Question:

I have no doubt that the Church has the right to give its opinion on civil matters; it is our spiritual guide for that purpose. But I have no doubt that it is our responsibility to ultimately decide whether we wish to heed that advice or not. I thought the days when the Inquisition told people what to do, how to think, and what to believe were long gone. I do not believe the Church has any right to interfere in our country’s legislation or to tell us what we must do. As a Catholic, I will decide what I believe is most convenient based on the Church’s advice, but from there to everyone having to live according to that spiritual preference I have chosen is a vast difference. We all have the right to decide for ourselves what we believe is best for our personal development.

Answer:

Dear Sir/Madam:

It is the non-negotiable duty of the Church to illuminate temporal realities with the light of the Gospel and to advocate so that her children (that is, each and every one of the baptized) have the opportunity to know her opinion on specific matters. Likewise, it is the Church’s duty to help Catholics have the possibility of living in a society where those values are respected and favored, resorting to the lawful means that any citizen can appeal to and advocating for those values to be taken into consideration by state laws. It would not seem fair to deny the Church the possibility of freely expressing herself when all other confessions and institutions – even civil ones – that make up society can do so.

Of course, none of this removes nor seeks to remove the freedom that each person ultimately has when it comes to deciding, but only to enlighten and guide towards what is seen as a good to be respected by all.

Let us both pray that in human society we may increasingly encounter an environment that allows us to live more as human beings and children of the same Father.

Yours sincerely in the Lord.

Fr. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE

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