Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says Catholics need to get beyond the political party mindset and realize that their political positions should be judged by how well they express the values and truths of the faith, not the other way around.

Bishop Pates’ op ed, which appears in America Magazine, bemoans the acrimonious politics of the day and how too many Catholics are being swept into it because they feel their only option is to choose a side.

“The resulting toxic acrimony has long since seeped into the Church. Catholics must reverse this trend.”

While givig credit to the Democratic party for its willingness to help the poor and vulnerable, ” . . . (T)hese days Democrats more often grab headlines through their efforts to redefine marriage or by trying to determine which Church activity is ‘religious’ or by attempting to force Catholic institutions to provide employee health coverage for sterilizations and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs,” he writes. 

On the other hand, Republicans can be praised for 50 years of opposition to abortion and for their espousal of family values. “But Republicans now make headlines by advocating the slashing of federal programs, including those for the poor, and proposing anti-immigrant legislation.”

He refers to a statement made by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, a Catholic convert, in which he said Catholics tend to use their most deeply held beliefs, such as in defense of the unborn or helping the poor, to choose a party. But sooner or later, they end up joining “the side they’re on.”

This is the opposite of what the U.S. bishops advocate in their document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” Bishop Pates writes. 

“As Catholics,” it says, “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.”

If we’re ever to truly transform the parties, as Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George once said,  we need to get beyond the parties and labels – even those of “liberal” or “traditional” Catholic – and learn how to be “simply Catholic.” Otherwise, we run the risk of valuing the Church’s role in the public discourse by how well it serves a partisan agenda.

“Catholics must reject this mentality and act in a way that reflects a belief in a higher truth, seeing a greater horizon beyond that of a partisan agenda,” Bishop Pates writes.

Instead, we need to place the church’s priority teachings at the heart of our worldview and moral decision-making.

“Practically speaking, this means that political positions should be judged by how well they express the values and truths of the faith, not the other way around. This requires examination of conscience and individual conversion. It requires Catholic voters honest enough not to ignore principle in favor of partisan preference.”

It also requires legislators to be brave enough to uphold the faith, even when it risks acceptance by their caucus or the support of constituents.

“U.S. Catholics make up 29 percent of the current Congress—far more than any other single religious denomination—and hold 17 of 50 governorships. If any group can make an impact by unifying around its core principles, it is this formidable, diverse and culturally eclectic group,” he writes.

All of this easier said than done, he admits. “The bishops are asking Catholics to raise uncomfortable issues in sometimes exceedingly hostile environments.”

But it can be done! “One catalyst for promoting such a change should be the realization by people of both parties that they need each other to accomplish even their partisan political goals,” he writes. 

“Sometimes conservative goals have liberal solutions and vice versa. Both parties should pursue the common good more than partisan advantage. For instance, as Catholics work for legal protection for the unborn as a matter of justice, they can also advance pro-life goals by strengthening and enforcing anti-discrimination laws for pregnant women in the workforce.” They could join the fight against poverty to eliminate the excuse that a woman needs to have an abortion for financial reasons, or advocate for more generous parental leave laws so that women have more options than killing their unborn child.

He concludes: “Catholicism has appeal across centuries, cultures and ideologies. Today the church can evangelize by working among people with various perspectives to counter the excesses of ideology. It might often make people angry, but it also would make the Catholic voice more difficult to ignore, elevating it above mere partisan agendas. It would give the church renewed credibility as a moral voice and force in the culture.”

In the words of ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,’ “We are called to bring together our principles and our political choices, our values and our votes, to help build a better world.”

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