What We Value / Social Justice / Justice Issues / Issue Elections: 2008

Issue: Elections 2008

The United States Catholic bishops reflect on the responsibility of Catholics to participate in the legislative process as faithful citizens in the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. This document and other related resources are available by clicking here.

The bishops note that "a consistent ethic of life should guide all Catholic engagement in political life." They assert that "this Catholic ethic neither treats all issues as morally equivalent nor reduces Catholic teaching to one or two issues. It anchors the Catholic commitment to defend human life and other human rights, from conception until natural death, in the fundamental obligation to respect the dignity of every human being as a child of God."

The following seven themes of Catholic social teaching provide a moral framework not only for an individual's personal life, but also their public life.

• The Right to Life and the Dignity of the Human Person
• Call to Family, Community, and Participation
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• Solidarity
• Caring for God's Creation

For more information on these themes, click here

The Center for Concern offers a series of policy papers and educational materials on campaign issues for personal and group reflection. Click here