Choosing the Common Good
This new document has been produced by the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales ahead of the General Election. The Bishops argue that finding a shared vision for society is more urgent than the detail of particular party policies. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). The Bishops argue that social issues cannot be left only to government to solve, but are the responsibility of all.
Choosing the Common Good argues that the construction of a just and civil society can be achieved as the desire for love and truth is innate in all women and men. While there has been a fracturing in trust in institutions and in each other, the Bishops argue that it is up to all in civil society to lead the re-building of this essential trust. Central to that task is the understanding that we are not self-contained individuals but inter-dependent, where human flourishing lies in the quality of our relationships and the practice of virtue.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference, said: “We encourage everyone to read this document and participate in the wide-ranging and necessary debate about the values and vision by which we seek to construct a just and civil society. Ultimately Choosing the Common Good is about human flourishing. It does not offer a direction on how to vote, but forms a back-cloth to the more particular issues which may well dominate the election itself and offers an invitation to the political parties on how best to respond in all of our joint efforts to build a better society.”
It is also promoted as a reflection on essential strands of Catholic social and moral teaching ahead of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI which takes place in September.
Read it on the website of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, at the link below:-