During the election campaign, questions about the participation of the Church in politics again circulate. I’m talking about the Roman Catholic Church. There are those who would expect the Church to be explicitly party oriented and even to form a Catholic bench in the Legislative Assembly to defend the claims of the Catholic Church. Others do not accept any participation of the Church in political life, recognizing only cultural and charitable powers. What to think about it?
Let’s start by clarifying some concepts. By the Catholic Church we mean the community of all those who are baptized in it and adhere to its faith. The church is often mistakenly identified with the clergy, as if it were a clerical organization. It is true that bishops, priests, and deacons have important functions, but the Church does not simply identify with them. This leads to another distinction necessary for the field of politics: it is a clear norm of the Church that clergy have no party affiliation or militancy, since they serve all members of the Church, regardless of party affiliation.
However, with the exception of clergy and members of institutions of consecrated life, all other members of the Church have complete freedom to participate in party political activities and to nominate themselves as candidates for political office. They are even encouraged to do so by exercising their civil rights and participating in the creation of the common good. They are expected to remain true to ethical principles consistent with their belief in private and public life and in political activities. Therefore, it is wrong to say that the Catholic Church is against the participation of its believers in political life. On the contrary, they are encouraged to take on public duties in order to contribute to the common good.
Would it be wise to encourage the formation of a Catholic bench by using the electoral campaign to elect as many Catholic candidates as possible? This seems like a great temptation, but it can also be a serious mistake. In the teaching of the Catholic Church, believers can freely participate in party associations, if this does not contradict the principles of faith and morality they profess. We understand that the promotion of the common good does not happen entirely through a unified perception of reality. The party always brings an incomplete perception of reality, and the uniformity of views and proposals on social and political life can lead to serious injustice and violence.
Pope Francis has repeatedly called on Catholics to participate in various areas of public life, without claiming to seek and defend advantages for the Catholic Church. They are called to dedicate themselves to the creation of the common good in every possible way. Political activity, when it is guided by noble goals, is a service to the individual and society. There are reasons that are especially in line with their Catholic beliefs, and therefore, as citizens, they have the right to associate with those who think the same way to offer and defend their ideas and proposals for society. They will do this not in the name of an institution of the Catholic Church, but as citizens with rights and duties like other citizens.
There are, of course, reasons that are especially consonant with the Christian vision of man and human activity, society and culture, such as the protection of human life, the dignity of man and his fundamental rights, justice and equality in social relations and economic, social solidarity and peace, priority attention to the poor , sick and vulnerable, caring for the environment, the “common home” of the human family. In promoting and defending these goals, everything depends on cooperation between party associations, because they are not only religious, but also human causes, around which there should be maximum consensus between parties.
Catholic Christians know that there can be no charitable religiosity without the union of love for God and love for one’s neighbor. And this is not because of the ideological options of the right or the left, but “from the depths of the soul.” Gospel that we recognize the close connection that exists between evangelism and the advancement of man,” said Pope Francis in an exhortation gospel of joy (2013, no. 178). Therefore, although the first duty of the state is to promote a just social order, all members of the Church, including the clergy, “cannot and must not remain aloof from the struggle for justice” – as Benedict XVI already taught in his encyclical God is love (2005, no. 239-240). All Christians are called to care about building a better world.
Is it still worth discussing whether the “Church” should participate in political life? It simply would not have to do this if its members were disembodied spiritual beings, without social relations and without human needs. But this is not so: they are the same citizens as all people.
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CARDINAL ARCHBISPHERE OF SAO PAULO
