On November 5, 2024, the American people will decide on a wide range of candidates standing for positions of responsibility, authority, and power in national, regional and local offices throughout the country. Although every election is important in that they affect in some degree the lives and welfare of citizens, the 2024 national elections pose especially major challenges to the directions that health, environmental, social, financial, and military policies take in the future.
This election season, we urge all to choose leaders who will uphold the values of peace, unity, and nonviolence. In the spirit of Pope Francis's call for fraternity and social friendship in Fratelli Tutti, his plea for the care of our earth in Laudato Si, and his understanding of our Gospel mission in Evangelii Gaudium, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore recognizes the elections as a crucial moment for shaping a society grounded in peace, accountability, and the common good. Choosing governmental leaders is an important responsibility. Politics itself is often tainted with abuse of power, corruption, disregard of laws, and inefficiency. Although many find it distasteful even to participate in the process, Pope Francis poses the question, “Can there be an effective process of growth towards universal fraternity and social peace without a sound political life?” Our response is to select those who are capable of “healthy politics,” who seek the common good, and who work “to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education, and healthcare.”
How can we apply these principles to concrete circumstances? The Catholic bishops of the United States, in their 2023 statement, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, emphasize that we should exercise our right and duty to vote. Our choices depend on the active discernment of our consciences to seek the truth, to give preferential concern to those who are weak, vulnerable, and most in need, to make wise judgments about the issues facing our communities, and to evaluate a candidate’s commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue. “By forming our consciences for faithful citizenship, we can better pursue the common good and thus obey the command of our Lord to love our neighbors.”
Eventually, those elected will take office, and we can hold them accountable to exercise “true statecraft.” Pope Francis describes this as upholding high principles and thinking of the long-term common good in difficult times. These elected officials must be concerned about the serious scourges of poverty, human trafficking, slave labor, the drug and arms trade, the laxness of gun regulation, terrorism, international organized crime, and most of all, the existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons. Regardless of the election’s outcome, we retain our focus on these important issues. We remain people with hope for the future.
The guidance that Pope Francis brings to the election process also forms the basis of our post-election work. We need to remind those elected that they are to be judged not on how many votes or endorsements they received, but on how much they contribute to the progress of the people and how much good they achieve.
We are all brothers and sisters, living in our common home, striving for the common good in the light of the rights of individuals and our duties and responsibilities. As Christians, we are part of the Mystical Body of Christ. We serve as the voice, the hands, and the feet of Christ on earth, called to action. In our compassion and empathy for others, we are also the heart and tears of that Body when we see the principles of the Consistent Ethic of Life being violated. We will be busy in our advocacy for authentic justice and peace.
Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore Council
Image: Voting by Keith Ivey, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.