Priests Preaching Politics

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 02, 2024

Over a dozen years ago, following a pro-life sermon, someone scribbled “Go to hell!” on a dollar bill and dropped it into the collection. I was disappointed. For 100 bucks, I’d have paid closer attention. Accumulated anecdotes such as this help pastors develop an overall understanding of the Catholic population.

Most Catholics are ordinary folks. They pray, occasionally fall short, and get back into the fight with a good Confession. But too many Catholics treat the words of Jesus as pious trinkets that have little bearing on the “real world.”

Immediately preceding the Ascension, the disciples expected Jesus to meddle in secular politics: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He told them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses [to the end of the earth].” (Acts 1:6-8) Stay tuned: “All the nations thou hast made shall come and bow down before thee, O Lord.” (Ps. 86:9)

Jesus didn’t organize an opposition party against Herod. He didn’t actively oppose Roman rule or rally His Apostles as revolutionaries. Jesus deftly avoided a confrontation with the hated Roman occupiers as He taught: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mk. 12:17) Jesus refused to brand His ministry with economic and political slogans. He directed us to His mighty deeds and sacred words of salvation.

Jesus had some unpleasant but courageous confrontations. The words of Jesus are often harsh and apply to all of us who, like the Pharisees, take sinful pride in our religiosity: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” (Mk. 7:6-8) God’s commandments critique every human tradition.

Jesus personalizes His teaching: “Out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.” (Mk. 7:20-23) The words of Jesus are not pious trinkets.

The High Priest Caiphas worried that Jesus and His followers would provoke the wrath of the Romans. Hence Caiphas, the religious politician, voted to kill Jesus because “it is expedient…that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” (Jn. 11:50) The Cross testifies to the “political failures” of Jesus. The Resurrection testifies to the power of His saving words.

God’s word includes the Creed, the Commandments, and the Sacraments. On Pentecost, the Church was born and branded with one name: Jesus. Jesus, through the Church, commissions clergy as the custodians of the Word of God. With Jesus, a priest must speak out against clear violations of the Commandments.

Years ago, I received a letter from an angry parishioner. He objected to my calling out politicians for their pro-abortion advocacy. My comments were strictly objective: I applied the Fifth Commandment to their public statements. I argued that if politicians were killing priests, we wouldn’t remain silent. But as the abortion industry kills defenseless unborn babies, our silence is expected. Paraphrasing Stalin, how many divisions do unborn babies have?

My correspondent wrote: “I hate abortion, but abortion is just one issue.” I rewrote his letter and replaced select words: “I hate the extermination of Jews, but genocide is just one issue.” My metaphor was unpersuasive (as most of my words are). But if a politician publicly advocates clear violations of the Ten Commandments, duty binds the custodians of God’s word to identify the violation.

Recently a man left an expletive-laden phone message complaining about [immoral] priests failing to confront Communists taking over the country. He said priests merely “parrot” Jesus. Why don’t they talk about reality? They’re just [expletive deleted] parrots of the words of Jesus. It seems the man wants Jesus to put a bumper sticker of his candidate on His celestial chariot.

A surprising number of Catholics argue that “God doesn’t care” how we vote: The words of Jesus are consoling, but He and His priests have no business evaluating political issues. Both sides of the spectrum reveal a deadly common ground of error: the words of Jesus are pious trinkets.

Years ago, I slightly disguised and repackaged the Ten Commandments for an invocation at a public event. My prayer horrified some, and they unwittingly dismissed the Ten Commandments as political interference. Others were happy with my so-called conservative politics. My invocation was intended to satisfy neither group. I merely invoked the power of God’s word and applied His Commandments to current events.

How can Bible-believing Catholics who love Jesus vote for someone who is pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, pro-WOKE, and indifferent to the murder of non-combatants in war? Is the priest telling you how to vote? No, he’s warning you not to participate in the evil that threatens damnation.

The words of Jesus are not optional or rhetorical trinkets. His words bind the priest in conscience. We’re usually stuck voting for the lesser evil. (Would that our Godly politicians plead, “I follow the science. Life begins from the moment of conception, and I’m going to work for the best deal I can.”) Maybe a write-in candidate, such as a pro-life grandmother, is best.

We all know the prickly intellectual and moral ambiguities of politics. Like the Apostles, the clergy seldom navigate those choppy waters well. But priests must strive to proclaim the infallible words of Jesus.

The words of Jesus engage and evaluate all human activity and every political party and ideology. Abraham Lincoln got it right. He famously said: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”