Mirrors of Christ by Patrick Carolan

We are in the closing days of the 2024 presidential election. Many of us may have already voted. Many others have made up their minds on whom they will cast their ballot for. As people of faith, as Catholics, it is sometimes a difficult decision. There are so many different issues; how do we decide which candidate best represents our views? The airways are filled with political ads, mostly attacking the other candidate. We get different information about the candidates depending on which news stations we listen to. And we will probably never agree 100 percent with any candidate.

As Catholics, we would like our vote to be centered around Catholic Social Teaching. But it is difficult to determine what is the preeminent issue. Many Catholic leaders, under the banner of “right to life,” will state that abortion is the only issue we should consider. Yet according to a UNICEF report, more than 40 percent of stillbirths globally occur during labor, most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. So why would healthcare not be the most important issue? Another report by World Hunger tells us that more than 3 million children die from hunger every year, one child every 10 seconds. Every year 45 million kids suffer from severe malnutrition, so why would we not consider food insecurity when voting? Do we believe that God cares less for those children?

If our democracy is to succeed, our elections should be based on ideas about how we can move forward to create a better society for everyone. We hope that our decision on who to vote for is centered around the common good, not just our own individual wants. In his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis issues a call to action when he writes that we can seek “a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good” (§154).

In an address he gave in February 2020, Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego, stated that

voting for candidates ultimately involves choosing a candidate for public office, not a stance, nor a specific teaching of the Church. And for this reason, faithful voting involves careful consideration of the specific ability of a particular candidate to actually advance the common good. In making this assessment, opportunity, competence and character all come into play. . . . [B]ecause our nation is in a moment of political division and degradation in its public life, character represents a particularly compelling criterion for faithful voting.

Cardinal McElory continued:

The pathway from these crosscutting moral claims to decisions on particular candidates is not a direct and singular one in Catholic teaching, rooted in one issue. For this reason, the drive to label a single issue preeminent distorts the call to authentic discipleship in voting rather than advancing it.

In making our own personal decision on which candidate to vote for, we might reflect on what St. Clare, the 13th-century saint with whom St. Francis founded the Franciscan order, challenged us to do: she challenged us to become a mirror of Christ for others to see and follow. She tells us to reflect Christ in our lives, to help build up the body of Christ through transformation through love. Do our candidates reflect Christ? Do they work towards uniting us, or do they embrace tactics and language that lead to divisiveness rather than unity? Are the candidates following the principles the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) prescribed in its Civilize It program?

The very first principle in the USCCB document asks us “to engage in critical examination to ensure that my perspectives are rooted in truth.” Among some of our candidates, the notion of truth is nonexistent. One candidate, Ohio Senator J. D. Vance, even said he thought it was okay to lie to get a point across. I am pretty confident that Jesus would beg to differ with that idea. While no candidate is perfect, we have to ask ourselves which ones best hold up the mirror of Christ. Is it the candidate that has been convicted in a civil court for sexual assault, has been convicted of financial fraud, has constantly lied about immigrants eating cats and dogs, has claimed that Hitler did good things?

My wife and I have already cast our votes for president. This is the 14th time we have voted in a presidential election. Each time we have carefully considered the issues we believed in. We have proudly cast our votes for the candidate who we felt best represented our concerns. Sometimes our candidate would win, sometimes they would not. We would accept the results and move forward, continuing to fight for justice and peace.

This time it is different. The only issue to consider is whether we want to continue our democracy or invite the specter of fascism. When a candidate expresses his admiration for Hitler and states that he wants military generals like those who supported Hitler—generals who will be loyal to him, not the Constitution—then there really is no choice, regardless of any other issue. We voted for Harris because we want to be sure that we have the right and opportunity to vote for president a 15th time. ♦

Patrick Carolan is a Catholic activist, organizer, and writer. He served as the Executive director of the Franciscan Action Network for ten years; he co-founded the Global Catholic Climate Movement and Catholics Vote Common Good. His writing and activism are centered on his understanding and belief through Franciscan spirituality of the connectedness of all creation and God.

Image: Simone Martini, Saint Clare of Assisi, 1315, Basilica of Saint Francis, Assisi.