{"id":29408,"date":"2019-04-28T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capp.mystagingwebsite.com\/?page_id=29408"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:58:20","slug":"politics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/5.capp-usa.org\/es\/politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Join our Newsletter<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Catholic Social Teaching and Politics<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Right to Life<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The Right to Live in a Moral Environment<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The Right to Live in a United Family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The Right to Religious Freedom<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

The Right to Freely Establish a Family<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The Right to Work<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The Right to Develop One\u2019s Intelligence and Freedom<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cThe church does not have technical solutions to offer and does not claim \u2018to interfere in any way in the politics of states'.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0(Populorum Progressio, 13)<\/em><\/h5>\n

Pope Benedict XVI, \u200b9<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

\u201cThe Church wishes to<\/strong> help form consciences in political life<\/strong> and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic\u00a0requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly.\u201d<\/h5>\n

Pope Benedict XVI, \u200b28<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Politics Articles<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Is There a \u201cRecommended\u201d Form of Government?<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Since Pope Leo XIII\u2019s\u00a0Rerum Novarum<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in 1891, the Church \u201cpresents the organization of society according to three powers \u2013 legislative, executive and judicial\u201d; Pope St. John Paul II notes that this \u201crepresented a novelty in Church teaching\u201d at the time.\"\u00a0(Centesimus Annus, 44)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Pope St. John Paul II went on to state that:\u00a0\"To that end, it is preferable that each power be balanced by other powers<\/strong> and by other spheres of responsibility which keep it within proper bounds. This is the principle of the 'rule of law', in which the law is sovereign, and not the arbitrary will of individuals.\" (Centesimus Annus, 44)<\/em><\/a> This sounds very familiar to American ears.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Endorsement of Democracy<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Traditionally, the Church has affirmed different forms of government (monarchy, oligarchy, democracy). The key issue for the Church is not the form of government but, rather, whether the government is working for the common good.<\/p>\n

The Church now gives a preference for democracy because it permits society to collaborate more actively towards the common good.<\/strong> Pope Benedict XVI even called \u2018democracy\u2019 \u201cthe most valid historical instrument\u201d for advancing human rights and development. He went on to say democracy has proven to be an effective means of \u201cguaranteeing the future in a way worthy of man\".\u00a0(Address to Members of The Centesimus Annus Foundation)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

READ MORE<\/h5>

Perhaps the earliest \u2018endorsement of Democracy came in Pope Pius XII\u2019s 1944 Christmas radio address where he said, \u201cin our day when the activity of the state is so vast and decisive, the democratic form of government<\/b> appears to many as a postulate of nature imposed by reason itself<\/b>.\u201d (Section I)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Pius XII went on to describe the necessary relationship between truth and freedom: \u201cIf the future is to belong to democracy<\/b>, an essential part in its achievement will have to belong to the religion of Christ and to the Church, the messenger of our Redeemer\u2019s word which is to continue His mission of saving men. For she teaches and defends supernatural truths<\/b> and communicates the supernatural helps of grace in order to actuate the divinely-established<\/span> order <\/b>of beings and ends which is the ultimate foundation and directive norm of every democracy<\/b>.\u201d (Section IV)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Endorsement of Democracy<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Traditionally, the Church has affirmed different forms of government (monarchy, oligarchy, democracy). The key issue for the Church is not the form of government but, rather, whether the government is working for the common good.<\/p>\n

The Church now gives a preference for democracy because it permits society to collaborate more actively towards the common good.<\/strong> Pope Benedict XVI even called \u2018democracy\u2019 \u201cthe most valid historical instrument\u201d for advancing human rights and development. He went on to say democracy has proven to be an effective means of \u201cguaranteeing the future in a way worthy of man\".\u00a0(Address to Members of The Centesimus Annus Foundation)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

READ MORE<\/h3>

Perhaps the earliest \u2018endorsement of Democracy came in Pope Pius XII\u2019s 1944 Christmas radio address where he said, \u201cin our day when the activity of the state is so vast and decisive, the\u00a0democratic form of government<\/b>\u00a0appears to many as a postulate of nature\u00a0imposed by reason itself<\/b>.\u201d\u00a0(Section I)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Pius XII went on to describe the necessary relationship between truth and freedom: \u201cIf the future is to belong to democracy<\/b>, an essential part in its achievement will have to belong to the religion of Christ and to the Church, the messenger of our Redeemer\u2019s word which is to continue His mission of saving men. For she teaches and defends\u00a0supernatural truths<\/b>\u00a0and communicates the supernatural helps of grace in order\u00a0to actuate the\u00a0divinely-established<\/span>\u00a0order\u00a0<\/b>of beings and ends which is the\u00a0ultimate foundation and directive norm of every democracy<\/b>.\u201d\u00a0(Section IV)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Politics is Charity<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

As Pope St. John Paul II said in his last encyclical, \u201cI wish to reaffirm this forcefully\u2026that Christians will feel more obliged than ever not to neglect their duties as citizens in this world. Theirs is the task of contributing with the light of the Gospel to the building of a more human world, a world fully in harmony with God's plan.\u201d (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 20)<\/a><\/p>\n

Participation in politics is a Christian obligation: \u201cWe, Christians, cannot \u2018play Pilate\u2019 and wash our hands...We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity<\/strong> because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Francis recognizes that this \u201cis not easy; politics has become too tainted...Why has it become tainted? Because Christians have not participated in politics with an evangelical spirit? ...To work for the common good is a Christian duty, and many times the way in which to work towards it is through politics.\u201d (Address to Students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

READ MORE<\/h3>

Charity is a Theological virtue: it is required of everyone<\/strong> and involves engaging, directly, those around us who are in need.\u00a0 The Church makes important points about the \u200bpractice of charity<\/em>\u200b. She even warns us that \u200bsocial justice<\/em>\u200b alone, without corporal and spiritual works of mercy, results in a cold, legalistic public square \u2013 a society lacking true solidarity. \u201cWhen animated by charity, commitment to the common good has greater worth than a merely secular and political stand would have.\u201d\u00a0(Pope Benedict XVI, 7)<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Charity<\/em>\u200b can be expressed in various ways: \u200bcorporal works of mercy; spiritual works of mercy;<\/em>\u200b or, implementing the tenets of Catholic social teaching<\/em>\u200b in society. This inaccurate labeling (of corporal works of mercy as synonymous with the practice of Catholic social teaching)<\/em> obscures our recognition that, in charity, we have a similarly binding requirement to confront improper and even sinful social \u200bstructures<\/em>\u200b \u2013 the domain of Catholic social teaching.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Politics Articles<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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FAQs<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Q: Is The Church\u2019s support of democracy unconditional?<\/h3>

A: No.\u00a0Catholic social teaching insists on the dignity of each person, made in the visible image of God, and enjoying rights no individual, group or even nation can violate \u2013 \u201cnot even the majority of a social body\u201d. So, while endorsing democratic systems,\u00a0Catholic social teaching insists that \u201cauthentic democracy\u201d is possible only in a state ruled by law and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person.<\/span>\u00a0(Pope St. John Paul II, 46)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy succeeds only to the extent that it is based on truth and a correct understanding of the human person.\"\u00a0(Pope Benedict XVI, Address To the Bishops of the Episcopal Conference Of Canada-Ontario, September 8, 2006)<\/a>\u00a0The Holy Father goes on to say \u201cCatholic involvement in political life can not compromise that principle\u201d.\u00a0(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life Rome, November 24, 2002, 3)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Q: What are human rights on which a state must be ordered?<\/h3>

A: Much like Pope Leo XIII identifies a list of workers\u2019 rights, Pope St. John Paul II identifies the most important human rights on which a democracy must be ordered in (Centesimus Annus, 47)<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n