As Canadians get ready to vote April 28, Canadian Catholic News, through The Catholic Register in Toronto, is publishing a series of reflections by Matthew Marquardt, executive director of Catholic Conscience. The founder of the non-partisan civic engagement group offers guidance to help Catholics approach the democratic process faithfully, prayerfully, and with a well-formed conscience.

Canada is now heading toward a federal election on April 28, our next opportunity to choose leaders who will govern with the good of everyone in mind. Given the number of challenges facing Canada and the world, now is the time to start thinking carefully about how we will approach that vote.

One of our goals should be to set an example for all voters by considering the issues from a broad and principled point of view, rather than focusing selfishly on the two or three that are most interesting to us or that most closely touch our own personal lives. We should consider how every one of the proposals made by the parties is likely to affect everyone, not just ourselves. 

For example, one often-overlooked group is the people who will have to live with the consequences of our choices – not just now, but for years into the future: our children and grandchildren.

It has been suggested that in several ways Canadians may be living beyond our means: that we are encouraging our governments to spend more money than they have; that we are putting more unbreathable material into the atmosphere than we can remove; and that we are putting our children into daycare solely for the purpose of driving up our nation’s gross domestic product. And to the extent that we are concerned that our governments are devaluing life by not only permitting but promoting the killing of human beings – before birth and in times of sickness and aging – we need look no further than the mirror to find the cause. In a democracy, we are the ones who make the big decisions.

There are external threats, too: wars in Europe and the Middle East; military posturing in Asia and the U.S.; threats to information and data security, to health, to employment, and to monetary systems.

It might also be said that we could do a better job of insisting that our children be raised in truth – that we are allowing them to be misled through partisan manipulation of news and social media, public education, and other public channels.

What kind of world do we want to leave for our children, and how do we think that world should be built?

As it stands, we risk leaving each of our children tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt they had no voice in incurring, limited possibilities for raising children of their own in a safe and loving home, a tenuous grasp of truth and purpose, a limited supply of air to breathe in a climate that will support plant life, and governments inclined to kill them when they are of no further economic use.

For decades, we have passed up opportunities to make better choices, too often listening to and enabling people who appear to simply want to be in charge, rather than to pursue any coherent, principled course of social conduct. Principled candidates do exist, but it might be said that we tend to ignore them – or worse, run them off.

And as Catholics, we could also be accused of complicity, in too often having allowed ourselves to be channelled into behaving as one- or two-issue voters.

If we wish to do better for our children, we need to educate ourselves and be engaged with the system across the full, broad range of issues. And if we wish to be effective, we should do so with the joy that comes from possessing and sharing truth.

The key is to educate ourselves, to vote carefully, and to stay in touch with our leaders. Our starting points should be prayer, the Gospel, and the social teaching of the Catholic Church. 

And we should prepare ourselves, and witness in each moment of our lives, with a hope and a joy borne of unshakeable faith in the love of God. If we do our part and turn to God in prayer, he will work his will through us and cause his justice to flourish.

Democracy needs participation — and Catholics have a duty to engage

Any democracy, by its very nature, requires commitment on the part of the people it is intended to govern. Democracies exist because, sooner or later, all other forms of government known to humans have devolved into one form or another of “might makes right.” 

The abuses that followed are precisely what led our political ancestors to experiment with democracy — in particular, democracy based on universal suffrage rather than property status or other privileged restrictions. These pioneers wanted every responsible citizen to have a voice in social conversation.

As the creators of modern democracy warned us repeatedly, one of the greatest dangers to elective self-governance is complacency. Complacency is an open and inviting road to abuse, drawing in too many aspirants eager to impose their personal visions on others. And today, the challenges — the dangers — that threaten democracy are more numerous, more powerful, and more broad-ranging than ever.

Every citizen ought to cherish his or her opportunity to participate, if for no other reason than self-protection.

We Catholics, however, have a unique and deeper duty. We are called to participate not just on our own behalf, in defence of our own interests, but on behalf of everyone, in defence of the interests of everyone, in the name of charitable love. This duty arises from the two-dimensional nature of the Christian’s relationship with God. 

In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, a lawyer seeking to test Jesus asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” And Jesus said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

When the lawyer asked how he could identify this neighbour that he was instructed to love as himself, Christ replied with the parable of the Good Samaritan. To summarize: our neighbour is anyone who needs help that we are able to give.

In seeking God, then, the Christian is meant to aim not only for a direct path to the Creator above, but at the same time to look around and tend to anyone found in need.

The civic aspect of this teaching is confirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Participation is the voluntary and generous engagement of a person in social interchange. It is necessary that all participate, each according to his position and role, in promoting the common good … As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life.”

“As far as possible,” the Catechism emphasizes. In promoting the common good, Catholics are called to dig deep and give all the time and energy their lives permit.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 suggests the gravity of that calling — and the weight of the consequences we can incur by burying our talents in order to hide from responsibility. Moreover, the judgment of the nations, which follows in that same chapter, suggests that societies will be called collectively to answer for the people they are meant to protect — that each of us will be judged both individually and as members of our larger societies for the choices we make.

It is one of God’s great gifts to us that by taking an active role in society, we can work to help others for the good of all, as well as ourselves. At a bare minimum, we are called to vote — and to do so in accordance with our own well-formed individual consciences.

To help us, the Church has provided a comprehensive yet remarkably flexible framework, designed to allow us to responsibly form our own opinions in weighing the merit of any social issue. The principles and values we should apply are explained in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which draws on teachings of the Old and New Testaments, the Popes, Doctors of the Church, and many other sources.


Voting like a Catholic

How can anything useful be accomplished by a single person’s vote, amid a welter of bewildering issues, accusations, denials, hopes, needs, “desserts,” last-minute promises, and sometimes beautiful possibilities?

The answer involves prayer. Fortunately, the process we should use for voting is really only a variation of the process we should use in making all our life decisions: if we apply the gifts God has entrusted to us to do the job well, and turn to him in prayer, he will open our ears and eyes, and through us he will cause his justice to flourish. (Is 35:4-7a)

We are called to inform ourselves responsibly concerning (a) the teachings of the Church and (b) issues relevant to the election. This involves identifying and regularly consulting responsible news sources, and familiarizing ourselves with the principles and values of Catholic social teaching. Relying principally on our friends’ social media posts is not responsible.

As we learn, we should seek out those around us, at home, church, and work, and respectfully discuss the issues with them, listening carefully and evaluating all appropriate options. And we must pray devoutly throughout the entire process, asking for guidance as we try to decide which party or candidate to support. We should share our hopes and fears for society, our neighbours, ourselves, and the world. If we do that devoutly, God will open our hearts and guide us to the vote that he desires from us.

When we vote prayerfully, we need not fear that we are making “the wrong vote.” Neither should we worry if others discern the call differently than us. Each of us is a different member of the body of Christ, with different talents and different callings. If we pray, we can participate freely and at the same time surrender to the will of God.

Yet voting is not the end of our responsibility. Once the election is over, we should stay respectfully engaged with those who have been elected — whether they are our own preferred candidates or not. This is important if we hope to improve our choices in the future. While gently sharing with them our concerns about points where their thoughts might differ from ours, we should remember to thank them for the sacrifices they have made to serve. And we should pray for them.

All issues should be approached in light of the permanent principles of Catholic social teaching:

• Life & human dignity: we are all made in the image and the likeness of God. We are meant to seek God with our strength, directly and in those around us, throughout our whole lives, and to encourage and enable others to do so, while striving never to hinder them.

• The common good: social policy should always promote the combination of civic possibilities that will enable and encourage everyone to seek his or her true fulfillment – to seek God with her or his strength. This is the purpose of government and other social institutions.

• Subsidiarity: the principle that society is meant to encourage and enable individuals and smaller groups in fulfilling their God-intended purposes, without taking those purposes away from them, even for the sake of “efficiency.” To take responsibilities and opportunities from “lower” order entities and give them to “higher” entities such as governments or corporations is to deny the “lower” orders opportunities to fulfill their vocations.

• Solidarity: the principle that what happens to others affects us, that we are all in this together. The urge to help others is a good thing, given to us by God. It should be approached in such a way as to empower people whenever possible, without making them dependent on others.

All civic actions should be grounded in the values of:

• Truth: truth is fundamental to any just form of government. Even when we seek consensus in our democracies, it must be founded on truth, and not on currently popular fads or false preferences. God is the external, eternal truth to which we are and should be bound.

• Freedom: God has willed that we remain under the control of our own decisions, so that we are able to seek our Creator spontaneously.

• Justice: the constant and firm will to give God and neighbour their due.

• Charitable love: we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbour as ourself.

Engage in democracy through deep prayer and hard work

One vote each.

The problem with having a single vote is that the policies of any single party, platform, or candidate seldom align perfectly with Catholic social teaching. More often, each candidate and each party has adopted some positions that are reassuringly consistent with our thought and others that are disappointingly contrary. And in an increasingly polarized world, our choices seem to be growing worse.

What are we to do? Despair? Throw up our hands? Walk away from the whole democratic process and go back to our favourite pastimes and diversions?

No, Christ wants more from us. We are to use all the resources at our disposal to ensure that we and everyone around us is enabled and encouraged to seek the truth, which is God, and to do what we can to ensure that our societies set and maintain conditions that will support that purpose. Throwing up our hands and hiding is to open the door for those who might be inclined to take advantage of us and misuse the common wealth.

Instead, we are meant to pray and work a little harder.

For deeper prayer, Catholics have many options. My personal favourites are the Rosary and Holy Mass, coupled with discernment techniques such as those taught by Sts. Alphonsus Ligouri and Ignatius of Loyola. St. Alphonsus and St. Ignatius spoke eloquently of ways of listening during prayer, searching the heart for preferences that God might wish to share with us.

Not being a trained theologian, I am shy to provide too many details, but recommend works such as The Discernment of Spirits by Father Timothy Gallagher and Conscience by Father Raphael Gallagher, published by the Ignatian and Ligouri presses, respectively.

Devout Rosaries and Masses are incomparably powerful. In faithful combination with the techniques of our venerable teachers, they should enable us to vote with clear consciences.

However we approach it, we should all be conversing daily — preferably moment by moment — with God, our guardian angels, and our patron saints. We should not be shy about sharing our difficulties and misgivings with them. Invoke the Holy Spirit, lay the issues before God, and ask for guidance. Then watch through the day for answers, which come in many forms.

Asking the intercession of Mary, Seat of Wisdom and Queen of Heaven, is also a good idea.

Having prayed sincerely and reflected devoutly, we are entitled to choose and vote with confidence, even if it seems our vote might be wasted. It’s important to remember that God moves in ways we don’t always understand, even in ways that may seem bad to us at the time. Remember that God can make use of very bad events to bring about great good, sometimes many years later. For example:

  • Joseph, son of Jacob, was able to save his family and all Israel by behaving devoutly and appropriately even after his brothers sold him into slavery and he was wrongfully imprisoned.

  • Joseph, foster-father of Christ, found that his betrothed was with child before their marriage had been consummated; and she bore for Joseph and for all of us the Son of the living God.

  • Judas, one of Christ’s 12 chosen, betrayed Christ to the Sanhedrin, resulting in Jesus’ crucifixion — which in turn resulted in the apostles being sent forth to make disciples of all nations.

Moreover, Christ is the great multiplier. Remember the miracles of the loaves and fishes. We can never know what use God might make of a single conversation, or a single properly discerned vote, now or many years from now.

Remember also that prayer is to be offered with confidence. By voting confidently, with the realization that we cannot control everything ourselves, we assist God in his continuing act of creation.

Finally, we have to stay involved, even after the election. If we are to retain the blessing of democracy, with its privilege of self-government, we must remain in constant vigilance, staying constantly informed and involved. 

We should seek opportunities to introduce ourselves to our elected representatives and to share with them our thanks for their services, highlighting the areas in which we may agree with them, and gently explaining our points of view when we disagree. And we should listen respectfully to their responses.

Otherwise, when we face judgment, how will we explain that we failed to do what we could to help build a world pleasing to God?

Faithful need to look beyond just one or two issues in upcoming elections

By Quinton Amundson

Now that the federal election has been called for April 28, Canadians — especially Catholics — are being asked to look closely at the direction we’re heading, says Matthew Marquardt, executive director of Catholic Conscience, who is calling on people of faith to meet the moment.

“I’m really concerned because I think at the moment, we as a society — the federal government and provincial governments — are living way beyond our means,” said Marquardt. 

“We’re running up large debts. We continue causing way too much environmental harm without really getting serious about fixing it. And we are making choices that are more about our own personal comfort and our little personal priorities than they are about what’s good for us.”

Now is a moment to consider the whole picture, said Marquardt, “from the point of view of what we’re leaving to our children and our grandchildren.”

Catholic Conscience has updated its website (catholicconscience.org) to provide voter guides for the election. 

Visitors to the Catholic Conscience website — there were more than 8,000 unique users who accessed the site in the month following the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5 — are invited to engage in the Catholic voting process by completing four key preliminary steps:

  1. Become responsibly and comprehensively informed about the full range of Catholic social teaching (CST) and issues prominent in this election; 
  2. Engage in prayerful reflection about the choice ahead; 
  3. Choose confidently; 
  4. Stay actively and civilly engaged with elected representatives — whether or not your preferred candidate prevailed.

Catholic Conscience also advises voters to consult The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and examine papal encyclicals and exhortations, notably Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Rerum Novarum, and Laudato si’.

To aid the prayer process, the Catholic Conscience website recommends that “the writings of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Alphonsus Liguori on the discernment of spirits can be helpful in making difficult decisions, including voting choices.” Imploring God and the Holy Spirit for guidance on the issues is also advised.

Catholic Conscience is unequivocal in its stance that voting “is to be done with confidence.”

Marquardt says, “By voting confidently, according to our best lights, with the realization that we cannot control everything ourselves, we can participate freely and at the same time surrender to the will of God. We can assist God in his continuing act of creation.”

Seven main issues must be considered to vote like a Catholic, according to Catholic Conscience:

  • The sanctity of human life: from conception to natural death

  • Stewardship of creation

  • Family, community, and the common good

  • An economy at the service of all people

  • The individual and society: rights, responsibility, and subsidiarity

  • Solidarity

  • Good government: democracy, justice, and peace

The website features a PDF document with a platform comparison of where the parties stand broadly on these values and specifically on issues connected with these themes. Examining how the parties view the sanctity of human life, for example, means evaluating their positions on abortion, euthanasia, human engineering, population control, etc.

Marquardt told The Catholic Register that Catholic leaders — perhaps specifically Calgary Bishop William McGrattan, in his role as president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops — do have a part to play in inspiring the faithful to become holistic voters.

“I started Catholic Conscience because I was alarmed that Catholics were being kind of encouraged, channelled into being one- or two-issue voters, when there’s a whole lot of things we ought to be considering,” said Marquardt. “There’s no party that is perfectly Catholic, or it’s very seldom any party’s perfect with a Catholic. They’ve all got great things. They’ve all got things that we ought to reconsider.

“So, the entire Church, top to bottom, should be engaged. I think our leaders need to encourage us to be more involved and actually not be afraid about speaking out.”

As parties unveil key planks of their 2025 platforms in the coming days, weeks, and months, Marquardt will be updating Catholic Conscience to ensure it provides the most timely and impactful information possible for voters.

Since its emergence during the 2019 election cycle, Marquardt said engagement with the site has improved “by a factor of four or five” with each successive election.

There were nearly 25,000 website visits during 2024, and it would be fair to predict year-to-date metrics will look even better in 2025.

(Amundson is a staff writer for The Catholic Register.)

For more information visit Catholic Conscience’s Canadian election site.