Vote in accordance with church teaching, archbishop tells Catholics

Published: 2004-10-01

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Catholics need to vote but should do so in accordance with the moral teachings of the church, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis said in a pastoral letter published Oct. 1. In "On Our Civic Responsibility for the Common Good," Archbishop Burke outlined what he said were the church's teachings on an individual's civic responsibility to choose governmental leaders. The text was published in the St. Louis Review archdiocesan newspaper. Archbishop Burke said the pastoral letter affirmed and further clarified what he said earlier this summer about the sinfulness of a Catholic voting deliberately for a politician who advocates abortion, as well as euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, cloning and same-sex marriage. "These elements are so fundamental to the common good that they cannot be subordinated to any other cause, no matter how good," the archbishop wrote. In his pastoral letter, the archbishop outlined the responsibilities of citizenship, noting: "As citizens of both heaven and earth, we are bound by the moral law to act with respect for the rights of others and to promote the common good." That includes choosing "leaders ... who will best serve the common good." The church teaches that "we have an obligation, in justice, to vote, because the welfare of the community depends upon the persons elected," the archbishop wrote. The letter acknowledged that voters may have to choose from among candidates who support "immoral practices." But, in the letter's next paragraph, the archbishop said "there is no element of the common good, no morally good practice, that a candidate may promote and to which a voter may be dedicated, which could justify voting for a candidate who also endorses and supports the deliberate killing of the innocent, abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia, human cloning or the recognition of a same-sex relationship as legal marriage."

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