Writer Xavier Barrios urges Catholic voters to reflect on faith when heading to the polls.
Writer Xavier Barrios urges Catholic voters to reflect on faith when heading to the polls.
A month before the General Election, the Archdiocese of Denver released a pamphlet titled, “2024 Catholic Voter Guide,” which outlines a “Hierarchy of values to guide voting as a Catholic.”
After 13 years within the Archdiose’s schooling system, this list of 10 stances — including those on restricting abortion access and defining marriage as between man and woman — completely undermines the Catholic values the Archdiocese of Denver instilled within me. Hours spent learning Catholic values in religion class, going to church and altar serving felt useless due to their hypocrisy.
If being created in the image and likeness of a God who spews hateful rhetoric, then that’s not the God I believe in. To mimic God’s image and likeness is to center His values of unconditional love, acceptance and inclusivity.
With over a decade’s worth of knowledge coming undone, I had to ask myself, “What happened to Jesus’ teaching, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself?’”
Reminders of this phrase are ever-present in a Catholic’s life, but especially on Sundays just before the reading of the Gospel. With our right hand, we reach to our forehead marking a small cross with our thumb, we then repeat this movement over our lips and our hearts — a reminder to know the Word of the Lord, to speak it and to love it.
This reminder seems to be lost when Catholics vote.
To know, speak and love the Gospel is to truly internalize Christ’s teachings, especially one as simple as loving a neighbor. This means a Catholic voter should be concerned with one thing — everyone.
Vice President Kamala Harris is for everyone. She has been fighting for same-sex marriage, lowering costs for middle-class families and protecting long sought-after rights for marginalized populations.
This diverges from former President Donald Trump’s plans to restrict racial equity alongside repressing reproductive, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights, according to the ACLU’s explanation of Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a document of conservative policy recommendations written by 140 people who worked within the Trump administration, including six cabinet members, according to CNN. Despite denying any association with Project 2025, the correlation between his administration and the plan’s formation can’t be denied.
The restriction of people’s rights doesn’t align with loving thy neighbor — it does the opposite. Voting against reproductive rights could rid someone of life-saving care. Allowing LGBTQ+ rights to fade risks the safety of queer people across the nation.
Turning a helping hand away from immigrants is antithetical to why Christ provided loaves of bread and fish to five thousand people, rather than sending them away as the Disciples suggested.
Harris has laid out her plans on caring for everyone under the “Issues” section of her website. These plans include protecting the climate, an issue which doesn’t affect just a singular person or population.
With a history of tackling corporations, big pharma and banks, she has aligned herself with Catholic values. Taking on entities like these can improve access to affordable healthcare and create protections from scammers.
By promising to invest in small businesses and communities across the nation, her administration can transform markets of individuality into ones of collectivity.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Jesus said to his Disciples.
With only one candidate concerned with everyone, the decision in the voting booth is simple. A Catholic vote is a vote for Kamala Harris.
Get the Loyola Phoenix newsletter straight to your inbox!
