"We
encourage all citizens, particularly Catholics, to embrace their
citizenship not merely as a duty and privilege, but as an opportunity
meaningfully to participate in building the Culture of Life. Every voice
matters in the public forum. Every vote counts. Every act of
responsible citizenship is an exercise of significant individual power."
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics, #34
It is with great urgency that I ask you to vote this coming election day.
We need moral and ethical leaders who will fully support the protection
of traditional marriage and family instituted by God, uphold the
inviolable dignity of every person from conception to natural death and
heroically stand against the aggressive assault on our religious
freedoms.
To
simply cast a vote for civic duty's sake isn't enough. Voting for
individuals and laws must always be based on Catholic moral teaching and
natural law. Having a well-formed conscience means holding to
permanent, non-negotiable moral and ethical principles that affirm a
Culture of Life. Essentially, preserving and establishing the right to
life supersedes all other rights; all other natural rights depend upon
the existence of life and do not take precedence as explained by Pope
Saint John Paul II:
"The
inviolability of the person, which is a reflection of the absolute
inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in
the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is
justly made on behalf of human rights -- for example, the right to
health, to home, to work, to family, to culture -- is false and illusory
if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the
condition of all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum
determination . . ." (The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, Christifideles laici, #38).
We
are called as citizens to vote by the light of Faith, making sound
judgments regarding each candidate's stance on key moral issues.
Although a heavy responsibility, your vote - cast with a well-formed
Catholic conscience - can have an impact on the direction of our
country, and even how we deal with other countries. We must exercise our
right to vote, otherwise we become part of the complacent majority that
allow the sin of legalized abortion to continue robbing the most basic
of human rights from our nation's most innocent and vulnerable of
citizens.
Granted,
we must do more than vote in accordance with Church teaching, we must
also take every possible opportunity to defend life and family in our
own communities, and in whatever sphere we have influence. But we must
vote, and we must use our vote well.
"A
well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a
political program or individual law that contradicts the fundamental
contents of faith and morals" (Congregation of the Doctrine of
Faith: Doctrinal Notes on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of
Catholics in Political Life, #4).
Therefore, I propose three actions leading up to this coming election day, November 4.
Pray for the election of leaders.For
weeks now, our staff members have prayed after every Mass for the
intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the defense of life and family
during this election. Our internal prayer campaign asks for the
conversion of all members of Congress and those working in the U.S.
government, who are promoting the Culture of Death here in our country
and around the world. Please pray in unity with Our Lady, the patroness
of the unborn and HLI, for the election of leaders who will humbly and
justly serve our great nation. I encourage you to share our campaign
prayer in English and Spanish with your friends and family.
Be informed about the candidates and their positions.To
know the candidates and their positions, take full advantage of
Catholic voter guides, an essential tool for casting informed votes that
advocate for moral and ethical candidates or legislation. I highly
recommend purchasing and sharing the Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics, published by our friends at Catholic Answers. Here is an online version which should be read and shared with as many voters as possible before election day.
Vote with a well-formed conscience that is unconditionally pro-life.
We
are responsible for the formation of our consciences and for choosing
as wisely as possible from among the laws and candidates on our ballots.
Whenever possible, we must vote for candidates who stand with the
Church on ending abortion, defending traditional marriage, and opposing
euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.
Some
choices will be tough to make, but a voter with a well-formed Christian
conscience will choose wisely in order to limit the potential harm
caused by laws and candidates who support destructive anti-life
policies. A person's well-formed conscience is "ever calling him to love
and to do what is good and to avoid evil" (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, #1776).
This
is exactly why our country's upcoming elections are too crucial to
dismiss. I encourage you to go to the polls next Tuesday, November 4,
and cast your vote based on the "non-negotiable ethical principles, which are the underpinning of life in society"
(Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith's Doctrinal Notes on Some
Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life,
#3).
May God bless our nation and bless the results from
this important election - and give us the courage, as a nation, to
authentically live the Gospel of Life.
Sincerely yours in Christ, 
Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International
by Marlene Gillette-Ibern, Esq.
Article
68 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code states that 'marriage is between a man
and a woman that mutually agree to become husband and wife', and that
'no recognition will be given to marriages between persons of the same
sex contracted in other jurisdictions'.
In
the case Conde-Vidal and others v Garcia-Padilla and others, a
complaint that was filed before the United States District Court of
Puerto Rico on 25 March 2014, Solemnity of the Annunciation, the
plaintiffs requested that the marriage between two women from Puerto
Rico, obtained in Massachusetts in 2004, be given recognition in Puerto
Rico. The case was filed against the Government of Puerto Rico, with
present Governor Alejandro Garcia-Padilla among the added defendants. -more-
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| The Pilgrim Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa
has reached the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in her From Ocean to
Ocean Pilgrimage in Defense of Life. The Closing Ceremony for the USA is
November 1 at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Phoenix, Arizona. |
|
