Brothers and sisters, Peace be with you.
We are approaching another general election in which we will decide questions of great import to our Nation, and elect the leaders that will carry them out. As Catholic Christians we’re expected, indeed obligated, to vote for politicians who are willing and able to protect the life and dignity of every man and woman, resident or alien, from the moment of conception to natural death. As we do so, I wish to remind you that the following items are non-negotiable if you are to exercise a truly Catholic conscience. Voting for policies or politicians that support the following moral evils are not permitted to us, on pain of grave sin:
- Abortion
- Euthanasia
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- Human Cloning
- Homosexual “marriage”
Brethren, if someone were to come to you and say: “we have to vote to protect the poor, the elder, the weak, and the alien and resign ourselves to either one or all of the above to at least achieve something” you are to tell that person that your formed and informed Catholic conscience does not allow you to choose either/or, but both/and.Issues crucial to respect the worth of every single human life have priority over important issues regarding sustaining their lives. Life is the principal right from which all the others derive.
I cry for this Nation that I have sworn to defend, as Jeremiah saw Jerusalem’s impending doom or as St. Augustine cried over Hippo as the Vandals approached. We as a Nation have shed so much innocent blood and are proud in our pretense to calling “good” what is intrinsically evil, that I don’t know how long the Lord will restrain his hand in punishment for our numerous sins.
We can still draw a line on the sand; we can still stand on the bridge and tell the Destroyer “Here, and no further! We have not lost our taste; we can still be the salt of the earth.
Brothers and sisters, when you stand alone in the voting booth next month, make your vote one to protect all human life. Demand from your representatives and judges that they do so; let the ballot you cast be one of prophecy and judgment and forgiveness and reconciliation with God and one another.
Please download and read the Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics for more information and formation.