Our duty must be to Christ, not a political candidate

While on the plane returning to the Vatican after a demanding 12-day trip to Asia, Pope Francis answered questions from reporters traveling on the plane with him. When asked about the presidential election in the U.S., the Pope answered, “One must choose the lesser of two evils. Who is the lesser of two evils? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone with a conscience should think on this and do it. To send migrants away, to leave them wherever you want, to leave them … it’s something terrible, there is evil there. To send away a child from the womb of the mother is an assassination, because there is life. We must speak about these things clearly.”
The Holy Father is known for responding to reporters about complex issues with brief answers. It is a challenge for anyone to give a brief answer about a complex issue, especially while in front of several reporters quickly asking questions about an array of complicated matters, even for the Pope. Complicated matters need to be given nuanced responses. An eight-sentence response on some things as complicated as the issues to which the Holy Father referred: of conscience, immigration and the situation of abortion in this country, would require much more reflection than I can give, even in this article.
However, I would like to share one thought. The Pope alludes to the fact that our consciences need to be formed by the teachings of the Bible and Catholic understanding. Our political reality is that no political group or candidate fully embraces these teachings. Our duty is to be fully committed to Christ and work to bring his teachings into the morals of our society. Our duty must be to Christ, not to a political party or candidate, even if this becomes increasingly difficult. This reminds me of a letter which was written by an unknown author about the year 200 A.D. but is as true today as it was when it was written in the Roman Empire. I offer it for our reflection:
Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.
Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.
To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.
Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself. (From a letter to Diognetus)