Election season is here, and to support you and your commitment to be a Catholic engaged in the betterment of our community, we will be doing a weekly article until November 6 on issues that are important to consider as you decide for whom you will vote. We’ll be drawing heavily from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (www.faithfulcitizenship.org), and we invite you to check out the full document and the many helpful supporting materials.
Last week, we looked at the issue of conscience formation. In this week’s article on forming our consciences for the upcoming election, we look at the issue of the life and dignity of every human person.
In Evangelii Gaudium, we’re reminded that human life is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development, from the moment of conception until natural death. We are called to respect all life, from the unborn to the prisoner, from the poor to the elderly, from the immigrant to the non-Christian. It also means following the moral imperative to meet our neighbors’ needs of food, water, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work. We’re also called to oppose war, torture, racism, the death penalty, and human trafficking and to overcome poverty and suffering.
