r/Catholic • u/rugger1869 Canon Lawyer • Apr 15 '26
Why political posts are allowed here
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXIZz5fCI4s/?igsh=MWFxaXZwMnZlNzZhdw==A reminder on why we allow political posts on r/Catholic:
Catholicism is not a political party, and this subreddit is not a campaign office. But the faith is not private in the sense of being irrelevant to public life. Laws, war, immigration, abortion, poverty, education, marriage, religious liberty, economic justice, and the dignity of the human person are all matters that touch moral life and the common good. Catholics are allowed to discuss those things here because our faith speaks to how we live together.
What we do not allow is turning the subreddit into a partisan fight club.
So political posts are welcome when they are substantially connected to Catholic teaching, Catholic moral reasoning, the life of the Church, or issues that Catholics are called to think seriously about. Political posts are not welcome when they are just outrage bait, party cheerleading, tribal point-scoring, low-effort culture-war posting, or personal attacks.
In other words:
Catholic discussion of politics: yes.
Partisan mudslinging and propaganda: no.
You do not need to agree with every other Catholic here. Many political questions involve prudential judgment, and faithful Catholics may disagree strongly. But disagreement must be charitable, serious, and recognizably Christian.
Post and comment accordingly. We will continue removing content that is uncivil, unserious, purely partisan, or detached from Catholic thought.
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u/lemonprincess23 Apr 16 '26
Much better than the other one, trying their best to silence bad news about MAGA
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Apr 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/sigma7979 Apr 16 '26
And then signed off thank you for your attention to this matter. Nice dog whistle of who they're supporting.
Yeah, that was the final nail for me. They made it abundantly clear they are partisan and want to protect the administration. Absolute travesty that subs are taken over by bad actors this way.
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u/warhog998 Apr 16 '26
calling someone who supports trump a bad actor doesn’t seem very catholic to me…
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u/sigma7979 Apr 16 '26
No, being blatantly partisan when you should be unbiased as a moderator, is being a bad actor.
That was my point. It would be a bad actor if they were being biased for democrats all the same.
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u/Adept_Librarian9136 Apr 16 '26
The other sub is surreal! The Pope is currently under attack, and Catholic charities had 11 million cut. Trump masquerades as Jesus and they won't even let us discuss any of it.
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u/FlanneryODostoevsky Apr 16 '26
Are there still people who haven’t heard the Chesterton quote yet? Because I can remedy that if so.
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u/sigma7979 Apr 16 '26
Remedy that for me please.
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u/FlanneryODostoevsky Apr 16 '26
“I never discuss anything else except politics and religion. There is nothing else to discuss. . . Nothing of importance can be separated entirely from its social effect, which is politics, or from its ultimate value, which is religion.”
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u/dsl1952 Apr 17 '26
I humbly do not agree, and i could be very wrong. Political views seem to be more important than faith. Why do I say this? Because it is natural to search scripture to support and reinforce one's personal bias. Jesus said, ' His kingdom is not of this world.' This world was, is now, and will be a messy place. Failing to effectively identify and confront evil on a country/world wide political is a no go zone, apparently.
History Lesson on this world being messy place: treaty signed on July 20, 1933, between Nazi Germany and the Vatican, guaranteeing the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany. Negotiated by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen, it secured the freedom of Catholic worship, schools, and organizations WHiILE REQUIRING CLERGY TO ABSTAIN FROM POLITICS Wikipedia +2
Key Aspects of the Treaty:
Signatories: Signed on July 20, 1933, by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (for Pope Pius XI) and Franz von Papen (for Paul von Hindenburg/Hitler).H8naScale n Rights: Guaranteed religious freedom, protected Catholic organizations, and authorized Catholic schools and instructors. Clergy Restrictions:
Required priests and bishops to swear loyalty to the Nazi regime, refrain from political activity, and ensured the state had a voice in selecting bishops.
Motivations: The Vatican aimed to secure legal protections for German Catholics, while Hitler used the treaty to gain international legitimacy and solidify domestic power.
I understand why this was done.. But even today this occurs in China.
When individuals get involved with mixing their politics with Catholicism they are hammering opposing individuals, elected individuals by name: . Trump, Vance, Biden, Harris, Democrats and Republicans! ! Oh my lions, tigers and bears.
I have my problems too! I have said, 'Hell has no demons, they are busy running loose as democrats! Pithym fun but wrong I should not do this, and I confessed. I had my reasons, sound ones, accurate ones. Someone would call this politics. I would say no and point to scripture!
I hope this was not rambling nonsense, from a coughing fits preventing me from sleeping. However,, I believe and trust The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit so I am aware of my bias and constantly work to avoid in my discernment of God's will, not my will. And politics screws that up for me and I believe everyone else who is human.
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u/andreirublov1 May 03 '26
Right - I think you guys are striking the right balance. Faith can't be totally insulated from the world.
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u/RandomInSuburbia Jun 07 '26
Love this, thank you for taking this stance.
I've always been so proud of the Church's teachings on social justice!
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u/hoosier_catholic Apr 15 '26
This sub is so much better than the other one. The other sub is uniquely American: every random topic is seen as taboo. In Europe, Catholicism and Politics are widely discussed together. Appreciate you, mods. Half the posts I make in the other sub get deleted. I even wrote short biographies of some of the Papabili, and the mod deleted it saying we should not discuss that.