Bishop Paprocki: do we love God more than we love candidates who promote serious sins?

October 26, 2012

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield (Illinois) has defended and explained his recent statement that “a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.”

“While I have received many positive and supportive comments,” he said, “a sizeable number of hateful e-mails and calls have been obscene and verbally abusive of my staff members who have fielded them.”

After explaining the phrases his statement, Bishop Paprocki added:

Some who try to navigate this labyrinth of moral analysis simply rationalize their way to a desired conclusion, for example, by saying that voting for a pro-choice candidate is justified by their support for other "social justice" causes. But such people should apply the Golden Rule by placing themselves in the shoes of the people who are going to be killed by abortions. Would these voters really think it is more "just" to vote for the "pro-choice" candidate if they or their own children or their brothers and sisters were going to be deliberately killed — along with 1.3 million others? Not very likely, is it? …

The key question is whether we love God more than a political party or candidates that promote intrinsic evils and serious sins. The first commandment is that we not worship false idols. That means God comes first and his moral law trumps politics.

 

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Further information:

• Bishop Paprocki: Politics and moral complexity: God’s law comes first (Springfield Catholic Times)
• Bishop Paprocki: voting for candidate who supports intrinsic evils jeopardizes one’s salvation (CWN, 9/28)