Voting is a Catholic responsibility

From Angela Pitsi, Pretoria

This year, perhaps more than any other election year in our democratic era, voters will find it difficult to make a choice.

Faced with the enormity of setting the future direction of the country, and with divided opinions and loyalties in what political commentators see as the closest poll for the last twenty years, many will simply not vote at all.

To do so would be to ignore the words of Pope Francis who said in his recent apostolic exhortation, �The Joy of the Gospel�, that �responsible citizenship is a virtue and participation in political life is a moral obligation�.

If we are to vote responsibly, we must look for a party that promotes:

� The sacredness of human life and the dignity of each human being

� Support for marriage and the family

� Social responsibility and respect for the common good

� The just sharing of resources and wealth

� Compassionate solidarity with the poor and marginalised.

It falls to each and every Catholic in this land to prayerfully make their own choice.

What we cannot allow, is to not vote. I have personally taken the exhortations of Pope Francis to heart and have prayerfully made my choice.