Our bishops, as they always do before a general election, shared their thoughts and guidance through their pastoral letter. Some think that this is a Malta-based custom which has passed its time. They are wrong. A simple Google search clearly shows that Catholic bishops the world over do the same thing.
This year’s pastoral letter was much shorter that those before the elections of 2008 and 2013. In the 2013 letter the Bishops drew the voters’ attention to four aspects they considered to be of great importance. These were the family and marriage, the younger generation, the poor and the environment. This year the bishops decided to give the basic principles which they rightly believe should guide Catholics while responsibly executing their right and duty to vote.
They propose three principles: (i) Vote according to your conscience; (ii) choose “what is truly beneficial for the common good and for a just society”; and (iii) choose people of wisdom and integrity “who treasure and embrace the ethical values we believe in”. They illustrated the last point by reference to two values, the protection of human life from conception to its natural end and the respect of human dignity. Really and truly the bishops stated the minimum and the obvious. There were two reactions.
The social networks were bombarded by some Labour Party supporters spewing abuse, insults and crude hate against the bishops, accusing them of asking people to vote Nationalist. I find this reaction completely baffling. Why did they feel aggrieved by the bishops’ appeal for the common good and in favour of people of integrity?
But there was a more important act of dissent. Some time ago a group of US-based fundumentalist Catholics called Veri Cattolici took the bishops to task because of their guidelines explaining Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation The Joy of Love. The bishops were warned that their salvation is at stake. Now another group of similarly minded conservative Catholics are buying advertising space exhorting Catholics to consider not voting at all in the general election because of gay marriage. The Curia, quite rightly, immediately disassociated itself from these adverts and from any connection with this anonymous group called ‘Maltese Catholics United for the Faith’.
Pope Francis said corruption stinks and that the corrupt should be tied to a rock and thrown into the sea
Had the bishops considered gay marriage to be an electoral issue they would have mentioned it in their pastoral letter. In their 2008 pastoral letter the bishops mentioned policies about family and marriage as one of the four issues voters should consider. They did not do so this time round. The reason is quite simple. Malta already has gay marriage in all but name. Changing the name of the law should not be an issue now. Had these self-styled defenders of the faith wanted to lobby against gay marriage they should have taken a stand – as I did – when the law was being debated by our parliamentarians.
There is another point of difference between the Catholics United for the Faith group and our bishops. The bishops, unlike this group, exhorted everyone to vote. This is a constant in all their pre-election pastoral letters and a staple fundumental of Catholic social doctrine. It is possible and reasonable that one doesn’t feel fully at ease with what a particular party does or proposes to do. In that case one should look at all possible options and choose which best guarantees the common good and a just society. Abstention is not an option.
In a 2015 address to members of Italy’s Christian Life Community, Pope Francis urged Catholics to get involved in politics even if it may be “dirty”, frustrating and fraught with failure. He asked: “Do I as a Catholic watch from my balcony?” He emphatically answered: “No, you can’t watch from the balcony. Get right in there!”
He also spoke strongly on the same topic during a homily at Casa Sancta Martha in 2013: “None of us can say, ‘I have nothing to do with this, they govern…’ No, no, I am responsible for their governance, and I have to do the best so that they govern well, and I have to do my best by participating in politics according to my ability. …I cannot wash my hands,” Francis said. Voting in an election is one of the most important ways to participate in politics. Washing one’s hands is not an option particularly when the fundamental issues are corruption and good governance.
Pope Francis decries corruption so often and so strongly that he described it as worse than sin. He said corruption stinks and that the corrupt should be tied to a rock and thrown into the sea. In the document announcing the Holy Year of Mercy he wrote: “Corruption prevents us from looking to the future with hope, because its tyrannical greed shatters the plans of the weak and tramples upon the poorest of the poor. It is an evil that embeds itself into the actions of everyday life, causing great public scandal. Corruption… replaces God with the illusion that money is a form of power.”
During a speech in Scampia, Naples, Francis said: “Do good politics. Good politics depends on you all.” Good politics depends on the way people vote and on the parliamentarians they elect. This is why the bishops quite rightly exhort voters to vote.
joseph.borg@um.edu.mt