Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
My column this week is a collection of personal comments. Read it as thoughts from a brother in the faith, not as teachings from an archbishop.
Presidential campaigns typically hit full stride after Labor Day in an election year. But 2016 is a year in which two prominent Catholics – a sitting vice president, and the next vice presidential nominee of his party — both seem to publicly ignore or invent the content of their Catholic faith as they go along. And meanwhile, both candidates for the nation’s top residence, the White House, have astonishing flaws.
This is depressing and liberating at the same time. Depressing, because it’s proof of how polarized the nation has become. Liberating, because for the honest voter, it’s much easier this year to ignore the routine tribal loyalty chants of both the Democratic and Republican camps. I’ve been a registered independent for a long time and never more happily so than in this election season. Both major candidates are – what’s the right word? so problematic – that neither is clearly better than the other.
As Forbes magazine pointed out some months ago, the Republican candidate is worth roughly $4.5 billion. The Democratic candidate is worth roughly $45 million. Compare that with the average American household, which is worth about $144,000. The median U.S. income is about $56,000. Neither major candidate lives anywhere near the solar system where most Americans live, work and raise families. Nonetheless, we’re asked to trust them.
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That’s a big ask. One candidate — in the view of a lot of people — is an eccentric businessman of defective ethics whose bombast and buffoonery make him inconceivable as president. And the other – in the view of a lot of people – should be under criminal indictment. The fact that she’s not – again, in the view of a lot of people — proves Orwell’s Animal Farm principle that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
So what are we to do this election cycle as Catholic voters? Note that by “Catholic,” I mean people who take their faith seriously; people who actually believe what the Catholic faith holds to be true; people who place it first in their loyalty, thoughts and actions; people who submit their lives to Jesus Christ, to Scripture and to the guidance of the community of belief we know as the Church.
Anyone else who claims the Catholic label is simply fooling himself or herself — and even more importantly, misleading others.
The American bishops offer valuable counsel in their document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (available from the USCCB), and this year especially, they ask us to pray before we vote. This is hardly new “news.” Prayer is always important. In a year when each Catholic voter must choose between deeply flawed options, prayer is essential. And prayer involves more than mumbling a Hail Mary before we pull the voting booth lever for someone we see as the lesser of two evils. Prayer is a conversation, an engagement of the soul with God. It involves listening for God’s voice and educating our consciences.
It’s absurd – in fact, it’s blasphemous – to assume that God prefers any political party in any election year. But God, by his nature, is always concerned with good and evil and the choices we make between the two. For Catholics, no political or social issue stands in isolation. But neither are all pressing issues equal in foundational importance or gravity. The right to life undergirds all other rights and all genuine social progress. It cannot be set aside or contextualized in the name of other “rights” or priorities without prostituting the whole idea of human dignity.
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God created us with good brains. It follows that he will hold us accountable to think deeply and clearly, rightly ordering the factors that guide us, before we act politically. And yet modern American life, from its pervasive social media that too often resemble a mobocracy, to the relentless catechesis of consumption on our TVs, seems designed to do the opposite. It seems bent on turning us into opinionated and distracted cattle unable to gain mastery over our own appetites and thoughts. Thinking and praying require silence, and the only way we can get silence is by deciding to step back and unplug.
This year, a lot of good people will skip voting for president but vote for the “down ticket” names on their party’s ballot; or vote for a third party presidential candidate; or not vote at all; or find some mysterious calculus that will allow them to vote for one or the other of the major candidates. I don’t yet know which course I’ll personally choose. It’s a matter properly reserved for every citizen’s informed conscience.
But I do know a few of the things I’ll be reading between now and November. The list is not exclusive or comprehensive. But this year these particular titles seem especially urgent:
- Living the Gospel of Life. This 1998 pastoral letter of the U.S. bishops remains the best brief guide to American Catholic political reflection yet produced.
- Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society by R.R. Reno (Regnery) and It’s Dangerous to Believe: Religious Freedom and Its Enemies by Mary Eberstadt (HarperCollins). Both of these books are new, important, a key to understanding the current moment in our national life, and deeply engaging. They need to be discussed and shared widely.
- And finally two essays by the late, great Czech writer, Václav Havel, “Politics and Conscience” and “The Power of the Powerless.” Both are collected in Open Letters: Selected Writings, 1965-1990 (Vintage Books). Havel was not (to my knowledge) a religious believer, and he wrote as a dissident during an era of Soviet Bloc repression. But his commitment to what he called “living in the truth,” and his understanding and critique of the weaknesses in Western societies like our own – not just Marxist ones – were remarkable. They remain relevant right now, today.
The next few months will determine the next decade and more of our nation’s life. We need to be awake, we need to clear our heads of media noise, and we need to think quietly and carefully before we vote. None of us can afford to live the coming weeks on autopilot.
PREVIOUS: The Court, the House, and the elections ahead
NEXT: Some additional thoughts — and the elephant in the room
Archbishop Chapter is very insightful as he discussed a Catholic’s great problem of how to vote this year. Pay attention to the signs of our times. The Lord will meet us halfway in our decision making this year. Archbishop has given us the resources we need to turn to if we are truly serious about voting. He is so correct when he urges us to do serious fasting and praying with the heart. Give Jesus a chance in your final choice. God bless all
You are a great hero of mine but ‘neither is clearly better than the other’ will confuse many many Catholics. I actually really wonder if that is what you meant.
First of all the average Catholic doesn’t read anything the USCCB writes. In fact the average Catholic doesn’t go to Mass! :) I’m a nerd and read some of the “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” and I fell asleep. We are voting for a “Commander and Chief”! Not a “Commander and Saint”.
A faithful catholic can’t vote for a pro abortion candidate .How can you vote for a pro abortion candidate that following him or her is an immense cemetery of more than 50 million of innocent children behind them? We can pray for them but we can not vote for them.
I believe God has given us the rules we need to live by, they are called the 10 Commandments. One of the commandments, Thou shall not kill, means in any instance. ABortion is the taking of a human life. TRump is the only one who will stand up for life. I hope all Catholics will remember this when going to the polls.
the first question is: Do you support Abortion? If the answer is ‘Yes’, then we can’t vote for that person… if ‘No’, then the next question should be, Will you actively fight to end Abortion in the United States? If the answer is ‘No’, then we can’t vote for that person… if ‘Yes’, then the next question should be, Will you try to stop the support the U.S. gives to the U.N. to do Abortions worldwide? If the answer is ‘No’, then we can’t vote for that person… that is just a start. And this is Roman Catholic Teaching.
I mostly agree with Archbishop Chaput. I think his hands are tied with government tax exemption to say what he really thinks.
I seem to recall Old Testament scripture where God did pick winners and place Kings, so maybe His way is what we should pray for.
I think the comment, “The right to life undergirds all other rights and all genuine social progress. It cannot be set aside or contextualized in the name of other “rights” or priorities without prostituting the whole idea of human dignity.”
Did you catch that? The US still performs about 1 Million abortions a year under Democrats. Not sure what’s worse, keeping out terrorists and people who hate us or 1 Million humans being exterminated per year? You can pick neither, but don’t make the wrong choice.
As many have pointed out, Clinton and the democratic platform are pro-abortion, from conception through to birth (partial.)
With all due respect for the office of the Archbishop, I pray that my brother in faith will indeed say many Hail Marys before pulling that lever, as we all should, and before writing another article such as this. These words of the Archbishop only help pro-abortion Catholics to justify their position in voting for a pro-abortion candidate (leaving them floundering in mortal sin), and still claim to be practicing Catholics in good faith.
The Republican platform this year has been described as the most pro-life in history. Trump has named the pro-life justices he will appoint and has met with pro-life leaders and promised to BE a pro-life leader himself. Clinton has promised, and her words and record guarantee the opposite. Without a pro-life leader, we as a nation are doomed – and that includes both American citizens and legal and illegal visitors!
That any candidate will keep their promises is clearly a gamble. But the choice here is indeed not that difficult – a chance of hope or no hope. Perhaps since abortion has been legal for so long now, many of us Catholics have lost the understanding, the passion, for what abortion really is. Aborted children never even get the chance to be refugees!
In all due respect to the archbishop, his column seriously flawed on so many levels. First of all, to suggest that since both candidates are wealthy, that this automatically disqualifies both candidates is simply reckless. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, and I myself am not wealthy. Also to state that God would never prefer one party over the other is silly. But the Archbishop goes even further, calling it BLASPHEMOUS! Sorry Archbishop, but the Republican party seeks to protect the rights of the unborn. And this IS the most important issue facing this nation. For without the unborn, there are no other issues.
The Democratic party stands for gay marriage and abortion on demand. They also almost narrowly voted to take God out of the party platform a few years back. Donald Trump may have flaws, but they are nothing in comparison to Hillary Clinton.
If I had a choice being someone speaking their mind or someone lying to the American people year after year, then I would have to choose the someone who simply speaks their mind.
Thank you Archbishop for your clear, unmistakable teaching. You are truly a great light in the American Church. God Bless you!
Archbishop Chaput- I have great respect for you. I have considered you for a long time now as one of the spiritual anchors of our Church. Your steadfast defense of the Magisterium over the past decade has been a soothing balm for many of us who cringe and recoil at what passes for theology and pastoralism in many of our dioceses.
That said, I think you have missed the mark here. I agree with the basic premise that both candidates have significant flaws that, in any other electoral year, would disqualify them. However, we are where we are. Looking at both candidates objectively, one very clearly and expressly supports so many issues and concepts that are antithetical to Church teaching that one might be forgiven for believing that we are living through one of the chapters in the Lord of the World. That same candidate has a cloud of scandal that follows her everywhere she goes and is connected to so many anti-Catholic and globalist groups that she would be good material for a Tom Clancy novel. Even her position on immigration, which many Philly residents have blindly accepted as consistent with Church teaching, is plainly not because it pays no attention to the central concept of subsidiarity which is so critical to prudent and sound judgment by governmental bodies. In short, I cannot conceive of any circumstance where it would be rational, let alone moral, to cast a vote for her.
Trump is by no means a good candidate. As I said above, he is significantly flawed. His flaws are not his money or his “buffoonery.” These are meaningless. His real flaws have to do with his character. He does not appear to be a man of virtue, humility, or integrity. This is what we need most, and what we get the least, from our leaders in both parties. Nevertheless, at least his platform and his proposals will give room for unborn children to enjoy the most basic of rights- to exist- and to those “of good will” to live their lives with less of what has now become oppressive interference from their government. On these issues alone, there is simply no comparison. There is likewise no other issue on which Mrs. Clinton provides “serious” Catholics of the kind you describe above, any reasonable option.
Archbishop Chaput, I thank you again for your spiritual leadership and your solid witness to the faith. You have been a great inspiration for me in a very troubled and troubling world. I ask you, as a member of the laity who cares about you, on issues such as these where the laity have greater experience, and sometimes even wisdom, consult and consider more deeply before publishing. God bless you.
When trump secured the votes for the nomination – I registered as an independent. Simply put – trumps actions and his words do not match and I don’t believe him on abortions, guns, or even bringing back jobs. Clinton is simply unelectable because of her record especially on abortion. I’m voting 3rd party for the first time and it feels good not to hold my nose. Right is right, even if everybody else is wrong – and I’m voting for right, I’m voting for a good man – and at least I’ll sleep well at night knowing I did the right thing while no matter which of the other two candidates wins there will only be more division and polarization. Good luck with that – I’m done with party politics.
Really brilliant an observation. All of have flaws, including you & me. So a citizen has one full vote & must decide which is the better of the two in this case, Donald J. Trump, without a doubt.
….”Both major candidates are – what’s the right word? so problematic – that neither is clearly better than the other.”
With all due respect good bishop, one would think even a half hearted Catholic could reason which candidate’s platform was more “Anti-Church” if they had the slightest understanding that we are truly in the age of Church vs anti-Church….and you surely believe this is true. We have so long accepted (ignored) elected Catholics, predominately democrats, who vote, legislate, and judge contrary to Church law and dogma, excusing themselves from all guilt as if public office places them above the requirements of their faith, that the smoke of Satan within the Church which the popes have spoken of has blinded our vision of truth.
‘It’s absurd – in fact, it’s blasphemous – to assume that God prefers any political party in any election year. ‘
I can just about concur with your statement above, Archbishop, but only in view of the degeneracy of US politics and its ‘bought and paid for politicians’, and dog-eat-dog capitalism, but not in principle. What are your grounds for saying such a thing ?
The post-war Labour Party in Britain, while still benefiting from the residual Christian culture of the Tory Establishment, created a marvelous welfare state – in which he who had much, did not have too much (not quite true, but true enough), and he who little did not have to little.
One parent was the breadwinner and most people had a modest but agreeable disposable income. It was a low- income, low-cost economy. And there was next to no homelessness, still less, sleeping rough.
Moreover, the Tories had to adapt to compete, and themselves perpetuate he One Nation politics initiated by the Labour Party, which had been founded by Keir Hardie, a Methodist lay-preacher.
Perhaps rather than being so judgmental regarding others ‘astonishing flaws’ we should consider our own. There is so much more to Catholic social teaching that seems to be ignored. Let’s not turn this in to the typical campaign of a two issue election.
As a Catholic high school theology teacher, I must admit to being a bit confused about Archbishop Chaput’s most recent column and would hope he would be able to clarify. I have always understood the Catholic Church’s teaching as it relates to our civic duty to vote as suggesting that no Catholic in good conscience can vote for a candidate who supports an action that is intrinsically evil (meaning by its very nature it is always wrong under any and all circumstances and can never be debated). There are plenty of issues such as immigration, war, healthcare, etc., that may not be intrinsically evil in and of themselves, but can be openly discussed. Abortion, as the Catholic Church defines, is the deliberate killing of an unborn child and is gravely contrary to the moral, and, therefore, can never be acceptable!
The 2016 Democratic party platform calls for support of abortion on demand for any reason up until birth and demands for repeal of the Hyde Amendment which, if overturned, would force taxpayers to fund abortions. On the other hand, the 2016 Republican party platform affirms that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. Both candidates say they fully support all positions on their party’s platform. Is there a moral equivalency here that I am overlooking?
Agreed & well said Joe. In light of this truth I believe one is left with two choices, vote for Trump or don’t vote at all (or vote 3rd party candidate, which is in effect the same as not voting). However, not voting I believe neglects one’s duty as a Catholic & in effect amounts to a half vote for Hillary, the purveyor of an intrinsically evil platform. So I think logic dictates a fairly simple choice. I think the archbishops letter in essence directs its readers to the same conclusion after deep reflection, particularly with the following “But neither are all pressing issues equal in foundational importance or gravity. The right to life undergirds all other rights and all genuine social progress. It cannot be set aside or contextualized in the name of other “rights” or priorities without prostituting the whole idea of human dignity.”
Joe, The fixation you and others here regarding abortion is confusing to me, a recent Catholic convert. Our government is not requiring anyone to abort a child presently. It is not requiring anyone to own a gun, either. It is simply allowing people who want either thing to go ahead with what they feel their life requires.
As I understand, God has allowed sin and evil to exist in this world. It is up to each individual to choose what they will do with their ability to reproduce (we pray in a faithful marriage) or handle firearms (we pray never to wrongly kill another.)
Do you really think forcing either issue will make the vast population of Non-Catholic Americans take you more seriously? How much harder the actual work of living a model married life, rejecting the temptations and discerning as best one can with daily prayer!
I welcome our Archbishop’s open and honest personal thoughts. He has lead an extraordinary life in service to the Church and I feel blessed that he’d care enough to begin the discussion we are now in!
Great response!!!! Thanks!!!I was confused by the Bishop too!!
How disappointing that Archbishop Chaput refuses to acknowledge the clear differences between the two candidates. Especially since the businessman is misogynistic, racist, thrice married man who doesn’t show an ounce of compassion for immigrants or the poor, and once even mocked a disable man. The Archbishop clearly supports the immigrant community (http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/for-archbishop-chaput-holy-family-provides-lesson-on-immigration/), but won’t judge the businessman candidate on his language against immigration or his call for barring Muslims from our country. He doesn’t however seem to have a problem judging our Catholic vice president, and vice presidential nominee. We all have flaws and our own viewpoint- I just wish Archbishop Chaput would admit that he prefers the Republican Party and not pretend he’s judging both equally.
Your unfair judgments of V.P. Biden and Senator Tim Kaine’s catholicism is wrong. They are exceptionally good catholic men and followers of their faith. As or representatives, they uphold our enacted laws. Their personal views are their own.
“Judge not, lest you be judged”.
Really?!? “Exceptionally good Catholic men and followers of their faith?” Since when? Both men are adamantly pro-abortion. You can’t be a Catholic in good standing and in support of abortion! It does not jive with Church teaching. One cannot separate “personal views” and religious belief. Neither of these men should present himself for receiving the Eucharist at mass each Sunday until each has repented of his pro-abortion views and has decided to follow Church teaching and act like real Catholic gentlemen.
You absolutely have your hands full Archbishop. Know that you and all priests are in my prayers. Fiat Voluntas Tua!
I completely disagree with the Archbishop’s views on this upcoming election. Hillary Clinton and the democrat party have been using the poor in our country for decades and will continue to do so. Donald Trump isn’t the perfect candidate but he is better than having the corrupt, lying, money hungry Clinton. I don’t understand how intelligent, caring people can be so fooled by her for so long?