🗳️ Voting as a Catholic: Does One Party Align More with the Faith?

The Framework: Not All Issues Are Equal

The starting point is not "which party do you like?" but rather: what does the Church actually teach?

The U.S. Bishops' document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship helps Catholics "form their consciences, apply a consistent moral framework to issues facing the nation and world, and shape their choices in elections in the light of Catholic social teaching."

That document is crystal clear that not all issues carry the same moral weight. Not every political issue carries the same moral weight. Some actions are intrinsically evil: they are always morally wrong and can never be justified by circumstances or good intentions.

The Non-Negotiables: Where There Is No Room for Prudential Judgment

The Church identifies five "non-negotiables" when it comes to deciding on a candidate: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and the redefinition of marriage. The first four involve the direct and willful destruction of innocent human life; the fifth militates against the very institution upon which society depends for its continued existence.

These are not policy preferences. They are moral absolutes. A well-formed Christian conscience "does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals."

On abortion specifically — the most urgent and widespread of these evils — the Church could not be clearer: The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion… This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable."

"The threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone."

Those who treat abortion as just one of many issues are misleading Catholic voters. Abortion is unique among policy issues because it is not a matter of prudential judgment. From a Catholic perspective, politicians are not making an application of a principle to a specific situation — all instances of abortion are morally wrong.

So… Which Party?

Here is the honest answer:

The Democratic Party, at the platform level, formally and enthusiastically supports abortion — not merely tolerates it, but promotes unrestricted access to it. The same party platform supports the legal redefinition of marriage and gender ideology. The bishops' guide states: "A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter's intent is to support that position."

Moral evils such as abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are examples of a "disqualifying issue." A disqualifying issue is one which is of such gravity and importance that it allows for no political maneuvering. It is an issue that strikes at the heart of the human person and is non-negotiable. A disqualifying issue is one of such enormity that by itself renders a candidate for office unacceptable regardless of his position on other matters.

The Republican Party, at the platform level, has historically opposed abortion and supported protections for unborn life, upheld traditional marriage, defended religious liberty, and supported parental rights in education — all of which align closely with Catholic non-negotiables.

However, truth demands acknowledging the full picture:

• Republicans can fall short of Catholic teaching on care for the poor, immigration, the death penalty, health care access, and the environment — all of which are genuine Catholic concerns, even if they allow for more prudential disagreement.

• Democrats may include individual candidates who personally oppose abortion or hold other Catholic-friendly positions, even while their party platform does not.

In 2024, neither major political party candidate fully aligned with the Church on all issues.

The Hierarchy Matters

Abortion is the preeminent issue "not just because of the gravity of the act, how widespread it is, but the fact that it involves the violation of a foundational right." If human beings don't have a right to life — if you can kill a human being because that human being is problematic for particular goals — all other evils follow. If you can kill human beings because you find it prudentially necessary to do so, what can't you do? If we don't get that right, all these other issues don't matter — why would any of these other things be of concern if we can't even get this fundamental evil right?

As St. John Paul II taught in Christifidelis Laici: "The right to health, to home, to work, to culture is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination."

The Prudential Issues: Catholics Can Disagree

Catholic Social Teaching also demands attention to:

The bishops list as current issues: the redefinition of gender and marriage, threats to religious freedom at home and abroad, a lack of justice for the poor, the suffering of migrants and refugees, wars and famines around the world, racism, the need for greater access to healthcare and education, and care for our common home.

On these prudential matters — immigration policy details, tax structures, environmental regulation, health care delivery mechanisms — faithful Catholics can legitimately disagree on the best policy approach, even while agreeing on the underlying moral principle. While moral principles are non-negotiable, applying them to specific legislative policy requires the virtue of prudence, where faithful Catholics may reasonably disagree on solutions.

Bottom Line

Yes, when measured against the Church's non-negotiable moral teachings, the Republican Party's platform more closely aligns with Catholic doctrine. — particularly on the most fundamental issues of life, marriage, and religious freedom. That does not make the Republican Party a "Catholic party," nor does it guarantee every Republican candidate is worthy of support. Catholic identity should not be first and foremost rooted in any particular party. "As citizens, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group."

The obligation of every Catholic voter is to:

1. Form a well-informed conscience grounded in Scripture and the Magisterium

2. Weight the non-negotiables first— where there is no room for compromise

3. Apply prudence to the remaining issues

4. Never vote for an intrinsic evil — regardless of party affiliation

Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles cooperate with evil. That is not partisan — that is the consistent, unchangeable teaching of Christ's Church.

A question worth sitting with: If your identity as a member of a political party ever came into conflict with a non-negotiable teaching of the Church — abortion, euthanasia, marriage — which would you be willing to change?