Bishop Neary: Seek to promote and practice civility

I remember a song from 1970 by the group Brotherhood of Man, titled “United We Stand,” whose refrain spoke deeply to me, even as a 7-year-old boy: “For united we stand, divided we fall, and if our backs should ever be against the wall, we’ll be together, together, you and I.” This refrain is embodied in the Pledge of Allegiance that many of us recited every day at school: “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Like you, I worry that we Americans are increasingly divided, polarized and segregated by our political leanings. It is weakening our social bonds and we are losing a sense of the common good. How often I hear that family members and friends no longer communicate because of heated arguments over politics. People, including professed Christians, freely speak of presidential candidates and other politicians with words full of vitriol.

As Catholics, we are invited by the Gospel and our Catholic social and moral teaching to see others and to see issues not primarily through the lens of a political party but through the eyes of faith. No political party will ever fully embody the demands of the Gospel. The kingdom of God, after all, is not of this world. Still, we Christians must be leaven in society to bring about a more just social order and to fortify the common good.

The first guiding principle for a Christian in any arena is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that includes everyone, including loving our enemies. This quote from Catherine Doherty, captures this best: “Let us be done with being anti-anybody. Let us become pro-Christ and pro-love! Let us stop talking against this person and that, this nation and that. Let us begin to live Christianity!” As Christians, one way that we love our neighbor is by participating in public life to promote the common good.

It is important that we take the necessary steps to have a well-formed conscience before casting our votes. We may vote as followers of a specific party but we must remember that first and foremost we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and that our faith and the wisdom that flows from it must guide us.

To that end, we should meditate and act upon these principles from Catholic social teaching: to protect life and uphold the dignity of every human being, to advance the common good and to make a preferential option for the poor. It calls us to live by the principle of solidarity, which means to recognize others as our brothers and sisters and to actively work for their good. It also calls us to be better stewards of planet earth.

I also strongly encourage you to read “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” published by the U.S. bishops. To quote from this inspired document, “As Catholics, we are led to raise questions for political life other than those that concentrate on individual, material well-being. Our focus is not on party affiliation, ideology, economics or even competence and capacity to perform duties, as important as such issues are. Rather, we focus on what protects or threatens the dignity of every human life.”

For our part, we should always seek to promote and practice civility. It is important to stay informed on important public policy issues but also to practice charity whenever discussing or debating our views with others. This is essential to the witness we offer as Catholic citizens: How we dialogue and debate should be a model for others to follow.

Our parishes and ACCs, along with other Church organizations, should avoid partisan political activities or endorsing particular political candidates or parties, and should only use election-related and “faithful citizenship” materials approved by the diocese, the Minnesota Catholic Conference or the USCCB.

Despite the worrisome and unpredictable political landscape, let us be propelled and guided by our faith to work together with people of goodwill for the common good of our land and her people. We should not hesitate to get out and vote, to communicate our concerns to elected officials and, for some, to run for office or to work within our existing political parties. After all, our work as faithful citizens doesn’t end on Election Day. Every day we must do our part to promote unity, goodwill, solidarity, and liberty and justice for all.

Yours in Christ,

+Bishop Patrick M. Neary, C.S.C.

Bishop Neary is the 10th bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota.