Bishop Zipfel to Legislators: Lead People to Truth and to
the Demands of Truth
This letter from Bishop
Paul A. Zipfel, Bishop of Bismarck, appeared in the Dakota
Catholic Action, published January 24,
2007.
My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,
2007
Legislative Assembly
During this month of January our State Legislators returned
to their respective positions at the Capitol to begin their
important work for 2007. The North Dakota Catholic
Conference invited them all to a special Mass at the
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on January 18, 2007, to pray
for guidance upon their efforts to create and sustain a
just society that cares for the weak and poor, defending
the rights of all, not just the privileged. It is essential
that all of us join these elected officials in prayer
because, in large measure, our state is founded on their
administration of the law.
Although there are only 20.5% of our state legislators who
are Catholic, allow me to share the church's teachings and
educate Catholics on moral dimensions of public life, so
all of us may form our consciences in light of our faith.
This, I believe, is my right and my duty.
There are four propositions that can contribute to the loss
of our moral moorings and the increase of secularization in
our pursuit of justice:
• Moral relativism
• The rejection of the reality of virtue
• The decline of personal responsibility
• Intellectual pride
Moral
relativism rejects the reality of justice,
because it rejects any moral absolutes. But good and evil
are not relative. That which is in accord with God's
unchangeable will is good; that which is opposed to it is
evil.
The
denial of virtue attacks justice at its heart.
When Bill Bennett submitted his book to the publishers,
they wanted to title it The Book of Values. Mr. Bennett
rightly insisted that it be The Book of Virtues. Justice is
one of the cardinal virtues upon which all right-living is
based.
The
decline of personal responsibility
attacks justice
because it says that we have no free will, but are merely
complex animals that are predetermined. The truth is that
human beings can and do rise above all external factors to
make those free decisions for which they are alone
responsible.
Finally, some say that
the human person is the measure of all
things.
Only when we humbly acknowledge that there is much we do
not know and turn to God who is truth, that we are able to
approach the foundation of justice.
We must look past these propositions of the modern age and
root ourselves once again in eternal truths, which alone
can restore our faith in justice.
St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that justice is that virtue by
which we "give to each one what is his due," not only in
material matters but in all those things physical,
intellectual, moral and spiritual that are the birthright
of each human being. This definition presumes three
Judeo-Christian truths:
• That there is a personal God who has created and
ordered all things to show his glory and love.
• That this God has created us human beings in his
image, which includes an ability to know the truth of God's
order and purpose in human history.
• That God has endowed us with free will, giving us
the real ability to choose good and evil, for which we can
rightly be held accountable.
The late Pope John Paul II taught these truths in his
encyclical Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth). He
reminds us that there is objective truth and unchanging
moral values, and that these are essential to society. It
is in returning to these truths that we can rescue faith in
the reality of justice.
How important, how noble, is the task of our legislators to
lead people to truth and to the demands of truth! It is
such truth which alone can give real hope and dignity to
human life. We ask God to help them pursue it with purity
of heart, asking themselves often why they do what they do
as a public official. We pray always, asking God to
enlighten them in their vocation, which has such a profound
effect on the lives of others and our common life as a
society. Let us all work together so that real justice will
be found in the hearts of each one of us.
Your Shepherd,
Most Reverend Paul A. Zipfel
Bishop of Bismarck
