A piece by Fr. Michael Heintz, who is the rector of St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend.

Augustine’s “City of God” (a hefty tome that nonetheless repays the reader’s efforts) offered a much less sanguine view of the possibilities of a “Christian Empire.” One of Augustine’s clear purposes in writing was to convince believers that an alliance between the church and any political system, party or figure is dubious at best: A “Christian Empire” by its very nature lacks the capacity for critical self-reflection. In remaining good citizens of the empire, believers are called to exercise a healthy suspicion of all political movements and movers, recognizing the fallen nature not only of individual but also of common life.

Catholics then should be equally circumspect about all politicians, parties and movements, scrutinizing them carefully in light of the Gospel and the received tradition of the church.

That is, they should be particularly suspicious of politicians who can so blithely divorce vita from doctrina – their “personal views” from their public persona.

This is true whether we are speaking of Catholics who espouse or acquiesce to abortion rights for the sake of political expediency or of neo-conservatives who, while sharing an opposition to abortion, have surreptitiously co-opted not a few Catholics into their “public square,” while through contorted argument dismissing the serious demands of Catholic teaching on the economy, capital punishment or the “ius ad bellum” (the morality of modern warfare).

…Catholics must scrutinize cautiously (rather than absorb numbly) the “signs of the times” and allow their faith to clarify and sharpen public debate. The best contribution Catholics can make in society is to be thoroughly and unabashedly Catholic. For there are some principles that cannot be sacrificed and teachings that cannot be compromised without weakening the very witness of Catholics in a democratic society and, thereby, the vitality of the republic itself.