|
|
 News |
Book of Hope |
Links |
4th Day |
Home |
The U.S. bishops’ Pastoral on Civic
Responsibility
in condensed form
One of our greatest blessings in the United States is our right and
responsibility to participate in civic life. The Constitution
protects the right of individuals and of religious bodies to speak out
without governmental interference, endorsement or sanction. It is increasingly apparent
that major public issues have clear moral dimensions and that religious values have
significant public consequences. Our nation is enriched and our tradition of pluralism
enhanced when religious groups
contribute to the debate over the policies that guide the nation.
As bishops, it is not only our right as citizens but our responsibility as religious teachers to speak out on the moral dimensions of public life.
Catholics are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society and to test public life by the moral wisdom anchored in Scripture and consistent with the best of our nation's founding ideals. Our moral framework does not easily fit the categories of right or left, Democrat or Republican. Our responsibility is to measure every party and platform by how its agenda touches human life and dignity.
In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. Every believer is called to faithful citizenship, to become an informed, active and responsible participant in the political process.
Challenges to believers
Our nation has been blessed with great freedom, vibrant democratic traditions, unprecedented economic strengths, abundant natural resources and a generous and religious people. Yet not all is right with our nation. Our prosperity does not reach far enough. Our culture does not lift us up; instead it may bring us down in moral terms. Signs of the challenges surround us: abortion, poverty (especially among youth), violence, scandal, intense partisanship. All of these things destroy the lives and dignity of countless thousands.
This new millennium requires a new kind of politics, focused more on
moral principles than on the latest polls, more on the needs of the poor and vulnerable
than the contributions of the rich and powerful, more on the pursuit of the common good
than the demands of special interests. As Catholics and as voters, this is not an easy
time for faithful citizenship. Faithful citizens not only consistently participate in
public life; they are disciples who view these responsibilities through the eyes
of faith and bring their moral convictions to their civic life.
Sometimes it seems few candidates and no party fully reflect our
values. But now is not a time for retreat. The new millennium should be an opportunity for
renewed participation. We must challenge all parties and every candidate to defend human
life and dignity, to pursue greater justice and peace, to uphold family life and to
advance the common
good.
What Catholics offer
Catholic teaching offers a consistent set of moral principles for
assessing issues, platforms and campaigns. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we start
with the dignity of the human person. Our teaching calls us to protect human life from
conception to natural death, to defend the poor and vulnerable, and to work toward a more
just society and a more
peaceful world. No polls or focus groups can release us from the
responsibility to speak up for the voiceless, to act in accord with our moral convictions.
The Catholic community also offers its own firsthand experience. Through our many Catholic institutions we have broad experience serving those in need. We know the needs of the poor.
Finally, the Catholic community is large and diverse. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We are members of every race, come from every ethnic background and live in urban, rural and suburban communities. We are CEO's and migrant farm workers, senators and persons on public assistance, business owners and union members. But we are all called to a common commitment to protect human life and stand with those who are poor and vulnerable.
Thus, we bishops wish to suggest some issues which we believe are important in the national debate.
Protecting human life
Human life is a gift from God, sacred and inviolable. This is the teaching that calls us to protect and respect every human life from conception until natural death. We urge Catholics and others to promote laws and social policies that protect human life and promote human dignity to the maximum degree possible. Laws that legitimize abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia are profoundly unjust and wrong.
We support constitutional protection for unborn human life, as well as legislative efforts to oppose abortion and euthanasia. We encourage the passage of laws and programs that promote childbirth and adoption over abortion and assist pregnant women and children. We support aid to those who are sick and dying by encouraging effective palliative care. We call on government and medical researchers to base their decisions regarding biotechnology and human experimentation on respect for the inherent dignity and inviolability of human life from its very beginning.
The Church has always sought to have conflicts resolved by peaceful means between and among nations. Church teaching calls on us to avoid and to limit the effects of war in many different ways. Thus, direct and intentional attacks on civilians in war are never morally acceptable, nor is the use of weapons of mass destruction or other weapons that cannot distinguish between civilians and soldiers.
War, genocide and starvation threaten the lives of millions throughout
the world. We support programs and policies that promote peace and sustainable development
for the world's poor. We urge our nation to join the treaty to ban anti-personnel land
mines and to promptly ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as a step toward much
deeper cuts
in and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. We further urge our
nation to take more serious steps to reduce its own disproportionate role in the
scandalous global trade in arms.
Society has a right and duty to defend itself against violent crime and a duty to reach out to victims of crime. Yet our nation's increasing reliance on the death penalty is extremely troubling. It has become clear, as Pope John Paul II has taught, that inflicting the penalty of death is cruel and unnecessary.
Promoting family life
We must strive to make the needs and concerns of families a central
national priority. Marriage as God intended it provides the basic foundation for family
life and needs to be protected in the face of the many pressures working to undermine it.
Tax, workplace, divorce and welfare policies must be designed to help families stay
together and to
reward responsibility and sacrifice for children. Just wages should be
paid to those who support their families. Special efforts should be taken to aid poor
families.
The education of children is a fundamental parental responsibility. All parents—the first, most important educators—should have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to choose the education best suited to the needs of their children, including private and religious schools.
Communications, whether print media, radio, television or Internet,
play a growing role in society and family life, shaping the values of our culture. We
support regulation that limits the concentration of control over these media; disallows
quick sales of media outlets that attract irresponsible owners seeking a quick profit; and
opens these outlets to a greater variety of program sources, including religious
programming. We support the development of the TV rating system and of the
technology that assists parents' TV supervision.
The Internet, since it offers vastly expanded capabilities for learning and communicating, should be available to all students regardless of income. Because it poses a serious danger by giving easy access to pornographic and violent material, we support vigorous enforcement of existing obscenity and child pornography laws with regard to material on the Internet, as well as efforts by the industry to develop technology that assists parents, schools and libraries in blocking out unwanted material.
Pursuing social justice
In accordance with God's plan for human society, we are called to
commit ourselves to protect and promote the life and dignity of the human person and the
common good of society as a whole. We must always remember God's special concern for the
poor and vulnerable and make their needs our first priority in public life. We are
concerned about
a wide range of social issues:
Economic issues. Church teaching on economic justice insists that
economic decisions and institutions be judged on whether they protect or undermine the
dignity of the human person. We support policies that create jobs with adequate pay and
decent working conditions, increase the minimum wage so it becomes a living wage and
overcome barriers
to equal pay and employment for women and minorities.
Labor. We reaffirm the Church's traditional teaching in support of the right of all workers to choose to organize and bargain collectively and to exercise these rights without reprisal. We also affirm Church teaching on the importance of economic freedom, initiative and the right to private property, which provide resources to pursue the common good.
Poverty. Efforts to provide for the basic financial needs of poor families and children must enhance their lives and dignity. The goal should be reducing poverty and dependency, not simply cutting resources and programs. We seek approaches that promote greater responsibility and offer concrete steps to help families leave poverty behind.
Social Security. We are also concerned about the income security of low- and average-wage workers and their families, when they retire, become disabled or die. In many cases, women are particularly disadvantaged. Any proposal to change Social Security must provide a decent and reliable income for these workers and those who depend on them.
Health care. Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life and a fundamental human right. We support health care that is affordable and accessible to all.
Housing. The lack of safe, affordable housing is a national crisis. We support a recommitment to the national pledge of "safe and affordable housing" for all and effective policies that will increase the supply of quality housing and preserve, maintain and improve existing housing.
Farm policy. The first priority for agriculture policy should be food security for all. Food is not like any other commodity: It is necessary for life itself. Our support for food stamps, the Women, Infant and Children program (WIC) and other programs that directly benefit poor and low-income people is based on our belief that no one should face hunger in a land of plenty. Farmers deserve a decent return for their labor. Our priority concern for the poor calls us to advocate especially for the needs of farm workers whose pay is often inadequate and whose housing and working conditions are often deplorable. We also urge that public policies support the practice of sustainable agriculture and careful stewardship of the earth and its natural resources.
Environment. Care for the earth and for the environment is a "moral challenge" in the words of Pope John Paul II (1990 World Day of Peace Message). We support policies that protect the land, water and air we share, and encourage environmental protection, sustainable development and greater justice in sharing the burdens of environmental neglect and recovery.
Immigration. The gospel mandate to love our neighbor and welcome the stranger leads the Church to care for immigrants, both documented and undocumented.
Violence. This concern leads us to promote a greater sense of moral responsibility, to advocate a reduction in violence in the media, to support gun safety measures and reasonable restrictions on access to assault weapons and handguns and to oppose the death penalty.
Discrimination. Our society must also combat discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity or age. Such discrimination constitutes a grave injustice and an affront to human dignity. We support judiciously administered affirmative-action programs as tools to overcome discrimination and its continuing effects.
Practicing global solidarity
Since the human family extends across the globe, our responsibility to promote the common good requires that we do whatever we can to address human problems wherever they arise around the world. As a very wealthy and powerful nation, the United States has a responsibility to help the poor and vulnerable, promote global economic prosperity and environmental responsibility, foster stable and peaceful relations among nations and uphold human rights in the world community.
We urge the United States to provide debt relief to overcome poverty in the poorest countries, which are shackled by a debt burden that forces them to divert scarce resources from health, education and other essential services.
We should play a leading role in helping to alleviate global poverty through foreign aid programs that support sustainable development and provide new economic opportunities for the poor without promoting population control and through trade policies that are tied to worker protection, human rights and environmental concerns.
More concerted efforts to ensure the promotion of religious liberty and other basic human rights need to be an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. We also need more consistent support for the United Nations, other international bodies and international law.
Persons fleeing persecution should be provided safe haven in other countries, including the United States. We urge a more generous immigration and refugee policy based on providing temporary or permanent safe haven for those in need.
The U.S. should take an affirmative role, in collaboration with the international community, in addressing regional conflicts. Assistance in resolving these conflicts must include a willingness to support international peacekeeping, as well as long-term post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
Recommitting ourselves
Building peace, combating poverty and despair and protecting freedom and human rights are not only moral imperatives; they are wise national priorities. Given its enormous power and influence in world affairs, the United States has a special responsibility to ensure that it is a force for justice and peace beyond its borders. "Liberty and justice for all" is not only a profound national pledge; it is a worthy goal for any world leader.
We hope these reflections will contribute to a renewed political vitality in our land. We urge all citizens to register, vote and stay involved in public life, seeking the common good and renewing our democracy.
As Catholics, we can celebrate the new millennium by recommitting ourselves to carry the values of the gospel and Church teaching into the public square. As citizens, we can and must participate in the debates and choices over the values, vision and leaders that are taking our nation into the new century. This dual calling of faith and citizenship is at the heart of what it means to be a Catholic in the United States.
This condensation of Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a
New
Millennium (©1999 by U.S. Catholic Conference) is not intended to
substitute for the
entire document, but to show highlights. The entire pastoral can be read
on the
Internet at www.nccbuscc.org, or ordered in print by calling
1-800-735-USCC. All
rights reserved.
Holy Year Indulgence
Q: During the
Holy Year, why can a person receive an indulgence only for visiting some special place
like a cathedral?
A: There is a Holy Year indulgence
which can be gained by visiting special churches. Most dioceses or archdioceses have
designated several. It is possible, however, to gain an indulgence by visiting other
churches.
Some historical background
is needed to understand the Holy Year custom of visiting special churches.
The Roman Catholic teaching
on indulgences expanded after the Crusades began in 1095 A.D. At that time, only three
shrines could be visited any day of the year to obtain a plenary indulgence: the Holy
Sepulcher (Jerusalem), St. Peter’s Basilica (Rome) and Santiago de Compostela
(northwest Spain).
Francis of Assisi asked for
the same privilege for the Portiuncula, a tiny chapel he had rebuilt outside Assisi. Pope
Honorius III agreed but restricted the indulgence to the anniversary of the chapel’s
dedication (August 2). That indulgence now includes all churches.
As part of the Holy Year
celebration, Pope John Paul II has asked bishops to designate several local churches as
pilgrimage sites for people unable to travel to Rome or to the Holy Land.
A person who visits any church any
day of the year and prays before the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour can gain a plenary
indulgence, according to the 1986 Handbook of
Indulgences (Grant #3).
The person must pray the
Our Father and the Creed and go to confession and Communion several days before or after
praying before the Blessed Sacrament. The person must also pray for the pope’s
intentions.
Other actions which can
lead to a plenary indulgence include making a three-day retreat, making the Stations of
the Cross, reciting the rosary in church or with one’s family, attending a parish
mission or reading the Bible for half an hour.
Back to Top
Why Sunday and Not Saturday?
Q: What is the
basis for the Catholic Church changing the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? I need
one that is biblically based.
A: Our Christian faith is based on
the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, which happened on Easter Sunday. Jews
celebrated Saturday as the Lord’s Day. Except for Seventh-Day Adventists, most
Christians have judged it best to observe the Lord’s Day on Sunday.
Two quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church may help explain
the reason for this change. “Jesus rose from the dead ‘on the first day of the
week.’ Because it is the ‘first day,’ the day of Christ’s Resurrection
recalls the first creation. Because it is the ‘eighth day’ following the
sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection”
(#2174).
“Sunday is expressly
distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians
its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ’s Passover, Sunday
fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man’s eternal rest
in God” (#2175).
Aren’t these reasons
biblically based? The resurrection of Jesus is the key event of the New Testament. St.
Paul writes in First Corinthians: “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty is
our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (15:14).
Calendars in some European
and Asian countries indicate Monday as the first day of the week and Sunday as the seventh
day. I once found that out by assuming Day 1 on a German train schedule meant Sunday when
it really meant Monday! Many U.S. plane schedules indicate Monday as Day 1.
Our Catholic Update “Sunday Mass: Easter All
Year Long” (C0399) is a shortened version of Pope John Paul II’s 1998
apostolic letter Day of the Lord [Dies Domini] about celebrating Sunday.
The pope says that the
Christian Sunday leads “the faithful each week to ponder and live the event of
Easter, true source of the world’s salvation.”
Back to Top
0'Donnell joins US bishops in cause
LAFAYETTE - Bishop Edward O'Donnell, of Lafayette, is one of the U.S. Catholic bishops who signed a statement issued on Good Friday urging an end to capital punishment."I wish the people of the Diocese of Lafayette to be informed, that as a member of the Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Conference, I join with my brother bishops in issuing a statement concerning capital punishment," Bishop O'Donnell said.The statement reflects the most recent thought of the Church as embodied by Pope John Paul II," the bishop continued. "I am proud of the Bishops' conference for taking what is a prophetic and probably not unanimously accepted proposition and at least calling it to the attention of the people."So, even if they do not agree with it, they will give it some thought and some prayer with the idea of hearing the voice of Christ calling through his Church," Bishop O'Donnell emphasized.
VATICAN LETTER Mar-10-2000 (900 words) Backgrounder. xxxi
Mea culpa, tua culpa: Vatican hopes others inspired by apologies
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When it comes to saying, ``We're sorry,'' Pope
John Paul II has always been ahead of the
curve.
Well before the church prepared its ``Forgiveness Day'' jubilee liturgy
in March, the pope had publicly apologized for the
shortcomings of Christians through the ages, on topics ranging from
slavery to the Inquisition.
On more than 100 separate occasions during his 21-year pontificate, the
pope has asked forgiveness from groups, including
indigenous peoples, other Christian churches and women.
These expressions of regret have always been unconditional. At the same
time, some church officials wouldn't mind hearing
some apologies in return.
``The church's `mea culpa' is absolute. It isn't asking for an
exchange. But it seems to me that it also serves as a challenge to
others ... to make a similar examination of conscience,'' said Franco
Cardini, an Italian church historian.
Even the pope has wondered why the church's soul-searching has not prompted others to do the same.
``What is interesting is that it is always the Catholic Church and the
pope who ask forgiveness. Meanwhile, others remain
silent. But maybe that is the way it should be,'' he said in late 1997.
The pope was set to formally proclaim the church's responsibility for
past wrongs in a Mass March 12, following publication
of a 19,000-word theological reflection on the same topic, ``Memory and
Reconciliation.''
The media has focused on whether the pope was being specific enough in
his apology. But a look at what the pope has
already said reveals plenty of specifics:
-- On the Inquisition, the pope in 1982 referred to its ``errors of
excess,'' and on several occasions since then he has
condemned the Inquisition's use of ``intolerance and even violence in the
service of truth.''
-- On the Holocaust, in 1997 the pope expressed regret that Christians'
consciences were lulled under Nazism and that
Christians showed inadequate ``spiritual resistance'' to Nazi persecution
of the Jews. In 1998 a Vatican document on the
Shoah, the Hebrew word for the Holocaust, expressed repentance for the
same moral shortcomings.
-- On the Crusades, the pope in 1995 characterized these armed
Christian expeditions as mistakes. He praised the zeal of
medieval Crusaders, but said today we should ``give thanks to God'' that
dialogue, not recourse to weapons, was
recognized as the right way.
-- On native peoples, the pope in 1985 asked forgiveness from Africans
for the way they were treated in recent centuries.
In North America in 1984 he apologized for the ``blunders'' of
missionaries and in 1987 acknowledged that Christians were
among those who carried out the cultural oppression of native peoples and
the destruction of their way of life.
-- On ecumenism, the pope has several times called for mutual
forgiveness among separated Christian churches. In 1995, he
bluntly asked ``forgiveness, on behalf of all Catholics, for the wrongs
caused to non-Catholics in the course of history.''
-- On women, in a 1995 letter that examined in brief the historical
discrimination against women, the pope said that if ``not
just a few'' members of the church were to blame, ``for this I am truly
sorry.''
The pope has made similar pronouncements on the church's past actions
regarding slavery and racism, acquiescence to
political dictatorship, and scientific theories like those of Galileo, who
was condemned for saying Earth revolved around the
sun.
With all this and more on the record from Pope John Paul, some church
leaders are looking for company -- in a sense,
hoping that the request for forgiveness becomes ``contagious,'' in the
words of Father Bruno Forte, a theologian who helped
guide the preparation of the document on ``Memory and Reconciliation.''
The document briefly touched a nerve when it observed that the
recognition of faults has been ``for the most part one-sided''
so far.
Historian Cardini said it would be refreshing, for example, to hear
expressions of regret from the Queen of England for past
treatment of Catholics in her country, not to mention the persecutions
against church leaders carried out in various
revolutions -- in France, Spain and Mexico, for example.
``An examination of conscience -- or to use a less `Catholic' term, a
historical reflection -- could be carried out by
Protestant churches on their own conduct toward Catholics, or by (Russian)
Orthodox leaders who have in the past
supported repressive actions of the Tsarist government,'' Cardini said.
``Perhaps Muslims should also make this kind of reflection for the
various jihads (holy wars) proclaimed in the past,'' he
said. As for the present, China could start working on its apology now for
the current treatment of the Catholic Church, he
added.
Various local Catholic episcopates have followed the pope's lead on
``mea culpas'' and have stated apologies even more
forcefully. A few years ago, French bishops apologized for the
acquiescence by some church leaders to Nazi policies. More
recently, Australia's bishops issued an apology to aborigines and victims
of sex abuse by priests.
Outside the Catholic Church, a rather lone voice of apology was raised
in February by Romanian Orthodox Patriarch
Teoctist, who asked forgiveness for the concessions the church made under
communism in order to survive.
Patriarch Teoctist didn't try to shun responsibility; he said his own
personal decisions had ``made a great number of the
faithful suffer.''
The patriarch's gesture did not go unnoticed at the
Vatican, which would love to hear more of the same from other quarters.
Back to Top
|
|
News |
Topics |
Links |
4th Day |
Home |
