Colombian bishops object to manipulation of their statements in run-up to presidential election
Colombian Bishops’ Conference urged respect for bishops' statements, warning against partisan manipulation ahead of June 21 presidential runoff. Bishops clarified the messages are rooted in Gospel and Church social doctrine, and do not endorse any candidate. The CEC called for contextual understanding, verification via official channels, and avoidance of interpretations that polarize society. Bishops emphasized fostering mutual respect, dialogue, and rejecting violence amid the decisive election moment.
4 months ago
The Colombian bishops’ conference has issued pastoral messages urging voters to reflect on the Gospel and the Church’s social teaching, while warning that their statements are being misused for partisan ends ahead of the June 21 runoff election between right‑wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella and left‑wing candidate Iván Cepeda. 1 2
The bishops emphasized that their communications are meant to provide “criteria for reflection” rooted in the Gospel, Church social doctrine, and the magisterium, aimed at fostering responsible civic participation, dialogue, and the common good. They explicitly stated that the messages do not endorse or delegitimize any candidacy. 1
On June 19 the conference invited the faithful to a nationwide prayer vigil in cathedrals, parishes, and homes, urging families to light candles and pray for Colombia before voting. The resource prepared for the vigil stresses that “Colombia is going through a decisive moment” and that listening to God is essential before exercising the right to vote. 2 3
A June 10 statement warned that “certain posts and comments” circulating online were presenting partisan interpretations of episcopal messages, using them to support specific political positions. The bishops called for the full context of their statements to be respected and for verification through official channels to avoid confusion and polarization. 1
The runoff election follows a campaign marked by “high levels of confrontational rhetoric, stigmatization, the spread of false or misleading information, and challenges to democratic institutions,” according to Colombia’s ombudsman’s office. The office urged both candidates to act with moral rectitude and to de‑escalate verbal violence that could lead to physical conflict. 2 3
Pope Leo XIV, during a recent visit to Spain, warned that the temptation to gain popularity by stoking polarization is growing. He urged a shift from a “culture of confrontation” to a “culture of encounter,” echoing the bishops’ appeal for unity and responsible discernment. 2*
"Assess Catholic Church’s role in preventing political polarization."
The Catholic Church’s role in preventing political polarization is not to eliminate political disagreement, but to transform how people disagree—by insisting that public life be oriented to the common good, grounded in human dignity, and carried out through responsible participation rather than dehumanizing camps. In Catholic social teaching, polarization is treated as a moral and social danger: it blocks solidarity, corrodes justice, and makes peaceful coexistence harder to sustain.
A major way the Church counters polarization is by framing politics around the common good, not around factional victory. In Centesimus Annus, John Paul II explains that the Church’s social doctrine is meant to analyze social realities, offer judgment, and indicate directions for just resolution—precisely because peace is built on justice and because conflicts can be met without degrading the transcendent dignity of persons “either in oneself or in one’s adversaries.”
In practice, this means the Church refuses to treat political opponents as less-than-human. Polarization typically grows when opponents are reduced to threats, stereotypes, or enemies to be crushed; Catholic teaching insists that even opponents remain persons whose dignity must be respected and whose rights matter.
Polarization often thrives when people feel they do not have a real stake in society or when politics becomes something done to them. Catholic social doctrine therefore emphasizes participation as a defining element of subsidiarity. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states that participation is a duty to be carried out “with responsibility and with a view to the common good,” and it must not be restricted only to some areas of life; it includes political and social life at every level.
The Church also stresses that participation should be encouraged especially for the most disadvantaged, and that strong moral pressure is needed so public administration reflects shared responsibility toward the common good. This directly counters polarization dynamics where only the powerful “define reality” and exclude others.
Polarization is worsened when political power is treated as conquest. The Church teaches that the exercise of authority must be understood as service, carried out within moral law for the common good—not authoritarian domination.
This provides a concrete moral standard: a political culture that treats power as domination will naturally drift toward camps, intimidation, and mutual distrust, while a service-oriented political ethos makes cooperation and accountability more plausible.
Catholic teaching explicitly frames the political commitment of the lay faithful. The Compendium says attention must be given to preparing believers to exercise political power when entrusted by citizens “in accordance with democratic rules.” It describes democracy in terms of enabling participation in political choices, guaranteeing accountability, and allowing peaceful replacement “when appropriate.”
This helps prevent polarization because it directs people away from “totalizing” politics: elections and democratic institutions are not arenas for permanent hostility, but mechanisms for peaceful accountability.
The Church also instructs believers to reject secret organizations that seek to subvert legitimate institutions. Polarization commonly accelerates where political outcomes are manipulated by hidden pressures, misinformation, or covert networks—undermining trust in shared democratic processes.
A key anti-polarization teaching is that Christians should not treat any single party as an ideological totality that fully “corresponds” to the ethical demands of faith and Christian life. The Compendium states that Christians cannot claim one party or coalition wholly satisfies the demands of faith, and their adherence should be critical, rooted in charity and oriented toward the common good—including the “spiritual end of the human person.”
This matters for polarization because polarization often depends on treating political identity as moral identity: “If you’re not with my team, you’re against me.” By teaching critical adherence, the Church discourages absolutism, forces conscience to remain primary, and makes room for moral correction even within one’s own political camp.
Beyond doctrine and civic principles, the Church’s pastoral approach aims to shape hearts and habits—because polarization is not only structural; it is also psychological and spiritual.
In a message on reconciliation, Pope Leo XIV explicitly frames the response to “fear” and “prejudices,” and speaks of healing wounds, forgiving, and learning to be “experts in reconciliation.” He states: “Enemies do not exist: only brothers and sisters exist,” describing “the culture of reconciliation” and calling for “gestures of reconciliation and policies of reconciliation.”
This is directly relevant to polarization: when fear and prejudice dominate public life, people stop listening. Reconciliation reframes political conflict as something that can be met with patience, delicate healing of “bleeding memories,” and recognition of shared dreams and hopes.
Pope Leo XIV, in a dialogue with young people during the Jubilee Vigil, discusses how culture—especially social media—can intensify loneliness while creating illusory connections. He cites Pope Francis on how communications apparatus can be used “to lull us,” and describes algorithms that shape what people watch and even who they call friends, fragmenting relationships.
While this is not “political polarization” in the narrow party sense, it is a causal environment: when communication systems fragment relationships and reduce persons to consumable profiles, polarization becomes easier because trust collapses and dialogue weakens.
John Paul II’s address to bishops in Nicaragua before elections provides a model of how the Church can engage without inciting conflict: he emphasizes coherence between life and faith, invites faithful civic participation (including voting without absenteeism), and hopes elections occur in “a climate of mutual respect, order and peace.” He also highlights choosing democratic options aligned with a “Christian conception of man and society,” involving fundamental rights and opposing totalitarian tendencies—“visible or concealed.”
Similarly, earlier in the context of social violence in Colombia, the Church is described as having the “means of reconciliation and forgiveness” and as called to accompany people in building a “more just and pacific” society through collaboration, conversion of hearts, and a “new culture of solidarity.”
These examples show a consistent Catholic pattern:
Catholic teaching does not reduce the Church to a political institution competing for power. The focus is on forming consciences, clarifying principles, and encouraging participation in a morally grounded way—not capturing state power.
Even when the Church speaks about politics, it does so to offer ethical orientation and social doctrine that situate conflicts within the Gospel’s moral perspective. John Paul II notes that the Church’s social doctrine is an essential part of evangelizing mission because it points to the consequences of the Gospel in society and helps people confront social realities “without degrading the human person’s transcendent dignity.”
So the Church’s anti-polarization “mechanism” is primarily formation (truth, conscience, moral discernment) and community (shared responsibility, reconciliation, solidarity), rather than electoral control.
The Catholic Church helps prevent political polarization by:
In short: Catholic anti-polarization work is a blend of social doctrine, moral formation, and reconciliation-focused pastoral practice, aimed at keeping politics human—centered on persons, truth, justice, and peace.