Can the Pope tell Catholics how they MUST vote?

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Touchy situation. A cult in the Philippines actually uses this to gain power over the candidates because as part of their belief is that everyone should vote on the same person endorsed by their leaders. So despite being a small faction in the overall picture of religion in the Philippines, politicians lineup (including Catholic ones) at their doorstep trying to get their endorsements. Because of a muti-party system, the winning presidential candidate only nees a small percentage of the votes per election so getting a guaranteed 2-3 million votes out of a country of 100 million people is huge. There is typically 5-7 candidates per election and there is no runoff elections.

Anyway, my point here is, do we want to be like that? Its nice to have the political influence, but act like a mind controlling cult?
 
Frankly, if anyone wants that much control over my mind, they can kiss my…
 
^^^ Very inappropriate. That would not be controlling your mind that would be trying to help you see how he feels God would want you to vote. You can accept or reject his opinion. You should, regardless of accepting or rejecting it, hold it with a high level of regard.

The real problem I have is that people endorse voting at all. This is a 2-party system not multi. Democrat or Republican. Maybe a 3rd potential some years.

The voting system is a scam. I wish people would refuse to vote at all until the system is fixed.

Until then - “Hello corporate America, should I become a politician too? I will lend myself as an obedient servant to you and base my decisions on your interests. Honest :D”
 
well if a candidate is going against Catholic doctrine or moral teaching… it’s our obligation to vote for the one who is going to support Catholic teaching.
 
FaithInTheSon said:
The voting system is a scam. I wish people would refuse to vote at all until the system is fixed.
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I don’t think that would do much to draw attention to the problem. Rather, it looks too much like complacence.

I think it would draw more attention for every Republican in a heavily Democrat-influenced district and for every Democrat in a heavily GOP-influenced district to vote for any third-party candidate.

I’m not sure what the fix could be, however. The Parliamentary system has its own problems.
 
Monica4316 said:
well if a candidate is going against Catholic doctrine or moral teaching… it’s our obligation to vote for the one who is going to support Catholic teaching.
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…or at least be not overtly contrary to Catholic teaching.
 
SonCatcher said:
I don’t think that would do much to draw attention to the problem. Rather, it looks too much like complacence.

I think it would draw more attention for every Republican in a heavily Democrat-influenced district and for every Democrat in a heavily GOP-influenced district to vote for any third-party candidate.

I’m not sure what the fix could be, however. The Parliamentary system has its own problems.
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Monarchy! Tested and proven 😉
 
Monica4316 said:
well if a candidate is going against Catholic doctrine or moral teaching… it’s our obligation to vote for the one who is going to support Catholic teaching.
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And if none of the candidates support Catholic teaching? 🤷
 
It is every Catholic’s duty to defend the faith. The Pope has never issued a list of specific candidates (as far as I know) but if we’re educated in the faith, we know who we should vote for in general.

In American Politics, I have always been conflicted, because the Democrats have “classicly” been better with social justice and supporting the poor and the “working man,” while the Republicans have been better at morality issues like opposing abortion, same-sex “marriage,” stem cell research on embryos, et. al. (IMHO).

It has been a *long *time since those lines have clearly been drawn, so I tend to vote on a case by case basis when I can.

I wanted McCain to win so bad. I really did. 😦 He was the last GOP contender for me to have almost all of his ducks in a row. (IMHO).

So I guess the answer to your question is: YES he can tell Catholics HOW they must vote (for Catholic doctrine) but not necessarily WHO because few candidates have all the bases covered.
 
JM3 said:
And if none of the candidates support Catholic teaching? 🤷
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That would be a longshot in the extreme. Most of Catholic doctrine is founded in universal beliefs about justice. I suppose this is just cynicism talking, and lately it is easy to lapse into cynicism.
 
PJM said:
Tell Catholics how they MUST vote?
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The Church really never tells…she invites…as Pope Benedict has said before.

However she can also clarify how we should vote for our eternal health.
 
It is the responsibility of the national bishops’ conference to advice Catholics in a particular country regarding their civic duties, including their duties regarding elections. The pope could give directives to Catholics in Italy, in his capacity as the Primate of Italy. But even there, I expect he would do it in conjunction with his brother bishops in the Italian bishops’ conference.
 
PJM said:
Tell Catholics how they MUST vote?
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I think no.

The Pope can tell us the moral bases on which we can decide whom to vote for, but I think applying those principles in a particular situation would be prudential judgement, which is not the Pope’s province.

He could say things like, “the legal murder of innocent children is more important than issue X or issue Y. You should vote accordingly.”

I think he could probably say that you should vote accordingly on pain of sin. (Given how many Catholics use ABC, this doesn’t appear to be much of a deterrent to people.)

He couldn’t say, “You should vote for candidate X.” You are supposed to use your judgement to apply the principles that have been articulated by the Pope and your bishop.

Just MHO.

–Jen
 
If you vote because someone told you to vote for a particular candidate your easily lead - you should decide on your own then it really will be your vote - no the pope can’t tell me how to vote regardless of what others might say here - I’ll decide.
 
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