Vote for secular candidates, Cardinal tells Catholics

Appealing to all eligible Catholic voters in Goa to exercise their franchise at the Lok Sabha polls on May 7 and vote for candidates with secular credentials who will uphold values enshrined in the Constitution, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão has also requested Catholics to prioritise voting on May 7 over holiday plans or pilgrimages.

In a Circular Letter ‘Vote… You Must’ sent out to the clergy, the religious and the faithful in Goa and to people of good will on Monday, Cardinal Ferrão also asked parish priests, chaplains and superiors of religious houses in Goa to organise special prayer services on May 3 and/or May 5 for the genuine success of the elections.

“It is universally recognised, especially in a democracy, that the responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual, guided by a properly formed conscience,” he said.

Cardinal Ferrão saw it as his bounden duty as the Head of the Church in Goa to call the attention of Church members to the fact that, in the Catholic Tradition, “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation”, a quotation he attributed to Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ (November 2023).

DUTY TO VOTE

Cardinal Ferrão appealed to every eligible voter to participate in the democratic process by casting the vote, not only as a right, but chiefly as a duty towards the nation.

“We have to collectively recognise that our vote is our irreplaceable personal contribution to the good of our country,” stated Cardinal Ferrão.

Quoting ‘Gaudium et Spes’, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Second Vatican Council), the cardinal stated: “Every citizen ought to be mindful of his right and his duty to promote the common good by using his vote.”