Cardinal Burke’s Excellent Advice for the Presidential Election
“More than likely the judgment will be that neither candidates ideally answers these questions all in the way that we want. But given the nature of our government, can we in conscience support one of the candidates, at least, who, while maybe [he or she] doesn’t support everything that we believe and know is important, will at least support it to a certain extent with the hope that that candidate can be convinced to embrace evermore fully the common good.” -Cardinal Burke
LifeSiteNews has a great article that taps the mind and heart of Cardinal Burke on the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. I could not agree more with the Cardinal, which means we remain 100{fc81601d024d03c324b3e9fd7414bb6d912d421130810e2c1a1663c717b5ba12} on the “think alike” meter.
Here’s some excerpts … you can read the rest over at LifeStieNews …
“I think that what we have to do in this time is to look at both candidates to see if one of them will not, at least in some way, advance the common good, both with respect to the good of human life, the good of the family, the freedom of conscience, the care of the poor, and to look at that very carefully,” the Cardinal told reporters during an international teleconference conducted by Carmel Communications and attended by LifeSiteNews.
Cardinal Burke, the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the former archbishop of St. Louis, said that even if Catholics see problems with both candidates on various issues, they nevertheless can vote for the one who supports Catholic values the most.
“More than likely the judgment will be that neither candidates ideally answers these questions all in the way that we want. But given the nature of our government, can we in conscience support one of the candidates, at least, who, while maybe [he or she] doesn’t support everything that we believe and know is important, will at least support it to a certain extent with the hope that that candidate can be convinced to embrace evermore fully the common good,” he said.
Burke warned Catholics against not voting at all and against the practice of writing in the name of a preferred candidate on the ballot, saying it could inadvertently cause the election of a candidate who does not respect life, family, and freedom.
“And I understand these sentiments very well. But one also has to be very prudent, and know that by not voting at all you are probably favoring one candidate or another,” he said, adding that even if Catholics wrote in the name of a favored candidate, it would be unlikely for such a person to become elected.
“The moral weight to voting is indeed very heavy. In other words, every vote counts,” he said.
Burke urged Catholics to study carefully the positions of both running candidates before voting.
“Those are difficult considerations, and I don’t say any of this in a kind of easy way. But I do think that Catholics especially need to be very cautious and not simply opting out, or good pro-life people and good pro-family people, simply just throwing up their hands. I would just urge them to study the position of both candidates, to the fullest possible degree, to see whether or not one of them will not advance, at least to some degree, restoration of the civilization of life and love in our country.”
