especially towards the poorest in society, one who does not oppose the rights of parents to decide on the kind of education they want for their children, one that “can guarantee with moral certainty that he will use money and public goods honestly”; “that is committed to promoting the dignity of the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman, committed to fighting against violence, drug addiction, institutionalized injustice, public corruption, and one that makes credible proposals in favor of the most needy.” He should also be a listener, a man of truth, capable of living a sober life, and gifted with governing talent.
“I ask that all the faithful meditate upon these considerations, taking up each one of them before God and their own conscience, in order to decide on who they believe most capable in governing our cities.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 15/10/2008)
