Faithful Citizenship, the U.S. Bishops’ instruction on Catholics’ moral and ethical involvement in public life, is traditionally re-written every four years. This year, however, the Bishops have reissued the document which was overwhelming approved by them in 2007. They changed only the introduction saying that the issues faced by the nation in 2007 still challenge us:
“We urge our Catholic pastors and people to continue to use this important statement to help them form their consciences, to contribute to civil and respectful public dialogue, and to shape their choices in the coming election in the light of Catholic teaching,” they write. “It (Faithful Citizenship) does not offer a voter’s guide, scorecard of issues or direction on how to vote. It applies Catholic moral principles to a range of important issues and warns against misguided appeals to ‘conscience’ to ignore fundamental moral claims, to reduce Catholic moral concerns to one or two matters, or to justify choices simply to advance partisan, ideological or personal interests.”The Introductory Note does not modify or interpret the document itself and emphasizes the importance of religious freedom. It raises six “current and fundamental problems, some involving opposition to intrinsic evils and others raising serious moral questions.” These are: abortion and threats to the lives and dignity of the vulnerable, sick or unwanted; threats to Catholic ministries, including health care, education and social services, to violate their consciences or stop serving those in need; intensifying efforts to redefine marriage; unemployment, poverty and debt; immigration; and wars, terror and violence, particularly in the Middle East.
The entire document, with the new Introductory Note, can be found on the USCCB page.
