“…we are called to direct society to the pursuit of the common good and, with this purpose in mind, to persevere in consolidating its political and social order, its fabric of relations, its human goals.” (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, no. 66) The first incident involves one of my children who voted for the very first time in the Presidential election in 2012. As I showed him how to read his sampl
e ballot, I noticed he had voted for President Obama and I asked him if he was aware of what he was doing. I shared with him that he was about to vote for a candidate who actively opposes Catholic teachings (the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and the protection of the unborn). He expressed his extreme frustration and said there was no use in voting because as a Democrat he would never be able to vote for anyone since few of the candidates were supporting Catholic Core Principles. He also stated that many of his young Catholic friends were voting for the President because he supported immigration reform. Also, too many friend’s family members had been deported and none of them were supporting Governor Romney and neither would he. I explained that many Catholic immigration activists were not taking their faith into account, and I asked him to be patient until we could find candidates who supported Catholic principles and immigration reform. Consequently, he chose not to vote for either candidate. Observation: Young people want to be civically active especially because of the immigration issue, they will need options in the form of more Civic Leaders who are aligned to Catholic Core Principles. The second incident involved a Catholic candidate who wanted me to explain why the Catholic Church was against gay marriage. I had to give him sound, rational and civic arguments in defending Catholic teaching, but also I reiterated that Hispanic Catholics would inflict a political cost on public officials who actively oppose Catholic teaching, even if they support immigration reform. Observation: Catholic teachings explaining civic participation in the public arena, must be presented in concise, logical, and rational arguments which can be presented at different education levels.
