2020 National Election Information

• ​Please remember the Catholic Church has a long standing prohibition of the distribution or display of election materials in parishes unless the materials are published by the Archdiocese of Detroit, the Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 
• This prohibition is in place because flyers, signs and voter guides from outside organizations or candidates, even those that identify themselves as “Catholic,” may highlight only specific issues rather than the entire range of moral issues important to the Catholic Church.  
• As voters, we must ask ourselves, “What is the candidate’s position on the entire spectrum of ‘life issues’ as defined by the Catholic Church?”  What is the candidate’s stand on legalized abortion (“…our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself….” USCCB), assisted suicide, religious freedom, racism, poverty, the death penalty, immigration reform, economic and restorative justice, health care, environmental issues, families, education and other life issues? 
• For more information go to Michigan Catholic Conference on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, or visit the website at micatholic.org.  On the website, you will find information regarding proper conscience formation, the practice of campaign civility and guidelines for faithful citizenship.
• The Catholic Church does not tell us “you must vote for candidate X and you cannot vote for candidate Y.”  For example, the Catholic Church does not tell us “you must vote for President Trump because he is against legalized abortion.”  The Catholic Church does not tell us “you must vote for former Vice President Joseph Biden because he is a Catholic.”  The Catholic Church does not support one candidate or political party over another nor is there any type of organized plan to support one candidate or political party and to oppose another. 
• Catholic religious leaders who publicly endorse a candidate or political party speak not for the Catholic Church as a whole but express their personal feelings and support.  The Church does not allow deacons or priests to speak publicly in homilies or announcements their support or non-support of a candidate or political party nor to encourage others to do the same. 
• The Catholic Church does not produce any form of voter guides telling us how to vote for candidates to any public office nor does it support guides from organizations that call themselves “Catholic.”  If you receive any form of a voter guide, via the internet or US Mail, telling you, as a Catholic, how to vote for a candidate to public office, please disregard the information. 
• The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops remind us that, “In the end, [how one votes] is a decision to be made by each Catholic guided by a conscience formed by Catholic moral teaching.”  The first presentation at this year’s Adult Ed Series is, “Faith, Morals, and the Election” taking place on Tuesday, October 6th at 7:00pm in the church.  Please join others in the conversation.
• Any individual or group attempting to distribute election materials, or the display of election signs on parish properties or at parish gatherings, will be told to stop doing so, to collect their materials and leave the property.  Unfortunately, some people act so quickly it is almost impossible to stop them.  This may be true when the parish parking lot is used during weekend Masses.  If this is the case, please know they do not have the permission or the endorsement of St. Colette Parish, the Archdiocese of Detroit, the MCC and USCCB.

Fr. Gary Michalik