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38. It is important to be clear that the political choices faced by citizens not
only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but also may affect the
individual’s salvation. Similarly, the kinds of laws and policies supported by
public officials affect their spiritual well-being. Pope Benedict XVI, in his
reflection on the Eucharist as “the sacrament of charity,” challenged all of us to
adopt what he calls “a Eucharistic form of life.” This means that the redeeming
love we encounter in the Eucharist should shape our thoughts, our words, and
our decisions, including those that pertain to the social order. The Holy Father
called for “Eucharistic consistency” on the part of every member of the Church:
It is important to consider what the Synod Fathers described
as
eucharistic consistency
, a quality which our lives are objec-
tively called to embody. Worship pleasing to God can never
be a purely private matter, without consequences for our
relationships with others: it demands a public witness to our
faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet it is espe-
cially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or
political position, must make decisions regarding fundamen-
tal values, such as respect for human life, its defense from
conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage
between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one’s
children and the promotion of the common good in all its
forms. . . . (
Sacramentum Caritatis
, no. 83)
39. This calls for a heroic commitment on the part of Catholics who are
politicians and other leaders in society. Having been entrusted with special
responsibility for the common good, Catholic leaders must commit them-
selves to the pursuit of the virtues, especially courage, justice, temperance,
and prudence. The culmination of these virtues is the strong public promo-
tion of the dignity of every human person as made in the image of God in
accord with the teachings of the Church, even when it conflicts with current
public opinion. Catholic politicians and legislators must recognize their grave
responsibility in society to support laws shaped by these fundamental human
values and oppose laws and policies that violate life and dignity at any stage
from conception to natural death. This is not to bring a “Catholic interest” to
the political sphere, it is to insist that the truth of the dignity of the human