21  What are the roles of Clergy, Religious and laity with regard to "partisan politics"?

Traditional wisdom and general common sense, with support from Canon Law (or the Law of the Church), assign specific roles for different members of the Church. PCP-II pointed out these roles. "The Church's competence in passing moral judgments even in matters political has been traditionally interpreted as pertaining to the clergy. Negatively put, the clergy can teach moral doctrines covering politics but cannot actively involve themselves in partisan politics. In practice, religious men and women are also included in this prohibition" (PCP-II, 340). But certainly lay people "have competence in active and direct partisan politics" (PCP-II, 341). This general rule is certainly not rigid, because lay people themselves have a teaching role regarding politics, especially in their witnessing to gospel values in the world of politics. Concretely, priests, religious men and women, and lay people, i.e., the Church "must be involved in the area of politics when Gospel values are at stake" (PCP-II, 344).

22   Why should priests, religious men and women refrain from involvement in partisan politics?

As we have seen, the prohibition is not because of any Philippine constitutional provision. But the Church prohibits Clergy and Religious from involvement in partisan politics because they are considered the symbols of unity in the Church community. For them to take an active part in partisan politics, with its wheeling and dealing, compromises, confrontational and adversarial positions, would be to weaken their teaching authority and destroy the unity they represent and protect. Still, it must be admitted that sometimes even the teaching of moral principles is actually interpreted by some as partisan politics, because of actual circumstances (PCP-II, 343-344). An example was the Bishops' post-election statement in 1986 when they taught that a government that has assumed power by fraud had no moral right to govern. This teaching was considered partisan for the opposition presidential candidate and against the winner proclaimed by a subservient parliament.

23  What is the specific mission of the laity in politics?

The mission of the laity is the same as that of the entire Church, which is to renew the political order according to Gospel principles and values. But such renewal by the laity is through active and partisan political involvement, a role generally not allowed to priests and religious men and women. This is the reason that PCP-II urges the lay faithful not to be passive regarding political involvement but to take a leading role. In fact, PCP-II states:  "In the Philippines today, given the general perception that politics has become an obstacle to integral development, the urgent necessity is for the lay faithful to participate more actively, with singular competence and integrity, in political affairs" (PCP-II, 348). Moreover, the laity must "help form the civic conscience of the voting population and work to explicitly promote the election of leaders of true integrity to public office" (PCP-II, Art. 8, #1).

24  What truths should guide the laity's political involvement?

PCP-II underlined the following principles to guide political participation of Catholics:

a.  That the basic standard for participation be the pursuit of the common good;

b.  That participation be characterized by a defence and promotion of justice;

c.That participation be inspired and guided by the spirit of service;

d.  That it be imbued with a love of preference for the poor; and

e. That empowering people be carried out both as a process and as a goal of political activity. (PCP-II, 351).

 But more than just political involvement is the primary importance of the lay faithful being witnesses to the Gospel. John Paul II said: "The lay faithful must bear witness to those human and Gospel values that are intimately connected with political activity itself, such as liberty and justice, solidarity, faithful and unselfish dedication for the good of all, a simple lifestyle, and a preferential love for the poor and the least" (CL, 42).

25  Are there so called  "Catholic candidates" or is there a "Catholic vote"?

The Gospel does not prescribe only one way of being political or only one way of political governing (such as monarchical, presidential, parliamentary, etc.), much less only one political party or even one slate of candidates. No one political option can fully carry out the Gospel mandate of renewing the political order or of serving the common good. No one political party or platform or set of candidates can exclusively claim the name Catholic. Hence to Catholics there are many political options that the Gospel does not prohibit. Therefore, there is generally no such thing as a "Catholic vote" or "the Bishops' candidates". This is simply a myth. The Bishops do not endorse any particular candidate or party but leave to the laity to vote according to their enlightened and formed consciences in accordance with the Gospel.

26  Is there any case when the Bishops can authoritatively order the lay faithful to vote for one particular and concrete option?

Yes, there is, and the case would certainly be extraordinary. This happens when a political option is clearly the only one demanded by the Gospel. An example is when a presidential candidate is clearly bent to destroy the Church and its mission of salvation and has all the resources to win, while hiding his malevolent intentions behind political promises. In this case the Church may authoritatively demand the faithful, even under pain of sin, to vote against this particular candidate. But such situations are understandably very rare.

27  How does the Church fulfill its mission on renewing or evangelizing politics? 

a.  by catechesis or Christian education in politics in order to evangelize our political culture which is characterized by a separation between faith and politics;

b.  by issuing guidelines on properly choosing political officials, so that the people may have a properly formed conscience in their electoral choices;

c.  by helping keep elections honest, clean, peaceful, and orderly through various church organizations, cooperating with non-government organizations;

d.  by pushing for structural changes as a goal of pastoral action in the political field, such as urging for reforms in the electoral processes in order to avoid delays and ensure integrity throughout the entire electoral process from voting, to counting, to reporting, and finally to proclaiming the winners;

e.  by political advocacy such as lobbying for legislation that promote the common good and against bills that promote the vested interests of the few;   

f.   by getting involved in a movement of civil society (civic organizations, peoples' organizations, non-government organizations, associations of lay people and religious, school associations, etc.) to change politics for the better;

g.  by organizing her own network of parishes and organizations, pastoral and social centers, etc., such as NASSA VOTE-CARE and PPC-RV, to help keep elections clean, honest, peaceful and orderly.

h.  by the living witness of all the Catholic faithful to Christ and to the values of the Gospel.  This is the most important contribution of the Church to the evangelization of politics.