U.S. bishops urge Catholic voters: Start with your faith, discern your vote
The USCCB released videos ahead of the 2026 midterms urging Catholic voters to form their consciences through faith and Church teaching. Archbishop Alexander Sample said Catholics should put their relationship with Jesus before national identity or political party, and use Catholic social teaching to assess issues. Archbishop William Lori described conscience as guiding people toward good and encouraged voters to slow down, pray, and discern their choices rather than follow a prescribed voting guide. Archbishop Shelton Fabre urged Catholics to keep discipleship, the common good, and human dignity at the center of public and political life.
10 hours ago
U.S. Catholic bishops urged voters ahead of the Nov. 2026 midterms to begin with their faith, form their consciences, and weigh candidates and ballot issues through Catholic social teaching. They emphasized prayerful discernment rather than endorsing a party or prescribing a particular vote.
In a video released Oct. 26 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample said Catholics should see themselves first as disciples of Jesus, then as Americans, and only third as members of a political party. He said no U.S. party embodies all Catholic social teaching, which should instead provide the starting point for considering political issues.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori described conscience as directing people to pursue good and avoid evil, and urged Catholics to slow down amid nonstop political news and engage in discernment. He said the bishops’ guidance on faithful citizenship is not a voter guide or a list of instructions on how to vote, but a vision for the country and an invitation to learn Church teaching before making choices.
Louisville Archbishop Shelton Fabre likewise urged Catholics to keep discipleship central to their decisions, saying participation in public life should advance the common good and uphold every person’s human dignity. Bishops also encouraged prayer ahead of the elections, including on ballot measures involving abortion and other issues.
The midterms were approaching amid low approval ratings for President Donald Trump and were described as a possible referendum on his second term. The article linked that political context in particular to the administration’s war with Iran and resulting increases in fuel and other prices.
As of Oct. 29, Decision Desk HQ forecast likely Democratic victories in both the House and Senate, including an 80% probability of a Democratic House victory.
Conscience formation shapes Catholic participation in democratic politics
Conscience formation is meant to make Catholic participation in democratic politics both morally serious and responsible. It does not give bishops authority to choose candidates for the laity, nor does it make private preference the standard of right and wrong. Rather, Catholics are called to learn moral truth, examine political facts, pray and deliberate, and then use prudence to judge how best to serve human dignity and the common good.
In Catholic teaching, conscience is a judgment of reason about whether a particular action is right or wrong—not simply a feeling, personal preference, or permission to do whatever one wants. The US bishops describe forming conscience as a serious, lifelong responsibility. It involves seeking goodness and truth, studying Scripture and Church teaching, learning the facts about the choices before us, and praying for discernment. Without that formation, a person can make mistaken moral judgments.
“The truth is something we receive, not something we make.”
That insight matters in politics because public decisions are not morally neutral simply because they are made through democratic procedures or supported by a majority. A Catholic voter or public official must assess political proposals against moral truths, rather than treating a party platform, candidate, or personal conviction as the final measure of what is good. At the same time, the bishops acknowledge that political questions can be complex: Catholics must form their own judgments rather than expect Church leaders to settle every concrete political choice for them.
Catholic political judgment requires more than knowing general principles. The virtue of prudence helps a person deliberate about the circumstances and choose appropriate means to pursue the good. It is not a license to set moral principles aside for convenience; it is the practical wisdom needed to apply them responsibly in particular situations. The bishops therefore call Catholics to weigh actual policy proposals, party platforms, candidates’ promises, and their records in light of the Gospel and Catholic moral and social teaching.
This also means that conscience formation cannot stop at reading slogans or accepting claims from one’s preferred political camp. Catholics are asked to seek trustworthy information and understand the issues affecting their communities. The purpose is not to eliminate disagreement about every political judgment, but to make disagreement more informed, morally grounded, and directed toward the good of others. The bishops explicitly caution that they do not tell Catholics whom to vote for; the responsibility for political choices rests with individuals acting on a properly formed conscience.
Catholic participation extends beyond casting a ballot. The bishops ground civic responsibility in the dignity of the human person and in baptismal witness: citizens are called, according to their circumstances and roles, to take part in promoting the common good. Political engagement can include running for office, working within parties, communicating with elected officials, and joining community or advocacy efforts. The point is not simply to secure advantage for a preferred group, but to contribute to a society that respects human dignity and protects those who are vulnerable.
This participation is a lay responsibility in a particular way. The Church teaches moral and social principles and helps form consciences; laypeople have the direct responsibility to work for a just ordering of society. The bishops’ guidance is therefore neither a command to withdraw from politics nor an endorsement of a candidate. They urge renewed engagement even when Catholics feel that no party or candidate fully reflects the Church’s concerns.
Political involvement also has spiritual significance. The bishops connect public decisions with Christian witness, arguing that faith should shape how people act in social and political life. For Catholics who hold public office, that responsibility includes seeking the common good and defending human dignity even when doing so conflicts with popular opinion.
A well-formed conscience does not require Catholics to seek political power for the Church or to suppress the freedom of others. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explains that the Church’s role is to illuminate consciences, not to exercise political power or eliminate freedom of opinion on contingent questions. It also rejects the idea that Christians should be excluded from political life merely because their moral convictions are religiously informed. Catholic participation, on this account, is a contribution offered through democratic discussion in service of justice and the dignity of the human person.
A vital distinction follows: Catholics may legitimately disagree about political strategies, judgments about circumstances, or which candidate is most likely to advance the common good. But democratic choice does not make every position morally acceptable. The bishops warn that party attachment must not lead Catholics to neglect or deny fundamental moral truths. Their aim is to bring political choices into a coherent relationship with moral principles, not to make political party loyalty the test of Catholic faithfulness.
The bishops identify the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity as foundational principles of Catholic social teaching for evaluating public life. These principles provide a framework for examining policies and candidates, while prudence and factual inquiry help apply that framework to particular decisions. The available material names these principles but does not fully explain each one here; accordingly, it supports their role as a framework, not a detailed account of every policy implication.
The practical result is neither partisan obedience nor political indifference. Catholic conscience formation calls people to learn, deliberate, pray, and participate—remaining open to correction while refusing to treat political convenience as a substitute for moral judgment. In a democracy, that can make Catholic engagement a form of service: an effort to defend human dignity, pursue the common good, and bring moral seriousness into public debate without pretending that every political decision has an easy or uniquely prescribed answer.