More Voting Catechism

What if one leading candidate is anti-abortion except in the cases of rape or incest, another leading candidate is completely pro-abortion, and a trailing candidate, not likely to win, is completely anti-abortion. Would I be obliged to vote for the candidate not likely to win?

In such a case, the Catholic voter may clearly choose to vote for the candidate not likely to win. In addition, the Catholic voter may assess that voting for that candidate might only benefit the completely pro-abortion candidate, and, precisely for the purpose of curtailing the evil of abortion, decide to vote for the leading candidate that is anti-abortion but not perfectly so. This decision would be in keeping with the words of the Pope quoted earlier.

Voting Catholic Q & A

What if none of the candidates are completely pro-life?

As Pope John Paul II explains in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), “…when it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law, an elected official, whose absolute personal opposition to procured abortion was well known, could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and morality. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects.” Logically, it follows from these words of the Pope that a voter may likewise vote for that candidate who will most likely limit the evils of abortion or any other moral evil at issue.

And...More Q & A with Fr. Torraco

If a candidate says that he is personally opposed to abortion but feels the need to vote for it under the circumstances, doesn’t this candidate’s personal opposition to abortion make it morally permissible for me to vote for him, especially if I think that his other views are the best for people, especially the poor?

A candidate for office who says that he is personally opposed to abortion but actually votes in favor of it is either fooling himself or trying to fool you.

Outside of the rare case in which a hostage is forced against his will to perform evil actions with his captors, a person who carries out an evil action such as voting for abortion performs an immoral act, and his statement of personal opposition to the moral evil of abortion is either self-delusion or a lie.

If you vote for such a candidate, you would be an accomplice in advancing the moral evil of abortion. Therefore, it is not morally permissible to vote for such a candidate for office, even, as explained in previous questions, you think that the candidate’s other views are best for the poor.

More Q & A with Fr. Torraco

If I think that a candidate who is pro-abortion has better ideas to serve the poor, and the pro-life candidate has bad ideas that will hurt the poor, why may I not vote for the candidate that has the better ideas for serving the poor?

Serving the poor is not only admirable, but also obligatory for Catholics as an exercise of solidarity. Solidarity has to do with the sharing of both spiritual and material goods, and with what the Church calls the preferential option for the poor. This preference means that we have the duty to give priority to helping those most needful, both materially and spiritually.

Beginning in the family, solidarity extends to every human association, even to the international moral order. Based on the response to a previous question, two important points must be made.

First, when it comes to the matter of determining how social and economic policy can best serve the poor, there can be a legitimate variety of approaches proposed, and therefore legitimate disagreement among voters and candidates for office.

Secondly, solidarity can never be at the price of embracing a “disqualifying issue.” Besides, when it comes to the unborn, abortion is a most grievous offense against solidarity, for the unborn are surely among society’s most needful. The right to life is a paramount issue because as Pope John Paul II says it is “the first right, on which all the others are based, and which cannot be recuperated once it is lost.”

If a candidate for office refuses solidarity with the unborn, he has laid the ground for refusing solidarity with anyone.

More on Catholic Voters with Fr. Stephen F. Torraco, PhD

If I may not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, then should it not also be true that I can’t vote for a pro-capital punishment candidate?


It is not correct to think of abortion and capital punishment as the very same kind of moral issue. On the one hand, direct abortion is an intrinsic evil, and cannot be justified for any purpose or in any circumstances. On the other hand, the Church has always taught that it is the right and responsibility of the legitimate temporal authority to defend and preserve the common good, and more specifically to defend citizens against the aggressor. This defense against the aggressor may resort to the death penalty if no other means of defense is sufficient.

The point here is that the death penalty is understood as an act of self-defense on the part of civil society. In more recent times, in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II has taught that the need for such self-defense to resort to the death penalty is “rare, if not virtually nonexistent.”

Thus, while the Pope is saying that the burden of proving the need for the death penalty in specific cases should rest on the shoulders of the legitimate temporal authority, it remains true that the legitimate temporal authority alone has the authority to determine if and when a “rare” case arises that warrants the death penalty.

Moreover, if such a rare case does arise and requires resorting to capital punishment, this societal act of self-defense would be a *morally good action* even if it does have the unintended and unavoidable evil effect of the death of the aggressor.

Thus, unlike the case of abortion, it would be morally irresponsible to rule out all such “rare” possibilities a priori, just as it would be morally irresponsible to apply the death penalty indiscriminately.

Strange Image In The Grotto

This photo was taken inside the grotto that lies at the base of Holy Family Hill. No flash was used and no light is inside the stone structure. What is it and how did it appear like this with no light source?

Free Will...Our Weakest Link

Besides Our Lord's gift of Himself on the cross, the greatest gift man has been given is his free will. God loves us enough to let us decide for ourselves. He wants us to decide to choose Him...but He won't make us do it. He wants us to choose freely.

We have all been given the sacraments to help keep us from becoming weak in our state of freedom. Unfortunately, too many of us have abandoned the sacraments altogether. That is why New York has to "leave the lights on" for confessions in an attempt to bring people back to this particular sacrament. Now, what will they suggest to bring people back to the pews on Sunday? Has anyone else noticed a drop in attendance...what happened to the weeks immediately following 9/11/01? Are some of us feeling bullet-proof again?

In my own experience and from Her own messages at Medjugorje a few years later, I think Our Lady has been calling attention to the fact that we are weak in our freedom because we have, as a majority, abandoned the training regimen which was given to us to keep us strong in our freedom. I hate to say it, but we have, collectively, abandoned these sacraments, our armor, which was tailor made to fit each of us perfectly and protect us from evil and keep us
strong in our freedom...the freedom to willfully choose God.

If you have not done so already, take some time to read the messages of Our Lady of America or at least watch the short video presentation OLA on this blog. You will see that all of the messages from Medjugorje are rooted in OLA which is, in turn, rooted in Fatima and Lourdes.

Our Lady hasn't given up on us, so please don't give up on Her request. Be a positive influence for friends and family...invite them to go to confession with you. I can assure you, once you get them there, they will be happy you cared enough to ask them. They will know you love them....just as She loves us all...all of Her children.