The following is taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the laity’s participation in social life. Please watch the video: Test of Fire: Election 2012 Remember your vote does matter . . .
“It is a part of the Church’s mission “to pass moral judgements even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it. The means, the only means, she may use are those which are in accord with the Gospel and the welfare of all men according to the diversity of times and circumstances.” (2245)
“It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow citizens. Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. . . .” (2442.)
“Every human community needs an authority to govern it. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity of the state. Its role is to ensure as far as possibile the common good of the society.” (1898)
“The duty of obedience reqires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is desevered, with gratitude and good-will (1900). If authority belongs to the order established by God, “the choice of the political regime and the appointment of rulers are left to the free decision of the citizens.” The diversity of political regimes is morally acceptable, provided they serve the legitimate good of the communities that adopt them. Regimes whose nature is contrary to the natural law, to the public order, and to the fundamental rights of persons cannot achieve the common good of the nations on which they have been imposed. (1901) Authority does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself. It must not behave in despotic manner, but must act for the common good as a “moral force based on freedom and a sense of responsibility”:
A human law has the chracter of law to the extent that it accords with right reason, and thus derives from the eternal law. Insofar as it falls short of right reason it is said to be an unjust law, and thus has not so much the nature of law as of a kind of violence. (1902)
“Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in conscience. In such a case ” authority breaks down completely and resuslts in shameful abuse.” (1903)
“It is preferable that each power be balanced by other powers 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 men.” (1904)
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