The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Form your conscience to choose the lesser of two evils

(En Espanol)

In a recent interview on his return to Rome from his pilgrimage to Asia, Pope Francis was asked the following question:

With the U.S. elections coming up, what advice would you give a Catholic voter faced with a candidate who supports ending a pregnancy and another who wants to deport 11 million migrants?

Pope Francis said in response: “Both are against life: the one that throws out migrants and the one that kills children. Both are against life. I can’t decide; I’m not American and won’t go to vote there. But let it be clear: denying migrants the ability to work and receive hospitality is a sin, a grave sin.”

The Holy Father continued, “The Old Testament speaks repeatedly of the orphan, the widow, and the stranger-migrants. These are the three that Israel must care for. Failing to care for migrants is a sin, a sin against life and humanity.”

The plight of migrants and refugees is a major concern of Pope Francis. At every available opportunity, he reminds Catholics, and all people of good will, that indifference to the needs of migrants is “a sin against life and humanity.”

“I celebrated Mass at the border, near the Diocese of El Paso [Texas],” the pope said. “There were many shoes from migrants, who met a bad end there. Today, there is a flow of migration within Central America, and many times they are treated like slaves because people take advantage of the situation. Migration is a right, and it was already present in sacred Scripture and in the Old Testament. The stranger, the orphan, and the widow—do not forget this. This is what I think of migrants.”

Next, the Holy Father turned to the grave sin of abortion. “Science says that at one month after conception, all the organs of a human being are present. Everything. Having an abortion is killing a human being. Whether you like the word or not, it’s murder,” the pope said.

“The Church is not closed-minded because it forbids abortion; the Church forbids abortion because it kills. It is murder; it is murder!”

Both issues have serious moral implications.

As Pope Francis said in this interview, “We need to be clear about this: sending migrants away, not allowing them to grow, not letting them have life is something wrong, it is cruelty. Sending a child away from the womb of the mother is murder because there is life. And we must speak clearly about these things. ‘No ‘but however.’ Both things are clear.”

So, when confronted with a choice between a presidential candidate who threatens to deport millions of immigrants and another who strongly supports abortion on demand, what are faithful citizens supposed to do? What morally responsible options do Catholics and people who share our moral convictions have in the upcoming election?

Pope Francis insists that choosing not to vote is not an option. We must participate in the political process, or we abdicate our rights and responsibilities as citizens and as people of faith.

“In political morality, it is generally said that not voting is ugly, it’s not good,” the Holy Father says. “One must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know; each person must think and decide according to their own conscience.”

How can we choose the lesser of two evils? We must first pray for wisdom, for the ability to understand what is at stake.

Then we must assess who the candidates are and what they represent. This involves much more than simply listening to what they say on the campaign trail. Candidates too often say one thing and do another. That’s why it’s important to keep in mind past positions and actions, to assess the candidate as a whole and not simply as he or she appears in the present moment.

Finally, we must make a choice. We must trust that if our conscience is properly formed, and if we are acting out of genuine concern for the common good—rather than out of tunnel vision or bias—we will make an informed, responsible choice.
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †