Bishop: We "Will Be Judged by How We Vote"

Fargo, North Dakota, Nov 4, 2008 (CNA).- At a Mass marking the completion of the 40 Days for Life campaign in Fargo, North Dakota, Bishop Samuel J. Aquila reminded his congregation that no Catholic can vote for someone who supports an intrinsic evil and that all Catholics “will be judged by how we vote.”

“Judgment is real, just as heaven and hell are real,” Bishop Aquila explained during his homily in Fargo yesterday. “When the soul separates from the body and comes before God, we will be judged on how we lived. It’s important to understand the reality of that judgment.”

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“An intrinsic evil is anything that is always and at every time wrong – that can never be seen as a ‘good’.” He noted the intrinsic evils of abortion, contraception, premarital sex, same-sex acts and the taking of innocent human life during war.

“All of those are intrinsic evils, and no society, and no person if he is Catholic, can ever support an intrinsic evil nor can he or she ever vote for someone who supports intrinsic evil. It is important to understand that, and to understand that truth especially in the upcoming election. Because, yes, all of us will be judged by how we vote. And, yes, there are many Catholics with erroneous consciences who have made prudential judgments that are wrong and have consistently made prudential judgments that are wrong. Either they do not fully understand the teaching of the Church or they choose to ignore that teaching and they choose an evil, and an intrinsic evil.”