Sweden Catholic commission issues pastoral guidance for voters ahead of September elections

A Catholic organization within the Diocese of Stockholm, Sweden, has issued a document meant to guide the nation's voters, urging them to actively participate in their civic duty while following Catholic social teaching.

Key Takeaways:

• The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm has issued guidance for voters ahead of the country's September elections.

• The document helps voters distinguish between two categories of issues they may encounter, noting that nonnegotiable moral truths are those such as euthanasia and abortion.

• The document's commissioner says it is a matter of pastoral guidance.

The Details:

According to EWTN News, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm published its voter guide in which it urges Catholics and "all people of goodwill" to become informed and engaged in public discourse, and to vote in a manner that adheres to Catholic social teaching.

The document helps voters distinguish between two categories of issues they may encounter: those subject to prudential judgement, and those which are non-negotiable moral truths.

An issue of prudential judgement, for instance, may be the economy, migration, or climate change. Moral issues, on the other hand, include those concerning life and death, such as abortion and euthanasia.

The document states that “every human being’s right to life from conception to natural death” is foundational, and that abortion and euthanasia are “serious violations of human dignity.”

Though the document helps voters determined how to vote, it stops short of endorsing any political parties or positions.

Zoom In:

As Gaudium Press reports, the document comes as several political parties are poised to attempt to amend the country's constitution to enshrine abortion as a constitutional 'right.' Additionally, lawmakers are working to expand the nation's abortion laws, while allowing at-home chemical abortions through use of the abortion pill.

Pro-life groups within the country say that the commission's document, which comes ahead of the year's September election, is “a rather bold step," particularly because issues like abortion are widely considered to be a settled matter in the country.

“Issuing such a document in an election year is meaningful because it makes a distinctly Catholic voice more visible in public debate,” said Benedicta Lindberg, secretary-general of the pro-life organization Respekt.

The commission's chairman, Fr. Thomas Idergard, SJ, called the document a matter of pastoral guidance.

“With elections approaching, the faithful request some guidance on how to apply faith in their choices as voters,” Idergard told EWTN News.

The Bottom Line:

The document is an important tool for helping Catholics, and all people, consider how to vote on serious life issues. As Fr. Idergard noted, “The Catholic Church in Sweden has always been visibly active on pro-life issues."