24 / 61
15
guidance on these matters is an essential resource for Catholics as they deter-
mine whether their own moral judgments are consistent with the Gospel and
with Catholic teaching.
34. Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. This is why it is
so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the
proper relationship among moral goods. A Catholic cannot vote for a candi-
date who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion,
euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to sub-
human living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential
meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. In
such cases, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At
the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic
evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues
involving human life and dignity.
35. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unaccept-
able position even on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may reason-
ably decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting
in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to
advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental
moral evil.
36. When all candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil
act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the
extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation,
may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a mor-
ally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods.
37. In making these decisions, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a
well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same
moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose policies promoting
intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.
These decisions should take into account a candidate’s commitments, charac-
ter, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue. In the end, this is a deci-
sion to be made by each Catholic guided by a conscience formed by Catholic
moral teaching.