| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| Voting for a Mormon Presidential Candidate? | Carol | Wednesday, February 6, 2008 |
Question: First, I just want to thank you for always providing straight, orthodox answers about Catholic spirituality. Good spiritual directors are often overscheduled or difficult to find, so I am especially glad to have this resource for questions that might also be of interest to others. I have yet another question for you, this time asking for your opinion about a political issue. My understanding is that voting for a pro-choice candidate would be materially cooperating in the intrinsic evil of abortion unless one has a grave reason to otherwise support the candidate (I can't imagine what that would be.) In early stages of this year's presidential race, one of the only two completely pro-life candidates professes to be a devout Mormon. Do you think voting for a Mormon presidential candidate would be giving legitimacy to or endorsing a sect that is readily known for trying to lure Christians away from the Church? I truly don't want to be prejudiced against Mormons, as they are generally nice people of high moral character. But I keep thinking about what a public relations coup it would be for the Mormon (LDS) Church to have one of their members take office! This church agressively recruits new members and rarely share the more bizarre details of their theology until the recruit is well indoctrinated. Given these problems with the LDS church, do you think voting for a Mormon candidate would be, as with the abortion issue, materially cooperating with the spread and growing popularity of false doctrine? Or am I perhaps being narrowminded and alarmist? I can't seem to find guidance on this from the Catholic Church. Thank you so much for your opinion and help! |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM
Dear Carol: I do not get involved in political matters much anymore. The political office of President of the United States is not a religious office and thus there is no religious requirement or disqualification based upon religion. As Catholics our obligations surround the moral issues, not the religious affiliations of the candidates. If a Mormon Candidate, a Buddhist Candidate, an anti-Catholic Baptist Candidate proposed morally acceptable policies, then it is possible for us as Catholics to vote for them. If they propose morally unacceptable policies then we have an obligation not to vote for them. There are some issues that are non-negotiable for Catholics. There is no way a Catholic can support abortion, contraception, morning-after pill, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, homosexual marriage, and human cloning. Other issues, such as the death penalty, foreign policy, etc. may be debated. Here is a Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics. God Bless,
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