Messages from local Church leadership

Recent Messages:

8 September 2020
Iowa bishops release "Faithful Citizenship for Iowa Catholics" urging the faithful to inform their consciences and get involved in the political process 

• Download “Faithful Citizenship for Iowa Catholics”
• Find more Faithful Citizenship resources
• Learn more about the issues at the Iowa Catholic Conference website

Messages from previous election cycles:

By Archbishop Michael Jackels
December 3, 2015

In response to a recent request to speak on Catholic social teaching, I spoke on our right to vote.

For every right there is a corresponding duty. And so we also have a duty to vote. The Catholic Church even speaks of a moral obligation to vote.

We also have a duty to inform ourselves about issues so as to vote conscientiously. Everyone guides his or her choices by something. For Catholics, that something should be the teachings of Christ and his church.

Two teachings in particular are meant to impact all aspects of an individual believer’s life, which in turn should impact all aspects of public life.

The first is respect for human life and dignity from womb to tomb, as they say. The second is a commitment to the common good, where individual well-being is linked to and personal sacrifices are made for the good of the whole society.

These teachings lead us to acknowledge that everyone has a right to what is needed to live in dignity: productive work, fair wages, food, shelter, education, health care, protection from harm, and the right to migrate when these things are unavailable in one’s homeland – we might disagree about how people access these things, but not about whether all people have a right to them.

And fundamental to all human rights is the right to life. If we don’t defend the right to life, advocating for other human rights doesn’t make sense. Respect for human life and dignity and a commitment to the common good is a case of both/and, not either/or.

These teachings also lead us to acknowledge that we have a duty to provide for and protect people when they are unable to provide for or protect themselves.

This responsibility is greatest when others are least able to do for themselves, for example, a child in the womb or a refugee. Our responsibility may decrease as the other person’s ability increases, but it never goes away entirely.

Back to voting: what to do when, with a conscience rightly informed by the teachings of Christ and the church, there is no candidate that lines up with both respect for human life and dignity and the common good?

There will never be a perfect candidate, but that’s no excuse not to vote, which would let some other force or voice fill the vacuum left by opting out. Rather, choose the candidate who will do the least harm, or has potential to do the most good.

The right and duty to cast an informed vote is an important Catholic social teaching and a great way for us to have an impact of all aspects of public life.

Recommended reading: The U.S. Bishops’ document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

By the Catholic bishops of Iowa
July 15, 2016

The Iowa Catholic Conference (ICC) has released its “Faithful Citizenship for Iowa Catholics” flier for distribution in advance of the 2016 general election. The Catholic Church does not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties. However, it contributes to the political process by encouraging Catholics to take action in the political arena with a properly-formed conscience.

“The defense of human life and dignity must begin with the fundamental right to life from natural conception to natural death. From there it extends to fair access to productive work and fair wages, food and shelter, education and health care, protection from harm and freedom to emigrate,” the statement reads. “All people have a right to these, and therefore we have a duty to help protect life and to provide for the common good.”

The bishops say that civic engagement is a moral obligation and we have a duty to vote if we are able. “We also have a duty to inform ourselves about issues and vote conscientiously … Our choice of how to vote in every instance must follow our best understanding of what is the good for all, following a time of reflection and prayer,” the statement says.

The flier includes a list of questions that all are encouraged to ask of candidates for office. The flier also refers to a reflection on leadership from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. It calls upon leaders to accept the “common good” as the true goal of their work. “In this perspective, responsible authority also means authority exercised with those virtues that make it possible to put power into practice as service (patience, modesty, moderation, charity, efforts to share).”

The four dioceses of Iowa and the Iowa Catholic Conference will distribute the flier during the coming weeks. The flier and other resources are available on this page. The ICC has a Facebook page and can be followed on Twitter @iacatholicconf. Resources from the U.S. Catholic bishops are available at www.faithfulcitizenship.org.

The Iowa Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic bishops of Iowa. Its Board of Directors includes the Catholic bishops of Iowa and lay people, priests, deacons and religious sisters. The diocesan bishops of Iowa are Dubuque Archbishop Michael Jackels; Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City; Bishop Martin Amos of Davenport, and Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines. Bishop Pates is the chair of the Iowa Catholic Conference board.