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PART II
Applying Catholic Teaching to
Major Issues: A Summary of Policy
Positions of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops
63. Politics is a noble mission to promote the common good. As such, it is
about ethics and principles as well as issues, candidates, and officeholders. To
engage in “politics,” then, is more than getting involved in current polemics
and debates; it is about acting with others and through institutions for the
benefit of all. The fact that much of our political rhetoric has become very
negative and that political polarization seems to have grown should not dis-
suade us from the high calling to work for a world that allows everyone to
thrive, a world in which all persons, all families, have what they need to fulfill
their God-given destiny. In our democracy, one aspect of this task for all of
us requires that we weigh issues and related policies. In this brief summary,
we bishops call attention to issues with significant moral dimensions that
should be carefully considered in each campaign and as policy decisions are
made in the years to come. As the descriptions below indicate, some issues
involve principles that can never be abandoned, such as the fundamental
right to life and marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Others
reflect our judgment about the best way to apply Catholic principles to policy
issues. No summary could fully reflect the depth and details of the positions
taken through the work of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB). While people of good will may sometimes choose different ways to
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