IVOTECATHOLIC

iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic Solidarity iVoteCatholic iVote Life & Dignity of the Human Person iVote Family, Community & Participation Care for God’s Creation New Archdiocesan Initiative Aims to Form Faithful Citizens iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic iVote It’s that time of year again: election season. As citizens of this country, we are called to archdiocesan pastors, parish leaders, and educators with the resources they need to help BY MICHELLE DUSHENSKY Option for the Poor & Vulnerable Dignity of Work & Rights of Workers iVoteCatholic Rights & Responsibilities iVoteCatholic Solidarity iVote Life & Dignity of the Human Person Life & Dignity of the Human Person participate. As Catholics, our faith calls us their parishioners and students get a fuller to not just participate by casting a vote, but to do so in a manner that is consistent with the mission of Jesus. The problem is, many Catholics don’t actually know what the Church teaches about the dignity of every human person, the dignity of life, caring for the poor and the earth, the importance of family and iVoteCatholic Family, Community & Participation iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic Option for the Poor & Vulnerable picture of Catholic social teaching and form good consciences, not only for the November election but also for life. The hope is that with a better understanding of what the Church teaches and why, people will apply these teachings to their lives, thoughtfully evaluate candidates during elections and vote with their iVote Care for God’s Creation iVote community, the value of work and the rights of workers. Regardless of where we stand — or lean — we’re all faced with the same timeless question as the 2020 presidential election quickly approaches: Who do I vote for? It’s not a question that your husband or wife, parent, pastor or anyone else can answer for you. As stated in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, a document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops iVoteCatholic Solidarity iVoteCatholic Rights & Responsibilities Dignity of Work & Rights of Workers iVoteCatholic Family, Community & Participation iVoteCatholic Life & Dignity of the Human Person iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic Care for God’s Creation iVoteCatholic Life & Dignity of the Human Person faith in mind. “Instead of people voting Republican or Democrat, we want people to vote Catholic,” said Andrew Musgrave, director for Catholic Social Action and point-person for the initiative, “And that doesn’t mean voting for Catholics. That doesn’t mean only voting for people who line up with one particular issue in the Catholic Church. You’re never going to find someone who lives by the Catechism and always abides by every teaching of the Church, but who do you find best embodies, best lives iVote Life & Dignity of the Human Person Option for the Poor & Vulnerable iVote Care for God’s Creation (USCCB), “The responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual in Option for the Poor & Vulnerable out, best leads from the fullness of the Catholic position? It’s a discernment process.” light of a properly formed conscience.” So how does one properly form his or her conscience and vote with confidence? By reading the papal, conciliar and episcopal documents on the Church’s social teaching. While these are deep and rich, many of us do not have the time to dive into Gaudium et Spes, iVoteCatholic Dignity of Work & Rights of Workers iVoteCatholic Rights & Responsibilities iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic Option for the Poor & Vulnerable SEVEN THEMES To assist in that discernment process, Musgrave and the iVoteCatholic initiative team, consisting of Jeremy Helmes, director for Divine Worship and Sacraments; Bob Wurzelbacher, director for Respect Life Ministries; six members of the Catholic Social Action Office; and Maddie iVote Option for the Poor & Vulnerable “Statement on Capital Punishment,” “Called to Care for God’s Creation Lees, parish outreach coordinator for Catholic Compassion and Responsibility,” or any of the Charities Southwestern Ohio (CCSWO_, other 50-plus foundational documents — and thanks to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s new initiative, iVoteCatholic, you don’t have to. The goal of iVoteCatholic is to equip iVoteCatholic iVoteCatholic Care for God’s Creation examined the seven themes of Catholic social teaching and paired them with the seven Sundays preceding this year’s election, with the exception of November 1, All Saints Day: iVote RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Family, Community & Participation

• September 13: Call to Family, Community, and Participation • September 20: The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers • September 27: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable • October 4: Life and Dignity of the Human Person • October 11: Solidarity • October 18: Rights & Responsibilities • October 25: Care for God’s Creation

They then compiled and created dozens of digital resources for each of those weeks, housing them on iVoteCatholic.org, which rolled out to every parish, Catholic school and Catholic community in the archdiocese at the beginning of August.

MATERIALS FOR CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES During the past few weeks, each of these institutions has been combing through those resources and finding ways to utilize the materials in their respective pastoral ministries between September 13 and October 25. Materials include explanations of each theme, prayers, videos, homily helps, social media posts, bulletin articles, discussion guides for small groups, musical suggestions, activities for kids, lesson plans, papal statements and more.

The ideal scenario is that every Catholic community – school, parish, religious order – would overlay all of their activities during each of those seven weeks with a community-wide focus on the Catholic social teaching themes.

“We want the whole parish to focus on one of those themes,”

A Cenacle of Life HOLY HOUR

Every Sunday 3pm

Resurrection Church 1750 First Ave | Price Hill + exposition of blessed sacrament • two rosaries • pro-life prayers concluding with benediction said Helmes, “not just on Sunday morning, not just in the hymns or the homily or the readings, but also when kids are going to religious ed class, and what [they] put on social media, in [the] bulletin, what the small faith sharing group is doing, what the Bible study is doing. The whole parish is going to be focused that week on, ‘What does the Church actually teach us? What does the Gospel actually offer us about this theme that is truly Catholic?’”

Helmes said that because the Church does not align herself with political parties, some pastoral leaders tend to shy away from social and political issues. He hopes this initiative will open up those conversations and inspire parishes and schools to help their communities grapple with urgent political issues and understand more about what the Church actually teaches. Because, in the long run, iVoteCatholic isn’t about the 2020 election.

“It will be really easy to strip off ‘2020’ and the election-focused content,” said Helmes. “It’s really about Catholic social teaching. It’s evergreen content. We’re hoping that this [website] will continue to be a resource.”

The times are calling us to be more engaged in our political lives. We’re not all going to vote the same way, but Musgrave said that by making a concerted effort to learn more about the fullness of our faith and what it means to vote Catholic, we can step forward with peace of mind.

For more details, visit iVoteCathoilc.org, and look for information about the seven themes of Catholic social teaching in your community in the coming weeks.

Please save the date for October 10th! Due to COVID-19, we will be making some adjustments to our annual 5K. Please check our website at cincinnatirighttolife.org for updated information as the date approaches.

Civilize It!

Modeling God’s Love in Our Interactions With Others

BY BONNY VAN

When it comes to politics, Catholic leaders are encouraging of respect for all life and dignity, we needed to model that the faithful to “Civilize It!” The initiative, developed in the respect in our very interactions with each other,” said Stieritz. Archdiocese of Cincinnati four years ago, is now taking “Even when we disagree, we can rise above the rhetorical on a national audience, thanks to a plug by the United mess and leave the discussion still having modeled God’s love. States Conference of Catholic Bishops There didn’t seem to be a well-known (USCCB). movement encouraging this. Hence, we Even when we all felt a calling to step into that space, Tony Stieritz, former director of the disagree, we can and Civilize It! was born.” Office of Social Action for the archdiocese rise above the and current CEO of Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio, was among the rhetorical mess and According to Sean Ater, director of the Center for New Evangelization for the original creators of (CCSWO), Civilize leave the discussion Cincinnati archdiocese, Civilize It! was It! He said Catholics are “called to form still having modeled a collaborative effort of the Family Life, our consciences based on our faith and to God’s love. Social Action and New Evangelization proclaim the truth as we know it in the Offices. He said the USCCB already public square.” However, he noted, the had a document with guiding principles “tone of public discourse” seemed to get more divisive over for Catholic voters during election years called Forming time, especially by the 2016 presidential election. Conscience of Faithful Citizenship. However, he said, issues such as right to life and immigration reform did not “fit “It seemed clear to us that, to be authentic in our promotion neatly in any party platform.”

“We realized that, in order to propose a Catholic viewpoint during the election cycle, we needed to begin a campaign to promote civility,” said Ater. “Civility sets the foundation for having significant conversations between people we disagree with. In the end, Civilize It! was an evangelization campaign.”

Andrew Musgrave, director of the Office of Social Action for the archdiocese, said the marketing tools to spread the message for Civilize It! include presentations, yard signs, t-shirts and bumper stickers. He said the presentation, given in-person at churches in the past and now going virtual, incorporates seven “Ground Rules for Civil Dialogue” that cover such issues as giving everyone a chance to speak and listening carefully. Musgrave noted that listening to opposing opinions is good for the political process because it leads to a better understanding of the issues but added, “They can be difficult conversations because people are passionate about whatever that issue is.”

“I think it’s also a place for the Church to say, ‘It’s a big tent, and we’ve got a lot of people that have different understandings of [Church teachings] and while some of them are nonnegotiable … there’s a lot of space to understand how those look and how those work, so we need to be approaching each other with love,’ ” said Musgrave.

Besides the “Ground Rules” of Civilize It!, people are also encouraged to sign a pledge to strive for “civility, compassion and clarity” in their political discussions. Musgrave said he was not surprised the USCCB adopted the initiative in November, in advance of this year’s presidential election, especially since so many of the faithful look to the Church for guidance regarding how to cast their vote.

“Through Civilize It!, the bishops are seeking to help Catholics imitate the example of Jesus through love for neighbor during an election year,” said Jill Rauh, director of Education and Outreach for the USCCB. “Building on the excellent materials provided by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the initiative offers an opportunity for individuals, families and leaders to commit to ‘Civility, Clarity and Compassion.’ We believe that several dozen dioceses across the United States are implementing the campaign, which has received a great response from Catholics who seek to encounter the ‘other’ and engage in civil dialogue.”

I PLEDGE:

CIVILITY To recognize the human dignity of those with whom I disagree, treat others with respect, and rise above attacks when directed at me.

CLARITY To root my political viewpoints in the Gospel and a well formed conscience, which involves prayer, conversation, study and listening. I will stand up for my convictions and speak out when I witness language that disparages others’ dignity, while also listening and seeking to understand others’ experiences.

COMPASSION To encounter others with a tone and posture which affirms that I honor the dignity of others and invites others to do the same. I will presume others’ best intentions and listen to their stories with empathy. I will strive to understand before seeking to be understood.