You’d be hard pressed to find any political leader in America with an approval rating over 50%. Donald Trump’s overall approval hovers in the 40s. Congress is much worse: only about 28% of Americans believe the men and women making our laws are doing a good job.
What’s worse, we can’t seem to agree on which party can heal the deep divisions in our country.
According to the Pew Trust, 33% of voters are registered Democrats; 32% call themselves Republicans. But now the largest bloc of voters in this country, 35%, label themselves other or independent.
Over a third of our nation apparently cannot find a party they can call home.
Guess whose approval rating was spectacular? Pope Francis. Before he died on April 21, the Brazilian pope’s favorability polled at 87%.
Maybe the Catholic Church offers the “home†people are looking for—at least in terms of social issues.
In 2003, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops published "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility," a document which laid out the following seven themes of the Church regarding social issues.
1. Life and dignity of the human person. “Every human life is sacred and must be respected and protected," the document states. The church has been steadfast in its opposition to abortion, saying, "God loves each human life from the instant of his or her conception.†But the document entrusts the protection of the unborn to the “mother and father,†not the civil government.
The church also opposes IVF fertilization, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, the death penalty and the targeting of civilians in war or terrorism. “The measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.â€
2. Call to family, community and participation. “The family is the central social institution, and people have a right and duty to participate in society. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined.â€
The bishops also recognized the challenges modern society places on the nuclear family. “Efficiency and competition in the marketplace must be moderated by greater concern for the way work schedules and compensation support or threaten the bonds between spouses and between parents and children.â€
3. Rights and responsibilities. “Every person has a right to life and basic needs, and with these rights come responsibilities to one another and society."
While traditional marriage and family are centermost to the Church’s teaching, “the dignity of the human person is also respected, and his or her rights recognized and guaranteed. Only then will creativity and interdependence thrive, and the creativity of the human personality is released through actions that further the common good.â€
The document also refers to “distributive justice,†and recognizes the growing wealth gap in modern society. “While one part of humanity lives in opulence, another part sees its own dignity denied, scorned or trampled upon, and its fundamental rights discarded or violated.â€
4. Preferential option for the poor: The document says, “A moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members."
Pope Francis addressed the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation in 2013, saying, “We have forgotten and are still forgetting that over and above business, logic and the parameters of the market is the human being. Men and women, in as much as they are human beings by virtue of their profound dignity, should be offered the possibility of living a dignified life and of actively participating in the common good.â€
5. The dignity of work and the rights of workers: “Work is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation, and workers have rights to fair wages and safe working conditions.
"All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions, as well as to organize and join unions or other associations."
6. Solidarity. “We are one human family, regardless of national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences."
7. Care for God’s creation: “We are called to protect the planet and its resources for future generations. We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation.. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.â€
Time will tell if Pope Leo XIV — the first pope from the United States — will be as popular as his predecessor. He has no political power and, unlike civil leaders, he does not face reelection. But Pope Leo does wield tremendous influence around the world. The seven teachings of the Catholic Church cut across political labels like conservative and liberal, right wing and left wing. If these themes resonate with you, maybe the label you are looking for is “Catholic.â€
