Preserving Democracy: Episcopal Perspectives

In 1991, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a statement “Political Responsibility: Revitalizing American Democracy” expressing concern that many Americans were losing interest in the political process: for instance only half of eligible voters actually cast a ballot in the 1988 presidential election and only about one-third voted in the 1990 midterm, the lowest turnout since World War II. The bishops deplored this “disenchantment” with politics as a dangerous trend threatening to “undermine the heart of our democratic traditions.”  The USCCB statement identified various causes of this trend, including barriers to voter registration and campaigns that focus on sound bites. It went on to insist that the key to the renewal of public life is reorienting politics to reflect better the “search for the common good reconciling diverse interests for the well-being of the whole human family.”

Writing decades later in 2024, Peter Steinfels, a former religion writer for the New York Times, accused the current bishops of failing to speak out against the threats posed to democracy by the former president who refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, who regularly denigrates our judicial system and who promotes retribution against his political opponents. Steinfels concluded his scathing attack on the bishops by saying it is not too late for at least one prominent  bishop to speak out insisting that faithful citizenship presupposes respect for lawful democratic processes of voting and accepting election results.

Since the Steinfels article, a prominent bishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego addressed the issue in an email interview with John Gehring of Faithful America, stressing that bishops and all Catholics have a responsibility to defend democracy with greater urgency. McElroy who earned a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and another in political science from Stanford, has in the past criticized his fellow bishops for making abortion the “preeminent issue” of our time to the neglect of other issues like the crisis of democracy. In his interview, the cardinal noted that in the last couple of years our nation has abandoned fundamental elements of our national democracy, including the peaceful acceptance of election outcomes, the safety of public officials and respect for essential truth and civility in our public dialogue.  For McElroy, the new “anti-democratic culture” is symbolized by the invasion of the Capital by a mob seeking to kill the vice-president and the speaker of the house.  In response, he called on our major social and spiritual institutions to speak clearly about the threats to our democracy and to foster a “moral regeneration” of our political institutions.

Furthermore, Cardinal McElroy argued that Catholic social teaching can enrich this regeneration process and help cure the cancer that corrodes our democracy. He called all Catholics to be faithful citizens committed to building a thriving multi-racial democracy where we can connect with those who are different and participate in community life that rises above radical individualism.  The cardinal concluded his interview with an urgent call to Catholics to demonstrate genuine leadership in preserving democracy.

What concrete step could I take to help preserve democracy?