"Joy and hope (Gaudium et spes), sorrow and anguish, of modern society, especially of all poor and suffering people, are the joy and hope, sorrow and anguish of Christ's disciples. There is nothing truly human that does not touch the hearts of believers. This is because the community of Christ's disciples comprises humans. Gathered in Christ, they were guided by the Holy Spirit on their journey toward the Kingdom of God the Father and accepted the news of salvation that was to be proclaimed to all people. Therefore, the community of Christ's disciples experiences its close connection to humanity and human history" (Second Vatican Council Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, paragraph 1).
The Second Vatican Council declares that the church is a 'pilgrimage church'. This means that the church is not separate from the world, but rather exists within the world and must play the role of light and salt of the world through the pilgrimage journey to the heavenly home. The statement in the Constitution on Pastorals that "the community of Christ’s disciples is closely bound up with humanity and human history" reminds us of how much attention the church must pay to the affairs of the world, and indeed to the affairs of fellow human beings. However, since the way human affairs are carried out is 'politics', how can the church, a community of Christ's disciples, not be interested in politics?
"Every day human interdependence grows ever closer and increasingly spreads across the world, the common good – the sum of the conditions of social life that enable groups and individual members to pursue self-perfection more fully and more easily – It came to contain rights and obligations related to all mankind. Any group must take into account the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups and, moreover, the common good of the entire human family (Article 26 of the Pastoral Constitution).
Article 28 of the Constitution on Pastoral Care states:
"We must respect and love even those who think and act differently from us in social, political, and religious matters. "The more we truly understand their way of thinking with kindness and love, the easier it is to communicate with them."
However, there is something you should not mistake here! ‘We’ in the statement in paragraph 28 refers to ‘the church’, the community of Christ’s disciples. In other words, if we are Christians, it is strongly assumed that we are people who live according to the teachings of the Council. This means that those who live with the name ‘Christ’ in their hearts should understand and try to live this.
Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in conscience (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 1903).
Despite this church teaching, if a Christian reading this is uncomfortable with the political participation of a priest who is part of the community of Christ's disciples, he should simply pray for his repentance rather than curse or condemn him. Because that is the teaching of the church.
"A distinction must be made between errors and those who commit them. Errors must always be rejected, but even those who commit errors always retain human dignity, even if they hold wrong or inaccurate religious concepts. God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts; for that reason, He forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone. (Article 28 of the Pastoral Constitution).
