U.S. bishops offer pre-midterms guidance on faithful citizenship

Tyler Arnold By Tyler Arnold for EWTN News

September 4, 2026 Tyler Arnold News Briefs 8 Print

The guide is meant to assist in priestly formation on Catholic Social Teaching, so they can better communicate those teachings to their congregations.

Casting a ballot. | Credit: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock
Casting a ballot. | Credit: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a guide for dioceses that outlines how they can train priests to better assist members of their congregation to be “faithful citizens.”

It comes about two months before the midterm elections, which will decide control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It does not instruct people how to vote, but does note principles of Catholic teaching that should be considered when making that decision.

Faithful citizenship, the guide explains, embraces “the fullness of the Church’s teachings and is a way of living the Gospel in attending to specific duties in the public square, which sit alongside a wide array of other duties.” It emphasizes that faith must come before politics.

The guide, titled “Outlines for Clergy Formation on Faithful Citizenship,” offers sample outlines for clergy formation sessions, which includes the options of a a 3-5 hour session and a concise 1-hour session.

It was developed following internal dialogue among bishops after some had requested a guide on the subject. It focuses on Catholic Social Teaching, how it applies to modern politics in the U.S. and how to help priests communicate those teachings to their congregations.

“We are supposed to be agents of transformation of society according to the principles of the Gospel and the profound dignity and the life of every human person,” Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland said in a video message that the USCCB provided to dioceses to accompany the guide.

“The church and the laity,” he said, “we need to have a seat at the table to help form a society where every individualʼs dignity is recognized and everybodyʼs right to life is recognized.”

The document includes five guiding principles of Catholic Social Teaching, which derive from Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

First, it points to the common good, noting the obligation for every person “to act in a manner that serves the whole of society” and be “a neighbor to all.” It cites the Second Vatican Council’s definition of the term: “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”

Second, it points to the Universal Destination of Goods. It notes that God “created the world and entrusted it to the care of humanity.” It pointed to Pope Leo XIII’s teachings in Rerum Novarum, which defends the right to private property, but not one that is absolute. The right is “subordinate to the duty to ensure that all can live in dignity,” it explains.

It points to subsidiarity, which is the principle that “issues should be addressed at as local a level as possible.” It notes “natural justice forbids a government from intruding on the dignity of the family.”

The fourth principle is solidarity, which it explains “puts into practice our Lord’s vast definition of neighbor given in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.”

Fifth, the guide states, is social justice. It states the term is often “incorrectly perceived as ‘woke,’” but stems from the cardinal virtues. It cites Pope Leo XIV, who explained it as “looking beyond one-on-one relationships … to the structural elements that lead to injustice in society.”

Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said in the video message that Catholics are “called to be faithful, faithful citizens, faithful people in the building up of a society and a community that is somehow reflective of the very things that God Himself has shown us in Christ.”

“And the rest is in Godʼs hands,” he said. “I think as Catholics, our first role in political life and in social life is to give an authentic witness that we that we carry within ourselves, the person of Christ and all that that implies.”

The guide refers to faithful citizenship as “a way of life, not merely something exercised when marking a ballot.”

“Although it addresses specific moral issues — abortion, racial equality, economic inequities, criminal justice, euthanasia, family life, immigration, participation in the political process, war and peace, and many more — faithful citizenship fundamentally is a way of seeing the world in the light of the Gospel and allowing Gospel truth to point the way to prudential judgements and concrete decisions,” it explains.

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8 Comments

  1. No one listens to “the U.S. Bishops.” Catholics in a particular diocese listen to THEIR bishop.

    The U.S. bishops ought to concentrate on how they can help the Catholic Faithful get to heaven. That is a challenge enough for them.

    Reply

  3. In their electoral “guidance”, the Bishops disregard U.S. Law about immigration and thereby endanger us, our wives, children, families, neighbors and country and mislead kind Catholics into doing the same.

    They think that we don’t have enough bad people in the U.S.

    So we have to import more from among those who show their moral values and lack of regard for their neighbors rights by violating our laws to enter our country instead of applying for a visa at an American consulate or in case of true political persecution, by asking for political asylum at a consulate or embassy. This is the legal and indeed moral way.

    And ALL illegas tax our health systems, raise housing costs, lower wages for Americans, overcrowd our schools, with almost 50% of illegals on welfare far higher than the average for non illegals, not to mention the STEALING OF BILLIONS of taxpayers dollars as in Minnesota and California.

    Or “non-violent crimes” such as DWI, fraud, theft, identity theft, drug trafficking, child pornography possession, driving accidents, and human trafficking and child molestation.

    These are a few more of the recent crimes, including child trafficking, committed by those among the illegal aliens the bishops abet. The bishops are therefore complicit in these crimes because of their support for illegals:

    Haitian Illegal Alien in Florida Now Accused of Murdering Woman, Attempted Rape with Battery, Burglary with Battery, Was Released into U.S. by the Democrat Administration
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/02/dhs-haitian-illegal-alien-accused-of-murdering-florida-woman-was-released-into-u-s-by-biden-administration/

    Deported illegal alien CHILD PREDATOR busted while crossing again Texas border
    https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/08/27/exclusive-deported-cuban-child-predator-busted-while-crossing-texas-border/

    —Illegal alien fugitive arrested after allegedly slashing woman’s throat in Tennessee
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/06/16/illegal-alien-fugitive-arrested-after-allegedly-slashing-womans-throat-tennessee/
    • The OFFICE OF THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS GENERAL Conference has released its annual state immigration report revealing that IN 2025, ILLEGAL MIGRANTS COMMITTED 2,183 VIOLENT OFFENSES, INCLUDING 41 HOMICIDES, 145 SEXUAL OFFENSES, 11 CHILD RAPES, AND MORE. Tennessee Releases Staggering Stats on Migrant Crime
    • https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/02/02/tennessee-releases-staggering-stats-migrant-crime/
    •
    —735 Illegal Aliens Arrested by ICE-Houston Officers— accounted for more than 1,700 criminal convictions, WITH NEARLY 1,200 involving VIOLENT CONVICTIONS, INCLUDING MURDERERS, CHILD PREDATORS
    https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/06/18/exclusive-735-criminal-illegal-aliens-arrested-by-ice-houston-agents-in-may-nearly-1200-with-violent-convictions-including-murderers-child-predators/

    —ICE Deports Illegal Aliens Gang Members Convicted of Attempted Murder, Burglary
    • https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/21/ice-deports-illegal-gang-members-convicted-of-attempted-murder-burglary/

    • —DOJ Indicts Illegal Aliens Accused of Massive Democrat Administratin-Era CHILD TRAFFICKING Scheme
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/06/11/doj-indicts-three-illegal-aliens-accused-of-smuggling-migrant-children-into-us/
    •
    • ICE Agents Deport Illegal Aliens Convicted of Murder, Rape, Drug Trafficking
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/29/ice-agents-deport-illegal-alien-convicted-of-murder-rape-drug-trafficking/
    ICE Deports Illegal Alien Gang Members Convicted of Manslaughter, Attempted Murder, Rape
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/12/ice-deports-illegal-alien-gang-members-convicted-of-manslaughter-attempted-murder-rape/
    Chicago Threw $640M in Tax Dollars at Illegal Migrants Over Two Years
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/21/chicago-threw-640m-in-tax-dollars-at-illegal-migrants-over-two-years/
    •
    • The ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl at Freedom Park in Idaho, Lozano Flores illegally crossed the Democrat administration’s open southern border into New Mexico in 2023, but was apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol and agreed to voluntarily return to Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed. He then reentered the U.S. at an unknown location and date.
    https://www.kivitv.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/ada-county/new-details-suspect-charged-in-freedom-park-sexual-assault-kidnapping-held-on-3-million-bail
    • ICE DEPORTED SEVERAL ILLEGAL ALIENS LAST WEEK, INCLUDING THOSE CONVICTED OF HOMICIDE, RAPE, AND ANIMAL ABUSE, Breitbart News has learned. “In the last week alone, ICE has deported dangerous criminals from our country, including murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, and violent assailants,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/05/exclusive-ice-deports-illegal-aliens-convicted-homicide-rape-animal-abuse/
    Democrat Administration-Parole Migrant Accused of Raping 2 Women in Salt Lake City, Utah
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/04/biden-parole-migrant-accused-of-raping-2-women-in-salt-lake-city-utah/
    • Turkish Illegal Unleashed by Democrat Administration Charged With Sexually Abusing 6-Year-Old at California Daycare. DHS SAID. BAGCI HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE COUNTRY BY THE U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION IN NOVEMBER 2023 AND AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER 2024.
    https://borderhawk.news/exclusive-turkish-illegal-unleashed-by-biden-charged-with-sexually-abusing-6-year-old-at-california-daycare/

    Indian National on Student Visa Accused of Murdering 19-Year-Old Julissa Salazar
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/12/report-indian-national-on-student-visa-accused-of-murdering-19-year-old-julissa-salazar/
    Illegal alien, reportedly released into the United States by the Democrat administration, is now accused of murdering a mother of a 3-year-old girl in Fairfax County, Virginia.
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/19/report-biden-released-illegal-alien-accused-of-murdering-mother-of-3-year-old-in-virginia/
    • Democrat administration’s Arab ‘Migrants’ Charged With Child Rape in Utah
    https://borderhawk.news/bidens-arab-migrants-charged-with-child-rape-in-utah/
    • An illegal alien from Guatemala has been charged with committing heinous sex crimes against under 14 young victims in the state of Utah.
    https://borderhawk.news/exclusive-previously-deported-guatemalan-charged-with-raping-underage-sisters-in-utah/
    • llegal Alien Charged with Sexually Assaulting, Murdering 2-Year-Old Girl in Virginia
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/07/22/illegal-alien-charged-sexually-assaulting-murdering-2-year-old-girl-virginia/
    Illegal Alien Released from Jail Accused of Fatally Stabbing Retiree One Day Later in Sanctuary California
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/13/video-illegal-alien-released-jail-accused-fatally-stabbing-retiree-one-day-later-sanctuary-california/
    Kentucky: Illegal Alien Accused of Raping, Sodomizing 15-Year-Old Girl
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/13/kentucky-illegal-alien-accused-raping-sodomizing-15-year-old-girl/
    ICE Arrests Illegal Aliens Convicted of Murder, Domestic Abuse, Child Cruelty
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/25/ice-arrests-illegal-aliens-convicted-murder-domestic-violence-child-cruelty/
    Thousands of Food Safety Violations by Illegal Alien Street Vendors But Democrat Administration Does Nothing in Samctuary City Los Angeles. Democrat leaders have decided to do nothing despite being aware of horrifying health hazards, their own previously unreleased records reveal.
    https://www.breitbart.com/health/2026/08/30/33585072report-officials-fielded-thousands-of-food-safety-violations-by-illegal-street-vendors-but-now-do-nothing/

    Portland: 80% of Fentanyl Trafficker Arrests Are Illegal Migrants from Honduras
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/27/portland-80-of-fentanyl-trafficker-arrests-are-illegal-migrants-from-honduras/

    Virginia: Obama Democrat Administration’s Differed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Illegal Alien Charged with More than 20 Counts of Child Pornography
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/27/spanbergers-virginia-daca-illegal-alien-charged-with-over-20-counts-of-child-pornography/
    ICE Arrests Illegal Alien PEDOPHILES, RAPISTS, KIDNAPPERS ACCROSS U.S.
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/28/exclusive-ice-agents-arrest-illegal-alien-pedophiles-rapists-kidnappers-across-u-s/
    ICE Agents Arrest Illegal Alien with 20-Year Criminal Record
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/02/exclusive-ice-agents-arrest-illegal-alien-with-20-year-criminal-record/

    In the month of August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested criminal illegal aliens across the country, INCLUDING THOSE CONVICTED FOR HEINOUS CRIMES SUCH AS SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A MINOR, DUI MANSLAUGHTER, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, MURDER, AND CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE FENTANYL.
    Some of the most heinous arrests over the last three months include:

    Masroor Ahmed Butt, criminal illegal alien from India, convicted for intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography in Washington, D.C. (8/27/26)

    A criminal illegal alien from Ecuador, convicted for CRIMINAL ATTEMPT-BY PURPOSELY ENGAGING IN SEXUAL CONDUCT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A MINOR: VICTIM 13–15-YEARS-OLD in Bergen County, New Jersey. (8/24/26)

    Osbert Marion Otien Owuor, a criminal illegal alien from Kenya, convicted for murder in Compton, California. (8/5/26)

    A criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, convicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl in Cincinnati, Ohio. (8/21/26)

    Wilmark Orozco-Huerta, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, and DUI with serious bodily injury in Polk County, Florida. (8/10/26)

    Moises Gutierez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico and Paisas gang member, whose criminal history includes convictions for driving under the influence of liquor and illegal re-entry, and arrests for SEX OFFENSE AGAINST CHILD – FONDLING AND SEX ASSAULT – sodomy. (7/31/26)

    Daniel Alexander Martinez-Murillo, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras and active member of Somos Pocos Pero Locos Gang, convicted for aggravated robbery in Houston, Texas. (7/9/26)
    Americans can see more public safety threats arrested in their communities on our webpage WOW.DHS.Gov.
    https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/09/02/ices-august-arrests-break-record-number-illegal-aliens-arrested

    Reply

  4. Yo, Oscar….Take a breath.

    While the document is 10,630 words, it uses the word “synod” only once (synodality); AND “immigration” also shows up only once (!)–and as only as a single word in a long sentence advocating for prudential judgment in concrete decisions.

    The sentence: “Although it addresses specific moral issues—abortion, racial equality, economic inequities, criminal justice, euthanasia, family life, immigration, participation in the political process, war and peace, and many more—faithful citizenship fundamentally is a way of seeing the world in the light of the Gospel and allowing Gospel truth to point the way to prudential judgements [!] and concrete decisions.”

    Reply

    • Thank you for your concern, Peter. I am hanging in there actually. I know a family victim of the bishops protection of illegal aliens. You know well how the bishops protect them. The family would not want me to take a breath. Their girl was a freshman in college when she was killed by one illegal alien. Even if the killer had been the only murderer among the millions of illegals that have been allowed in, the family would say that even one of them added to the bad guys already with us would not be acceptable. So again, the family would not want me to take a breath, though I may indeed, God knows. Be well.

      Reply

      • And, Peter, the CC bishops views and actions on illegals (whom they refer to with the weasel word “migrant”) hurt us, our wives, children, families, neighbors and countries everywhere, not just in the U.S.

        In Spain, the CC bishops supported the amnesty for millions of illegals proclaimed by the Socialist government.

        THIS AMNESTY, SUPPORTED BY THE BISHOPS, triggered a massive invasion of Ceuta by North Africans. The CC support for the amnesty and its horrible consequences for the people of Ceuta has been pointed out in an excellent report in CWR:

        “Up to 22 European Union countries have pointed to the recent mass legalization of immigrants carried out in Spain — AND BACKED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH — as a contributing factor to the current migration crisis.”
        https://www.catholicworldreport.com/category/the-dispatch/

        Spanish town of Ceuta Struggles to Protect Migrant Girls as Hordes of Men Abuse Them on the Streets
        https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2026/08/07/ceuta-struggles-to-protect-migrant-girls-as-hordes-of-men-abuse-them-on-the-streets/

        Ceuta Parents Rage as Migrant Camp Planned Next to Children’s Nursery
        https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/06/ceuta-parents-rage-as-migrant-camp-planned-next-to-childrens-nursery/

        “Spain’s National Police and Civil Guard have identified several known jihadis among the mass influx of migrants who breached the border and entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on July 30.”
        https://www.meforum.org/fwi/fwi-news/spains-interior-ministry-dismisses-police-warnings-of-jihadis-among-ceuta-migrants

        —And in Italy, the Bishop of Rome pontificates about welcoming illegals (whom he also refers to with the weasel word “migrants”) and is of course against deporting all of them where they came from. These are only a very few of the horrible consequences for the country he lives in now:
        “ROME DECLARES COLOSSEUM AREA A ‘RED ZONE’ DUE TO RISING CRIME [by…you guessed it, those protected by the CC].”
        “Increased security measures have ALSO BEEN IMPLEMENTED… NEAR ST. PETER’S BASILICA AND THE BASILICA OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE. The reason for the increased security was, in particular, a series of incidents in the area. In July, about 50 “young people” attacked police officers using fireworks, as a result of which several law enforcement officers were injured. The authorities attribute the worsening situation to the increase in street crime, drug trafficking and the general decline of the urban environment.”
        CHRISTINA BUTKO / WORLD / 04 SEPTEMBER 2026
        https://pragmatika.media/en/news/rym-oholosyv-rajon-kolizeiu-chervonoiu-zonoiu-cherez-zrostannia-zlochynnosti/

        So yes, the bishops and the CC they lead are causing incalculable damage to the once Christian West.

        “Spain’s Church-State Collusion Clears Path for 30,000 Jihadis To Enter Europe
        Bishops Back Leftist Government’s Mass Regularization of Mainly Muslim Illegals”
        April 21, 2026
        Jules Gomes
        Spanish Bishops Celebrate Newcomers
        The Migration Department of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Caritas, the Spanish Conference of Religious (CONFER), and the Network of Entities for Solidarity Development (REDES) explained in a press statement issued on April 14 that the “church entities consider the extraordinary regularization of migrants a measure of political, ethical, and social responsibility.”

        “For the Church, welcoming, protecting, and dignifying migrants is an inherent requirement of its mission. It is not merely a pastoral choice, but also a human rights imperative and therefore a coherent expression of the Gospel in public life,” the statement stressed.
        https://www.meforum.org/fwi/fwi-news/spains-church-state-collusion-clears-path-for-30-000-jihadis-to-enter-europe.

        Reply

        • I am simply suggesting that in this instance, the USCCB document itself, a critic’s approach of “ready, fire, aim’ might be self-discrediting. I propose that the drafters got it right this time.

          Reply

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