by Servant of God, Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people in America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.

Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992
Published by Eternal Life in 1992

Intrinsically evil actions are those that fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no person who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.

In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops put it this way: "...some issues involve principles that can never be abandoned, such as the fundamental right to life and marriage as the union of one man and one woman." (para. 63)

1. Life

Abortion: The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is "never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it" (EV 73).

Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide. The unborn child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child's, who should not suffer death for others' sins.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2270: Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person.

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 64:  Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally acceptable and must always be opposed.

Sub-set issues within this area that include contraception, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, in-vitro fertilization, sterilization and capital punishment.

Euthanasia: Often disguised by the name "mercy killing;' euthanasia is also a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2277: Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Human embryos are human beings. "Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo" (CRF 4b).

Recent scientific advances show that medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can often be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans.

Human Cloning: "Attempts ... for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union" (RHL 1:6).

Human cloning also involves abortion because the "rejected" or "unsuccessful" embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.

More on the Life Issues

2. Marriage

True marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

Legal recognition of any other union as "marriage" undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral arrangement. "When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral" (UHP 10).

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 70: "Marriage must be defined, recognized, and protected as a lifelong exclusive commitment between a man and a woman, and as the source of the next generation and the protective haven for children."

More on the Traditional View of Marriage

3. Religious Freedom

Religious liberty is our first American freedom. It is a founding principle of our country, protected by the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
It is a fundamental human right, rooted in the dignity of every human person – people of any faith or no faith at all.

Without religious liberty all other rights fall.

Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: "… if our obligations and duties to God are impeded, or even worse, contradicted by the government, then we can no longer claim to be a land of the free and a beacon of hope for the world."

More on Religious Liberty

There are other issues besides these three. Use the links to the right to see where the major parties stand on the issues.

The Church's teaching on the issues can be found in the USCCB  document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

CRF: Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family

EV: John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae

RHL: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation

UHP: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons

When casting a vote, it is important for Catholics to make an informed decision rooted in Catholic morality and natural moral law.

The Seven Principles that can guide us in making informed moral decisions:

1.  Doing Good and Avoiding Evil in Voting

The first principle of morality is to do good and avoid evil. We cannot really do this unless we know what good things ought to be sought, and what evils are to be avoided entirely, or tolerated for a time under certain circumstances. In all of this Catholic teaching gives us concrete guidance.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1706: By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil." Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person.

2.  Catholics Must Form Their Consciences by Church Teaching

Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. It is not a matter of personal decision about what is good or evil, but upon the objective moral order willed by God, binding on human beings and known through reason (natural law) and divine revelation (Scripture, Tradition & Magisterial teaching).

This obligation to the Church’s teaching flows from the supernatural virtue of Faith, since belief in Christ is also belief in the Church and in Christ’s promises to the Church. This teaching can be found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, which includes the formal teaching of Popes and uncils regarding what has been revealed.

3.  Morally Good Acts Are Good in Object, End and Circumstances

We are morally obliged to perform acts which are good

1. The Object, or thing to be done, is good: An act must be good, or at least morally indifferent. Some acts are always and everywhere evil (intrinsic evils) and may never be done, for example, blasphemy, abortion and adultery. Doing them can never be made into good acts, by a good intention or circumstances.

2. The End, or intention for doing it, is also good: An evil intention destroys the moral goodness of an otherwise good act, for example, doing an act of charity or religion in order to be seen by others. Human beings often do things with mixed motives, so this applies to the primary intention for which the act is done. Lesser mixed intentions, e.g. vanity, can diminish the goodness of the act without destroying it.

3. The Circumstances are also taken into account and are fitting: Unfitting circumstances can also lessen, and even destroy, the moral goodness of an otherwise good act. For example, unless the common good requires it, fraternal correction should generally be given privately. To give it publicly without necessity, or in an unfitting manner, are among the circumstances that could reduce or destroy the moral goodness of the act.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1752: Because it lies at the voluntary source of an action and determines it by its end, intention is an element essential to the moral evaluation of an action.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1753: An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention.

4.  A Morally Good Act Will Be Prudent

Prudence is the virtue which disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance, and to choose the right means of achieving it: "the prudent man looks where he is going" (Prov. 14:15).

Prudence is the Queen of the Virtues. It governs the knowledge, judgment and execution of our acts. It helps us decide whether to act, in what circumstances, and how to carry the act through to the end. Prudence, therefore, concerns the beginning, the middle and the end of moral action.

St. Thomas Aquinas identifies 8 integral parts of prudence, elements which make for a perfect moral judgment and its execution. Memory of the past, Understanding of the present, Docility to be taught, Shrewdness in making a quick conjecture, Reasoning from one thing to judgment regarding another, Foresight regarding what is befitting the end, Circumspection appropriate to the situation, and Caution to avoid obstacles to attaining the end.

5.  Morally Good Acts Will Not Cooperate in Evil

We may not formally cooperate in evil by doing it, intending it, encouraging it, flattering it, or approving of it. We may sometimes tolerate material cooperation under certain conditions described in the Church’s teaching on moral cooperation and on the Principle of Double Effect.

If we may not morally do a particular act, we also may not cooperate in, or otherwise facilitate, the doing of it by another person. To do so offends our own dignity as a human person and as a child of God, but also the dignity of the person in whose sin we cooperate. Both the moral law (justice), and love of God and neighbor (charity), forbids such cooperation.

Such cooperation can be of two kinds, Formal – in which our will agrees in the sinful act, even if we physically don’t perform it, and Material – in which we provide some material assistance or receive a material benefit from the sinful act without agreeing in it.

The Moral Principle of Double Effect: While we may not do evil, or formally cooperate with the evil others do, it sometimes can be necessary to tolerate evil which results, without our intention it, from a good act that we do. For example, paying taxes, which are then used to do evil things, or voting for candidates who are morally inconsonant in their views.

Three conditions must be present for us to tolerate evil which comes about unintended as a result of our acts:

1. The act we intend must not be sinful in itself, and we may not intend the bad effect, only tolerate it.

2. There must be a proportionate reason for tolerating the bad effect, a good that is proportionately equal to or greater than the bad effect.

3. The danger of scandal from our cooperation must be prevented by protest, explanation or other means.

Failure to satisfy any of the three conditions voids the goodness of the intended act.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2268: The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. The one is intended, the other is not.

6.  Citizens Have Co-Responsibility for Society

Citizens have co-responsibility for society. In democracies the principal political expression of this responsibility is voting. In indifferent elections, those between two worthy candidates, the duty to vote is slight.

However, when a good candidate opposes an unworthy one voting is more seriously obliged. Worthiness is judged by 1) the issues and 2) the worthiness of the candidates. One may even vote for a political enemy of morality and freedom, but only to exclude a worse one.

This especially obliges those in a democracy who must elect representatives to run the State on their behalf. The duty to vote obliges depending on the issue and the worthiness of the candidates. It is more seriously obliged when a good candidate is opposed by an unworthy one,
In determining which candidate is a threat to religion and liberty, or, which of several candidates the worse threat is, non-negotiables issues outweigh negotiable issues, since, 1) Non-negotiables concern certain truths and are always morally applicable, while 2) Negotiable policy issues involve differing opinions about the best means to the end in complex circumstances.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2237: Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights of everyone, especially of families and the disadvantaged.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2239: It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2240: Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2210: The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Civil authority should consider it a grave duty "to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote domestic prosperity."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2211: The political community has a duty to honor the family, to assist it, and to ensure especially:

• the freedom to establish a family, have children, and bring them up in keeping with the family's own moral and religious convictions;

• the protection of the stability of the marriage bond and the institution of the family;

• the freedom to profess one's faith, to hand it on, and raise one's children in it, with the necessary means and institutions;

• the right to private property, to free enterprise, to obtain work and housing, and the right to emigrate;

• in keeping with the country's institutions, the right to medical care, assistance for the aged, and family benefits;

• the protection of security and health, especially with respect to dangers like drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.;

• the freedom to form associations with other families and so to have representation before civil authority.

7.  Doing Good by Avoiding Evil

In determining which candidate is a greater threat to morality and liberty, non-negotiable issues involving essential moral goods (e.g. life, liberty) are the most important. Essential goods directly oppose intrinsic evils which may never morally be chosen, thus, the moral tradition speaks of protecting morality as intrinsic to voting.

Negotiable issues, on the other hand, are not matters of essential goodness or evilness. Rather, they involve determining the best means, or policies, to achieve good ends. If the essential good is life, then policies that foster the maintenance of life (e.g. health care, public safety etc.), must be argued and negotiated. The political process, therefore, doesn’t decide what the essential goods are, but the best way to preserve and serve them.

Not all evils are equal: Catholics must consider that not all moral evils have the same gravity. Some evils are more evil, just as some sin is greater.

Nota Bene: It is wrongly argued that a basket of negotiable goods is proportionate to a non-negotiable good. However there is no proportion between the two. Where human life (and death) is concerned, preventing an imminent nuclear war may be seriously proportionate to the killing of one million innocents a year by abortion, but no collection of negotiables issues can be proportionate.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1854: The gravity of sins is more or less great. Murder is greater than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged. Violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

It is a sin to vote for candidates who will advance grave evils: A candidate may not be supported who advances grave evils such as abortion, socialism or gay marriage, all of which deny the dignity of man created in God's image.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1761: There are concrete acts that it is always wrong to choose, because their choice entails a disorder of the will, i.e., a moral evil. one may not do evil so that good may result from it.

Catholics must vote for a candidate who does more good than evil and who intends only the good. Catholics can vote for a candidate if a) the intention of the vote is to advance good and mitigate evil and b) the good effects of the vote are proportionate to the evil effects.

Nota Bene: "If you vote for a candidate who has a friendly disposition but is also pro-abortion, this is considered a sin because the effects are not proportionate.

Catholics cannot vote for the lesser of two evils: Catholics can never do an action for the sake of evil, even if it is the lesser evil. When given a choice, Catholics are required to vote for a candidate who will mitigate the evil of the other candidate even if he holds problematic positions, which nonetheless are not as evil as his opponents.

Catholics can vote for a candidate who will produce both good and evil effects. Catholics have a civic duty to vote and a moral obligation to support a candidate who more closely resembles the social reign of Christ the King. What Catholics must consider is the degree of evil or good a candidate will advance compared to the other candidates.