Right and Wrong Political Pluralism: What to Foster and What Not

Three excerpts of doctrinal writings on political pluralism. The first is a synthesis of the doctrine. The second is a more detailed analysis. The third is a relatively unknown article of St. Josemaria published in a newspaper.


Pluralism in the social sphere among Catholics

By Enrique Colom in Church and State

The same good objectives can be achieved by different pathways; it is reasonable, therefore, that there be a pluralism of opinions on how to achieve a specific social goal. It is natural that the backers of each solution legitimately seek to carry it out. Nevertheless, no option has the guarantee of being the only appropriate alternative (among other reasons because politics to a great extent is concerned with future events, and thus is the art of the possible), and even less so, of being the only one that accords with the Church’s teaching. [22] “No one is allowed in the aforementioned situations to appropriate the Church’s authority for his opinion.” [23] 
 
Therefore all the faithful, particularly the laity, have the right that their legitimate autonomy be recognized in the Church to take part in temporal affairs in accord with their own convictions and preferences, as long as these are in agreement with Catholic teaching. And they have the duty not to implicate the Church in their own decisions and social activity, never presenting their solutions as “Catholic” solutions. [24] 
 
Pluralism, while a positive good, should never be confused with ethical relativism. [25] Pluralism is morally admissible when the goal is a true personal or social good; but not if the decision is contrary to the natural law, to public order, and to the fundamental rights of the human person (cf. Catechism of the Social Doctrine of the Church , 1901). But outside these extreme cases, pluralism should be fostered in temporal matters, as a good for personal, social, and ecclesial life. 


Footnotes:
[22] Cf. Vatican Council II, Const. Gaudium et spes , 75; Paul VI, Apost. Letter, Octogesima adveniens , 50; Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , 417.
[23] Ibid ., 43.
[24] Cf. St. Josemaría, Conversations , 117
[25] “Such relativism, of course, has nothing to do with the legitimate freedom of Catholic citizens to choose among the various political opinions that are compatible with faith and the natural moral law, and to select, according to their own criteria, what best corresponds to the needs of the common good. Political freedom is not—and cannot be—based upon the relativistic idea that all conceptions of the human person’s good have the same value and truth, but rather, on the fact that politics are concerned with very concrete realizations of the true human and social good in given historical, geographic, economic, technological and cultural contexts. From the specificity of the task at hand and the variety of circumstances, a plurality of morally acceptable policies and solutions arises” ( Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life , November 24, 2002, 3). Cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , 569 and 572.


Avoiding an ambiguous pluralism

By Angel Rodríguez Luño in EWTN in Connection Between the Political and Religious Spheres

On this practical level a legitimate political pluralism of Catholic citizens exists. Christian conscience is bound to certain fundamental values, but often different policies for their realization are conceivable and different opinions can exist on the interpretation of the foundational principles of the political theory which is best adjusted to the specific needs and character of a people, or the technical complexity of certain political problems can leave room for different morally acceptable solutions.

It is the Church's right and duty to pronounce moral judgments on temporal situations which are required by faith or morality, but it is beyond its mission to specify and suggest concrete proposals, or even less, uniquely binding proposals for problems which admit different solutions according to Christian conscience (cf. Note, n. 3).

To propose and choose options considered most suitable for the common good is the task and responsibility of all who can legitimately engage in politics: believing and non-believing citizens, parties, institutions, governing bodies.

It is a very different thing for a Catholic — and, by another right, also for any citizen — to confuse the plurality of politically legitimate options "with an ambiguous pluralism in the choice of moral principles or essential values. The legitimate plurality of temporal options is at the origin of the commitment of Catholics to politics and relates directly to Christian moral and social teaching. It is in light of this teaching that lay Catholics must assess their participation in political life to be sure it is marked by a coherent responsibility for temporal reality" (Note, n. 3).

Political pluralism is by no means similar to ethical relativism or pluralism, according to which every conception of man's good is as valid as any other (cf. Note, nn. 2-3). Nor can that which is openly opposed to the essential needs of the common good be legitimately appealed to with regard to political strategies or policies (abortion, destruction of human embryos, etc.) (cf. Note, n. 4).

In the face of the conformity and relativism which are spreading in many political environments, and which at times assume connotations of intolerance or injustice, the Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life intends above all to remind Catholic citizens of a social and political commitment which is consistent with the Christian conscience.

Vatican Council II cautions that "one of the gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and the practice of their daily lives" (Gaudium et Spes, n. 43).

The correct understanding of laicity and pluralism is nevertheless necessary in order to better frame, in the context of current democratic societies, the urgent need for commitment, so that public life be ordered according to the values of freedom, justice, peace, solidarity, etc., which are inseparable from Christian conscience.

No dogmas in temporal matters 

By St. Josemaria in Riches of the Faith


There are no dogmas in temporal matters. It is contrary to human dignity to try and lay down absolute truths in things that are necessary matters of opinion, on which people will have different viewpoints depending on their interests, cultural preferences and personal experience. Trying to impose dogmas in temporal affairs leads one inevitably to do violence to other people’s consciences, to fail to respect one’s neighbor.

I don’t for a moment want to suggest that Christians should be indifferent or apathetic about temporal matters. But I do think that Christians have to combine their passion for civic and social progress with an awareness that their own opinions are limited, and hence they have to respect other people’s opinions and love legitimate pluralism. Someone who cannot do this has not understood the message of Christianity in all its depth. It’s not easy to understand it fully and in a sense, we never will, because our tendency to selfishness and pride never leave us. This means we are all obliged to examine our conduct constantly, comparing our actions with Christ’s, to recognize that we are sinners and begin over again. It’s not easy, but we need to do our best.

When God created us he ran the risk and adventure of our freedom. He wanted history to be real, made of genuine decisions, not a fiction or a game. Each individual has to experience his or her personal autonomy, with the hazard, experimentation and uncertainty that it involves. Let’s not forget that although God has given us the security of our faith, he hasn’t revealed to us the meaning of all human events. Together with things that Christians find clear and certain, there are very many others which are open to opinion, i.e. a certain degree of knowledge of what may be true or right, with no absolute certainty. In such cases, it’s possible that I’m mistaken, but even if I am right, other people may be right too. An object that looks concave to me looks convex to people seeing it from a different standpoint.

An awareness of the limitations of human judgments leads us to recognize freedom as a necessarily condition for living in harmony with others. But it isn’t everything, and it isn’t even the most important thing. Respect for freedom is rooted in love. If other people think differently from me, is that any reason for us to be enemies? The only reason for that would be selfishness, or the narrow-mindedness of thinking that there are no values other than politics and business. But Christians know this is not so, because every human being has an infinite value and an eternal destiny in God: Jesus Christ died for every single one of us.

We are Christians when we can love not just “mankind” in the abstract, but each of the people around us. It is a sign of maturity to feel responsible for the well-being of future generations, but that mustn’t lead us to neglect opportunities to give ourselves and serve others in ordinary things: an act of kindness to those who work with us, genuine friendship shown in deeds, compassion for someone who is suffering or in need, even when their unhappiness seems slight in comparison with the great ideals we are pursuing.

Speaking of freedom, love for freedom, raises a difficult ideal which is one of the greatest riches of our faith. Because – let’s not kid ourselves – life isn’t a trashy novel. Christian fraternity isn’t something that comes down from heaven once and for all, but something that has to be built up day after day. It has to be built up in a life that keeps all its harshness, with clashes of interests, friction, struggles, in daily contact with people who seem unfair, and with unfairness on our part too.

But if that prospect discourages us, if we let our selfishness get the upper hand, or if we merely shrug our shoulders skeptically, that will be a sign that we need to go deeper into our faith, to contemplate Christ more. Because only in his school can we Christians learn to know ourselves and understand others, and live in such a way that we are Christ present among the people around us.
 

Responsible Voting Guide

Voting for the right leaders is one of your most important duties. Here is a guide for your conscience, so you can apply the most basic moral principles to your civic duty. (Updated on 23 March 2022)

1. Do good and avoid evil. Choose politicians with the character, public policy, and competence to do good. Avoid politicians who will do evil.

In a democracy, citizens like you determine who will be your leaders. You are like the employer selecting whom to hire. Like all good employers, you have to seriously study the integrity, past performance, accomplishments, and policies of the candidates, so you can choose what is best for your country. 

Remember: You are answerable for your choice—and its social consequences. 

2. You are obliged to do as much good to society as you can. Vote for politicians who truly have the habits and ability to work for the common good—leaders who will do much good because of their excellent example and performance. 

The best leaders, according to Harvard Business Review, are those who have high moral and ethical standards. 

Encourage, support, and vote for such politicians, and help multiply the number of such politicians. If God calls you to be a politician, be a politician. 

3. It is good to oppose evil. And so it is very good to oppose politicians whose life, actions, and public policies will spread evil.

4. Never do evil to do good. A good end never justifies evil deeds. A good social objective never justifies using immoral means to achieve that objective. It is evil to steal, lie, kill, and promote family and sexual disorders to “improve” society.

5. It is evil to directly cooperate in evil. It is evil to vote for a politician who is in favor of evil actions, such as dishonesty, abortion, divorce, devaluation of marriage and the family, violation of human rights, suppression of religious freedom, contraception, sexual promiscuity, etc. if the voter’s intent is to support these actions.  If you vote this way, you will be guilty of grave social evil by formally cooperating in that evil.

6. You are allowed to vote for a politician with an immoral public policy on two conditions: (1) If you reject that immoral policy and (2) if you vote for that person for other morally grave reasons that are proportional to the immorality. If the reason for your support is not proportionate to the great evil that will be done, then you will somehow be guilty of this evil.

7. What to do when all candidates are in favor of an intrinsic evil: you may decide (1) not to vote for anyone, or (2) to vote for the candidate who is considered less likely to push for immoral actions and more likely to work for the common good and foster greater moral values. This choice is a matter of doing good by limiting the evil that can be done by the other candidates if they were elected.

8. Not all actions and policies have the same moral value. Some actions and policies are better than others.  Immaterial, interior and spiritual things (e.g, values and morality, education, human life, religion and its free exercise, human rights, attitude of uplifting the poor and the weak) are more important than physical, material things. Foundational for society are (1) respect for human life in all stages. (2) strengthening marriage and the family, (3) upholding truth and justice, (4) care for the poor and the weak, (5) respect for rights and freedom, (6) eradicating unjust inequalities and corruption, (7) promotion of virtues, and (8) peace and order. 

9. Prudence is a key virtue to practice. Prudence means to discern what is truly good. It implies an honest, objective, and diligent study of the facts about the candidates. Given the abundance of fake news, seek out the most reliable, unbiased information about the candidates, their policies, values and patterns of behavior: Truly honest or involved in corruption? Selfless or selfish? Intelligent or not so?  Competent or incompetent? Capable of addressing the particular issues of the country or not?

To assess competence, look at each one's actual accomplishments and results achieved. Above all assess the most important leadership competency--high ethical and moral standards. 

Truth and facts matter. They set us free. You can help others by pointing out wrong information and by spreading the right information about the candidates. You may even broadcast a candidate's faults to warn people of the dangers of voting for that person. Also, listen to the guidance of Chuch authorities as regards the important socio-moral issues of the times.   

Because of the great influence of an elected official on society, it is evil to make a hasty, emotional, self-interested, and purely partisan choice in such a grave matter. At the same time, you have to respect legitimate differences in political opinions, since no one has a monopoly of the facts. Politics has limits as the art of the possible.

Above all, ask God to enlighten you and to send the best leaders for your country. Here are some prayers you may use. 

10. Respect for the dignity of the human person is the foundation of all morality. Everyone is called to serve each person and all persons. Each one has a duty to participate in socio-political action as much as he can to create a more humane, just, and peaceful society that will do good for each human being.

This guide is based on the document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, by the USCCB.   

These one-page leaflets have started going viral around the world. Leaflets were posted in the website of the Archdiocese of Westminster in London ("The Mother Church of England"), in the Corpus Christi Parish in Canada,  in Kenya and in Macau. To get the full collection, please see this: One Page Leaflets for New Evangelization Going Viral!

KNOW YOUR SOCIAL MISSION AND OFFICES

Discover your mission orders and your positions of responsibility to change the world  

Download the one-page Executive Summary here for mass distribution.  

WHAT’S MY MISSION?

Not just secret agents, but everyone is eager and excited to know their mission orders – the objectives and tasks we are sent to accomplish, the contribution people expect of us, the meaning and purpose of our life. 

When we were baptized, says the Bible, we “put on Christ.” That is why we can exclaim, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 3:20; 2:20)  Christ lives in me! “We have become not just Christians, but Christ himself,” cried St. Augustine. (CCC 795)  Who is Christ who lives in me? Jesus Christ is God himself who became man for only one mission: to save all men from sin and make us one with God. The name of Jesus means “God saves”. And the word christ means “messiah”, people who have been consecrated by God for a saving mission: priests, prophets, and kings.

As another Christ, we have only one mission: to bring all men to love God with all their strength, and we have a responsibility to exercise his three offices that fulfil his one mission. These offices are the solutions to the great evils all men suffer due to sin. Our priestly office addresses the lack of sanctifying grace, a share in God’s life, without which we cannot enter heaven. Our prophetic office solves people’s ignorance, lack of knowledge of God and his plan, “the origin of all moral deviations”. (CCC 2087) Our kingly office addresses our wayward tendencies and passions.

If a Christian does not exercise Christ’s mission and responsibilities, he is like salt that “has lost its taste,” said Jesus. “It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.” (Mt 5:13)

OUR SPECIAL VOCATION: let your light shine before men

Christ told us: “You are the light of the world,” and so the Christian laity’s special vocation that we should know best is “to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in secular affairs and directing them according to God's will ...  to enlighten and put in order all things in the world." (CCC 898)

It is in the midst of our world, our home, the office, the streets, in places of entertainment, in the mall, in government, business, and media, that we are called to find God, and to make Christ’s superabundant love, mercy and wisdom permeate all things. We have “the preeminent responsibility to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth.” (Vat II, AA; CCC 900)

To accomplish this, we are called to take initiative: not to wait passively for others to make a move, but to take the first step in making things happen, beginning a chain of events that can Christianize the world. We are tasked to be creative: “discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities” with the beauty, harmony and supreme joy that comes from the fullness of love and truth. (CCC 900)

OUR PRIESTLY OFFICE: Union with Jesus, praying and offering sacrifices to sanctify the world from within

We will be able to put order in the world only if we are put order in our lives. If we put God first in everything, others second and ourselves last. "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit,” Jesus told us. “For without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5).  If we are intimately one with Jesus, all our “works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, even the hardships of life patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.” By offering all these at Mass, we take part in the Sacrifice of Christ on the cross that saves all men through time. (CCC 901)  The saints, who allow God to work by praying always, are the best reformers of society.

The one purpose of our life is to love God with all our heart, a love that impels us to know him deeply: to meditate on his teachings that come to us through his Church, especially its Bible and Catechism, to go frequently to confession and the Eucharist, where his love is poured into us. “The love of Christ urges us,” sets us on fire, impelling us to save many souls. (CCC 864)

OUR PROPHETIC OFFICE: Evangelizing and teaching the faith

“Thanks solely to this encounter with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated.” taught Pope Francis. We are freed from sin and inner emptiness, and we are filled with the joy of the truth. “For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”

It is above all with a life lived in God who is Love that we evangelize, and a key part of this life is to obey his last command: Go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  (Mt 28:19-20)  This Great Commission still echoes, and should be echoed by us to many Catholics who have forgotten it.

Pope Francis stressed: Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization...What about you? ... Sharing our enthusiasm “falls to each of us as a daily responsibility... bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This takes place in the middle of a conversation... on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.” Training in this “should start with the children's earliest education. Parents should teach them little by little to be solicitous for the material and spiritual needs of their neighbour,” recalling that the spiritual is above the material. (Vat II; Mt 4:4)

                                                                                         

As prophets who speak of Christ, it is very important that we often meet Christ, to learn him well in the four parts of his Church’s Catechism (the Creed, Sacraments, Morality and Prayer) and be involved in helping people meet him in catechesis. First, in our family through family Sunday school, and then to as many people as we can reach: by teaching, spreading catechetical materials and using the means of social communication. The Church’s “increase in numbers, even more her inner growth and correspondence with God’s plan depend essentially on catechesis.” (CCC 7) 

OUR KINGLY OFFICE: Correcting common practices that breed sins, and effectively permeating education, culture, media, business and government, and other social institutions with true moral values

Our first duty as kings is to rule over our self. Christ, the true King, reigns by giving his life on the cross in obedience to the Father, and through his sacraments he sends us his powerful graces to “deny ourselves” and to “overcome the reign of sin”. “That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his passions breed rebellion in his soul.” (CCC 908)

"Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice, favoring rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will impregnate culture and human works with a moral value." (CCC 909)

Starting in their family and workplace, citizens should take part in public life as far as possible. (Comp 410)  We are called to make the greatest possible impact, helping people to understand and live true moral values: 

caring for the poor, upholding the truth, fighting corruption and excessive inequality, respect for life and human dignity, support for marriage and the family, working for the common good, reverence for human sexuality, support for religion, social justice, respecting rights and freedom, promoting virtue, care for the environment, and the social principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. Stress should be given to a “hierarchy of values, which subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.” (CCC 1886)  With our zeal, all these should fill up the community, media, university and government. And we do so with secular and scientific reasoning, as they are all truths of the natural law that will surely make human life flourish.

Download the one-page Executive Summary here for mass distribution.  

 
Note: These one-page leaflets have started going viral around the world. Leaflets were posted in the website of the Archdiocese of Westminster in London ("The Mother Church of England") and  in the Corpus Christi Parish in Canada, in Kenya and in Macau. To get the full collection, please see this:  One Page Leaflets for New Evangelization Starting to Go Viral!