Politics In Homilies

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Why do Catholic priests talk about politics in their homilies? I can get such information from 100’s of local newspapers, radio, television, and hundreds of websites. No, I don’t care to hear about a priest’s view on politics and if a parish indulges in such activity I am out of there. What I need to hear is
 
Rob2 said:
I’ve yet to hear a Catholic priest talking about politics in homilies .
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Me, neither. Now, I have heard priests talk about matters of morality, and then some people who disagree will complain that it was “politics.”
 
Can you give an example?

There is overlap between some church teachings and some of the issues of the day. I’ve heard a few homilies on pro-life issues, for instance, but I wouldn’t call that a political homily.
 
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I’ve never heard a homily endorsing a particular candidate. I believe that would violate the Johnson amendment.
 
I’ve never heard a political homily. We do support a group to help those mothers/mothers to be at our parish, but politics is never discussed in a homily.
 
I am sorry this was an old post of mine. I wrote a new one and forgot how to bring it online. It concerned seminaries that seem to be experiencing growth in their numbers.

I have noticed that by perusing seminaries in the U.S. that some have quite a few men seeking to become priests. Not all are in this situation. In Los Angeles where I spent most of my life there are not too many men in their seminary. However, if one goes to the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas and the minor seminary in Washington D.C. there is room for optimism. Of course, there are others like Lafayette Louisiana, and Brownville, Texas.

Again, I apologize for the mishap. I am not adept with computers.
 
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Rob2 said:
I’ve yet to hear a Catholic priest talking about politics in homilies .
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Nigel7 said:
Yeah, I can’t remember a time, actually.
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angel12 said:
Me, neither. Now, I have heard priests talk about matters of morality, and then some people who disagree will complain that it was “politics.”
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Pretty much wraps it up. At one time, I had similar concerns about “politics from the pulpit”, until I realized there is no truth in politics, there is only truth in the Gospel.
 
Cordelil said:
Why do Catholic priests talk about politics in their homilies?
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Because many “political” issues are, first and foremost, moral issues.
Cordelil said:
No, I don’t care to hear about a priest’s view on politics and if a parish indulges in such activity I am out of there.
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If the priest is simply stating the Catholic Church’s view then that is well within his right. It’s obviously up to each person to check whether the issue is something that the Church speaks about.

Usually the people I’ve heard complaining about the priest being “political” are people who are uncomfortable with the priest stating the Catholic view on abortion, or gay marriage or some such thing. A priest telling parishoners that as Catholics, we shouldn’t vote for a pro-choice candidate is well within his rights.

On the other hand, a priest telling us that we should accept all illegal immigrants without question and open our borders is speaking on an issue that the Church allows reasonable debate on and is out of line.
 
There are laws and Diocesean policies about politicking at the parish in the US.

The distinction is between partisan politics.

What is forbidden:

Vote for Joe Schmoe. If you vote for Dave Jones it is a mortal sin because he is evil.

A vote for the Purple Carnation party is wrong, no Catholic can do it.

What is not forbidden:

Ballot measure 58 will allow the addition of asbestos to cupcakes. This ballot permits an immoral act, a Christian in good conscience cannot support this measure.

Please, call your congressmen and ask them to vote against the “Two Child Policy”.

The Church, people at the parish, can inform people about moral issues and advise or warn or encourage parishioners to do their civic duty. The Church, the parish, cannot endorse or forbid candidates or parties.

You might want to read the USCCB Directive:

 
Most homilies I have heard delivered by priests do not dwell on politics. They usually use life analogies to reflect on the readings of the day.
I have heard some homilies by deacons that seemed a little political.
In this day and time, I would like to see a focus on civility and decency.
Politicians and broadcast personalities sometimes attack others using crude or mean-sprites words. I hate for my brothers and sisters of this world to be exposed. This is not the way Jesus taught us to behave.
 
They aren’t suppose to but sometimes I wish they talked about abortion a bit. But besides that, I’m a political science major and I get pretty fed up with politics after studying it for a couple years so far. It’s even worse to hear it in homilies and I’ve heard a few.

Heard one homily where the priest said if you don’t support gun control you are a big sinner. Not appropriate for mass
 
I’ve never heard direct discussion of candidates. I have heard homilies with discussion of certain morality issues, which do overlap into the modern political scene … homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, etc.
 
Cordelil said:
Why do Catholic priests talk about politics in their homilies?
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The vast, Vast majority of them in USA, in my experience, do not.

I too find it irksome and out of place. But I have only ever heard a “political” homily in the last few years a couple of times, from deacons.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
They aren’t suppose to but sometimes I wish they talked about abortion a bit.
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I’ve heard a couple anti-abortion homilies from priests, but I don’t consider those political. They weren’t like “go vote against candidate X because he’s pro-abortion”, they were more about the teachings of the Church on when life begins.
 
I think it is more likely to hear homilies that are a bit off theologically then political homilies (though I have heard some of both). Just this past summer I heard a homily where a deacon was claiming we become angels when we die (based off the Gospel of us becoming “like angels”).

This is rare as well but priests and deacons aren’t perfect and they do have biases and political views of their own so occasionally they seep in. At my college one friar is usually very political and it makes it very awkward since it usually is only very loosely tied to the Gospel at hand.
 
Let’s make a distinction between political and partisan. I see nothing wrong with homilies taking up political issues, as long as the homily is grounded in Church teaching. Christian moral teachings have many political implications. On the other hand, I think homilists should avoid being partisan.
 
The tricky thing about homilies on abortion is remembering that 1/4/ - 1/3 of American women have had an abortion. And that doesn’t account for the men who accompanied them and read Sports Illustrated in the waiting room. That’s a lot of post-abortive people sitting in the pews. So the issue needs to be treated both firmly with conviction and gingerly with compassion. It’s a tough feat to accomplish in a 10-minute homily, but I’m sure that some priests are up to the challenge!

All of that said, I’d agree with the other poster who stated that abortion technically isn’t political.
 
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