Doctrinal Note on Some Questions
Regarding the Participation
of Catholics in Political Life

A Synopsis

What the document is: This "Doctrinal Note" has been issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to address authoritatively some ambiguous positions and questionable opinions on the relationship between ethics and politics. This Note was approved by Pope John Paul II who ordered its publication for the Universal Church.

To whom the document is addressed: This Doctrinal Note is addressed to three groups of people:

• To the Bishops of the Catholic Church who have the responsibility of forming the consciences of the members of the Church;
  
• To Catholic politicians who are active in political life by profession; and
  
• To all lay members of the faithful whose Baptism calls them also to participate in the political life of democratic societies.

The teaching of the Doctrinal Note is presented in five sections.

1. A Constant Teaching
   
   
   1. [Guided by a Christian conscience, Catholics are obliged to promote the common good by participating in public life.]
   
   
   • Christians have a commitment [by reason of Baptism] to be active in the world. One way of being active is "involvement in political life." (I.1.1)
     
   • With the growth of democracies, more people are able to participate in political life to benefit the common good by "voting for lawmakers and government officials, and in other ways." (I.1.2)
     
   • The laity have a proper task of "infusing the temporal order with Christian values" while respecting "the nature and rightful autonomy of that order." The laity fulfill this task successfully when "guided by a Christian conscience." (I.1.3)
     
   • This Note seeks "only to recall some principles proper to the [well-formed] Christian conscience" on this issue, because of "ambiguities or questionable positions in recent times." (I.1.4)
   
   
2. Central points in the current cultural and political debate
   
   
   2. [The signs of the times.]
      
      
      • Great strides have taken place in civil society today, but real dangers exist. (II.2.1)
        
      • There is a new relativism in our culture today that espouses "ethical pluralism" as "the very condition for democracy." This is the doctrine that every point of view is of equal value and truth and that there is "no moral law rooted in the nature of the human person, which must govern our understanding of man, the common good and the state." (II.2.2)
      
      
   3. [Legitimate political differences versus ethical relativism.]
      
      
      • The relativism in question here "has nothing to do with the legitimate freedom of Catholic citizens to choose among the various political opinions [e.g. in economics, foreign policy, etc.] that are compatible with faith and the natural moral law." (II.3.1)
        
      • The legitimacy of the presence of a plurality of political parties to address the contingent dimensions of political life, in which Catholics can rightly participate, should not be confused with an ambiguous pluralism. [While it is the right and duty of Catholics to attend to the contingencies of the political order (e.g., economic theory, foreign policy), this activity must always be based moral principles and essential values.] (II.3.2)
        
      • Democracy is successful only when "it is based on a correct understanding of the human person." (II.3.3)
      
      
   4. [The obligation of all Catholics to Catholic Doctrine.]
      
      
      • In the face of scientific progress and legislative proposals that violate human life, "Catholics...have the right and the duty to recall society to a deeper understanding of human life and to the responsibility of everyone in this regard." Catholic politicians have a graver and clearer obligation here. (II.4.1)
        
      • There is "an integral unity" to the Catholic doctrine on faith and morals. Consequently, "A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church's social doctrine does not exhaust one's responsibility towards the common good." [In short, a "well-formed Christian conscience" does not allow one to pick and choose particular elements of Catholic doctrine, exclusive of others, in promoting the common good.] (II.4.2)
        
      • The above is especially true "of fundamental and inalienable ethical demands" concerning "the integral good of the human person." This is the case with the person's (and the embryo's) right to life. "Analogously," this is also the case for the protection and promotion of the family, the parents' freedom to educate their children, society's right to protect minors, the right to religious freedom, the fostering of a just economy and the work of peace. (II.4.3)
   
   
3. Principles of Catholic doctrine on the autonomy of the temporal order and on pluralism.
   
   
   5. [The Divine versus the natural moral law.]
      
      
      • The "ethical precepts" that form the moral teaching of the Catholic Church are "rooted in human nature itself and belong to the natural moral law." One does not have to profess the Catholic faith to know these truths; natural reason can and should discover them on its own. (III.5.1)
      
      
      
   6. [The rightful autonomy of the participation of lay Catholics in politics.]
      
      
      • While there is a proper distinction between the "political or civil sphere" and "that of the Church," the exercise of one's conscience in recognizing moral truth and in promoting the common good is not "confessionalism" or an improper intrusion of the Church into the secular domain. [In short, it is false for a Catholic or anyone else to suggest that in promoting the ethical truths of the natural law one is promoting Catholicism in a "confessional" or denominational way.] (III.6.1)
        
      • The search for and defense of moral truths is the "right and duty" of all citizens. "The fact that some of these truths may also be taught by the Church does not lessen the political legitimacy or the rightful ‘autonomy' of the contribution of those citizens who are committed to them." [The "autonomy" spoken of here refers to the human person's ability to know moral truth independently of religion.] (III.6.2)
        
      • The Church's teaching that there are natural moral truths that obligate does not "eliminate the freedom of opinion of Catholics regarding contingent questions." Neither is the social doctrine of the Church "an intrusion into the government of individual countries." (III.6.3)
        
      • Those who would deny Christians who exercise their conscience an active role in political life are "guilty of a form of intolerant secularism," opening themselves to the denial of "the possibility of natural ethics itself." Moral anarchy would result. (III.6.4)
   
   
4. Considerations regarding particular aspects
   
   
   7. [The urgency of reclaiming the Catholic tradition of moral thinking for political life.]
      
      
      • In recent years, some Catholic organizations and periodicals in various countries have misunderstood the principles explicated here and have contradicted fundamental moral law or at least rendered it ambiguous "by misinterpreting the idea of political autonomy enjoyed by Catholics." (IV.7.1)
        
      • The Catholic Tradition has much to offer the societies of today in building and strengthening modern culture. The fulfillment of this task by Catholics in political life is urgent, and one in which Catholics should feel no inferiority. (IV.7.2)
        
      • Given a well-informed conscience, the Catholic contribution to the common good is reasoned (guided by truth) and not "utopian" (guided by imagined idealities). (IV.7.3)
        
      • There is no authentic freedom without the truth. Freedom without truth is license and destructive of society. (IV.7.4)
      
      
   8. [A clarification on freedom of conscience and religious freedom.]
      
      
      • Freedom of conscience and religious freedom are based on "the ontological [the very nature of the] dignity of the human person and not on a non-existent equality among religions or cultural systems of human creation." (IV.8.1)
   
   
5. Conclusion
   
   
   9. [Catholics, by their participation in political life, bring faith to life and Gospel to culture, as directed by the Second Vatican Council.]
      
      
      • Though Christians know this world is transitory, the Council teaches clearly that Catholics have a right and duty to safeguard and promote the common good in society. (V.9.1)

This "Synopsis" was developed as a resource by Staff of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was reviewed by Bishop Donald W. Trautman, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine, and is approved for publication by the undersigned.

Msgr. William P. Fay
General Secretary




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Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000